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 § 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) 1-9, 21-29, and 33-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsson (US 11,405,083) and Chaganti et al. (US 9,615,262), and further in view of Nielsen (US 2007/0290936).
Referring to Claim 1, Nilsson teaches a method comprising:
causing each antenna of a plurality of antennas (see col. 7, lines 46-49 showing multiple antennas, where an antenna consists of an antenna port and one or more antenna elements as described in col. 2, lines 60-63, on a panel) of a network device (see col. 7, lines 39-40 showing the antenna ports connected to a DBF network) to move to a plurality of positions (see col. 7, lines 50-53 showing the panel movable to at least two different positions);
determining, based on a performance of each antenna of the plurality of antennas at each position of the plurality of positions, and based on a performance associated with a plurality of devices in communication with the network device, an aggregate performance value (see col. 7, lines 22-33 noting that the antenna ports measure signal strength in at least two directions and fig. 3A which shows 25 different directions in which signal strength is measured and determining which direction has the highest signal strength measurement which is the aggregate performance value in addition to fig. 4 which shows multiple devices 402 in communication with the network device 200);
determining, for each antenna of the plurality of antennas, a position of the plurality of positions associated with a highest aggregate performance value (see col. 7, lines 22-33 which shows determining which direction has the highest signal strength measurement which is the aggregate performance value in which case in fig. 3A it is direction D20); and
causing each antenna of the plurality of antennas to move to the position of the plurality of positions associated with the highest aggregate performance value (see col. 7, lines 26-28 which shows the panel of antennas positioned in the direction of highest signal strength).
Nilsson does not teach moving an antenna to a plurality of positions in a three-dimensional (3D) space. Chaganti teaches moving an antenna to a plurality of positions in a three-dimensional (3D) space (see col. 8, lines 19-32 noting the ability to move an antenna in 3D space by use of x, y, and z axises). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Chaganti to the device of Nilsson in order to optimize signal quality by enabling the antennas to have a higher range of movement.
The combination of Nilsson and Chagnati does not teach each antenna of a plurality of antennas independently moving to a position of a plurality of positions associated with a highest performance value. Nielsen teaches each antenna of a plurality of antennas independently moving to a position of a plurality of positions associated with a highest performance value (see paragraphs 13 and 17 which shows a master and slave antenna of the same antenna assembly independently moving according to received signal strengths from other devices and each pointing in the optimal direction as a result of multiple received signal strength measurements in different positions). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Nielsen to the modified device of Nilsson and Chagnati in order to more accurately position the device for optimal signal quality.
Claim 21 has similar limitations as claim 1 other than a processor 702 (fig. 7) and memory 701 (fig. 7) which is taught by Nilsson.
Referring to Claim 33, Nilsson teaches a method comprising:
causing each antenna of a plurality of antennas of a network device (see col. 7, lines 39-40 showing the antenna ports connected to a DBF network) to move to a plurality of positions (see col. 7, lines 46-49 showing multiple antennas, where an antenna consists of an antenna port and one or more antenna elements, on a panel and lines 50-53 showing the panel movable to at least two different positions wherein when the panel moves, each antenna on the panel also moves);
determining, for each position of the plurality of positions in which each antenna of the plurality of antennas is in communication with each device of a plurality of devices, a performance value associated with each antenna of the plurality of antennas (see col. 7, lines 22-33 noting that each of the antenna ports measure signal strength in at least two directions and fig. 3A which shows 25 different directions in which signal strength is measured where the signal strength value is the performance value in addition to fig. 4 which shows multiple devices 402 in communication with the network device 200);
determining, for each antenna of the plurality of antennas, a position of the plurality of positions associated with a highest performance value (see col. 7, lines 22-33 which shows determining which direction has the highest signal strength measurement which is the performance value in which case in fig. 3A it is direction D20); and
causing each antenna of the plurality of antennas to move to the position of the plurality of positions associated with the highest performance value (see col. 7, lines 26-28 which shows the panel of antennas positioned in the direction of highest signal strength where each antenna moves when the panel moves).
Nilsson does not teach moving an antenna to a plurality of positions in a three-dimensional (3D) space. Chaganti teaches moving an antenna to a plurality of positions in a three-dimensional (3D) space (see col. 8, lines 19-32 noting the ability to move an antenna in 3D space by use of x, y, and z axises). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Chaganti to the device of Nilsson in order to optimize signal quality by enabling the antennas to have a higher range of movement.
The combination of Nilsson and Chagnati does not teach each antenna of a plurality of antennas independently moving to a position of a plurality of positions associated with a highest performance value. Nielsen teaches each antenna of a plurality of antennas independently moving to a position of a plurality of positions associated with a highest performance value (see paragraphs 13 and 17 which shows a master and slave antenna of the same antenna assembly independently moving according to received signal strengths from other devices and each pointing in the optimal direction as a result of multiple received signal strength measurements in different positions). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Nielsen to the modified device of Nilsson and Chagnati in order to more accurately position the device for optimal signal quality.
Claim 36 has similar limitations as claim 33 other than a processor 702 (fig. 7) and memory 701 (fig. 7) which is taught by Nilsson.
Referring to Claims 2, 22, 34, and 37, Nilsson also teaches each position of the plurality of positions separated by a configurable angle in 3D space that ranges from 1 to 180 degrees (see fig. 6 which shows the antenna 104 moving along an x-y plane as described in col. 13, lines 19-25 which implies the antenna moving in a range of 0 to 180 degrees).
Referring to Claims 3, 23, 35, and 38, Nilsson also teaches the performance of each antenna of the plurality of antennas comprises at least one of: a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value, a Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), or data throughput, and wherein the performance associated with each device of the plurality of device comprises at least one of: an RSSI value, and SNR, or data throughput (see col. 7, lines 22-33 showing the measurement of highest signal strength which is RSSI).
Referring to Claims 4 and 24, Nilsson also teaches causing each antenna of the plurality of antennas to move to a first position of the plurality of positions (see fig. 3A which shows D1 as the first position of 25 positions);
assigning a first aggregate performance value associated with the first position the highest aggregate performance value (see col. 7, lines 22-33 which shows signal strength measured at directions D1-D25 to determine which has the highest signal strength);
causing each antenna of the plurality of antennas to move to a second position of the plurality of positions (see D2 of fig. 3A which is the second direction after direction D1);
determining that a second aggregate performance value associated with the second position is higher than the first aggregate performance value; and assigning, based on determining that the second aggregate performance value is higher than the first aggregate performance value, the second aggregate performance value as the highest aggregate performance value (see col. 7, lines 22-33 which shows the signal strength measured at each direction D1-D25 in which the direction with the highest signal strength where in fig. 3A is D20 is the highest aggregate performance value).
Nielsen teaches each antenna independently moving to a first and second position (see paragraphs 13 and 17 which shows a master and slave antenna of the same antenna assembly independently moving according to received signal strengths from other devices and each pointing in the optimal direction as a result of multiple received signal strength measurements in different positions). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Nielsen to the modified device of Nilsson and Chagnati in order to more accurately position the device for optimal signal quality.
Referring to Claims 5 and 25, Nilsson also teaches the first aggregate performance value is based on first performance data associated with each antenna of the plurality of antennas and each device of the plurality of devices, and the second aggregate performance value is based on second performance data associated with each antenna of the plurality of antennas and each device of the plurality of devices (see col. 5, lines 4-12 which shows the panel communicating with multiple base stations which are the plurality of devices as shown in 402 of fig. 4 where the second aggregate performance value is the signal strength measured with regards to a different base station than previously used).
Referring to Claims 6 and 26, Nilsson also teaches comparing an aggregate performance value determined at the position of the plurality of positions to one or more aggregate performance values determined at one or more remaining positions of the plurality of positions; and determining, based on the comparison, that the position of the plurality of positions is associated with the highest aggregate performance value (see col. 7, lines 22-33 and fig. 3A which shows direction D20 as having the highest signal strength where in order to determine that direction D20 has the highest signal strength out of 25 directions, it is obvious that the signal strength of D20 has to be compared to the signal strength of all other directions).
Referring to Claims 7 and 27, Nilsson also teaches assigning the position of the plurality of positions associated with the highest aggregate performance value as a static position for the plurality of antennas (see col. 7, lines 26-28 which shows the panel of antennas positioned in the direction of highest signal strength also noting that since the panel stays in that position, it is a static position).
Referring to Claims 8 and 28, Nilsson also teaches causing each antenna of the plurality of antennas to move to the position of the plurality of positions associated with the highest aggregate performance value comprises actuating one or more actuators that cause each antenna of the plurality of antennas to move to the position (see S31 in fig. 6 which shows the setting of the antennas in a position and S32 which shows the setting the antennas in a position by actuating a step-motor). Nielsen teaches each antenna of a plurality of antennas independently moving to a position of a plurality of positions associated with a highest performance value (see paragraphs 13 and 17 which shows a master and slave antenna of the same antenna assembly independently moving according to received signal strengths from other devices and each pointing in the optimal direction as a result of multiple received signal strength measurements in different positions). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Nielsen to the modified device of Nilsson and Chagnati in order to more accurately position the device for optimal signal quality.
Referring to Claims 9 and 29, Nilsson also teaches the one or more actuators comprising one or more stepper motors (see S32 in fig. 6 which shows actuating a step-motor).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-9, 21-29, and 33-38 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
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/EUGENE YUN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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