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 statement (IDS) submitted on 4/16/2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 2 recites the limitation “the frequency offset compensator rotates the phase of the signal r(k+n-1) of each symbol by (k-1) +nk”. However, the Specification discloses that the phase of the signal r(k+n-1) of each symbol is rotated by (k-1) +nDk by the frequency offset compensator ([0018], [0025]-[0026] and [0034] etc.). The Specification does not disclose “the frequency offset compensator rotates the phase of the signal r(k+n-1) of each symbol by (k-1) +nk”. The claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
(Based on the Specification, (k-1) +nk should be changed to (k-1) +nDk).
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 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hanaumi et al (JP 2017-028514. English Machine Translation was provided by Applicant with IDS).
1). With regard to claim 1, Hanaumi et al discloses a communication device ([0001], “a communication device and a method for correcting frequency offset”, Figures 1-3 etc.) comprising:
a receiver (Figures 1-3, [0018]) configured to receive a modulated signal including signals of a plurality of symbols ([0018], “The communication device shown in Figure 1 receives a symbol pattern in PN code transmitted from the transmitting communication device and demodulates it using a demodulator (MODEM unit)”; [0026] and [0032], [0035] and [0044] etc., 4PSK (QPSK) modulated, 2n/2 symbols); and
a frequency offset compensator (the “frequency offset estimation and correction unit 5”, Figures 3 and 4) configured to calculate a frequency offset of each signal of each symbol included in the modulated signal received by the receiver ([0018], “The frequency offset estimation and correction unit 5 estimates and determines the frequency offset correction value based on the symbol pattern for frequency offset estimation transmitted from the transmitting side.”), calculate a statistical value (by the “forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27”) of a calculated frequency offset of each signal of each symbol ([0039], “In the forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27, the following equation (2) is used to average Δr(n) for each symbol”), and compensate for the frequency offset by rotating a phase of a signal of each symbol on the basis of a calculated statistical value of the frequency offset and a value of the frequency offset corresponding to the signal of each symbol ([0040]-[0043] and Equation 3 in [0042], “In the ATAN calculation circuit 32, the ATAN (Arctangent) is calculated using the real and imaginary parts of R(n) obtained in the forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27, and the rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol is obtained by dividing by 2n/2. The second complex multiplier 33 calculates the phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol of the demodulator using Δφ(n-1) delayed by the one-symbol delay circuit 34, the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol, and the phase rotation angle Δφer(n) of the average residual frequency offset, by performing the process shown in equation (3)”, and “The estimated phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol is multiplied with the signal from the demodulator 22 by the first complex multiplier 35. This allows the frequency offset to be corrected by the frequency offset amount, which is corrected for residual phase error”. That is, the phase of the nth symbol is rotated by the phase correction amount Δφ(n) on the basis of the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol (a statistical value of the frequency offset) and a value of the frequency offset corresponding to the signal of each symbol, e.g., Equation 3 in [0043], the Δφ(n-1) and Δer(n) are used).
2). With regard to claim 2, Hanaumi et al discloses wherein, in a case where the signal of each symbol is represented by r(k+n) (k is an integer equal to or greater than 1, and n is an integer equal to or greater than 0), the frequency offset compensator rotates the phase of the signal r(k+n-1) of each symbol by (k-1) +nk (note: refer to 112 rejection above, the “nk” should be nDk. In the claim 2, while n=1, the frequency offset compensator rotates the phase of the signal r(k) of each symbol by (k-1) +Df(k). In Hanaumi, [0041]-[0043], “The second complex multiplier 33 calculates the phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol of the demodulator using Δφ(n-1) delayed by the one-symbol delay circuit 34, the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol, and the phase rotation angle Δφer(n) of the average residual frequency offset, by performing the process shown in equation (3)”, that is, Δφ(n) ∝ Δφ(n-1) + (Δθ(n)+ Δφer(n)), in which Δφ(n) corresponds to applicant’s (k), Δφ(n-1) corresponds to applicant’s (k-1), and (Δθ(n)+ Δφer(n)) corresponds to applicant’s Dk).
3). With regard to claim 3, Hanaumi et al discloses a frequency offset compensation method comprising:
receiving a modulated signal including signals of a plurality of symbols (by a receiver in Figures 1-3, [0018], “The communication device shown in Figure 1 receives a symbol pattern in PN code transmitted from the transmitting communication device and demodulates it using a demodulator (MODEM unit)”; [0026] and [0032], [0035] and [0044] etc., 4PSK (QPSK) modulated, 2n/2 symbols); and
calculating a frequency offset of each signal of each symbol included in a received modulated signal (by “frequency offset estimation and correction unit 5”, Figures 3 and 4; [0018], “The frequency offset estimation and correction unit 5 estimates and determines the frequency offset correction value based on the symbol pattern for frequency offset estimation transmitted from the transmitting side.”), calculating a statistical value of a calculated frequency offset of each signal of each symbol ([0039], “In the forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27, the following equation (2) is used to average Δr(n) for each symbol”), and compensating for the frequency offset by rotating a phase of a signal of each symbol on the basis of a calculated statistical value of the frequency offset and a value of the frequency offset corresponding to the signal of each symbol ([0040]-[0043] and Equation 3 in [0042], “In the ATAN calculation circuit 32, the ATAN (Arctangent) is calculated using the real and imaginary parts of R(n) obtained in the forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27, and the rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol is obtained by dividing by 2n/2. The second complex multiplier 33 calculates the phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol of the demodulator using Δφ(n-1) delayed by the one-symbol delay circuit 34, the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol, and the phase rotation angle Δφer(n) of the average residual frequency offset, by performing the process shown in equation (3)”, and “The estimated phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol is multiplied with the signal from the demodulator 22 by the first complex multiplier 35. This allows the frequency offset to be corrected by the frequency offset amount, which is corrected for residual phase error”. That is, the phase of the nth symbol is rotated by the phase correction amount Δφ(n) on the basis of the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol (a statistical value of the frequency offset) and a value of the frequency offset corresponding to the signal of each symbol, e.g., Equation 3 in [0043], the Δφ(n-1) and Δer(n) are used).
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hanaumi et al (JP 2017-028514. English Machine Translation was provided by Applicant with IDS).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hanaumi et al (JP 2017-028514. English Machine Translation was provided by Applicant with IDS) in view of Igarashi et al (US 2021/0399809).
Hanaumi et al discloses a processes comprising:
receiving a modulated signal including signals of a plurality of symbols (by a receiver in Figures 1-3, [0018], “The communication device shown in Figure 1 receives a symbol pattern in PN code transmitted from the transmitting communication device and demodulates it using a demodulator (MODEM unit)”; [0026] and [0032], [0035] and [0044] etc., 4PSK (QPSK) modulated, 2n/2 symbols); and
calculating a frequency offset of each signal of each symbol included in a received modulated signal (by “frequency offset estimation and correction unit 5”, Figures 3 and 4; [0018], “The frequency offset estimation and correction unit 5 estimates and determines the frequency offset correction value based on the symbol pattern for frequency offset estimation transmitted from the transmitting side.”), calculating a statistical value of a calculated frequency offset of each signal of each symbol ([0039], “In the forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27, the following equation (2) is used to average Δr(n) for each symbol”), and compensating for the frequency offset by rotating a phase of a signal of each symbol on the basis of a calculated statistical value of the frequency offset and a value of the frequency offset corresponding to the signal of each symbol ([0040]-[0043] and Equation 3 in [0042], “In the ATAN calculation circuit 32, the ATAN (Arctangent) is calculated using the real and imaginary parts of R(n) obtained in the forgetting coefficient averaging circuit 27, and the rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol is obtained by dividing by 2n/2. The second complex multiplier 33 calculates the phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol of the demodulator using Δφ(n-1) delayed by the one-symbol delay circuit 34, the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol, and the phase rotation angle Δφer(n) of the average residual frequency offset, by performing the process shown in equation (3)”, and “The estimated phase correction amount Δφ(n) for the nth symbol is multiplied with the signal from the demodulator 22 by the first complex multiplier 35. This allows the frequency offset to be corrected by the frequency offset amount, which is corrected for residual phase error”. That is, the phase of the nth symbol is rotated by the phase correction amount Δφ(n) on the basis of the average phase rotation angle Δθ(n) of one symbol (a statistical value of the frequency offset) and a value of the frequency offset corresponding to the signal of each symbol, e.g., Equation 3 in [0043], the Δφ(n-1) and Δer(n) are used).
But, Hanaumi et al does not expressly disclose that the processes is performed by a computer, and a non-transitory storage medium stores a program for making the computer perform the processes.
However, Igarashi et al discloses an optical receiver, and a frequency offset compensation is performed in the receiver (Figures 1-13), and a computer-readable recording medium is used to store program/instruction to make a computer to perform the frequency offset etc. functions ([0204]).
A non-transitory storage medium is an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other tangible physical device or means that can contain or store a computer program/instruction for use by or in connection with a computer-related system or method. One skilled in the art would have clearly recognized that the method of Hanaumi et al would have been implemented in a software/rpogram. The implemented software would perform same function of the hardware for less expense, adaptability, and flexibility. Therefore, it would have been obvious to have used the software/program in Hanaumi et al as taught by Igarashi et al in order to reduce cost and improve the adaptability and flexibility of the communication system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20170134115 A1
US 20150372766 A1
US 20150333838 A1
US 20140270810 A1
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/LI LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634
