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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 01/14/2025 and 06/11/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 C.F. R 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Oath/Declaration
The Oath/Declaration filed on 01/14/2025 is hereby acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawings were received on 01/14/2025. These drawings are acceptable.
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 1, 3-4 and 12-15 are 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 1 recites in lines 9, 11, and 15 the limitations “a predetermined threshold.” It is unclear if these “predetermined threshold” are same or different “predetermined threshold.”
Claim 12 recites in lines 9, 11, and 14 the limitations “a predetermined threshold.” It is unclear if these “predetermined threshold” are same or different “predetermined threshold.”
Claim 15 recites in line 4 the limitations “the threshold.” It is unclear if this “threshold” is same or different “the predetermined threshold” recited earlier in the claim or in claim 12.
Claims 3-4 and 13-14 are rejected for at least its dependency on claims 1 and 12, respectively.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5-14 and 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Varteva (US 20110019765 A1) in view of KIM et al. (US 20150303992 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Varteva discloses;
A method (Fig. 6) comprising:
providing a controller forming part of a wireless device (Fig. 1: Controller 20 “of a mobile terminal 10”) for at least one of transmitting data or receiving data over an ultra-wideband (UWB) link with another wireless device (Fig. 2, 3: terminal 10 transmitting and receiving data impulse using “ultra wideband signal [link]” with at least one other wireless device 76 and/or Tag 74 and/or “a Base Station, Mobile Switching Center and Interworking function (BMI) 66”); wherein
the controller executes a process with respect to encoding data for transmission comprising:
receiving digital data to be transmitted (Fig. 3, Para. [0042], [0048], Table 1: “the memory buffer 90 could be configured to buffer input data [“digital “a digital "one" (or high) value” and “a digital "zero" (or low) value”] for processing by the control logic 84, the encoder 86 and/or the decoder 88.” Table 1: “Input data (4 bits)” );
encoding the digital data to be transmitted (Fig. 3, Para. [0048]: “input data of a given number of bits (e.g., N-bits, where N is an integer constant) may be encoded [by encoder 88].” Table 1: “Encoded data (1 + 4 bits)”);
determining whether a factor associated with a first symbol or a set of first symbols exceeds a predetermined threshold (Para. [0048]: “if more than half of the bits [a factor] of the input word (e.g., >N/2) [exceeds a predetermined threshold] have a high value…” That is, determines if in “an input data of a given number of bits (e.g., N-bits, where N is an integer constant)” the number of “one”/ “1” is >N/2 or not. Table 1: “Number of ‘1’ bits in input data”);
upon determining that the factor associated with the first symbol or the set of first symbols exceeds a predetermined threshold inverting the first symbol or the set of first symbols (Para. [0048]: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value, the entire input word may be encoded by inverting the bit values and adding an indication bit to indicate the status of encoding (e.g., indicating that an inversion has been performed).” Table 1: all “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” in the format ‘1’ + xxxx (xxxx represents 4 bit input data/word) indicating inversion of the “input data” since “more than [exceeds] half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value”) and using the inverted first symbol or the set of first symbols…for transmission (Table 1: the inverted input data/word is generated as “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission);
upon determining that the factor associated with the first symbol or the set of first symbols does not exceed a predetermined threshold (Para. [0048]: “if half or less then half of the bits of the input word (e.g.,
≤
N/2) initially have high values, the input word is encoded by adding only the indication bit to indicate the status of encoding (e.g., indicating that no inversion has been performed)”) using the first symbol or the set of first symbols…for transmission (Table 1: same input data/word bits are used to generate “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission); and
adding a bit…(Table 1: in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”, “1” bit is added to the 4 bit input data) which indicates whether…the first symbol or the set of first symbols or with the first symbol or the set of first symbols inverted (Para. [0048], Table 1 in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits),” “1” bit is used for either “indicating that an inversion has been performed” or “indicating that no inversion has been performed” to the input data).
Although Varteva teaches encoding input data to generated “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission, Varteva does state that such “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” constitute:
“a data packet.”
On the other hand, KIM et al. teaches (Fig. 7, Para. [0015], Para. [0093]) encoding “to set a polarity bit” and “data bits” in:
“a data packet (Fig. 7, Para. [0015]: “communication packet 700” includes “a polarity bit area 710 and a data area 720” where “a polarity bit indicating that data inversion is made”).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission in Varteva’s invention can be transmitted in a data packet as taught by KIM et al., where doing so would (KIM et al., Para. [0077]) “minimize or reduce power consumption.”
Regarding Claim 3, Varteva in view of KIM et al. discloses all as applied to claim 1 above, where Varteva further teaches;
wherein
the factor associated with the first symbol or the set of first symbols is a number of "1" bits within the first symbol or the set of first symbols (Para. [0048], [0055], Table 1: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value” ); and
the threshold is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2 (Para. [0048], [0055], Table 1: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value” when N = 4, the threshold = 4/2 = 2 or when N = 8 the threshold = 8/2 = 4 which are positive integer greater than or equal to 2).
Regarding Claim 12, Varteva discloses;
A method (Fig. 6) comprising:
providing a controller forming part of a wireless device (Fig. 1: Controller 20 “of a mobile terminal 10”) for at least one of transmitting data or receiving data over an ultra-wideband (UWB) link with another wireless device (Fig. 2, 3: terminal 10 transmitting and receiving data impulse using “ultra wideband signal [link]” with at least one other wireless device 76 and/or Tag 74 and/or “a Base Station, Mobile Switching Center and Interworking function (BMI) 66”); wherein
the controller executes a process with respect to encoding data for transmission comprising:
receiving digital data to be transmitted (Fig. 3, Para. [0042], [0048], Table 1: “the memory buffer 90 could be configured to buffer input data [“digital “a digital "one" (or high) value” and “a digital "zero" (or low) value”] for processing by the control logic 84, the encoder 86 and/or the decoder 88.” Table 1: “Input data (4 bits)” );
encoding the digital data to be transmitted (Fig. 3, Para. [0048]: “input data of a given number of bits (e.g., N-bits, where N is an integer constant) may be encoded [by encoder 88].” Table 1: “Encoded data (1 + 4 bits)”);
determining whether a number of a first symbol within the encoded digital data exceeds a predetermined threshold (Para. [0048]: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) [exceeds a predetermined threshold] have a high value…” That is, determines if in “an input data of a given number of bits (e.g., N-bits, where N is an integer constant)” the number of “one”/ “1” is >N/2 or not. Table 1: “Number of ‘1’ bits in input data”);
upon determining that the number of the first symbol within the encoded digital data exceeds a predetermined threshold inverting the encoded data to generate data for transmission (Para. [0048]: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value, the entire input word may be encoded by inverting the bit values and adding an indication bit to indicate the status of encoding (e.g., indicating that an inversion has been performed).” Table 1: all “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” in the format ‘1’ + xxxx (xxxx represents 4 bit input data/word) indicating inversion of the “input data” since “more than [exceeds] half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value” and the inverted input data/word is generated as “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission);
upon determining that the number of the first symbol within the encoded digital data does not exceed a predetermined threshold using the encoded data to generate the data for transmission (Para. [0048]: “if half or less then half of the bits of the input word (e.g.,
≤
N/2) initially have high values, the input word is encoded by adding only the indication bit to indicate the status of encoding (e.g., indicating that no inversion has been performed)” and the same input data/word bits are used to generate “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission);
providing a first portion…(Table 1: in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”, “1” bit position constitute a first portion of the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”) for transmission defining whether the encoded data has been inverted or not (Para. 0048], Table 1 in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”, “1” bit is used for either “indicating that an inversion has been performed” or “indicating that no inversion has been performed” to the input data);
providing the data for transmission as a second portion…for transmission (Table 1: in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”, “4” bit position constitute a second portion of the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission).
Although Varteva teaches providing first and second portions in “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission, Varteva does state that such “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” constitute:
“a data packet.”
On the other hand, KIM et al. teaches (Fig. 7, Para. [0015], Para. [0093]) encoding “to set a polarity bit” and “data bits” in:
“a data packet (Fig. 7, Para. [0015]: “communication packet 700” includes “a polarity bit area 710 and a data area 720” where “a polarity bit indicating that data inversion is made”).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission in Varteva’s invention can be transmitted in a data packet including “a polarity bit area 710 and a data area 720” where “a polarity bit indicating that data inversion is made” as taught by KIM et al., where doing so would (KIM et al., Para. [0077]) “minimize or reduce power consumption.”
Regarding Claim 13, Varteva in view of KIM et al. discloses all as applied to claim 12 above, where Varteva further teaches;
wherein
the predetermined threshold is whether the number of the first symbol within the encoded digital data exceeds a number of a second symbol within the encoded digital data (Para. [0048], [0055], Table 1: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value.” That is, the predetermine threshold, >N/2, defines whether the number of ‘1’/first bits/symbol greater than a number of ‘0’ bits/symbol within the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” data).
Regarding Claim 14, Varteva in view of KIM et al. discloses all as applied to claim 12 above, where Varteva further teaches;
wherein
the digital data is encoded with an on/off keying modulation format (Fig. 5, Para. [0051]: “FIG. 5 illustrates an example of OOK modulation (e.g., in an impulse UWB system) corresponding to a binary sequence”); and
the predetermined threshold is whether the number of the first symbol within the encoded digital data exceeds a number of a second symbol within the encoded digital data (Para. [0048], [0055], Table 1: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value.” That is, the predetermine threshold, >N/2, defines whether the number of ‘1’/first bits/symbol greater than a number of ‘0’ bits/symbol within the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” data).
Regarding Claim 16, Varteva discloses;
A method (Fig. 6) comprising:
providing a controller forming part of a wireless device (Fig. 1: Controller 20 “of a mobile terminal 10”) for at least one of transmitting data or receiving data over an ultra-wideband (UWB) link with another wireless device (Fig. 2, 3: terminal 10 transmitting and receiving data impulse using “ultra wideband signal [link]” with at least one other wireless device 76 and/or Tag 74 and/or “a Base Station, Mobile Switching Center and Interworking function (BMI) 66”); wherein
the controller executes a process with respect to encoding data for transmission comprising:
receiving digital data to be transmitted (Fig. 3, Para. [0042], [0048], Table 1: “the memory buffer 90 could be configured to buffer input data [“digital “a digital "one" (or high) value” and “a digital "zero" (or low) value”] for processing by the control logic 84, the encoder 86 and/or the decoder 88.” Table 1: “Input data (4 bits)” );
encoding the digital data to be transmitted (Fig. 3, Para. [0048]: “input data of a given number of bits (e.g., N-bits, where N is an integer constant) may be encoded [by encoder 88].” Table 1: “Encoded data (1 + 4 bits)”);
determining whether a number of a first symbol within the encoded digital data exceeds a predetermined threshold (Para. [0048]: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2 [a predetermined threshold]) have a high value [‘1’ bits/symbol…” That is, determines if in “an input data of a given number of bits (e.g., N-bits, where N is an integer constant)” the number of “one”/ “1” bit/symbol is >N/2 or not. Table 1: “Number of ‘1’ bits/symbol in input data”);
upon determining that the symbol or set of symbols within the encoded digital data requiring increased wireless emission relative to the another symbol or another set of symbols exceeds the threshold (Fig.4, Para. [0048], [0050], [0056], Table 1: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value [first symbol]” where “a `1` bit [first symbol] could be transmitted at 100% power (e.g., full carrier signal power) and `0` symbol may be transmitted at 10% of the full carrier signal power. In any case, it is clear that transmitting a `1` symbol consumes more power [requiring increased wireless emission] than transmitting a `0` symbol”) inverting the encoded digital data for transmission as a portion…for (Para. [0048]: “if more than half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2 [the threshold]) have a high value, the entire input word may be encoded by inverting the bit values and adding an indication bit to indicate the status of encoding (e.g., indicating that an inversion has been performed).” Table 1: all “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” in the format ‘1’ + xxxx (xxxx represents 4 bit input data/word) indicating inversion of the “input data” since “more than [exceeds] half of the bits of the input word (e.g., >N/2) have a high value”));
upon determining that the symbol or set of symbols within the encoded digital data requiring increased wireless emission relative to the another symbol or another set of symbols does not exceed the threshold (Fig.4, Para. [0048], [0050], [0056], Table 1: “if half or less then half of the bits of the input word (e.g., ≤N/2 [the threshold]) initially have high values ,” where “a `1` bit [first symbol] could be transmitted at 100% power (e.g., full carrier signal power) and `0` symbol may be transmitted at 10% of the full carrier signal power. In any case, it is clear that transmitting a `1` symbol consumes more power [requiring increased wireless emission] than transmitting a `0` symbol”) transmitting the encoded digital data as the portion…(Table 1: same input data/word bits are used to generate “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission); and
encoding within another portion…a bit (Table 1: in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”, “1” bit is added to the 4 bit input data) which indicates whether the encoded digital data has been inverted or not (Para. 0048], Table 1 in the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)”, “1” bit is used for either “indicating that an inversion has been performed” or “indicating that no inversion has been performed” to the input data).
Although Varteva teaches providing a portion and another portions in “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission, Varteva does state that such “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” constitute:
“a data packet.”
On the other hand, KIM et al. teaches (Fig. 7, Para. [0015], Para. [0093]) encoding “to set a polarity bit” and “data bits” in:
“a data packet (Fig. 7, Para. [0015]: “communication packet 700” includes “a polarity bit area 710 and a data area 720” where “a polarity bit indicating that data inversion is made”).”
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that the “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission in Varteva’s invention can be transmitted in a data packet including “a polarity bit area 710 [portion] and a data area 720 [another portion]” where “a polarity bit indicating that data inversion is made” as taught by KIM et al., where doing so would (KIM et al., Para. [0077]) “minimize or reduce power consumption.”
Regarding Claim 17, Varteva in view of KIM et al. discloses all as applied to claim 16 above, where Varteva further teaches;
wherein
the factor is the required wireless emission for transmitting the symbol or set of symbols (Fig. 4, 5, Para. [0050]: “a `1` bit could be transmitted at 100% power (e.g., full carrier signal power) [power is the factor for transmitting “`1` bit [symbol]”); and
the threshold is another required wireless emission for transmitting the another symbol or another set of symbols (Para. [0050]: “`0` symbol may be transmitted at 10% [10% is threshold for transmitting the another/“`0` symbol] of the full carrier signal power”).
Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Varteva (US 20110019765 A1) in view of KIM et al. (US 20150303992 A1) further in view of Orlik et al. (US 20060203931 A1).
Regarding Claim 4, Varteva in view of KIM et al. discloses all as applied to claim 1 above, however they do not teach;
wherein
the factor is a measure of the emitted wireless radiation of transmitting the first symbol or the set of first symbols; and
the predetermined threshold is a regulatory limit on spectral emission.
On the other hand, in similar field of endeavor (Para. [0003]: “ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) signals for wireless communication system”), Orlik et al. teaches:
the factor is a measure of the emitted wireless radiation of transmitting the first symbol or the set of first symbols (Para. [0003], [0005]: encoding UWB signals using “on-off keying (OOK)” where “the power spectral density and peak emissions power of UWB signals [the factor], e.g. less than -43.1 dBm/MHz”); and
the predetermined threshold is a regulatory limit on spectral emission (Para. [0003], [0005]: “The FCC order also limits [regulatory limit] the power spectral density and peak emissions power of UWB signals, e.g. less than -43.1 dBm/MHz [predetermined threshold]”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that in generating “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission in Varteva’s invention to consider as the factor “the power spectral density and peak emissions power of UWB signals [encoded 4 bit input data]” to be less than the predetermined threshold as set by the FCC as taught by Orlik et al., where doing so would (Orlik et al., Para. [0010]) “shape the spectrum of the transmitted signal and to reduce spectral lines.”
Regarding Claim 15, Varteva in view of KIM et al. discloses all as applied to claim 12 above, however they do not teach;
wherein
the predetermined threshold is a measure of the emitted wireless radiation required for transmitting the number of the first symbol within the encoded digital data; and
the threshold is a regulatory limit on spectral emission.
On the other hand, in similar field of endeavor (Para. [0003]: “ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) signals for wireless communication system”), Orlik et al. teaches:
the predetermined threshold is a measure of the emitted wireless radiation required for transmitting the number of the first symbol within the encoded digital data (Para. [0003], [0005]: encoding UWB signals using “on-off keying (OOK)” [encoded digital data] where “the power spectral density and peak emissions power of UWB signals, e.g. less than -43.1 dBm/MHz [the predetermined threshold]”); and
the threshold is a regulatory limit on spectral emission (Para. [0003], [0005]: “The FCC order also limits [regulatory limit] the power spectral density and peak emissions power of UWB signals, e.g. less than -43.1 dBm/MHz [predetermined threshold]”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that in generating “Encoded data (1 +4 bits)” for transmission in Varteva’s invention to consider the predetermined threshold as a measure of “the power spectral density and peak emissions power of UWB signals [encoded 4 bit input data]” to be less than the FCC limit as taught by Orlik et al., where doing so would (Orlik et al., Para. [0010]) “shape the spectrum of the transmitted signal and to reduce spectral lines.”
Conclusion
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/AMNEET SINGH/Examiner, Art Unit 2633 /SAM K AHN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2633
