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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(4) because reference character “16” in Fig.1 has been used to designate two different blocks which are defined as “an image processing unit” and “an output interface” in the specification page 11 lines 1-2 and 6. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, requires the specification to be written in “full, clear, concise, and exact terms.” The specification is replete with terms which are not clear, concise and exact. The specification should be revised carefully in order to comply with 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112. Examples of some unclear, inexact or verbose terms used in the specification are:
1) “an image processing unit 16” in the specification page 11 lines 1-2;
2) “an output interface 16” in the specification page 11 line 6.
Claim Objections
Claim 5 objected to because of the following informalities: “an image processing unit” in line 2. It appears that “further comprising” is missing. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 12 objected to because of the following informalities: “the form” in line 4. It appears that “the” should be “a”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 13, 15 objected to because of the following informalities: “AI” in claim 13 line 3, claim 15 line 2, respectively. The acronym AI should be accompanied by the language they represent when first introduced. Appropriate corrections are required.
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.
Claims 5 and 11 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 5 recites the limitation " an image processing unit" in line 2. It is indefinite because it is not clear what is the relationship between the " an image processing unit" in line 2 and “The system” in line 1. Because the claim is indefinite and cannot be properly construed, for purposes of examination, this limitation is being interpreted as “further comprising an image processing unit”. Appropriate clarification is required.
Claim 11 recites the limitation “the system comprises a plurality of RF signal generators” in lines 2-3. It is indefinite because it is not clear whether or not the “a plurality of RF signal generators” in lines 2-3 relates to the “one or more RF signal generators” mentioned in claim 1 line 7. Because the claim is indefinite and cannot be properly construed, for purposes of examination, this limitation is being interpreted as “the [[system]] one or more RF signal generators comprises a plurality of RF signal generators”. Appropriate clarification is required.
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 15 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because claim 15 disclose non-statutory embodiments (under the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) of the claims when read in light of the specification and in view of one skilled in the art) and non-statutory subject matter is not eligible for patent protection.
Claim 15 recites “Use”, which covers non-transitory media and transitory propagating signals. The transitory embodiments are not directed to statutory subject matter and not eligible for patent protection. The claims do not limit the “Use” to the statutory embodiments. The BRI of “Use” encompasses non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, such as a propagating and/or processing signal per se. When the BRI of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. §101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1356-1357 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (a transitory, propagating signal does not fall within any statutory category). Thus, a claim to “Use” that can be a carrier wave covers a non-statutory embodiment and therefore should be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter. So claim 15 fail step 1 of the eligibility analysis for “the four categories of statutory subject matter”, that is, claim 15 failures to fall within a statutory class.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-8, 11-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (US 2022/0196798, Chen).
Regarding claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that A system for generating images of RF signals and/or RF impairments { title (high end imaging radar); [0066] line 7 (the transmission of radio signals); [0181] lines 9-11 (Noise sources, outliers, interferers and multipath may cause interference within the radar device.); Examiner’s note: [0181] lines 9-11 for “RF impairments”}, comprising:
a receiving unit { Fig.3 item 309 (radar processor) from item 303 (receive antennas) via items 306 (RX), 308 (ADC), 317 (parameters) ; [0103] line 6 (receive antennas 303.) } configured to receive:
- information on a number of RF signals and/or RF impairments { Fig.3 items 303, 306 (RX), 308 (ADC); [0066] line 7 (the transmission of radio signals); [0103] lines 1 (radar device 300), 6 (receive antennas 303.) }, and
- image parameters { Fig.3 item 317 (parameters); [0112] lines 2-4 (a feedback controller 316, which may be configured to determine a plurality of reconfigurable radio parameters 317), 12-18 (determine the reconfigurable radio parameters, for example, based on one or more sensing indicators, such as maximum unambiguous ranger (Rmax), maximum radial velocity (Vmax), angular FOY (HFOV, VFOV), range resolution (Rres), radial velocity resolution (Vres), or Angular resolution (at boresight) (Hres, Vertical Res).); [0258] lines 6-9 (The complex values image may include a four-dimensional complex values image representative of a range, a doppler, an azimuth, and an elevation of the one or more objects.); Examiner’s note: “parameters 317” relates to resolution, therefore for “image parameters” because each pixel or bin in “complex values image” represents the resolution. };
one or more RF signal generators configured to generate the number of RF signals and/or RF impairments according to the received information { Fig.3 items 302, 304 (radar frontend), 305 (TX), 307 (DAC), 317 (parameters); Fig.4 item 403 (waveform); [0103] line 5 (one or more transmit antennas 302), 7 (radar frontend 304); [0130] line 5 (waveform 403)};
an image generation unit configured to generate an image of a frequency spectrum and/or a spectrogram of the generated RF signals and/or RF impairments according to the received image parameters { Fig.3 item 309 (radar processor), 317 (parameters); Fig.5 (FFT, speed vs. range); Fig.15; [0258] lines 6-9 (The complex values image may include a four-dimensional complex values image representative of a range, a doppler, an azimuth, and an elevation of the one or more objects.); Examiner’s note: “parameters 317” relates to resolution, therefore for “image parameters” because each pixel or bin in “complex values image” represents the resolution. Pixels and data ranges in Fig.15 are from parameters 317.};
a calculation unit configured to calculate a bounding box for at least one of the RF signals and/or for at least one of the RF impairments in the generated image { Fig.8; Fig.20 item 2001, 2003 (4D input data voxel); Fig.22; [0012] (FIG. 8, a neural network) ; [0026] lines 1-2 (FIG. 22 illustrates a 2-D representation of an exemplary output of the first neural network); [0313] lines 1-4 (The neural network 2000 includes a first neural network (also referred to as first neural network stage) 2001 and a second neural network (also referred to as second neural network stage) 2002.); [0327] lines 1-4 (For various objects (in this example in the form of slanted rectangles) the first neural network 2001 determines bounding boxes ( dashed straight rectangles) as well as a class for each object)},
wherein the bounding box indicates a location of the respective RF signal and/or RF impairment in the generated image { [0327] lines 1-4 (For various objects (in this example in the form of slanted rectangles) the first neural network 2001 determines bounding boxes ( dashed straight rectangles) as well as a class for each object)}; and
a memory configured to store the generated image together with the bounding box {Fig.42; Fig.43; [0109] lines 1-3 (a storage 312 or a memory 313, e.g. storing digital radar reception data values being processed by the radar processor 309); [0506] lines 4-5 (Each of these operational blocks 4301, 4302, 4303 stores processing results in a memory)}.
Regarding claim 2, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system,
the bounding box indicates a frequency and/or time range of the respective RF signal and/or RF impairment in the image {Fig.5 (FFT, speed-range); Fig.21 item 2101 (range-Doppler); Fig.22; [0026] lines 1-2 (FIG. 22 illustrates a 2-D representation of an exemplary output of the first neural network); [0325] lines 1-2 (FIG. 22 illustrates a 2-D representation 2200 of an exemplary output of the first neural network 2101.) }.
Regarding claim 3, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system,
the memory is configured to further store at least a part of the received information and/or the received image parameters together with the image { Fig.40; Fig.43; [0109] lines 1-3 (a storage 312 or a memory 313, e.g. storing digital radar reception data values being processed by the radar processor 309); [0506] lines 4-8 (Each of these operational blocks 4301, 4302, 4303 stores processing results in a memory, The DNN processor 4302 and the tracking & sequence NN core 4303 take input data from the memory 4304); [0534] lines 14-16 (The radar processing device may store the radar reception data values represented in the tree data structure in a memory.) }.
Regarding claim 5, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that the system,
an image processing unit configured to further manipulate the generated image based on the image parameters {Fig.3 item 309 (radar processor); Fig.26; Fig.29; Figs.31-32 }.
Regarding claim 6, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system, the receiving unit is configured to receive the information on the number of RF signals and/or RF impairments from at least one of:
a graphical user interface, a random signal generator, a database with sorted signal profiles, and a descriptive list of signal profiles { Fig.3 items 303, 306 (RX), 317 from 361; [0112] lines 2-5 (a feedback controller 316, which may be configured to determine a plurality of reconfigurable radio parameters 317, for example, based on output 318 of the radar processor 309.), 12-18 (determine the reconfigurable radio parameters, for example, based on one or more sensing indicators, such as maximum unambiguous ranger (Rmax), maximum radial velocity (Vmax), angular FOY (HFOV, VFOV), range resolution (Rres), radial velocity resolution (Vres), or Angular resolution (at boresight) (Hres, Vertical Res).); Examiner’s Note: signal from item 303 for “a random signal generator” because detected object is randomly received. [0112] lines 12-18 for “a descriptive list of signal profiles” }.
Regarding claim 7, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system, the information on the number of RF signals and/or RF impairments comprises at least one of:
a type of the RF signals and/or RF impairments, a temporal behavior of the RF signals and/or RF impairments, a frequency behavior of the of RF signals and/or RF impairments, and a level behavior of the RF signals and/or RF impairments { Fig.4 item 403; [0112] lines 2-11 (a feedback controller 316, which may be configured to determine a plurality of reconfigurable radio parameters 317, for example, based on output 318 of the radar processor 309. The reconfigurable radio parameters 317 may include a waveform, a modulation, a center frequency, a bandwidth, a polarization, a beamforming directivity, phase and/or amplitude values, e.g., control signals to the radar frontend, for example a radiofrequency lens, antennas, transmitters and receivers, and/or any other additional or alternative parameters) }.
Regarding claim 8, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system, the image parameters comprise at least one of:
a number of frequency bins in the image, a number of time bins in the image, a storage format for the image, and a storage location for the image { Fig.3 item 309 (radar processor), 317 (parameters); Fig.5 (speed vs. range); Fig.15; Fig.40; Fig.43 (DRAM); [0112] lines 12-18 (determine the reconfigurable radio parameters, for example, based on one or more sensing indicators, such as maximum unambiguous ranger (Rmax), maximum radial velocity (Vmax), angular FOY (HFOV, VFOV), range resolution (Rres), radial velocity resolution (Vres), or Angular resolution (at boresight) (Hres, Vertical Res).); [0258] lines 6-9 (The complex values image may include a four-dimensional complex values image representative of a range, a doppler, an azimuth, and an elevation of the one or more objects.); [0343] lines 5-6 (bring the resulting data, compressed format); [0519] lines 1-4 (A pre-processor engine that sparsities 4D dense I/Q data through coarse detection ( e.g. through thresholding I/Q values) and writes detected voxels in compressed format.); Examiner’s note: “parameters 317” relates to resolution, therefore for “image parameters” and each pixel or bin in “complex values image” represents the resolution. }.
Regarding claim 11, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system, the system comprises
a plurality of RF signal generators which are arranged in a cascaded manner { Fig.4 items 403, 404 and 405 ; Examiner’s note: Fig.4 items 403, 404 and 405 are in “cascaded manner” }, and
which are configured to generate the RF signals and/or RF impairments in parallel { Fig.11 Tx Ant.1 to Ant.M; Examiner’s note: Ant.1 to Ant.M are in parallel.}.
Regarding claim 12, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that in the system,
the one or more RF signal generators comprise a pulse sequencer which is configured to generate at least one of the RF signals in the form of a radar pulse { Fig.4 item 401 (radar front end), 403, 407, ; [0111] lines 1-2 (the radio transmit signal 105, 214 may include a plurality of pulses); [0306] lines 3-4 from bottom (micro-power pulse Doppler radar operating) }.
Regarding claim 13, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that the system further comprising:
a training unit which is configured to use the generated image and the bounding box as training data for training an AI algorithm { Fig. 32; [0002] line 3 (artificial neural networks); [0036] lines 1-2 (FIG. 32 illustrates a self-supervised training of a neural network); [0116] lines 2-6 (an artificial intelligence engine, which may be trainable, according to the radar perception data 318, the digital radar samples 319, and/or intermediate radar processing data 320 from the radar processor 309.); Examiner’s note: “self-supervised training” for “use the generated image and the bounding box as training data” }.
Regarding claim 14, Chen (‘798) discloses that A method { Fig.3; Figs.18-19; [0022] line 2 (method of operating a radar device) } for generating images of RF signals and/or RF impairments, comprising:
receiving information on a number of RF signals and/or RF impairments, and on image parameters;
generating the number of RF signals and/or RF impairments according to the received information;
generating an image of a frequency spectrum and/or a spectrogram of the generated RF signals and/or RF impairments according to the received image parameters;
calculating a bounding box for at least one of the RF signals and/or for at least one of the RF impairments in the generated image,
wherein the bounding box indicates a location of the respective RF signal and/or RF impairment in the generated image; and
storing the generated image together with the bounding box.
{The claim limitations above are the same or substantially the same scope as the corresponding claim limitations in claim 1. Therefore the claim limitations above are rejected in the same or substantially the same manner as in claim 1. See the rejections of claim 1}.
Regarding claim 15, Chen (‘798) discloses that Use of the image and the bounding box generated with the method of claim 14 for training an AI algorithm {Fig.3; Fig.15; Fig.21; Fig.22; Fig.32; [0036] (FIG. 32 illustrates a self-supervised training of a neural network) }.
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 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (‘798) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Bodnariuc et al . (US 2023/0008015, hereafter Bodnariuc).
Regarding claim 4, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) does not explicitly disclose “the memory is configured to store the image and the bounding box in an encrypted manner”. In the same field of endeavor, Bodnariuc (‘015) discloses that in the system,
the memory is configured to store the image and the bounding box in an encrypted manner { [0033] lines 5-6 ( a memory for saving the encoded image) }.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen (‘798) with the teachings of Bodnariuc (‘015) { save encoded image in memory} to save encoded image in memory. Doing so would record images so as to store large amount of streamed image data from physical sensors for desired applications (e.g. ), as recognized by Bodnariuc (‘015) {[0001] lines 2-3 (the amount of image data which is streamed is ever increasing, recording images by physical sensors); [0005] lines 7-11 (The first data stream comprises a 3D data cube including azimuth, range, and velocity dimensions . Data of the 3D data cube that is not included in the one or more 3D bounding boxes is discarded after classification)}.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (‘798) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Harrison (US 2021/0255300, hereafter Harrison).
Regarding claim 9, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) discloses that the system further comprising:
an output interface configured to transmit the stored image and the bounding box to an { Fig.20 item 2001 to item 2002; [0313] lines 1-4 (The neural network 2000 includes a first neural network (also referred to as first neural network stage) 2001 and a second neural network (also referred to as second neural network stage) 2002.)}.
However, Chen (‘798) does not explicitly disclose (see words with underline) “an output interface configured to transmit the stored image and the bounding box to an external device”. In the same field of endeavor, Harrison (‘300) discloses that
an output interface configured to transmit the stored image and the bounding box to an external device {[0060] lines 6-7 (the objects detected in scene 502 are shown in the range - doppler map with bounded boxes); [0077] lines 7-9 (The output device interface 1006 may enable , for example , the display of images generated by electronic system 1000), 11 (printer), 18 (touchscreen) }.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen (‘798) with the teachings of Harrison (‘300) {output image to an external device (e.g. to display, print)} to output image to an external device (e.g. to display, print). Doing so would output processed data (e.g. image) in a certain format (e.g. visual, print) so as to interact with user (e.g. using touchscreen), as recognized by Harrison (‘300) {[0077] lines 1-6 from bottom (as both input and output devices , such as a touchscreen . In these implementations , feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback , such as visual feedback , auditory feedback , or tactile feedback ; and input from the user can be received in any form , including acoustic , speech , or tactile input .)}.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen (‘798) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cirillo et al. (US 2017/0212216 , hereafter Cirillo).
Regarding claim 10, which depends on claim 1, Chen (‘798) does not explicitly disclose that “the one or more RF signal generators comprise at least one fading generator configured to generate at least one of the RF impairments”. In the same field of endeavor, Cirillo (‘216) discloses that in the system,
the one or more RF signal generators comprise at least one fading generator configured to generate at least one of the RF impairments {Fig.1 item 12 (SIG GEN); Fig.3 item 121 (FAD); [0050] line 1 from bottom (signal generator 12); [0051] line 4 (a fader 121)}.
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chen (‘798) with the teachings of Cirillo (‘216) {use fader in signal generator} to use fader in signal generator. Doing so would add signal in frequency (e.g. add a frequency shift) so as to generate desired radar signal (e.g. frequency shifted digital radar signal) for a certain application (e.g. measuring the ambiguity function of radar signals), as recognized by Cirillo (‘216) {[0007] line 2 (measuring the ambiguity function of radar signals); [0051] lines 3-6 (The digital radar signal 15 is provided to a fader 121, which adds a frequency shift to the digital radar signal 15 resulting in a frequency shifted digital radar signal 123.)}
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONGHONG LI whose telephone number is (571)272-5946. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at (571)270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YONGHONG LI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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