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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 March 02, 2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 1, “…among the multiple subcarriers, selected group…” in lines 6 – 7 could be corrected to “…among the multiple subcarriers, the selected group…”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 10 – 11, 14 – 15 and 18 – 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Orlik et al (US 2010/0260276).
Re claims 1 and 19, Orlik teaches of a method for multiplexing signals, the method comprising: providing multiple subcarriers including a first group of data subcarriers (group, #240 and data subcarriers #231, Fig.2), a second group of data subcarriers (other groups, Fig.2), a DC subcarrier between the first and second groups of data subcarriers (#250, Fig.2), and a group of guard band subcarriers (#222, #220, Fig.2); selecting a group of one or more subcarriers among the multiple subcarriers, selected group including the DC subcarrier and some or all of the guard band subcarriers (#210, Fig.2); adjusting each subcarrier of the selected group by providing a non-zero amplitude (amplitude, Paragraph 0041) and a phase (phase, Paragraph 0079); maintaining the first and second groups of data subcarriers such that magnitude and phase of any of the data subcarriers are not being altered (a constant or uniform amplitude for data subcarriers (Paragraph 0041) and setting the phase independently (Paragraph 0079) (so as to minimize PAPR, Paragraphs 0041 and 0079); and performing a multiplexing operation with the multiple subcarriers to obtain an output signal (OFDM, Fig.2 and Abstract, Paragraphs 0022 and 0042, Table 1), the output signal having an adjusted property resulting from the adjusting of the one or more subcarriers of the selected group (PAPR, Paragraphs 0041 and 0079 – 0080).
Re claim 10, Orlik teaches of wherein the non-zero amplitude includes a fixed amplitude for all of the subcarriers of the selected group (Paragraph 0041 and Fig.2).
Re claim 11, Orlik teaches of wherein the non-zero amplitude is selected to be less than the largest amplitude among the data subcarriers (amplitude of data subcarriers, #231 is less that amplitude of pilot subcarriers, #230, Fig.2).
Re claim 14, Orlik teaches of wherein the adjusted property of the output signal includes an adjusted peak to average power ratio (PAPR) (minimizing PAPR, Paragraph 0041 and Fig.2).
Re claim 15, Orlik teaches of wherein the adjusted PAPR includes a reduced PAPR (minimizing PAPR, Paragraph 0041 and Fig.2).
Re claim 18, Orlik teaches of wherein the multiplexing operation includes an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) operation (OFDM, Abstract, Paragraphs 0022 and 0042, Table 1).
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.
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.
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 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Orlik in view of Nakagiri (US 2009/0168913).
Re claim 12, Orlik teaches all the limitations of claim 1 except of wherein the phase provided to each subcarrier of the selected group includes a selected phase obtained from an iterative process where phase is allowed to vary, the selected phase corresponding to an output having a desired property resulting from a multiplexing operation with the selected phase provided for each subcarrier of the selected group.
Nakagiri teaches of a phase provided to each subcarrier includes a selected phase obtained from an iterative process where phase is allowed to vary (S6, Fig.4 and #18, Fig.1), the selected phase corresponding to an output having a desired property resulting from a multiplexing operation with the selected phase provided for each subcarrier (S7, Fig.4) (Paragraphs 0057 – 0058).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have selected a phase obtained from an iterative process for suppressing peak power of a OFDM signal.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Orlik in view of Kant et al (US 2020/0052945).
Re claim 13, Orlik teaches all the limitations of claim 1 except of wherein the non-zero amplitude and the phase provided to each subcarrier of the selected group are tailored to generate one or more peaks in a time domain signal with each peak having a phase that cancels some or all of a corresponding peak identified in an uncorrected time domain signal.
Kant teaches of wherein the non-zero amplitude and the phase provided to each subcarrier of the selected group are tailored to generate one or more peaks in a time domain signal with each peak having a phase that cancels some or all of a corresponding peak identified in an uncorrected time domain signal (Paragraph 0055 and Figures 3 – 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the non-zero amplitude and the phase provided to each subcarrier of the selected group are tailored to perform PAPR reduction and spectrum shaping of each of the generated signal.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Orlik in view of Engin et al (US 9,893,920).
Re claim 16, Orlik teaches all the limitations of claim 15 as well as a reduced PAPR (Paragraph 0041 and 0079). Orlik does not specifically teach of providing an output signal with a reduced PAPR to a power amplifier to obtain an amplified signal.
Engin teaches of providing an output signal (OFDM signal, Col 4, Lines 54 – 67, Fig.3) with a reduced PAPR (#314, Fig.3) to a power amplifier to obtain an amplified signal (#310, Fig.3).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have performed the PAPR reduction for an efficient operation of a power amplifier.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Orlik and Engin in view of Bose et al (US 2011/0135035).
Re claim 17, Orlik and Engin teach all the limitations of claim 16 as well as Engin teaches of wherein the amplified signal is obtained with an improved power amplification efficiency when compared to an amplified signal resulting from amplification of an output of a multiplexing operation without adjustment of the one or more subcarriers of the selected group (Col 4, Lines 40 – 67). However, Orlik and Engin do not specifically teach of an improved error vector magnitude (EVM) performance, and an improved adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) performance
Bose teaches of an improved error vector magnitude (EVM) performance, and an improved adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) performance (Paragraph 0032).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have known that the PAPR reduction would improve the power efficiency compared to no PAPR reduction. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have analyzed parameters such as EVM and ACPR so as to determine and improve the performance of a power amplifier.
Conclusion
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/ARISTOCRATIS FOTAKIS/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633