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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 8-25 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected Inventions II, III, and IV, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 04/02/2026.
Status of Claims
The examiner has taken notice that claim 6 has been amended, claims 8-25 have been canceled, and claims 26-41 have been newly added. Claims 1-7 and 26-41 are pending in the current application.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 6, 34, and 41 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 6, lines 8-9, the term “transit period” should read “transmit period”.
In claim 34, line 7, the term “transit period” should read “transmit period”
In claim 41, line 10, the term “transit period” should read “transmit period”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 36-41 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 36, it is ambiguous as to what device or component is performing the recited method, rendering the scope of the claim indefinite. To be more specific, it is unclear as to what device or component is performing the steps of “calculating a first transmit power value…” and “controlling a baseband modem…”.
Regarding claims 37-41, the claims are rejected for depending on claim 36 above.
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.
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.
Claims 1-6, 26-34, and 36-41 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gopal et al. (US 2022/0103214 A1), hereinafter referred to as Gopal, in view of Yao et al. (US 2018/0288709 A1), hereinafter referred to as Yao.
Regarding claim 1, Gopal teaches a computing device (Gopal – Fig. 8; Paragraph [0107], note apparatus 800) comprising:
an interface to a first antenna and a second antenna (Gopal – Fig. 8; Paragraph [0108], note the reception component 802 may include one or more antennas, a demodulator, a MIMO detector, a receive processor, a controller/processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of the transmitter device described above in connection with FIG. 2; Paragraph [0109], note the transmission component 804 may include one or more antennas, a modulator, a transmit MIMO processor, a transmit processor, a controller/processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of the transmitter device described above in connection with FIG. 2); and
a processor, configured to perform an antenna hopping operation (Gopal – Fig. 8; Paragraph [0112], note the antenna switching component 812 may select an antenna, using the modified antenna switching configuration, the antenna switching component 812 may include one or more antennas, a demodulator, a MIMO detector, a receive processor, a modulator, a transmit MIMO processor, a transmit processor, a controller/processor, a memory, or a combination thereof, of the transmitter device described above in connection with FIG. 2), wherein the antenna hopping operation comprises:
determining a first transmit power value representing a transmit power on the first antenna during a transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0062], note when time-averaging an SAR to determine an RT-SAR value, the transmitter device may determine a maximum allowable transmit power (PLimit) in a time window (TRT-SAR_Window); Paragraph [0067], note PLimit may represent an RT-SAR transmit power limit determined based at least in part on one or more RT-SAR real-time exposure estimates or exposure determinations for operation in the sub-6 GHz operating RF bands; Paragraph [0065], note UE 120 may transmit first signals to base station 110, for example, UE 120 may select an antenna using a first antenna switching configuration, and may transmit the first signals to base station 110 using the first antenna switching configuration); and
when the first transmit power value reaches a threshold, controlling a baseband modem to begin a second transmit period on the second antenna (Gopal – Fig. 4A; Paragraph [0032], note a UE 120 may be a wireless modem; Paragraph [0057], note a UE (e.g., which may have 2 antennas, 4 antennas, or another number of antennas), may use antenna switched diversity (Asdiv) to select from a plurality of different antenna switching configurations, a transmitter device may select one or more of the plurality of antennas to use for a transmission; Paragraph [0066], note UE 120 may determine a SAR limit using a time-averaged power limit (e.g., the SAR limit is based at least in part on a transmit power limit, which is based at least in part on a measured SAR for one or more antennas) and may update an antenna switching configuration (e.g., which may include switching antennas), for example, UE 120 may switch antennas, in accordance with an antenna switching configuration, when a first antenna that UE 120 is using does not satisfy one or more criteria of the antenna switching configuration, but a second antenna, that UE 120 is not using does satisfy the one or more criteria; Paragraph [0070], note after a time window has elapsed (e.g., TRT-SAR_Window or TPD_Window), UE 120 may obtain a PLimit update from the RT-SAR component (e.g., using an API as described above) and may use an Asdiv component to evaluate an antenna switching configurating using the updated PLimit, UE 120 may repeat the Asdiv component evaluation for each time window (e.g., second or subsequent time window(s)); Paragraph [0073], note UE 120 may transmit second signals to base station 110, for example, based at least in part on determining a second antenna switching configuration, UE 120 may select an antenna using the second antenna switching configuration and may transmit the second signals to base station 110 using the second antenna switching configuration).
Gopal does not teach calculating a first transmit power value representing a transmit power on the first antenna during a transmit period.
In an analogous art, Yao teaches calculating a first transmit power value representing a transmit power on the first antenna during a transmit period (Yao – Fig. 2; Paragraph [0041], note the time average specific absorption rate can be a time domain moving average of the SAR (e.g., within a sampling window), the sampling window can have a predetermined or adjusting length (e.g., regulation period T), the controller 240 can be configured to calculate the time average specific absorption rate (e.g., average SAR 302)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Yao into Gopal in order to further enable adjustment of the transmission power of a communication device to keep SAR within a threshold value (Yao – Paragraph [0041]).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches wherein the antenna hopping operation further comprises, when the first transmit power value reaches the threshold, controlling the baseband modem to discontinue transmission on the first antenna during the second transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0057], note a UE (e.g., which may have 2 antennas, 4 antennas, or another number of antennas), may use antenna switched diversity (Asdiv) to select from a plurality of different antenna switching configurations, a transmitter device may select one or more of the plurality of antennas to use for a transmission; Paragraph [0066], note UE 120 may switch antennas, in accordance with an antenna switching configuration, when a first antenna that UE 120 is using does not satisfy one or more criteria of the antenna switching configuration, but a second antenna, that UE 120 is not using does satisfy the one or more criteria).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches wherein the antenna hopping operation further comprises the processor calculating a second transmit power value representing a transmit power on the second antenna during the second transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0059], note when performing Asdiv, the transmitter device may use a static transmit limit based on a measured SAR or power density for an antenna; Paragraph [0061], note real-time SAR (RT-SAR) or smart transmit (STX) procedures may be introduced in which the transmitter device determines a time-averaged SAR across a time-averaging window (for each antenna); Paragraph [0070], note after a time window has elapsed (e.g., TRT-SAR_Window or TPD_Window), UE 120 may obtain a PLimit update from the RT-SAR component (e.g., using an API as described above) and may use an Asdiv component to evaluate an antenna switching configurating using the updated PLimit, UE 120 may repeat the Asdiv component evaluation for each time window (e.g., second or subsequent time window(s))); and
when the second average transmit power reaches a threshold, beginning a third transmit period on the first antenna or a third antenna (Gopal – Paragraph [0057], note a transmitter device, such as a UE (e.g., which may have 2 antennas, 4 antennas, or another number of antennas), may use antenna switched diversity (Asdiv) to select from a plurality of different antenna switching configurations (switching antennas, see Paragraph [0066])).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches wherein the antenna hopping operation further comprises, when the second transmit power value reaches the threshold, controlling the baseband modern to discontinue transmission on the second antenna during the third transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0066], note UE 120 may switch antennas, in accordance with an antenna switching configuration, when a first antenna that UE 120 is using does not satisfy one or more criteria of the antenna switching configuration, but a second antenna, that UE 120 is not using does satisfy the one or more criteria (applicable to a UE with any number of antennas, see Paragraph [0057]); Paragraph [0070], note after a time window has elapsed (e.g., TRT-SAR_Window or TPD_Window), UE 120 may obtain a PLimit update from the RT-SAR component (e.g., using an API as described above) and may use an Asdiv component to evaluate an antenna switching configurating using the updated PLimit, UE 120 may repeat the Asdiv component evaluation for each time window (e.g., second or subsequent time window(s))).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches wherein the first transmit power value is a mean of transmit power on the first antenna relative to time during the first transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0059], note when performing Asdiv, the transmitter device may use a static transmit limit based on a measured SAR or power density for an antenna; Paragraph [0061], note real-time SAR (RT-SAR) or smart transmit (STX) procedures may be introduced in which the transmitter device determines a time-averaged SAR across a time-averaging window (for each antenna)); and
wherein the second transmit power value is a mean of transmit power on the second antenna relative to time during the second transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0059], note when performing Asdiv, the transmitter device may use a static transmit limit based on a measured SAR or power density for an antenna; Paragraph [0061], note real-time SAR (RT-SAR) or smart transmit (STX) procedures may be introduced in which the transmitter device determines a time-averaged SAR across a time-averaging window (for each antenna); Paragraph [0070], note after a time window has elapsed (e.g., TRT-SAR_Window or TPD_Window), UE 120 may obtain a PLimit update from the RT-SAR component (e.g., using an API as described above) and may use an Asdiv component to evaluate an antenna switching configurating using the updated PLimit, UE 120 may repeat the Asdiv component evaluation for each time window (e.g., second or subsequent time window(s))).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches further comprising the first antenna, the second antenna, and a plurality of second antennas, wherein the second antenna is a second antenna of the plurality of second antennas (Gopal – Paragraph [0057], note a transmitter device, such as a UE (e.g., which may have 2 antennas, 4 antennas, or another number of antennas));
wherein the processor is further configured to successively begin a transmit period on each antenna of the plurality of second antennas (Gopal – Paragraph [0057], note a transmitter device may select one or more of the plurality of antennas to use for a transmission; Paragraph [0073], note UE 120 may transmit second signals to base station 110, for example, based at least in part on determining a second antenna switching configuration, UE 120 may select an antenna using the second antenna switching configuration and may transmit the second signals to base station 110 using the second antenna switching configuration);
calculate a transmit power value on the each antenna of the plurality of second antennas (Gopal – Paragraph [0059], note when performing Asdiv, the transmitter device may use a static transmit limit based on a measured SAR or power density for an antenna; Paragraph [0061], note real-time SAR (RT-SAR) or smart transmit (STX) procedures may be introduced in which the transmitter device determines a time-averaged SAR across a time-averaging window (for each antenna)); and
when the transmit power value on the each antenna of the plurality of second antennas reaches the threshold, to discontinue transmission on the each antenna of the plurality of second antennas and to begin a transmit period on another antenna (Gopal – Paragraph [0066], note UE 120 may switch antennas, in accordance with an antenna switching configuration, when a first antenna that UE 120 is using does not satisfy one or more criteria of the antenna switching configuration, but a second antenna, that UE 120 is not using does satisfy the one or more criteria (applicable to a UE with any number of antennas, see Paragraph [0057]); Paragraph [0070], note after a time window has elapsed (e.g., TRT-SAR_Window or TPD_Window), UE 120 may obtain a PLimit update from the RT-SAR component (e.g., using an API as described above) and may use an Asdiv component to evaluate an antenna switching configurating using the updated PLimit, UE 120 may repeat the Asdiv component evaluation for each time window (e.g., second or subsequent time window(s))).
Regarding claim 26, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches wherein the processor is configured to transmit at a maximum power during the first transmit period and the second transmit period (Gopal – Paragraph [0062], note when time-averaging an SAR to determine an RT-SAR value, the transmitter device may determine a maximum allowable transmit power (PLimit) in a time window (TRT-SAR_Window); Paragraph [0070], note after a time window has elapsed (e.g., TRT-SAR_Window or TPD_Window), UE 120 may obtain a PLimit update from the RT-SAR component (e.g., using an API as described above) and may use an Asdiv component to evaluate an antenna switching configurating using the updated PLimit, UE 120 may repeat the Asdiv component evaluation for each time window (e.g., second or subsequent time window(s))).
Regarding claim 27, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches the computing device further comprising a multiplexer, configured to selectively connect the processor to the first antenna or the second antenna (Gopal – Fig. 8; Paragraph [0112], note the antenna switching component 812 (which may share multiplexing functionality with the transmission component, see Paragraph [0109])), and wherein transmitting on the first antenna includes controlling the multiplexer to connect the processor to the first antenna, and wherein transmitting on the second antenna includes controlling the multiplexer to connect the processor to the second antenna (Gopal – Fig. 8; Paragraph [0112], note the antenna switching component 812 may select an antenna, using the modified antenna switching configuration, based at least in part on one or more antenna parameters, the antenna switching component 812 may determine to switch antennas based at least in part on the modified antenna switching configuration).
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches the computing device further comprising a baseband modem (Gopal – Paragraph [0032], note a UE 120 may be a wireless modem), wherein transmitting during the first transmit period includes the processor controlling the baseband modem to transmit on the first antenna, and wherein transmitting during the second transmit period includes the processor controlling the baseband modem to transmit on the second antenna (Gopal – Fig. 4A; Paragraph [0057], note a UE (e.g., which may have 2 antennas, 4 antennas, or another number of antennas), may use antenna switched diversity (Asdiv) to select from a plurality of different antenna switching configurations, a transmitter device may select one or more of the plurality of antennas to use for a transmission; Paragraph [0065], note UE 120 may transmit first signals to base station 110, for example, UE 120 may select an antenna using a first antenna switching configuration, and may transmit the first signals to base station 110 using the first antenna switching configuration; Paragraph [0073], note UE 120 may transmit second signals to base station 110, for example, based at least in part on determining a second antenna switching configuration, UE 120 may select an antenna using the second antenna switching configuration and may transmit the second signals to base station 110 using the second antenna switching configuration).
Regarding claim 29, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 1 above, except the claim is written in a non-transitory computer-readable medium (CRM) claim format, which is taught by Gopal (Gopal – Fig. 8; Paragraph [0008], note non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores a set of instructions for wireless communication by a transmitter device; Paragraph [0107], note a component (or a portion of a component) may be implemented as instructions or code stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and executable by a controller or a processor to perform the functions or operations of the component).
Regarding claim 30, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 31, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 32, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 33, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 34, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 6 above.
Regarding claim 36, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 1 above, except the claim is written in a method claim format.
Regarding claim 37, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 38, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 39, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 4 above.
Regarding claim 40, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 5 above.
Regarding claim 41, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 6 above.
Claims 7 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gopal in view of Yao as applied to claims 1 and 29 above, and further in view of Cheng et al. (US 2013/0156080 A1), hereinafter referred to as Cheng.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Gopal and Yao, specifically Gopal teaches the computing device further comprising a proximity sensor (Gopal – Paragraph [0058], note a sensor parameter (e.g., a proximity sensor may receive or detect input or sensor data that may be used to identify whether a user's hand or head or another object is covering an antenna)).
The combination of Gopal and Yao does not teach the proximity sensor configured to detect a proximity of the first antenna and to generate proximity sensor data representing the detected proximity of the first antenna; wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of a range, the processor is configured to operate according to a first operational mode; wherein the processor is configured to, if the proximity sensor data is within the range, operate according to a second operational mode; wherein operating according to the first operational mode comprises performing the antenna hopping operation; and wherein operating according to the second operational mode comprises discontinuing the antenna hopping operation.
In an analogous art, Cheng teaches the proximity sensor configured to detect a proximity of the first antenna and to generate proximity sensor data representing the detected proximity of the first antenna (Cheng – Paragraph [0034], note sensor data from one or more proximity sensors, one or more proximity sensors can be disposed by each of the two or more antennas, based on the sensor data, the antenna deployment manager 135 can determine which of the antennas are not being touched or that are not near the human body part);
wherein if the proximity sensor data is outside of a range, the processor is configured to operate according to a first operational mode (Cheng – Paragraph [0034], note the antenna deployment manager 135 is configured to perform antenna deployment switching based sensor data from one or more proximity sensors, as the user device 104 detects an object, such as a human body part, the antenna deployment manager 135 can switch the Tx path to one of the antennas that is not being touched or near the human body part);
wherein the processor is configured to, if the proximity sensor data is within the range, operate according to a second operational mode (Cheng – Paragraph [0034], note based on the sensor data, the antenna deployment manager 135 can determine which of the antennas are not being touched or that are not near the human body part, the antenna deployment manager 135 can select one of those antennas);
wherein operating according to the first operational mode comprises performing the antenna hopping operation (Cheng – Paragraph [0034], note the antenna deployment manager 135 is configured to perform antenna deployment switching based sensor data from one or more proximity sensors, as the user device 104 detects an object, such as a human body part, the antenna deployment manager 135 can switch the Tx path to one of the antennas that is not being touched or near the human body part); and
wherein operating according to the second operational mode comprises discontinuing the antenna hopping operation (Cheng – Paragraph [0034], note based on the sensor data, the antenna deployment manager 135 can determine which of the antennas are not being touched or that are not near the human body part, the antenna deployment manager 135 can select one of those antennas (i.e., antenna switching does not occur if the antennas are not obstructed)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to incorporate the teachings of Cheng into the combination of Gopal and Yao in order to reduce SAR and improve HSPA/MIMO diversity (Cheng – Paragraph [0034]).
Regarding claim 35, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as claim 7 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ramasamy et al. (US 11,424,789 B1) discloses SAR proximity sensors for antenna switching in N×N MIMO array configuration.
Koshy et al. (US 2019/0098553 A1) discloses wireless mode-specific SAR threshold for triggering antenna switching.
Takeda et al. (US 2023/0199672 A1) discloses uplink transmission power criterion corresponding to a specific absorption rate requirement.
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/BAILOR C HSU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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