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 .
Amendment filed 11/26/2025 is acknowledged.
Claims 1, 13, 15, and 17 have been amended.
Claims 3 and 21 have been cancelled.
Claims 14 and 16 have been previously cancelled.
Claims 1, 2, 4-13, 15, 17-20, and 22 remain pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 2, 4-10, 12, 13, 15, 17-20, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kotecha et al. (USP 10277349B1), hereafter Kotecha, in view of Wang et al. (USP 8824596B1), hereafter Wang, and Peter (US20130210477A1).
Regarding claims 1, 5, 8, 13, 15, 17, and 22,
Kotecha discloses non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions (Col. 15, lines 13-61) for causing/performing a method (Fig. 5) by an apparatus or system (Fig. 1, UE 110 and base station 101 within system 100) comprising at least one power integrator (i.e. beamformer) comprising receiving a measure of power level/RSSI of at least one radio beam detected by an antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements (Fig. 1, array 211; Fig. 3; Fig. 5, step 521; Col. 6, lines 55-62; Col. 10, lines 12-35; RSSI measured for each RX beam), accumulating, in the particular beam direction, the received measure of power level over a period of time (Col. 6-7, lines 63-5; Col. 11, lines 33-39; measure/sum RSSIs of each particular receive beam direction), determining a representative output signal corresponding to the accumulated measure of received power level (Fig. 5, step 528; Col. 11, lines 12-46; identify best Rx beam having maximum RSSI measure) and providing the representative output signal to a controller (i.e. processor; Fig. 5, step 529; Col. 11, lines 46-55; best Rx beam of array 211 fixed by processor 213).
Kotecha does not expressly disclose the at least one power integrator associated with a particular beam direction, or a plurality of power integrators, respective ones of the plurality of power integrators are associated with a beam direction, configured to enable concurrent measurement of a plurality of radio beams via the plurality of antenna elements.
Wang discloses analogous art (Fig. 3) including a plurality of power integrators (Fig. 2; beamformers 30, 32) each associated with a particular beam direction (Fig. 2, beams 44, 46) configured to enable concurrent measurement of a plurality of radio beams via the plurality of antenna elements (Fig. 2, simultaneous/concurrent beams 44, 46, one from each beamformer 30, 32 receive and measure data simultaneously in Fig. 3, 310 “look through” operation; Col. 9-10, lines 18-21).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Kotecha by providing a plurality of power integrators, each associated with a particular beam direction configured to enable concurrent measurement of a plurality of radio beams via the plurality of antenna elements, as shown by Wang, increasing the number of independent streams that may be simultaneously or concurrently transmitted and/or measured over each single channel thereby increase transmission efficiency and speed while decreasing noise and interference in hybrid MIMO systems.
Kotecha also does not expressly disclose receiving the measure of power level without activation of a RF chain.
Peter discloses analogous art pertaining to proximity detection using an antenna and directional coupler switch (Title) including receiving the measure of power level without activation of a RF chain (paragraph 25-26; receiving measure of reflected power of antenna to be used as a capacitive sensor prior to/without requiring transmit RF output power to be activated).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Kotecha and Wang by receiving the measure of power level without activation of a RF chain, as shown by Peter, thereby providing an integrated RF feature for meeting FCC SAR regulations.
Regarding claims 2, 4, 18, and 19,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter discloses the apparatus further comprises at least one/single phase shifter associated with at least one/single antenna element (Col. 4, lines 33-38).
Regarding claims 6 and 20,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter discloses the at least one phase shifter comprises a plurality of phase shifters, wherein respective ones of the plurality of phase shifters is associated with a single antenna element (Col. 4-5, lines 62-9; multichannel phase shifting per stream and/or per antenna element for multiple streams based on beamforming).
Regarding claim 7,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter discloses a measure of power level comprises a combined (i.e. summed) signal comprising individual power measurements from the plurality of antenna elements (Col. 4, lines 58-65).
Regarding claim 9,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter discloses the controller is configured to identify a radio frequency beam with the highest power among a plurality of radio frequency beams (Fig. 5, step 528; Col. 11, lines 12-15, 46-55).
Regarding claim 10,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter discloses the controller is comprised by the apparatus (Fig. 1-2; processor 113/213 within UE 110/210).
Regarding claim 12,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter discloses the apparatus comprises a radio frequency front end module (Col. 3, line 24).
4. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kotecha, Wang, and Peter in view of Zhou et al. (US20210153040A1), hereafter Zhou.
Regarding claim 11,
The combination of Kotecha, Wang, and Peter does not expressly disclose operating frequency band > 52.6 GHz.
Zhou discloses analogous art of beamforming on a plurality of component carriers (Abstract; Fig. 4; paragraph 76) including operating on frequency bands higher than 52.6 GHz (paragraph 32).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to modify Kotecha, Wang, and Peter by operating on a frequency band higher than 52.6 GHz, as shown by Zhou, thereby providing operation in all sub-divided frequency bands supported by 5G NR.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments filed 11/26/2025 have been fully considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection relies on further cited disclosure from the secondary Wang reference for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument with respect to primary Kotecha reference.
Conclusion
6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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.
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/GREGORY B SEFCHECK/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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