Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in India on November 22 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the 202341067112 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite in that it fails to point out what is included or excluded by the claim language. This claim is an omnibus type claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 1-7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The examiner is assuming claim 7 is similar to claim 1 with the exception of the addition of the method, apparatus, and radar receiver.
Regarding claims 1 and 7
Step 1: Claim 1 is a system which the Examiner is interpreting as a process. Claim 7 is directed to a process and a machine.
Step 2A Prong 1: Claims 1 and 7 recite the limitations of a signal in polar coordinates and a tracking filter and a model of linear transformations. These limitations, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, covers limitations which fall into the mathematical concepts group of abstract ideas.
Step 2A Prong 2: The judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claim does not recite any additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Claims 1 and 7 recite data and linear transformations; claim 7 claims a radar receiver, neither are a particular machine.
Step 2B: The claim does not provide an inventive concept because as recited in the paragraphs above, the claim recites the limitations of a signal and a linear transformation of data. There are no additional limitations to make the aforementioned limitations other than abstract. Moreover, the limitations do not reflect an improvement that can be implemented, or include a particular machine, as the data is not claimed to be used in any way. Therefore, the claims are not eligible under 35 U.S.C. 101.
The claims 2-6, which depend on claim 1, similarly only recite abstract ideas through mathematical concepts as they are equations and the manipulation of data. As such, they are also not eligible under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Miller (US 20200124716 A1) in view of Zhang (Jan. 2023) [Zhang, W., Zhao, X., Liu, Z., Liu, K., and Chen, B., “Converted state equation Kalman filter for nonlinear maneuvering target tracking”, <i>Signal Processing</i>, vol. 202, Art. no. 108741, Elsevier, 2023. doi:10.1016/j.sigpro.2022.108741.].
Regarding claim 1 Miller discloses
A millimeter wave signal processing system comprising: a millimeter wave signal carrying a set of data represented in a polar form (Paragraph 0004, "Conventional radar systems initialize the Kalman filter on the first detection of a target. The detection may produce range, radial velocity (Vr) and azimuth measurements of a target, which are data in polar coordinates of the target" where radar is millimeter);
a tracking filter configured to provide a set of variables in the polar form that is determined from the set of data (Paragraph 0003, “Some radar systems establish tracks using a Kalman filter. Kalman filtering is a technique which utilizes a series of measurement data of a variable over time to produce an estimate of the variable”; Paragraph 0004, "Conventional radar systems initialize the Kalman filter on the first detection of a target. The detection may produce range, radial velocity (Vr) and azimuth measurements of a target, which are data in polar coordinates of the target" where a Kalman filter is a tracking filter and it has a relation between the variables and the data i.e. the polar variables). Miller does not disclose and a system model that maintain linear relation with the set of variable and the set of data.
Zhang discloses
A system model that maintain linear relation with the set of variable and the set of data (Page 3 equations 8 and 9 where, for example, there is a linear relationship between theta, the variable, and theta and theta prime the data).
Miller discloses a tracking filter but not a system of linear relationships between the variables and the data. It would be advantageous, especial for the theta vector, to have a linear relationship as you can mitigate the error that is introduced to the Kalman filter by converting between Cartesian and Polar coordinate systems. As such it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Miller with Zhang to mitigate errors introduced into the update state vector.
Regarding claim 2 the combination of Miller and Zhang discloses
The millimeter wave signal processing system of claim 1. Miller further discloses wherein the millimeter wave is a radar signal reflected from an object, the set of data is a measurement of an object in motion comprising a range, an angle, and a radial velocity, and the set of variables comprising a range, an angle, a radial velocity (Paragraph 0004, "Conventional radar systems initialize the Kalman filter on the first detection of a target. The detection may produce range, radial velocity (Vr) and azimuth measurements of a target, which are data in polar coordinates of the target"), and tangential velocity (Paragraph 0011, “In embodiments, the method may include: determining a tangential velocity of the target”).
Regarding claim 3 the combination of Miller and Zhang discloses
The millimeter wave signal processing system of claim 2. Miller doe not disclose wherein the set of variables further comprising a radial acceleration and a tangential acceleration.
Zhang discloses
Wherein the set of variables further comprising a radial acceleration and a tangential acceleration (Page 3 equations 8 and 9 with attention to r double prime (r’’) and the tangential velocity prime (vθ’)).
Miller discloses the use of radial and tangential velocity but not their accelerations. It would be advantageous to also track the accelerations in the event that the velocity is changing. The updated state vector would be better equipped to predict the trajectory. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Miller with Zhang to include radial and tangential acceleration for improved tracking/predicting of a targets motion.
Regarding claim 4 the combination of Miller and Zhang discloses
The millimeter wave signal processing system of claim 3. Miller does not disclose wherein the system model comprising a state transition vector and measurement vector.
Zhang discloses
Wherein the system model comprising a state transition vector and measurement vector (Page 3 equations 8 and 9 where R and theta are parts of the vector; Page 4 equations 20 and 21)).
Miller discloses the Kalman filter but does not explicitly mention the vectors for the variables and the data. A system model with a state transition vector and a measurement vector facilitates the calculation of the updated state vectors and for the calculation of predictions. The vectors also facilitate the addition of other transformations with the data. As such, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Miller with Zhang to add in state and measurement vectors to facilitate calculations for predictions.
Regarding claim 5 the combination of Miller and Zhang discloses
The millimeter wave signal processing system of claim 4. Miller does not explicitly disclose further comprising a predictor and an estimator that are configured to predict a next set of values from a previous set of values of the set of variables using relation:
wherein rkand r'(k) representing a motion vector in radial direction with rkrepresenting the radial distance and r'(k) representing the velocity in the radial direction (radial velocity),θk and θ'(k) representing a motion vector in tangential direction with θk representing the azimuth radialangle and θ'(k) representing the velocity in the tangential direction (tangential velocity), ∆t representing the time difference between the next and previous time instances.
Zhang discloses
Further comprising a predictor and an estimator that are configured to predict a next set of values from a previous set of values of the set of variables using relation:
wherein rk and r'(k) representing a motion vector in radial direction with rk representing the radial distance and r'(k) representing the velocity in the radial direction (radial velocity),θk and θ'(k) representing a motion vector in tangential direction with θk representing the azimuth radialangle and θ'(k) representing the velocity in the tangential direction (tangential velocity), ∆t representing the time difference between the next and previous time instances ((Page 3 equations 8 and 9 where r(k+1) and θ(k+1) have all the elements and subsequent relations of the claimed equation ).
Miller discloses the relationship between variables and data for a Kalman filter but does not disclose an equation. Miller using equations 8 and 9 facilitates calculating the updated state vectors for the radial and tangential elements of an object. In matrix/vector form one can calculate this by hand and easily program it into software for quick calculations and/or verification.
Regarding claim 7
As claim 7 does not distinctly exclude or include limitations. Claim 7 is assumed to be similar to claim 1.
A method, system, and apparatus (Paragraph 0016, “Herein, the signal processor may be configured to: detect a target within a field of view, the target having a detected range, radial velocity and azimuth position based upon the measurement data; initialize values of a Kalman filter upon initial detection of the target based upon the detected range, radial velocity and azimuth; generate an azimuth value and estimated azimuth rate value of the target”) for radar receiver system (Paragraph 0035, “Referring now to FIG. 1, an illustrative vehicle radar system 100 includes a transceiver 110 having a receive signal path 111 and a transmit signal path 115. Receive signal path 111 may include a receiver 112 (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) receiver)”);
A millimeter wave signal processing system comprising: a millimeter wave signal carrying a set of data represented in a polar form (Paragraph 0004, "Conventional radar systems initialize the Kalman filter on the first detection of a target. The detection may produce range, radial velocity (Vr) and azimuth measurements of a target, which are data in polar coordinates of the target" where radar is millimeter);
a tracking filter configured to provide a set of variables in the polar form that is determined from the set of data (Paragraph 0003, “Some radar systems establish tracks using a Kalman filter. Kalman filtering is a technique which utilizes a series of measurement data of a variable over time to produce an estimate of the variable”; Paragraph 0004, "Conventional radar systems initialize the Kalman filter on the first detection of a target. The detection may produce range, radial velocity (Vr) and azimuth measurements of a target, which are data in polar coordinates of the target" where a Kalman filter is a tracking filter and it has a relation between the variables and the data i.e. the polar variables). Miller does not disclose and a system model that maintain linear relation with the set of variable and the set of data.
Zhang discloses
A system model that maintain linear relation with the set of variable and the set of data (Page 3 equations 8 and 9 where, for example, there is a linear relationship between theta, the variable, and theta and theta prime the data).
Miller discloses a tracking filter but not a system of linear relationships between the variables and the data. It would be advantageous, especial for the theta vector, to have a linear relationship as you can mitigate the error that is introduced to the Kalman filter by converting between Cartesian and Polar coordinate systems. As such it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Miller with Zhang to mitigate errors introduced into the update state vector.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER D DOZE whose telephone number is (571)272-0392. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am - 6:00pm ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Resha Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER DAVON DOZE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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