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 .
1. This office action, in response to the request for continued examination and the amendment filed 3/5/2026, is a non-final office action.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
2. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 filed on 3/5/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant states amended independent claims 1, 12 and 20 recite features not disclosed by Rafie on page 9 of the remarks. The rejections of the claims stated below address the limitations of the amended claims.
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.
4. Claims 1-7, 9, 10 and 12-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rafie et al (US 2003/0058959) in view of Chiang et al (US 10,862,516).
Regarding claim 1, Rafie discloses a method comprising:
Identifying a signal for transmission, intentional distortion to be applied to the signal for transmission to form a distorted signal (Figures 7 and 10 disclose a transmitter. The transmitter identifies a signal for transmission in the components of the transmitter. The transmitter comprises pre-distorter 710 and 1006 for forming a distorted signal.);
performing pre-equalization of a signal for transmission, the pre-equalization including amplifying intentional distortion of the signal (Figure 10: Predistorter 1006 receives an input signal and outputs a signal to pre-equalizer 1008. The signal from the pre-equalizer 1008 is input to DAC 1012 and filters 1014 and 1018. The filtered signal is input to PA 1022 and then provided to the antenna 1024 for transmission. Figure 11 also shows similar transmitter structure.), the amplification based on a frequency response (Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Rafie discloses the transmitter shown in figure 10. The transmitter includes the transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 and the pre-equalizer 1008. Rafie discloses the adaptive equalizer or filter 930 in the illustrated embodiment is a linear fractionally-spaced equalizer that is used to generate the required tap coefficient sets for pre-equalizer 906. In general, N tap coefficient sets can be generated for any possible dependency of the linear transfer function of overall component chain on the operating frequency in paragraph 0084. Since any possible dependency of the transfer function of the overall component chain, then the dependency of the total transfer function and the transfer function of the transmit filter will also be enabled.) of a transmit filter (Rafie discloses the transmit filters 904 and 910 in figure 9 and transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 in figure 10. The transmit filters 904 and 1004 are baseband filters and will pass low frequency signals. Filters 910 and 1014 will remove signals produced during up conversion and will pass the rest of the signal, the desired portions of the signal, that will include low frequencies.),
wherein the intentional distortion is configured to counteract non-linear behavior of a power amplifier (Paragraph 0090: The lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA.), and
wherein the pre-equalization is to amplify the intentional distortion such that the intentional distortion survives filtering by the transit filter (Paragraph 0090: The lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA.) The processing of the signal will survive filtering by the transmit filter such that the non-linear portion of the signal arrives at the power amplifier to counteract the spectral spread of the signal for transmission caused by the power amplifier.).
Rafie does not disclose the intentional distortion is to introduce spectral growth outside an occupied bandwidth of the signal for transmission.
Chiang discloses a digital predistortion circuit and method shown in figures 2 and 5. Figure 2 shows the input signal 201. After predistortion, the signal 202 includes spectral growth outside the occupied bandwidth. The DPD does not amplify the occupied bandwidth. After power amplification, the output signal 203 is transmitted. Figure 5 shows a similar process. Signal 501 is input to the DPD and signal 502, showing the spectral growth outside of the occupied bandwidth of the signal. After amplification, signal 503 is generated. After the bandpass filter, signal 504 will be transmitted. The processing of the signal of the combination will survive filtering by the transmit filter such that the non-linear portion of the signal arrives at the power amplifier to counteract the spectral spread of the signal for transmission caused by the power amplifier. Figures 1, 2 and 5 of Chiang describes the spectrum of the signal in a predistortion system. The spectrum of the input signal is shown and the digital predistorter will distort the signal to correct for the distortion that is caused in the power amplifier. After the amplification at the power amplifier, the predistortion has cancelled the distortion caused by the power amplifier. The spectrum of the transmitted signal in the occupied bandwidth of the signal is not effected or minimally effected. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Chiang into the method and circuit of Rafie to show how the signal is processed during each stage in the transmitter. This will allow for an accurate understanding of the transmission process and allow for any updates or corrections to occur at the appropriate point in the circuit, improving the efficiency of the method or circuit.
Regarding claim 2, the combination discloses wherein the intentional distortion corresponds to a digital pre-distortion (DPD) introduced to counteract non-linear behavior of a power amplifier (Rafie: Paragraph 0090: The lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA. Chiang: figure 5.).
Regarding claim 3, the combination discloses wherein an amount of amplification of the pre-equalization results in the intentional distortion (spectral growth) outside of the occupied bandwidth of the signal after the transmit filter being at a predetermined DPD level (Rafie: Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Chiang: figure 5.).
Regarding claim 4, the combination discloses wherein a frequency response of the pre-equalization is configurable using one or more parameters (Rafie: Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Figure 9 shows the feedback to update the tap coefficients.).
Regarding claim 5, The combination discloses receiving feedback regarding performance of the pre-equalization; and adjusting the one or more parameters of the pre-equalization based on the feedback (Rafie: Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Figure 9 shows the feedback to update the tap coefficients.).
Regarding claim 6, the combination discloses wherein the feedback is received from the transmit filter (Rafie: Figures 7, 9 and 11 show the feedback signal output from the power amplifier being fed back to update the pre-equalization and/or the pre-distorter. The output of the power amplifier is coupled to the transmit filter. Chiang: figure 5. The feedback signal is output from the bandpass filter to the DPD.).
Regarding claim 7, the combination discloses wherein the pre-equalization is implemented using one of an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter or a finite impulse response (FIR) filter (Rafie: Paragraph 0082: The pre-equalizer 800 has a finite impulse response (FIR) structure.).
Regarding claim 9, the combination discloses wherein the pre-equalization is performed in a digital domain and the transmit filter and the power amplifier operate in an analog domain (Rafie: Figures 9, 10, 11).
Regarding claim 10, the combination discloses transmitting a previous signal at a first transmission power prior to performing the pre-equalization; and in conjunction with performing the pre-equalization, transmitting the signal at a second transmission power higher than the first transmission power (Rafie: Figures 9 and 10. The circuit is a loop. A signal is transmitted prior to the next pre-equalization to provide a feedback signal to update the tap coefficients of the pre-equalizer. The transmit signals will increase and decrease according to the signal to be transmitted.).
Regarding claim 12, Rafie discloses a device comprising:
a transmit filter configured to filter a signal prior to wireless transmission (Figure 10: IF filters 1014, RF filters 1018);
a power amplifier configured to receive the filtered signal from the transmit filter and amplify the filtered signal prior to the wireless transmission (Figure 10: power amplifier 1022);
one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the device to perform one or more operations (Paragraph 0091: The operational blocks illustrated in figure 10 may be implemented using any appropriate hardware, software operating in conjunction with hardware elements or a combination of hardware and software.), the operations comprising:
Identifying the signal, intentional distortion to be applied to the signal for transmission to form a distorted signal (Figures 7 and 10 disclose a transmitter. The transmitter identifies a signal for transmission in the components of the transmitter. The transmitter comprises pre-distorter 710 and 1006 for forming a distorted signal.);
Determining at least a non-linear portion of the distorted signal that would be filtered by one or more filters, including the transmit filter (Figures 9 and 10 disclose pre-equalizer 906 and 1008 for pre-equalizing the signal output from the predistorter 1006. The pre-equalizer will pre-equalize the signal to be input to the filters 1014 and 1018 and to provide the output of the filters to HPA 1022. The signal provided to the HPA 1022 has survived the filters.);
perform pre-equalization of the signal prior to the signal being handled by the transmit filter (Figure 10: Predistorter 1006 receives an input signal and outputs a signal to pre-equalizer 1008. The signal from the pre-equalizer 1008 is input to DAC 1012 and filters 1014 and 1018. The filtered signal is input to PA 1022 then provided to the antenna 1024 for transmission. Figure 11 also shows similar transmitter structure.), the pre-equalization configured to amplify at least a non-linear portion of the intentional distortion of the signal that would be filtered by the one or more filters to survive being filtered by the transmit filter and arrives at the power amplifier to counteract non-linear behavior of the power amplifier (Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the pre-equalizer 1008 and the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. The processing of the signal will survive filtering by the transmit filter such that the non-linear portion of the signal arrives at the power amplifier to counteract the spectral spread of the signal for transmission caused by the power amplifier.).
Rafie does not disclose the intentional distortion is to introduce spectral growth outside an occupied bandwidth of the signal for transmission.
Chiang discloses a digital predistortion circuit and method shown in figures 2 and 5. Figure 2 shows the input signal 201. After predistortion, the signal 202 includes spectral growth outside the occupied bandwidth. The DPD does not amplify the occupied bandwidth. After power amplification, the output signal 203 is transmitted. Figure 5 shows a similar process. Signal 501 is input to the DPD and signal 502, showing the spectral growth outside of the occupied bandwidth of the signal. After amplification signal 503 is generated. After the bandpass filter, signal 504 will be transmitted. The processing of the signal of the combination will survive filtering by the transmit filter such that the non-linear portion of the signal arrives at the power amplifier to counteract the spectral spread of the signal for transmission caused by the power amplifier. Figures 1, 2 and 5 of Chiang describes the spectrum of the signal in a predistortion system. The spectrum of the input signal is shown and the digital predistorter will distort the signal to correct for the distortion that is caused in the power amplifier. After the amplification at the power amplifier, the predistortion will cancel the distortion caused by the power amplifier. The spectrum of the transmitted signal in the occupied bandwidth of the signal is not effected or minimally effected. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Chiang into the method and circuit of Rafie to show how the signal is processed during each stage in the transmitter. This will allow for an accurate understanding of the transmission process and allow for any updates or corrections to occur at the appropriate point in the circuit, improving the efficiency of the method or circuit.
Regarding claim 13, the combination discloses wherein the intentional distortion of the signal corresponds to a digital pre-distortion (DPD) introduced to counteract non-linear behavior of the power amplifier (Rafie: Paragraph 0090: The lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA. The system can be implemented either digitally or in an analog domain. Chiang: figure 5.).
Regarding claim 14, the combination discloses wherein an amount of amplification of the pre-equalization results in the intentional distortion (spectral growth) outside of the occupied bandwidth of the signal after the transmit filter being at a predetermined DPD level (Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Chiang: figure 5.).
Regarding claim 15, the combination discloses wherein a frequency response of the pre-equalization is configurable using one or more parameters (Rafie: Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Figure 9 shows the feedback to update the tap coefficients.).
Regarding claim 16, the combination discloses the operations further comprising: receiving feedback regarding performance of the pre-equalization from the transmit filter; and adjusting the one or more parameters of the pre-equalization based on the feedback (Rafie: Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Figure 9 shows the feedback to update the tap coefficients.).
Regarding claim 17, the combination discloses comprising at least one of an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter or a finite impulse response (FIR) filter, wherein the pre-equalization is implemented using the IIR filter or the FIR filter (Rafie: Paragraph 0082: The pre-equalizer 800 has a finite impulse response (FIR) structure.).
Regarding claim 18, the combination discloses wherein the pre-equalization is performed in a digital domain and the transmit filter and the power amplifier operate in an analog domain (Rafie: Figures 9, 10, 11).
Regarding claim 19, the combination discloses transmitting a previous signal at a first transmission power prior to performing the pre-equalization; and in conjunction with performing the pre-equalization, transmitting the signal at a second transmission power higher than the first transmission power (Rafie: Figures 9 and 10. The circuit is a loop. A signal is transmitted prior to the next pre-equalization to provide a feedback signal to update the tap coefficients of the pre-equalizer. The transmit signals will increase and decrease according to the signal to be transmitted.).
Regarding claim 20, Rafie discloses one or one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause a system to perform one or more operations (Paragraph 0091: The operational blocks illustrated in figure 10 may be implemented using any appropriate hardware, software operating in conjunction with hardware elements or a combination of hardware and software.), the operations comprising:
Identifying a signal for transmission, intentional distortion to be applied to the signal for transmission to form a distorted signal (Figures 7 and 10 disclose a transmitter. The transmitter identifies a signal for transmission in the components of the transmitter. The transmitter comprises pre-distorter 710 and 1006 for forming a distorted signal.);
performing pre-equalization of a signal for transmission, the pre-equalization including amplifying intentional distortion of the signal (Figure 10: Predistorter 1006 receives an input signal and outputs a signal to pre-equalizer 1008. The signal from the pre-equalizer 1008 is input to DAC 1012 and filters 1014 and 1018. The filtered signal is input to PA 1022 and then provided to the antenna 1024 for transmission. Figure 11 also shows similar transmitter structure.), the amplification based on a frequency response (Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Rafie discloses the transmitter shown in figure 10. The transmitter includes the transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 and the pre-equalizer 1008. Rafie discloses the adaptive equalizer or filter 930 in the illustrated embodiment is a linear fractionally-spaced equalizer that is used to generate the required tap coefficient sets for pre-equalizer 906. In general, N tap coefficient sets can be generated for any possible dependency of the linear transfer function of overall component chain on the operating frequency in paragraph 0084. Since any possible dependency of the transfer function of the overall component chain, then the dependency of the total transfer function and the transfer function of the transmit filter will also be enabled.) of a transmit filter (Rafie discloses the transmit filters 904 and 910 in figure 9 and transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 in figure 10. The transmit filters 904 and 1004 are baseband filters and will pass low frequency signals. Filters 910 and 1014 will remove signals produced during up conversion and will pass the rest of the signal, the desired portions of the signal, that will include low frequencies.),
wherein the intentional distortion is configured to counteract non-linear behavior of a power amplifier (Paragraph 0090: The lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA.), and
wherein the pre-equalization is to amplify the intentional distortion such that the intentional distortion survives filtering by the transit filter (Paragraph 0090: The lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA.) The processing of the signal will survive filtering by the transmit filter such that the non-linear portion of the signal arrives at the power amplifier to counteract the spectral spread of the signal for transmission caused by the power amplifier.).
Rafie does not disclose the intentional distortion is to introduce spectral growth outside an occupied bandwidth of the signal for transmission.
Chiang discloses a digital predistortion circuit and method shown in figures 2 and 5. Figure 2 shows the input signal 201. After predistortion, the signal 202 includes spectral growth outside the occupied bandwidth. The DPD does not amplify the occupied bandwidth. After power amplification, the output signal 203 is transmitted. Figure 5 shows a similar process. Signal 501 is input to the DPD and signal 502, showing the spectral growth outside of the occupied bandwidth of the signal. After amplification, signal 503 is generated. After the bandpass filter, signal 504 will be transmitted. The processing of the signal of the combination will survive filtering by the transmit filter such that the non-linear portion of the signal arrives at the power amplifier to counteract the spectral spread of the signal for transmission caused by the power amplifier. Figures 1, 2 and 5 of Chiang describes the spectrum of the signal in a predistortion system. The spectrum of the input signal is shown and the digital predistorter will distort the signal to correct for the distortion that is caused in the power amplifier. After the amplification at the power amplifier, the predistortion has cancelled the distortion caused by the power amplifier. The spectrum of the transmitted signal in the occupied bandwidth of the signal is not effected or minimally effected. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Chiang into the method and circuit of Rafie to show how the signal is processed during each stage in the transmitter. This will allow for an accurate understanding of the transmission process and allow for any updates or corrections to occur at the appropriate point in the circuit, improving the efficiency of the method or circuit.
Regarding claim 21, the combination discloses the amplification based on a ratio of a total desired frequency response to a frequency response of a transmit filter (Rafie: Paragraph 0042: the digital transmitter pre-equalizes the pre-distorted signal to pre-compensate for an undesired amplitude and group delay variations of the linear components preceding the non-linear power amplifier. Figure 10 shows the components preceding the power amplifier and the IF and RF filters. Rafie discloses the transmitter shown in figure 10. The transmitter includes the transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 and the pre-equalizer 1008. Rafie discloses the adaptive equalizer or filter 930 in the illustrated embodiment is a linear fractionally-spaced equalizer that is used to generate the required tap coefficient sets for pre-equalizer 906. In general, N tap coefficient sets can be generated for any possible dependency of the linear transfer function of overall component chain on the operating frequency in paragraph 0084. Since any possible dependency of the transfer function of the overall component chain, then the dependency of the total transfer function and the transfer function of the transmit filter will also be enabled.) wherein the total desired frequency response includes the signal for transmission after treatment of both the transmit filter and the pre- equalization at a plurality of frequencies (Rafie discloses the transmitter shown in figure 10. The transmitter includes the transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 and the pre-equalizer 1008. Rafie discloses the adaptive equalizer or filter 930 in the illustrated embodiment is a linear fractionally-spaced equalizer that is used to generate the required tap coefficient sets for pre-equalizer 906. In general, N tap coefficient sets can be generated for any possible dependency of the linear transfer function of overall component chain on the operating frequency in paragraph 0084. Since any possible dependency of the transfer function of the overall component chain, then the dependency of the total transfer function and the transfer function of the transmit filter will also be enabled.).
Regarding claim 22, the combination discloses wherein an absolute value of the total desired frequency response is tuned using an exponent a and where the absolute value of the total desired frequency response (HTotal(f)) is determined by the equation of claim 22, where Isinc(f/fs) I represents an absolute value of the sinc function (s x)) operating on a ratio of a given frequency (f) and a sampling rate of the frequency (fs) (Rafie discloses the transmitter shown in figure 10. The transmitter includes the transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 and the pre-equalizer 1008. Rafie discloses the adaptive equalizer or filter 930 in the illustrated embodiment is a linear fractionally-spaced equalizer that is used to generate the required tap coefficient sets for pre-equalizer 906. In general, N tap coefficient sets can be generated for any possible dependency of the linear transfer function of overall component chain on the operating frequency in paragraph 0084. Since any possible dependency of the transfer function of the overall component chain, then the dependency of the total transfer function and the transfer function of the transmit filter will also be enabled.).
Regarding claim 23, the combination discloses the frequency response of the transmit filter corresponds to a spectral mask imposed by a regulatory body, wherein: the spectral mask imposed by a regulatory body includes limitations on transmit signal strength in one or more bands of frequencies at which parties are not permitted to transmit, and the regulatory body includes at least one of Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), or Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) (Rafie discloses radio frequency transmitters. If these transmitters are to be used for communication, regulatory bodies are going to impose restrictions on how signals are to be transmitted. These radio transmitters will be restricted by the same requirements that restrict other similar types of radio transmitters. Therefore, inherent restrictions by the FCC or some other body recognized and acceptable to the FCC will require spectral masks to be applied in the transmitter.).
Regarding claim 24, the combination discloses wherein the transmit filter includes a low-pass filter (Rafie discloses the transmit filters 904 and 910 in figure 9 and transmit filters 1004, 1014 and 1018 in figure 10. The transmit filters 904 and 1004 are baseband filters and will pass low frequency signals. Filters 910 and 1014 will remove signals produced during up conversion and will pass the rest of the signal, the desired portions of the signal, that will include low frequencies. Chiang: figure 5: bandpass filter 140.).
5. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rafie et al (US 2003/0058959) in view of Chiang et al (US 10,862,516) in view of Liao et al (US 2016/0352557).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Rafie and Chiang discloses the method stated above. Rafie discloses the lookup table (LUT) 1028 contains the inverse model of the AM/AM and AM/PM characteristics of the nonlinear elements of the transmitter circuit 1000. The pre-equalizer 1008 tap coefficients can be updated through the tap coefficient memory 1026. The pre-distorter block 1006 accounts for nonlinear distortion of the transmit link including the HPA block 1022, the mild nonlinearities in the DAC block 1010 and other possible nonlinear analog components preceding the HPA in paragraph 0090. The circuit of figure 10 discloses the pre-equalizer 1006 receiving the signal from the pre-distorter 1008. Therefore, Rafie does not disclose wherein the pre-equalization is performed using one or more analog components. Liao discloses a circuit for performing pre-equalization in an analog domain. Paragraph 0027 discloses generally, pre-equalization in an analog domain may be used to reduce digital domain equalization complexity. For this reason, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide the simple substitution of the pre-equalization in an analog domain as taught by Liao for the pre-equalization in a digital domain of the method of the combination of Rafie and Chiang since they would operate in substantially the same manner and would yield predictable results.
6. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rafie et al (US 2003/0058959) in view of Chiang et al (US 10,862,516) in view of Feldman et al (US 2014/0292412).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Rafie and Chiang discloses transmitting a previous signal at a first transmission power prior to performing the pre- equalization; and in conjunction with performing the pre-equalization, transmitting the signal at or below the first transmission power (Rafie: Figures 9 and 10. The circuit is a loop. A signal is transmitted prior to the next pre-equalization to provide a feedback signal to update the tap coefficients of the pre-equalizer. The transmit signals will increase and decrease according to the signal to be transmitted.).
The combination does not disclose the transmission will be at a higher bit rate than the previous signal. Feldman discloses the improvement of predistortion allows transmitting at a higher data rate than without predistortion (paragraph 0066). Feldman discloses an example of the advantages of using predistortion in the transmitter as compared to no predistortion. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Feldman into the method of the combination of Rafie and Chiang to utilize the advantages of predistortion.
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Trautmann et al (US 2022/0021406) discloses the predistortion circuit shown in figure 3. Figure 1 shows the spectrum of the PA output signal relative to the IEEE mask and the FCC limits. The signal with DPD and without DPD is shown in figure 1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN M. BURD whose telephone number is (571)272-3008. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 5:00.
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/KEVIN M BURD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 3/23/2026