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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 02/05/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 02/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant argued Wilhelmsson fails to disclose newly added limitation.
The Examiner respectfully submits that in Wilhelmsson [0075]-[0077] and figures 8-9b, LTE transceiver includes embodiment of figure 8, and ISM transceiver also includes embodiment of figure 8, both LTE and ISM transceivers combined and formed the radio front end, further (figures 8, 9b and 11) the two filters BSF ISM1 and BSF ISM2 of ISM path teach the claimed first filter and second filter of the second signal path for the second frequency range (ISM or Wi-Fi), further Wilhelmsson discloses in figure 3a, the first frequency range including a first band (LTE Band 40) and a second band (LTE Extension band i.e. Band 41 at 2500MHz), and filtering the second band (LTE Extension band i.e. Band 41) is obvious for removing undesired signals. Ikonen discloses multiple LTE filters for respective LTE bands.
Nevertheless, new prior art Khlat (US 20140307836 A1) is applied which discloses filtering both LTE Band 40 and Band 41 (figures 17 and 18, filter SAW20 for B41a, filter FILT506 for B40).
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.
6. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
7. Claim(s) 1-2, 4-6 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilhelmsson (US 20110116490 A1) in view of Khlat (US 20140307836 A1) and Ikonen (US 20130265912 A1).
For claim 1. Wilhelmsson discloses ([0023], [0024], [0063], [0075]-[0077], figures 8-18) A radio-frequency switching circuit for multiple signal bands, comprising: a first signal path for a first frequency range (LTE Band 40 and Extension Band i.e. B41); a second signal path for a second frequency range (WLAN ISM band), the first and second frequency ranges being adjacent to each other (figures 3a and 9b);
a first signal path filter configured to pass a region of the first frequency range ([0075], figures 8, 9a, 9b, 18, LTE bands), the region of the first frequency range including a first band (figure 3a, LTE Band 40 (B40)), and a second band (figure 3a, LTE Extension band i.e. LTE Band B41), the first band and the second band being separated from each other in frequency;
second signal path filters each configured to pass a respective region of the second frequency range (figures 8, 9b and 11, filter BSF ISM1 and filter BSF ISM2), the respective regions being smaller than the second frequency range ([0075], figures 8, 9b and 18) and being between the first band (LTE Band B40) and the second band (B41), the second signal path filters including a first filter (filter BSF ISM2) and a second filter (filter BSF ISM1), the respective region of the first filter (filter BSF ISM2) having a larger gap in frequency offset from the first band (LTE B40) than the second filter, and the respective region of the second filter (filter BSF ISM1) having a larger gap in frequency offset from the second band (LTE B41) than the first filter; and
one or more switches configured to select one of the second signal path filters based on a control signal (figure 8).
Wilhelmsson fails to particularly disclose the first signal path filter configured to pass the second band (figure 3a, LTE Extension band i.e. Band B41).
This teaching is disclosed by Khlat (figures 17 and 18, filter SAW20 for LTE B41a signal, filter FILT506 for LTE B40 signal).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the selection techniques taught by Khlat into the art of Wilhelmsson as to filter LTE B41 signal to improve signal quality.
Wilhelmsson and Khlat fail to particularly disclose the one or more switches configured to connect the selected one of the second signal path filters to the first signal path filter.
Ikonen teaches multiple embodiments of combined-transceivers radio front-end, particularly in [0039] and figure 2, LTE filters 14-16 are selectively connected to the ISM (WLAN/Bluetooth 7-9) transceiver path with shared antenna. Therefore combining LTE and ISM transceivers of figure 8 of Wilhelmsson with a shared/single antenna is easily implemented as two switches 805 respectively for connecting filters 801 and 803 of LTE and filters 801 and 803 of ISM to the shared/single antenna.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the selection techniques taught by Ikonen into the art of Wilhelmsson as modified by Khlat as to use shared antenna and improved isolation.
For claim 2. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1 Wilhelmsson discloses wherein the first band and the second band are frequency bands used for cellular communication, and the second frequency range includes a frequency band used for wireless local area network signal communication ([0063], [0076], [0077], figures 1, 8-18).
For claim 4. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1 Wilhelmsson discloses wherein the first frequency range is separated from the second frequency range by a frequency gap that is smaller than or equal to approximately 15 MHz ([0063], [0076], [0077], figures 8-18).
For claim 5. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1 Wilhelmsson discloses wherein the region of the second frequency range corresponding to the selected second signal path filter is separated from the first frequency range by a frequency gap that is greater than or equal to 20 MHz ([0102], [0104], [0108]).
For claim 6. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1 Wilhelmsson discloses wherein the respective regions of the first filter and the second filter are overlapping ([0063], [0076], [0077], figures 8-18).
For claim 20. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1, Wilhelmsson discloses ([0023], [0024], [0063], [0075]-[0077], figures 8-18) A radio-frequency module comprising: a packaging substrate configured to receive a plurality of components ([0049]); and a semiconductor die implemented on the packaging substrate ([0049]), the semiconductor die including the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1.
8. Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilhelmsson as modified by Khlat and Ikonen above, further in view of McCarthy (US 20150036656 A1).
For claim 10. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency switching circuit of claim 1 but fails to disclose wherein the one or more switches are configured to disconnect all of the second signal path filters from the first signal path filter when the second signal path is not active.
This teaching is disclosed by McCarthy ([0028], claim 17, LTE inactive=disconnected, to selectively connect/disconnect the cellular communications circuitry and the WLAN communications).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the selection techniques taught by McCarthy into the art of Wilhelmsson as modified by Khlat and Ikonen as to improve isolation with inactive radios.
9. Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wilhelmsson as modified by Khlat and Ikonen above, further in view of Uejima (US 12425058 B2).
For claim 21. Wilhelmsson in combination with Khlat and Ikonen substantially teaches the radio-frequency module of claim 20, Wilhelmsson discloses A wireless device including the radio-frequency module of claim 20 the wireless device further including antennas, and a controller configured to provide a control signal to the radio-frequency switching circuit of the radio-frequency module (figure 11, [0075]).
But fails to disclose an antenna switch module coupled between the one or more switches and the antennas.
This teaching is disclosed by Uejima (figure 1, antenna switch module 20).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the selection techniques taught by Uejima into the art of Wilhelmsson as modified by Khlat and Ikonen as to improve antenna transmission.
Allowable Subject Matter
10. Claims 11-15, 19 and 22-27 are allowed.
11. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Consider claim 11, none of the references, either alone or in combination, discloses or renders obvious “first signal path filters each configured to pass a respective region of the first frequency range, the first signal path filters including a first filter and a second filter, the respective region of the first filter including a first band and a second band that are separate from each other in frequency, the respective region of the second filter including a sub-band of the first band and a sub-band of the second band such that the second filter as a reduced bandwidth relative to the first filter; second signal path filters each configured to pass a respective region of the second frequency range, the respective regions being smaller than the second frequency range, and being between the first band and the second band, the second signal path filters including a third filter and a fourth filter, the respective region of the third filter having a larger gap in frequency offset from the first band than the fourth filter, and the respective region of the fourth filter having a larger gap in frequency offset from the second band than the third filter; and one or more switches configured to select one of the first signal path filters and one of the second signal path filters based on a control signal, and to connect the selected one of the first signal path filters with the selected one of the second signal path filters”.
Consider claim 22, none of the references, either alone or in combination, discloses or renders obvious “first signal path filters including a first filter and a second filter, the first filter configured to pass a first band and a second band within the first frequency range, and the second filter configured to pass a sub-band of the first band and a sub-band of the second band such that the second filter as a reduced bandwidth relative to the first filter; a second signal path filter configured to pass a region of the second frequency range that is between the first band and the second band, the region having a larger gap in frequency offset from the sub-band of the first band than the first band, and having a larger gap in frequency offset from the sub-band of the second band than the second band; and one or more switches configured to select one of the first signal path filters based on a control signal and to connect the selected one of the first signal path filters to the second signal path filter”.
Conclusion
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Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Rui Meng Hu whose telephone number is 571-270-1105, email is ruimeng.hu@uspto.gov. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., EST.
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/Rui Meng Hu/
R.H./rh
February 23, 2026
/JINSONG HU/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2643