DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 USC 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 USC 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis 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.
Request of Continued Examination
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 9, 11, 14, and 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1).
In regard to claim 1, Madsen discloses:
a controller (206, Fig. 2 and Fig. 10) coupled to one or more of a beamformer circuit (set of 602s: 602 in 408, Fig. 7; 408 in 206, Fig. 10; ¶66; ¶106) and a power amplifier array (set of 604s: 604 in 408, Fig. 7; 408 in 206, Fig. 10) [where 206 controls the beamforming circuit and the power amplifier array through its subcomponent register sets (¶106, lines 22-26; ¶66)],
wherein outputs of the beamformer circuit are coupled to inputs of the power amplifier array (double arrow connecting 602 and 604, Fig. 7) [where portions of the signal to be transmitted would pass from 602 (outputs) to 604 (inputs) before passing to 208 for transmission by antenna elements 208 (see also Fig. 10)];
the controller comprising:
a computation unit to determine on/off-control vectors for one or more of beamforming elements of the beamformer circuit and power amplifiers of the power amplifier array (1106 in 1006, Fig. 11; 1006 in 206, Fig. 10; ¶106; ¶114);
a first output configured to provide a first on/off-control vector only to the beamformer circuit, the first one/off-control vector configured to selectively activate or deactivate one or more of the beamforming elements; and a second output configured to provide a second on/off-control vector only to the power amplitude array, the second on/off-control vector configured to selectively activate or deactivate one or more of the power amplifiers (¶68; ¶74; ¶106; ¶111; ¶114) [where ¶68, lines 24-31 states: "the register set 406 may include separate registers that are used to store separate gain/amplitude and phase parameters for the corresponding beam forming channel 408, in which case the phase parameters from the phase register may be provided to the phase control circuitry 602 and the gain/amplitude parameters from the gain/amplitude register may be provided to the amplitude control circuitry 604". That is, for each beamforming channel 408 (see Fig. 7 and 10), a gain/amplitude vector of gain/amplitude parameters and a phase vector of phase parameters is output. Several values being treated as a set can be referred to as a vector. Thus, the phase parameters for Phase Control section 602 for BF channel 1 is a first on/off-control vector, and the gain/amplitude parameters for Amplitude Control section 604 BF channel 1 is a second on/off-control vector. The first on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one beamforming element, which the second on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one power amplifier.]
In regard to claim 11, Madsen discloses:
a controller (206, Fig. 2 and Fig. 10) coupled to a beamformer circuit (set of 602s: 602 in 408, Fig. 7; 408 in 206, Fig. 10; ¶66; ¶106) and a power amplifier array (set of 604s: 604 in 408, Fig. 7; 408 in 206, Fig. 10) [where 206 controls the beamforming circuit and the power amplifier array through its subcomponent register sets (¶106, lines 22-26; ¶66)],
wherein outputs of the beamformer circuit are coupled to inputs of the power amplifier array (double arrow connecting 602 and 604, Fig. 7) [where portions of the signal to be transmitted would pass from 602 (outputs) to 604 (inputs) before passing to 208 for transmission by antenna elements 208 (see also Fig. 10)];
the controller comprising:
a computation unit to determine a first on/off control vector and a second on/off control vector (1106 in 1006, Fig. 11; 1006 in 206, Fig. 10; ¶106; ¶114);
a first output to provide the first on/off-control vector only to the beamformer circuit, the first on/off-control vector to selectively activate or deactivate one or more beamforming elements; and a second output configured to provide the second on/off-control vector only to the power amplifier array, the second on/off-control vector to selectively activate or deactivate one or more of power amplifiers of the power amplifier array (¶68; ¶74; ¶106; ¶111; ¶114) [where ¶68, lines 24-31 states: "the register set 406 may include separate registers that are used to store separate gain/amplitude and phase parameters for the corresponding beam forming channel 408, in which case the phase parameters from the phase register may be provided to the phase control circuitry 602 and the gain/amplitude parameters from the gain/amplitude register may be provided to the amplitude control circuitry 604". That is, for each beamforming channel 408 (see Fig. 7 and 10), a gain/amplitude vector of gain/amplitude parameters and a phase vector of phase parameters is output. Several values being treated as a set can be referred to as a vector. Thus, the phase parameters for Phase Control section 602 for BF channel 1 is a first on/off-control vector, and the gain/amplitude parameters for Amplitude Control section 604 BF channel 1 is a second on/off-control vector. The first on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one beamforming element, which the second on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one power amplifier.]
In regard to claims 4 and 14, Madsen further discloses the controller further comprises a third output configured to provide, to the beamformer circuit, a control-vector pair (α,ψ) with gain and phase information for the one or more beamforming elements that are activated (¶64; ¶68).
In regard to claim 9, Madsen further discloses the controller is configured to determine a first set of power amplifiers to be activated and a second set of beamformer elements to be activated to achieve a selected efficiency (¶68; ¶106; ¶114) [where the selected efficiency is power efficiency].
In regard to claim 19, Madsen discloses:
a controller (206, Fig. 2 and Fig. 10) [where 206 controls the beamforming circuit and the power amplifier array through its subcomponent register sets (¶106, lines 22-26; ¶66)] configured to:
selectively activate or deactivate, by transmitting a first control vector only to one or more beamforming elements, the one or more beamforming elements within operational constraints of the power amplifier array to reduce DC power consumption of a phased array antenna; and selectively activate or deactivate, by transmitting a second control vector only to one or more power amplifiers, the, one or more power amplifiers of the power amplifier array to reduce DC power consumption of the phased array antenna (¶68; ¶74; ¶106; ¶111; ¶114) [where ¶68, lines 24-31 states: "the register set 406 may include separate registers that are used to store separate gain/amplitude and phase parameters for the corresponding beam forming channel 408, in which case the phase parameters from the phase register may be provided to the phase control circuitry 602 and the gain/amplitude parameters from the gain/amplitude register may be provided to the amplitude control circuitry 604". That is, for each beamforming channel 408 (see Fig. 7 and 10), a gain/amplitude vector of gain/amplitude parameters and a phase vector of phase parameters is output. Several values being treated as a set can be referred to as a vector. Thus, the phase parameters for Phase Control section 602 for BF channel 1 is a first on/off-control vector, and the gain/amplitude parameters for Amplitude Control section 604 BF channel 1 is a second on/off-control vector. The first on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one beamforming element, which the second on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one power amplifier.]
In regard to claim 20, Madsen further discloses:
the controller (206, Fig. 2 and Fig. 10) coupled to a beamformer circuit (set of 602s: 602 in 408, Fig. 7; 408 in 206, Fig. 10; ¶66; ¶106) and a power amplifier array (set of 604s: 604 in 408, Fig. 7; 408 in 206, Fig. 10) [where 206 controls the beamforming circuit and the power amplifier array through its subcomponent register sets (¶106, lines 22-26; ¶66)], the controller comprising:
a computation unit to determine the first control vector and a second control vector (1106 in 1006, Fig. 11; 1006 in 206, Fig. 10; ¶106; ¶114);
a first output to provide the first control vector to the beamformer circuit to selectively activate or deactivate one or more beamforming elements; and a second output configured to provide a second vector to selectively activate or deactivate the one or more of the power amplifiers of the phase array antenna (¶68; ¶74; ¶106; ¶111; ¶114) [where ¶68, lines 24-31 states: "the register set 406 may include separate registers that are used to store separate gain/amplitude and phase parameters for the corresponding beam forming channel 408, in which case the phase parameters from the phase register may be provided to the phase control circuitry 602 and the gain/amplitude parameters from the gain/amplitude register may be provided to the amplitude control circuitry 604". That is, for each beamforming channel 408 (see Fig. 7 and 10), a gain/amplitude vector of gain/amplitude parameters and a phase vector of phase parameters is output. Several values being treated as a set can be referred to as a vector. Thus, the phase parameters for Phase Control section 602 for BF channel 1 is a first on/off-control vector, and the gain/amplitude parameters for Amplitude Control section 604 BF channel 1 is a second on/off-control vector. The first on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one beamforming element, which the second on/off-control vector will selectively-activate or deactivate one power amplifier.]
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1), as applied to claim 1, above.
The Office takes Official Notice that one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it well known before the effective filing date of the invention to provide to a controller of an active phased array at manufacture the current operational constraints for the phased array antenna (e.g. number of antenna elements, operational range of the power amplifiers, operational range of the phase shifters) so that the controller knows what values it can set (i.e. so that the controller doesn't try to set a phase shift that the phase shifter is not capable of being set to).
Claim(s) 2, 10, and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1), as applied to claims 1, 9, and 11, and further in view of Soleimani (US 5,659,892 A).
In regard to claims 2 and 12, Madsen further discloses the controller is configured to determine one or more beamforming elements [in order to activate]; and selectively activate the one or more beamforming elements within operational constraints of the power amplifier array to reduce DC power consumption of a phased array antenna (¶68; ¶106; ¶114) [where the controller inherently operates within operational constraints, i.e., the controller cannot active a beamforming element that does not exist or set a power amplifier to amplify to an amplification value it is unable to be set to].
Madsen fails to disclose determining varying effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP).
Soleimani teaches determining varying effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) (col. 2, lines 12-23; col. 5, lines 30-38).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include this feature into the combination with a reasonable expectation of success in order to optimize the output power of the system such that it provides a sufficient amount of output power, but not more output power than is necessarily, as described in col. 2, lines 12-23 of Soleimani.
Additionally, this is a combining of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, the predictable result being that the output power of the system is optimized.
In regard to claim 10, Soleimani further teaches a selected power consumption level of a plurality of power consumption levels to achieve a selected isotropic radiated power and to maintain a selected beam pattern (col. 2, lines 12-23; col. 3, line 20-37) [where communication with the communication partner is being maintained].
Claim(s) 3 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1), as applied to claims 1 and 11, and further in view of Staudinger (US 2016/0094187 A1).
Madsen further discloses the controller is configured to determine one or more beamforming elements [in order to activate]; and selectively activate the one or more beamforming elements within operational constraints of the power amplifier array to reduce DC power consumption of a phased array antenna (¶68; ¶106; ¶114) [where the controller inherently operates within operational constraints, i.e., the controller cannot active a beamforming element that does not exist or set a power amplifier to amplify to an amplification value it is unable to be set to].
Madsen fails to disclose determining varying amplifier efficiency.
Staudinger teaches determining varying amplifier efficiency (¶55, lines 15-19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include this feature into the combination with a reasonable expectation of success in order to adjust the amplifier so that it operates with the lowest power necessary for its intended performance.
Additionally, this is a combining of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, the predictable result being that the amplifier so that it operates with the lowest power necessary for its intended performance.
Claim(s) 5 and 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1), as applied to claims 1 and 11, and further in view of Chen (WO 2019149242 A1).
In regard to claims 5 and 15, Madsen further discloses the system acting as a receiver (¶70).
Madsen fails to disclose the controller further comprises an input configured to receive an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) for a phased array antenna.
Chen teaches receiving an input comprising an effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) for a phased array antenna (Fig. 4; p. 2, lines 37-38; p. 4, lines 28-33).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include this feature into the combination with a reasonable expectation of success in order to allow the system to configure itself for the EIRP of the transmitter of the signal it is going to receive.
Additionally, this is a combining of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, the predictable result being that the system optimally sets its settings to receive the signal it is going to receiver from its communication partner.
In regard to claim 16, the Office takes Official Notice that one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it well known before the effective filing date of the invention to provide to a controller of an phased array antenna at manufacture the current operational constraints for the phased array antenna (e.g. number of antenna elements, operational range of the power amplifiers, operational range of the phase shifters) so that the controller knows what values it can set (i.e. so that the controller doesn't try to set a phase shift that the phase shifter is not capable of being set to).
Claim(s) 7 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1), as applied to claims 1 and 11, and further in view of Rauch (EP 1 349 269 A1).
Madsen fails to disclose a third input configured to receive measured RF output power for each element of the phased array antenna; a fourth input configured to receive measured consumed DC power of the power amplifier array; and a fifth input configured to receive measured consumed DC power of the beamformer circuit.
Rauch teaches receiving measured RF output power for the antenna (¶27); and receiving measured consumed DC power of the power amplifier array (¶27-28).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include this feature into the combination with a reasonable expectation of success in order to determine the efficiency of the system.
Additionally, this is a combining of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, the predictable result being that the efficiency of the system is known.
In the combination, the power of each element of the phased array antenna would contribute to the measured RF output power of the antenna, and the DC power consumed by the beamformer circuit would contribute to the total consumed DC power.
Claim(s) 8 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Madsen (US 2018/0062274 A1), as applied to claims 1 and 11, and further in view of Redvich (US 6,339,398 B1).
Madsen further teaches:
a signal controller including an input to receive a signal and including an output (404, Fig. 10);
the beamformer circuit (set of 602 in 408s, Fig. 10, see Fig. 7) including a first input coupled to the output of the signal controller (input from 404 to 408, Fig. 10); and a second input coupled to the controller and a third input coupled to the controller (inputs from CTRL to 402 to 1006 to 408, Fig. 10) and one or more second outputs (outputs from 602 to 604, Fig. 7);
the power amplifier array (set of 604 in 408s, Fig. 10, see Fig. 7) including one or more inputs coupled to the one or more second outputs of the beamformer (602 to 604, Fig. 7), the power amplifier array including a second input coupled to the controller (inputs from CTRL to 402 to 1006 to 408, Fig. 10), the power amplifier further including one or more third outputs to provide one or more signals to an input of an antenna array (outputs from 604 to 208, Fig. 7 and 10).
Madsen fails to disclose the beamformer circuit comprises a first output coupled to the controller; and the power amplifier array comprises a first output coupled to the controller and a second output coupled to the controller.
Redvich teaches outputs from the components of an antenna system being input into a controller in order for the controller to monitor for and compensate for failed components (col. 2, lines 30-46).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to include this feature into the combination with a reasonable expectation of success in order to allow an antenna system to maintain its desired radiation pattern by compensating for failed components.
Additionally, this is a combining of prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results, the predictable result being that the antenna system maintains its desired radiation pattern.
In the combination, the beamformer circuit will comprise a first output coupled to the controller; and the power amplifier array will comprise a first output coupled to the controller and a second output coupled to the controller [i.e. outputs from each amplifier 604].
The following reference(s) is/are also found relevant:
Kimball (US 2020/0328623 A1), which teaches power tracking the output of an antenna array element-by-element.
Jung (US 2010/0117913 A1), which teaches activating and deactivating beamformer circuits/amplifiers on a subarray-by-subarray basis.
Applicant is encouraged to consider these documents in formulating their response (if one is required) to this Office Action, in order to expedite prosecution of this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on p. 7-14, with respect to the prior art rejection(s) have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues:
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However, ¶68, lines 24-31 of Madsen states (emphasis added): "the register set 406 may include separate registers that are used to store separate gain/amplitude and phase parameters for the corresponding beam forming channel 408, in which case the phase parameters from the phase register may be provided to the phase control circuitry 602 and the gain/amplitude parameters from the gain/amplitude register may be provided to the amplitude control circuitry 604". 602 and 604 are explicitly separate in the embodiment of Fig. 7, and they are receiving separate sets of parameters, i.e., vectors. Additionally, applicant is conflating what applicant calls “beamforming circuits” with what Madsen calls “beamforming channels”. A beamforming channel in Madsen includes both phase control 602 (corresponding to applicant’s “beamforming circuit”) and amplitude control 604 (corresponding to applicants “phase amplifier”).
Applicant’s additional arguments merely cite claim language and argue the claim language is not taught by the references. The rejection, above, cites where each limitation is present in the respective reference.
Since applicant has not traversed the Official Notice taken by the Office, the well-known in the art statements outlined in the Official Notice are taken to be admitted prior art. See MPEP 2144.03(C), ¶2.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fred H. Mull whose telephone number is 571-272-6975. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from approximately 9-5:30 Eastern Time.
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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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Fred H. Mull
Examiner
Art Unit 3648
/F. H. M./
Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/BERNARR E GREGORY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
