DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pandharipande (US 2015/0338510).
Regarding claim 1, Pandharipande discloses a method of operating an ultrasonic sensor within a multi-sensor environment, comprising:
broadcasting 108, by the ultrasonic sensor 102, a first ultrasonic signal at each of a plurality of broadcast times (figure 3), wherein the first ultrasonic signal includes a first encoded identifier (paragraph 84);
receiving 109, by the ultrasonic sensor, received ultrasonic signals during a plurality of receive windows, wherein each receive window of the plurality of receive windows follows a respective broadcast time of the plurality of broadcast times (p. 66);
identifying (p. 70) a second ultrasonic signal from the received ultrasonic signals based on a respective timing of the second ultrasonic signal and the first ultrasonic signal, wherein the second ultrasonic signal includes a second encoded identifier (p. 84), and wherein the respective timing is based on a first timing of broadcasts of the first ultrasonic signal indicated by the first identifier and a second timing of broadcasts of the second ultrasonic signal indicated by the second identifier (p. 26, p. 66); and
monitoring an object 204 within a field of view of the ultrasonic signal (figure 2a) based on a subset (p. 13, p. 38) of the received ultrasonic signals that does not include the second ultrasonic signal (p. 26, p. 58).
Regarding claim 3, Pandharipande discloses wherein, based on the respective timing, the second ultrasonic signal is only received within one receive window of the plurality of receive windows (p. 66).
Regarding claim 4, Pandharipande discloses wherein the plurality of receive windows comprise three or more consecutive receive windows associated with three or more respective broadcast times of the ultrasonic signal (p. 75).
Regarding claim 20, Pandharipande discloses an ultrasonic sensor configured to operate within a multi-sensor environment, comprising:
a transceiver 108, 109, configured to broadcast and receive ultrasonic signals;
processing circuitry 104 coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
broadcast 108, via the transceiver, a first ultrasonic signal at each of a plurality of broadcast times (figure 3), wherein the first ultrasonic signal includes a first encoded identifier (p. 84);
receive, via the transceiver, received ultrasonic signals during a plurality of receive windows, wherein each receive window of the plurality of receive windows follows a respective broadcast time of the plurality of broadcast times (p. 66);
identify (p. 70) a second ultrasonic signal from the received ultrasonic signals based on a respective timing of the second ultrasonic signal and the first ultrasonic signal, wherein the second ultrasonic signal includes a second encoded identifier (p. 84), and wherein the respective timing is based on a first timing of broadcasts of the first ultrasonic signal indicated by the first identifier and a second timing of broadcasts of the second ultrasonic signal indicated by the second identifier (p. 26, p. 66); and
monitor an object 204 within a field of view of the ultrasonic signal (figure 2a) based on a subset of the received ultrasonic signals that does not include the second ultrasonic signal (p. 26, p. 58).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 2 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pandharipande in view of Azuma (US 2013/0109968).
Regarding claim 2, Pandharipande discloses all the claimed subject matter as set forth above in the rejection of claim 1, and further discloses a bandpass filter (p. 74), but does not disclose a median filter. Azuma teaches the use of a median filter (p. 29). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a median filter to the method of Pandharipande as taught by Azuma for the purpose of effectively removing unwanted signals.
Regarding claim 17, Pandharipande discloses a method of operating an ultrasonic sensor within a multi-sensor environment, comprising:
monitoring, by a first ultrasonic sensor 102, for received ultrasonic signals (at 109);
identifying, from the received ultrasonic signals, a plurality of broadcasts from a plurality of additional ultrasonic sensors (p. 54, p. 55, figures 2a-2b);
determining, from the received ultrasonic signals, a subset of the broadcasts (p. 13, p. 38), and a unique fixed delay between broadcasts (p. 68, p. 73); and
broadcasting ultrasonic signals from the first ultrasonic in accordance with the subset (p. 13, p. 38).
Pandharipande does not disclose determining, from the received ultrasonic signals, a subset of occupied channels of a plurality of broadcast channels, wherein each channel of the plurality of broadcast channels is associated with a unique fixed delay between broadcasts; and selecting, based on the subset of occupied channels, another of the broadcast channels for the first ultrasonic signal; and broadcasting ultrasonic signals from the first ultrasonic in accordance with the selected broadcast channel. Azuma teaches the use of determining, from ultrasonic signals, a subset of occupied channels of a plurality of broadcast channels (p. 22), wherein each channel of the plurality of broadcast channels is associated with a unique fixed delay 15 between broadcasts (p. 24); and selecting, based on the subset of occupied channels, another of the broadcast channels for a first ultrasonic signal (p. 25, p. 35); and broadcasting ultrasonic signals from the first ultrasonic in accordance with the selected broadcast channel (figure 8). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include determining, from the received ultrasonic signals, a subset of occupied channels of a plurality of broadcast channels, wherein each channel of the plurality of broadcast channels is associated with a unique fixed delay between broadcasts; and selecting, based on the subset of occupied channels, another of the broadcast channels for the first ultrasonic signal; and broadcasting ultrasonic signals from the first ultrasonic in accordance with the selected broadcast channel to the method of Pandharipande as taught by Azuma for the purpose of effectively operating an ultrasonic sensor within a multi-sensor environment.
Regarding claim 18, Pandharipande discloses wherein the identifying comprises autocorrelating the received ultrasonic signals (p. 61, p. 86, p. 91).
Regarding claim 19, Pandharipande discloses wherein, for each ultrasonic sensor of the plurality of additional ultrasonic sensors, the unique fixed delay is encoded in a respective broadcast signal of the ultrasonic sensor (p. 68, p. 73).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Xie, Luber, and Liao disclose ultrasonic sensor systems.
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/ANH V LA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2685
ANH V. LA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2685
Al
March 29, 2026
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