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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s remarks, pages 10-11, filed 12/08/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-4, 14, 15, 24, 27, and 29 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as allegedly being unpatentable over BONGFELDT (US 2004/0097189 A1), BLACK (US 11,190,266 B1) and O'NEILL (US 8,175,521 B2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of BONGFELDT (US 2004/0097189 A1), YOO ET AL. (US 10,931,004 B2 B1) and O'NEILL (US 8,175,521 B2).
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s remarks, pages 11-12, filed 12/08/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 16-20 and 23 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as allegedly being unpatentable over BONGFELDT (US 2004/0097189 A1), BLACK (US 11,190,266 B1), O'NEILL (US 8,175,521 B2) and LABADIE (US 2021/0176648 A1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of BONGFELDT (US 2004/0097189 A1), YOO ET AL. (US 10,931,004 B2 B1), O'NEILL (US 8,175,521 B2), LABADIE (US 2021/0176648 A1) and BLACK (US 11.190.266 B1).
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s remarks, pages 13-14, filed 12/08/2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 4-7, 24, 27 and 28 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as allegedly being unpatentable over HORMIS (US 10,608,678 B1), BLACK (US 11,190,266 B1) and O'NEILL (US 8,175,521 B2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of HORMIS (US 10,608,678 B1), YOO ET AL. (US 10,931,004 B2 B1) and O'NEILL (US 8,175,521 B2).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 8, 14, 15, 24, 27 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2) and O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Bongfeldt (figures 2-4) disclose an apparatus (2) for wireless communication, comprising: a first antenna (antenna 28) configured to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam; a second antenna (antenna 60) configured to retransmit the signal via a transmit antenna beam; and a signal relay chain (figures 3 and 4, from Diplexer 40 to Diplexer 70) connected to route and amplify the signal between a reception at the first antenna and a retransmission at the second antenna (paragraphs [0030], [0038], [0043]-[0047] and [0067]-[0073]). Bongfeldt does not explicitly disclose the first antenna being a first meta-surface antenna comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters and the second antenna being a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters, and wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional. However, Yoo et al. discloses a first meta-surface antenna for wireless communication comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11 and 18-19; column 7, lines 47-51; and column 16, line 34 – column 17, line 3); a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters (column 4, lines 10-11, 16-17; column 5, lines 24-26; and column 12, lines 44-62). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the first and second meta-surface antennas of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Bongfeldt for enhancing radiation properties. Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional. However, O’Neill (figures 3 and 4) discloses a signal relay chain to route and amplify a signal between a reception and a retransmission, wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional (one-way repeater) (column 11, lines 44-67; and column 13, lines 50 — column 14, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the unidirectional relay chain of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. to provide one-way repeating as desired.
Regarding claim 2, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, O’Neill discloses a feedback path for adjusting a gain of the signal relay chain (see figure 4, Detector 360, Vdet 382, Vctl 381, and Variable Gain 340; column 14, lines 6-34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the feedback path of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. for properly adjusting the gain.
Regarding claim 3, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 2 above. In addition, O’ Neill discloses wherein the signal relay chain comprises a power amplifier (PA) (350) and a variable gain (340) (which could obviously be a PA driver) and wherein the feedback path includes a power detector (360) for monitoring an output of the PA and a gain controller (380) for adjusting a gain of the variable amplifier (see figure 4; column 14, lines 6-34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the PA, PA driver and power detector of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. for more properly adjusting the gain before retransmitting signal.
Regarding claim 4, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, Bongfeldt (figures 2-4) discloses wherein the signal relay chain comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) (54) coupled to the first meta-surface antenna, a power amplifier (PA) (86) coupled to the second meta-surface antenna, and a PA driver (Variable Gain Amplifier/Driver Amplifier 84) with an input coupled to the LNA and an output coupled to the PA (paragraphs [0047] and [0062]).
Regarding claim 8, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, Yoo et al. disclose wherein the first meta-surface antenna and the second meta-surface antenna each comprises a cavity-backed meta-surface antenna (column 14, line 50 – column 15, line 15). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the first and second cavity-backed meta-surface antennas of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Bongfeldt for structural advantage of the apparatus in its small form factor.
Regarding claim 14, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, Bongfeldt discloses wherein the signal relay chain is configured to maintain the signal at a constant frequency (see figures 3 and 4).
Regarding claim 15, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, Bongfeldt discloses wherein the signal relay chain includes only analog components (see figures 3 and 4).
Regarding claim 24, Bongfeldt (figures 2-4) discloses a method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving a signal via a receive antenna beam of a first antenna (antenna 28); a second antenna (antenna 60) configured to routing and amplifying the signal through a signal relay chain coupled between the first meta-surface antenna and a second meta-surface antenna; and retransmitting the signal via a transmit antenna beam of a second antenna (paragraphs [0030], [0038], [0043]-[0047] and [0067]-[0073]). Bongfeldt does not explicitly disclose the first antenna being a first meta-surface antenna comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters and the second antenna being a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters; wherein the signal relay chain being unidirectional; and adjusting, via a beam controller, a direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit beam. However, Yoo et al. discloses a method for wireless communication with a first meta-surface antenna comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11, 18-19; and column 7, lines 47-51; column 16, line 34 – column 17, line 3); a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters to transmit the signal via a transmit antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11, 16-17; column 5, lines 24-26; and column 12, lines 44-62); and adjusting, via a beam controller, a direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit beam (column 24, lines 25-27, “… metasurface antenna with two separate and steerable beams …”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the first and second meta-surface antennas with beam controller of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Bongfeldt for enhancing radiation properties. Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal relay chain being unidirectional. However, O’Neill (figures 3 and 4) discloses a signal relay chain to route and amplify a signal between a reception and a retransmission, wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional (one-way repeater) (column 11, lines 44-67; and column 13, lines 50 — column 14, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the unidirectional relay chain of O’Neill to the method of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. to provide one-way repeating as desired.
Regarding claim 27, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., and O’Neill disclose the method of claim 24 above. In addition, O’Neill discloses monitoring an output of at least one power amplifier (PA) (350) of a signal relay chain connected to route the signal between the first antenna and the second antenna; and adjusting, based at least in part on the monitoring of the output, a gain of variable gain (340) (which could obviously be a PA driver) to the PA (see figure 4; column 14, lines 6-34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the monitoring of at least one power amplifier and adjusting gain of the PA driver of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. for more properly adjusting the gain before retransmitting signal.
Regarding claim 29, Bongfeldt (figures 2-4) disclose an apparatus (RF signal repeater) for wireless communication, comprising: means for receiving, at a first antenna (antenna 28) of a wireless repeater, a signal via directional beamforming; means for retransmitting the signal via directional beamforming at a second antenna (60) of the wireless repeater; and means for routing and amplifying the signal through a signal relay chain coupled between reception and retransmission (paragraphs [0030], [0038], [0043]- [0047] and [0067]-[0073]). Bongfeldt does not explicitly disclose the first antenna being a first meta-surface antenna comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters and the second antenna being a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters; wherein the signal relay chain being unidirectional and means for adjusting, via a beam controller, at least one of the directional beamforming for receiving the signal or retransmitting the signal in order to reduce signal interference caused by the retransmitting. However, Yoo et al. discloses a first meta-surface antenna for wireless communication comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11, 18-19; column 7, lines 47-51; and column 16, line 34 – column 17, line 3); a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters (column 4, lines 10-11, 16-17; column 5, lines 24-26; and column 12, lines 44-62); and means for adjusting, via a beam controller, at least one of the directional beamforming for receiving the signal or retransmitting the signal in order to reduce signal interference caused by the retransmitting (column 24, lines 25-27, “… metasurface antenna with two separate and steerable beams …”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the first and second meta-surface antennas and beam controller of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Bongfeldt for enhancing radiation properties. Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal relay chain being unidirectional. However, O’Neill (figures 3 and 4) discloses a signal relay chain to route and amplify a signal between a reception and a retransmission, wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional (one-way repeater) (column 11, lines 44-67; and column 13, lines 50 — column 14, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the unidirectional relay chain of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. to provide one-way repeating as desired.
Claim(s) 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2) and O'Neill (US 8,175,521 B2) and further in view of Xu et al. (CN 113904119 A - See English Machine Translation).
Regarding claim 9, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 8 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’ Neill do not explicitly disclose wherein each cavity-backed meta-surface antenna includes a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW). However, Xu et al. disclose wherein each cavity-backed meta-surface antenna includes a substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) (paragraph [0010)). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the SIW of Xu et al. to the cavity-backed meta-surface of the apparatus of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill for low cost and high performance.
Claim(s) 10 -13 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2), O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2) and further in view of Boyarsky et al. (US 2021/0175630 A1) (hereinafter “Boyarsky”).
Regarding claim 10, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’ Neill do not explicitly disclose wherein the first meta-surface antenna and the second meta-surface antenna each comprises an array of meta-material resonators. However, Boyarsky (figures 2, 6 and 7) discloses meta-surface antenna comprises an array of meta-material resonators (paragraphs [0056] and [0070]-[0078]). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt an array of meta-material resonators of Boyarsky to the antenna of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’ Neill for controlling beamforming.
Regarding claim 11, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Boyarsky disclose the apparatus of claim 10 above. In addition, Boyarsky discloses wherein each of the meta-material resonators is operable as a complementary electric-inductive-capacitive (cELC) resonator (paragraph [0078)). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt cELC resonators of Boyarsky to the antenna of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’ Neill for controlling beamforming.
Regarding claim 12, Bongfeldt, Black, O’Neill and Boyarsky disclose the apparatus of claim 10 above. In addition, Boyarsky discloses wherein each of the meta-material resonators comprises varactors (paragraphs [0077]-[0078]). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to the varactors of Boyarsky to the antenna of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’ Neill for controlling beamforming.
Regarding claim 13, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Boyarsky disclose the apparatus of claim 12 above. In addition, Boyarsky discloses wherein each of the varactors is operable to receive an independent DC bias voltage (paragraph [0078)).
Regarding claim 31, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. Bongfeldt, Black, O’Neill do not explicitly disclose wherein each of the first meta-surface antenna and the second meta-surface antenna comprises a plurality of resonators, and each of the resonators includes capacitive gaps and two varactors placed across the capacitive gaps. However, Boyarsky (figures 6 and 7) discloses each of meta-surface antenna comprises a plurality of resonators, and each of the resonators includes capacitive gaps and two varactors placed across the capacitive gaps (paragraphs [0070]-[0078]). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the meta-material of Boyarsky to the antenna of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill for phase tuning.
Claim(s) 16, 18, 19 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2), O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2) and Labadie et al. (US 2021/0176648 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Bongfeldt (figures 2-4) disclose an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: antennas (28 and 60) with a reception port and a transmission port; and a signal relay chain with an input coupled to the reception port and an output coupled to the transmission port, wherein the signal relay chain is operable to retransmit a signal received from the reception port to the transmission port (figures 3 and 4, from Diplexer 40 to Diplexer 70) (paragraphs [0030], [0038] and [0056]). Bongfeldt does not explicitly disclose wherein the antennas being a dual-port meta-surface antenna comprising a set of phase-shifters. However, Yoo et al. discloses a meta-surface antenna for wireless communication comprising a set of phase-shifters to receive a signal (column 4, lines 10-11 and 18-19; column 7, lines 47-51; and column 16, line 34 – column 17, line 3). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the meta-surface antenna of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Bongfeldt for enhancing radiation properties. Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional and wherein the meta-surface antennas being a dual-port antenna. However, O’Neill (figures 3 and 4) discloses a signal relay chain to route and amplify a signal between a reception and a retransmission, wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional (one-way repeater) (column 11, lines 44-67; and column 13, lines 50 — column 14, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the unidirectional relay chain of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt and Yoo et al. to provide one-way repeating as desired. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’ Neill do not explicitly disclose wherein the meta-surface antennas being a dual-port antenna. However, Labadie et al. disclose an apparatus for wireless communication (relay node) with a dual-port antenna (Table 3, Antenna Number 1 and Type Dual-pol: 2-port antenna supporting V/H polarization modes). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the dual-port antenna of Labadie to the meta-surface antennas of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill for simplifying design and reducing the number of antennas.
Regarding claim 18, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’ Neill and Labadie et al. disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. In addition, Labadie discloses wherein the dual-port meta-surface antenna is configured to receive according to a first polarization at the reception port and to transmit at the transmission port with a second polarization, and wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization (Table 3, Antenna Number 1 and Type Dual-pol: 2-port antenna supporting V/H polarization modes). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the dual-port antenna of Labadie to the meta-surface antennas of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill for simplifying design and reducing signal interference.
Regarding claim 19, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. In addition, Bongfeldt et al. (figures 2-4) disclose wherein the signal relay chain comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) (54) with an input coupled to the reception port, a power amplifier (PA) driver (Variable Gain Amplifier/Driver Amplifier 84) coupled to an output of the LNA, and a PA (86) with an input coupled to the PA driver and an output coupled to the transmission port (paragraphs [0047] and [0062]).
Regarding claim 23, Bongfeldt et al., Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. In addition, O’Neill discloses a feedback path for adjusting a gain of the signal relay chain between the reception port and the transmission port (see figure 4, Detector 360, Vdet 382, Vctl 381, and Variable Gain 340; column 14, lines 6-34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the feedback path for adjusting a gain of the signal relay chain of O’Neill to the apparatus of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and Labadie et al. for properly adjusting the gain.
Claim(s) 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2), O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2), Labadie et al. (US 2021/0176648 A1) and further in view of Black (US 11,190,266 B1).
Regarding claim 17, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the dual-port meta-surface antenna is operable to provide directional beamforming. However, Black discloses wherein meta-surface antenna is operable to provide directional beamforming (column 5, lines 21-40; and column 10, line 46 – column 11, line 31). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the directional beamforming meta-surface antenna of Black to the dual-port meta-surface antenna of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. as a system design preference for controlling the beamforming direction.
Regarding claim 20, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. do not explicitly disclose a beam controller to adjust a directional beamforming of the dual-port meta-surface antenna. However, Black discloses a beam controller (figure 2B, controller 236; column 5, lines 21-40; and column 10, line 46 – column 11, line 31) to adjust a directional beamforming of a meta-surface antenna. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the beam controller to adjust a directional beamforming of the meta-surface antenna of Black to the dual-port meta-surface antenna of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. as a system design preference for controlling the beamforming direction.
Claim(s) 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2), O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2) and Labadie (US 2021/0176648 A1) and further in view of Achour (US 2019/0067826).
Regarding claim 21, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the beam controller is configured to adjust the directional beamforming by tuning a negative refractive index of the dual-port meta-surface antenna. However, Achour discloses a beam controller to adjust a directional beamforming of the meta-surface antenna, wherein the beam controller is configured to adjust the directional beamforming by tuning a negative refractive index of the dual-port meta-surface antenna (paragraphs [0019]). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the beam controller of Achour to the apparatus of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. as a system design preference for serving the same function as to control beamforming.
Regarding claim 22, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie disclose the apparatus of claim 16 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the beam controller is configured to adjust the directional beamforming by adjusting DC bias voltages to varactors integrated in the dual-port meta-surface antenna. However, Achour discloses a beam controller to adjust a directional beamforming of the meta-surface antenna, wherein the beam controller is configured to adjust the directional beamforming by adjusting DC bias voltages to varactors integrated in the dual-port meta-surface antenna (paragraph [0021)). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the beam controller of Achour to the apparatus of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Labadie et al. as a system design preference for serving the same function as to control beamforming.
Claim(s) 25 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bongfeldt (US 2004/0097189 A1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2), O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2) and Rochberger (CN 112335188 A — See English Text).
Regarding claim 25, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., and O’Neill disclose the method of claim 24 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill do not explicitly disclose receiving a beamforming configuration, wherein the beam controller is operable to adjust the direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit antenna beam responsive to the beamforming configuration. However, Rochberger disclose a method for wireless communication, comprising adjusting, via a beam controller (beam-forming controller), a direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit beam, receiving a beamforming configuration, wherein the beam controller is operable to adjust the direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit antenna beam responsive to the beamforming configuration (page 40, 3rd paragraph). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the teaching of Rochberger wherein the beam controller is operable to adjust the direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit antenna beam responsive to the beamforming configuration to the method of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill for controlling beam direction.
Regarding claim 26, Bongfeldt, Yoo et al., O’Neill and Rochberger disclose the method of claim 24 above. Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill do not explicitly disclose transmitting a codebook of beam patterns for the first meta-surface antenna and for the second meta-surface antenna to a control entity. However, Rochberger discloses a method for wireless communication, comprising a beam controller (beam-forming controller), and transmitting a codebook of beam patterns for the first meta- surface antenna and for the second meta-surface antenna to a control entity (page 39, 1st paragraph, “In a particular aspect, the control information may include, for example, geographic data associated with one or more effective paths (i.e., a direct path from a wireless device that does not include a beam block to at least a second other wireless device). In a particular aspect, the control information may additionally or alternatively include a wireless device to be used for controlling the antenna arrangement to guide the data transmission beam toward the control data of at least one second other wireless device. For example, the control data may include one or more code words, which can be used by the wireless device, for based on at least the wireless coordinator device and the wireless device shared between the codebook selection antenna arrangement corresponding to the antenna configuration. In a particular aspect, the control may include, for example, identification information of the second another wireless device, geographic information of the second another wireless device. In a particular aspect, the wireless device may be configured to operate in different frequency bands, control information may include an operating frequency band of the second another wireless device”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the teaching of transmitting a codebook of beam patterns for the first meta- surface antenna and for the second meta-surface antenna to a control entity of Rochberger to the method of Bongfeldt, Yoo et al. and O’Neill for controlling beam direction.
Claims 1, 4-7, 24, 27 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Hormis (US 10,608,678 B1) in view of Yoo et al. (US 10,931,004 B2) and O’Neill (US 8,175,521 B2).
The applied reference has a common inventor with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C.102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B); or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement. See generally MPEP § 717.02.
Regarding claim 1, Hormis (figure 4) discloses an apparatus (400) for wireless communication, comprising: a first antenna (420, Ant 1) configured to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam; a second antenna (425, Ant2) configured to retransmit the signal via a transmit antenna beam; and a signal relay chain (from Ant 1 to Ant2) connected to route and amplify the signal between a reception at the first antenna and a retransmission at the second antenna (column 19, line 51 — column 20, line 31). Hormis does not explicitly disclose the first antenna being a first meta-surface antenna comprising a first beam-steering antenna and the second antenna being a second meta-surface antenna comprising a second beam-steering antenna, and wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional. . However, Yoo et al. discloses a first meta-surface antenna for wireless communication comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11 and 18-19; column 7, lines 47-51; and column 16, line 34 – column 17, line 3); a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters (column 4, lines 10-11, 16-17; column 5, lines 24-26; and column 12, lines 44-62). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the first and second meta-surface antennas of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Hormis for enhancing radiation properties. Hormis and Yoo et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional. However, O’Neill (figures 3 and 4) discloses a signal relay chain to route and amplify a signal between a reception and a retransmission, wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional (one-way repeater) (column 11, lines 44-67; and column 13, lines 50 — column 14, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the unidirectional relay chain of O’Neill to the apparatus of Hormis and Yoo et al. to provide one-way repeating as desired.
Regarding claim 4, Hormis, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, Hormis (figure 4) discloses wherein the signal relay chain comprises a low noise amplifier (LNA) (430) coupled to the first meta-surface antenna, a power amplifier (PA) (435) coupled to the second meta- surface antenna, and a PA driver (475) with an input coupled to the LNA and an output coupled to the PA (column 20, lines 13-31).
Regarding claim 5, Hormis, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 1 above. In addition, Hormis (figure 6) discloses the apparatus further comprising: a receive beam controller (RX Beam Control 698) configured to control the first meta-surface antenna to control a direction of the receive antenna beam; and a transmit beam controller (TX Beam Control 687) configured to control the second meta-surface antenna to control a direction of the transmit antenna beam (column 23, lines 7- 35).
Regarding claim 6, Hormis, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 5 above. In addition, Hormis (figure 3) disclose wherein the receive beam controller and the transmit beam controller are each configured to receive beamforming instructions through a side control channel (355) at an operational frequency lower than or the same as that of the signal (column 19, lines 3-32).
Regarding claim 7, Hormis, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the apparatus of claim 6 above. In addition, Hormis (figure 3) disclose wherein the side control channel is based on a narrow-band internet-of-things (NB-IOT) protocol (column 19, lines 3-32).
Regarding claim 24, Hormis (figure 5) discloses a method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving a signal via a receive antenna beam of a first antenna (520-a); retransmitting the signal via a transmit antenna beam of a second antenna (525-a); routing and amplifying the signal through a signal relay chain coupled between the first meta-surface antenna and a second meta-surface antenna; and adjusting, via a beam controller (585), a direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit beam (column 21, line 1 - column 22, lines 19). Hormis does not explicitly disclose the first antenna being a first meta-surface antenna comprising a first beam-steering antenna and the second antenna being a second meta-surface antenna comprising a second beam-steering antenna, and wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional. However, Yoo et al. discloses a method for wireless communication with a first meta-surface antenna comprising a set of receiver phase-shifters to receive a signal via a receive antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11, 18-19; and column 7, lines 47-51; column 16, line 34 – column 17, line 3); a second meta-surface antenna comprising a set of transmit phase-shifters to transmit the signal via a transmit antenna beam (column 4, lines 10-11, 16-17; column 5, lines 24-26; and column 12, lines 44-62); and adjusting, via a beam controller, a direction of at least one of the receive antenna beam and the transmit beam (column 24, lines 25-27, “… metasurface antenna with two separate and steerable beams …”). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the first and second meta-surface antennas with beam controller of Yoo et al. to the antennas of Hormis to enhance radiation properties. Hormis and Yoo et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional. However, O’Neill (figures 3 and 4) discloses a signal relay chain to route and amplify a signal between a reception and a retransmission, wherein the signal relay chain is unidirectional (one-way repeater) (column 11, lines 44-67; and column 13, lines 50 — column 14, line 34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the unidirectional relay chain of O’Neill to the method of Hormis and Yoo et al. to provide one-way repeating as desired.
Regarding claim 27, Hormis, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the method of claim 24 above. In addition, O’Neill discloses monitoring an output of at least one power amplifier (PA) (350) of a signal relay chain connected to route the signal between the first meta-surface antenna and the second meta- surface antenna; and adjusting, based at least in part on the monitoring of the output, a gain of a variable gain (340) (which could obviously be a PA driver) to the PA (see figure 4; column 14, lines 6-34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the monitoring of at least one power amplifier and adjusting gain of the PA driver of O’Neill to the apparatus of Hormis and Yoo et al. for more properly adjusting the gain before retransmitting signal.
Regarding claim 28, Hormis, Yoo et al. and O’Neill disclose the method of claim 27. In addition, Hormis discloses adjusting a gain of at least one low noise amplifier (LNA) (550-a) coupled to the first meta-surface antenna base on the Gain Control (595). And O’Neill discloses gain control based at least in part on the monitoring of the output (column 14, lines 6-34). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the teaching of gain control based at least in part on the monitoring of the output of O’Neill to the gain control of the LNA of Hormis for more properly adjusting the gain of the LNA.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUOCHIEN B VUONG whose telephone number is (571)272-7902. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-06:00PM M-F.
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/QUOCHIEN B VUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645