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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Applicants’ communication filed on 05/04/2026. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-17 are currently pending in the instant application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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 of this title, 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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2022/0247368 A1) in view of Engelien-Lopes et al. (US 10,461,713 B1).
Regarding Claim 1 Chen teaches the limitations "A control portion for controlling an amplifier portion of a transmitter device, (see abstract, fig. 1 (10) and par. 0015 “A gain control circuit utilized in a transmitter is disclosed. The transmitter is configured to amplify an input signal according to a gain via a digital amplifier, an analog amplifier and a power amplifier, to generate an output signal.”)
said amplifier portion arranged to amplify a radio signal with a transmission gain based at least partially on a gain control signal (see fig. 1 and par. 0015, automatic gain control 18) and
having a nominal gain relationship between the gain control signal and the transmission gain, ((see par. 0003 “operating characteristics of the power amplifier (e.g., linearity) varies as an environmental temperature varies” showing gains have nominal relationship, and par. 0018 “Simply speaking, the gain control circuit 10 is configured to calculate the current output power P[N] according to the transmitter signal strength indication of the output signal RFout and the environmental temperature TEMP currently, then calculate a difference between the current output power P[N] and the target power TG[N] to calculate the compensated power C[N], and finally adjust the gain A[N] of the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA via the automatic gain controller 18.”);
wherein the control portion is arranged: to (fig. 1 (10);
determine a desired transmission gain; to (see par. 0017 “The target power lookup table 16 is configured to generate a target power TG[N] corresponding to a next output power P[N+1].”)
determine one or more operating conditions; to (see par. 0017 “The environmental temperature detector 13 is configured to detect an environmental temperature TEMP of the transmitter 1.”);
calculate a gain control signal for causing the amplifier portion to apply the desired transmission gain, taking into account the nominal gain relationship and the one or more operating conditions, (see par. 0018 “the gain control circuit 10 is configured to calculate the current output power P[N] according to the transmitter signal strength indication of the output signal RFout and the environmental temperature TEMP currently, then calculate a difference between the current output power P[N] and the target power TG[N] to calculate the compensated power C[N], and finally adjust the gain A[N] of the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA via the automatic gain controller 18.”);
the gain control signal being different to a gain control signal calculated based only on the nominal gain relationship; and to output said gain control signal" (see par. 0018 and fig. 1, where control signal is different based on compensation and gain control signal is output from AGN 18).
However, Chen shows a look up table for gain relationships which is an alternative in the instant application (see instant par. 0028) and therefore does not explicitly disclose the newly added limitation “wherein the gain control signal for causing the amplifier portion to apply the desired transmission gain is calculated using an effective relationship between the gain control signal and an actual gain delivered by the amplifier portion accounting for the one or more operating conditions, the effective relationship being expressed as a mathematical function.”
Upon a further search and in the same field of endeavor Engelien-Lopes discloses that it is common in the art that the gain level may be encoded as an integer from a set of integers, but the level does not necessarily correspond directly with the measurable gain of the amplifier—e.g., there may be only a linear correspondence (see col. 2 line 60-col. 3 line 4) and “The gain-control logic may be configured to set the gain of the amplifier to the transient gain level when one or more conditions are met, such as the device being in a particular state” (see col. 6 line 61-col. 7 line 8). Here, the linear correspondence is equated to the mathematical function as noted in Applicant’s instant par. 0028 which shows “The effective relationship may be expressed by a mathematical function, e.g. with the actual gain expressed as a linear, polynomial or other mathematical function of the gain control signal (or vice versa).”
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 calculate gain control using a mathematical function based on actual gain and conditions as taught by Engelien-Lopes in the system of Chen, in order to provide greater flexibility for modifying the gain in the field—e.g., if an error is identified in the data in the one-time programmable memory, or if a new use case arises after the device is deployed (see Engelien-Lopes col. 7 lines 5-8).
Claim 17 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above because the claims have similar limitations or have been addressed.
Regarding Claim 16 Chen teaches the limitations "A transmitter system comprising: a transmitter device comprising an amplifier portion arranged to amplify a radio signal with a transmission gain based at least partially on a gain control signal and having a nominal gain relationship between the gain control signal and the transmission gain; and a control portion as claimed in claim 1, (see claim 1 above and fig. 1 (1) arranged to control the amplifier portion by outputting the gain control signal to said amplifier portion, wherein at least part of the control portion is separate to the transmitter device" (see fig. 1 and par. 0015, where control portion 10 is partly separated from transmitter portion RF out line).
Claim 13 is rejected for the same reasons set forth above because the claims have similar limitations or have been addressed.
Regarding Claim 2 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 1, wherein the gain control signal indicates one of a plurality of gain settings for the amplifier portion in which the amplifier portion delivers different transmission gains" (see par. 0026, enabling output power by setting logic).
Regarding Claim 3 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 1, wherein the one or more operating conditions includes one or more of temperature, humidity, supply voltage, input power level and carrier frequency"(see abstract and par. 0017 “environmental temperature detector 13”, temperature is used in compensating gain adjustment).
Regarding Claim 4 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 1, wherein the desired gain is determined based on a desired transmission power" (see par. 0017 “The target power lookup table 16 is configured to generate a target power TG[N] corresponding to a next output power P[N+1].”).
Regarding Claim 5 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 1, arranged to calculate the gain control signal for causing the amplifier to apply the desired transmission gain using a model of the amplifier portion" (see par. 0024 “In one embodiment, the correction unit 31 may be a lookup table showing time versus power (or time versus efficiency). For example, by conducting experimental tests when the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA are operating in a packet reception duration (or idle duration), a plurality of curves showing time versus temperature, efficiency, linearity and the like may be obtained, such that the correction power Q[N] can be generalized.” Here, Chen shows experimental data is used to determine amplifier curves (i.e. modeling the amplifier) and a lookup table which models the amplifier).
Regarding Claim 6 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 5, arranged to use the model to determine one or more parameters of a mathematical function which expresses an effective relationship between the gain control signal and an actual gain delivered by the amplifier portion" (see par. 0017 and 0024 “the correction unit 31 may be a lookup table showing time versus power (or time versus efficiency). For example, by conducting experimental tests when the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA are operating in a packet reception duration (or idle duration), a plurality of curves showing time versus temperature, efficiency, linearity and the like may be obtained, such that the correction power Q[N] can be generalized.”). Here, the look up table of parameters are used in comparisons (i.e. mathematical function) based on gain control and gain delivered by the AGN 18).
Regarding Claim 7 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 6, wherein the effective relationship is expressed as a linear combination of a plurality of operating factors" (see par. 0024 “by conducting experimental tests when the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA are operating in a packet reception duration (or idle duration), a plurality of curves showing time versus temperature, efficiency, linearity and the like may be obtained.” Emphasis added).
Regarding Claim 8 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 5, wherein the model used by the control portion comprises an empirical model of the amplifier portion" (par. 0024 “by conducting experimental tests when the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA are operating in a packet reception duration (or idle duration), a plurality of curves showing time versus temperature, efficiency, linearity and the like may be obtained, such that the correction power Q[N] can be generalized.” Here the model is empirical (i.e. derived from experiment data).
Regarding Claim 9 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 1, arranged to update the calculated gain control signal at regular intervals and/or when the one or more operating conditions changes by a threshold amount" (see par. 0007 “In the gain control circuit and method thereof of the present disclosure, the gain of the digital amplifier, the analog amplifier and the power amplifier is adjusted according to the correction power when the elapsed time since the current packet transmission duration of the transmitter is completed is greater than or equal to the threshold, such that the next output power will not be overcompensated. Therefore, a difference between the output power and the target power of the transmitter can be minimized.”).
Regarding Claim 10 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 1, arranged to calculate a set of gain control signals for causing the amplifier portion to apply the desired transmission gain for a corresponding set of the one or more operating conditions" (see par. 0017 showing a lookup table for sets of gain signals for sets of operating conditions. Also see par. 0024 “by conducting experimental tests when the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA are operating in a packet reception duration (or idle duration), a plurality of curves showing time versus temperature, efficiency, linearity and the like may be obtained, such that the correction power Q[N] can be generalized. As a result, the correction unit 31 may generate the correction power Q[N] according to the elapsed time since the packet reception duration (or idle duration) is completed.” Here, the set of operating conditions are the operating conditions during “elapsed time” and the set of gain control signals are generalized).
Regarding Claim 11 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 10, arranged to retrieve and output an appropriate gain control signal from the set when the one or more operating conditions change by a threshold amount” (see par. 0007 “the gain of the digital amplifier, the analog amplifier and the power amplifier is adjusted according to the correction power when the elapsed time since the current packet transmission duration of the transmitter is completed is greater than or equal to the threshold.”).
Regarding Claim 12 Chen teaches the limitations "The control portion of claim 11, arranged to re-calculate the gain control signal for some changes in operating conditions and to retrieve an updated gain control signal from a pre-calculated set for other changes in operating conditions" (see par. 0003 “Therefore, in order to ensure communication quality, a gain control circuit is required to track an output power of the transmitter to adjust a gain of the transmitter accordingly, such that a difference between the output power and a target power of the transmitter can be minimized” and par. 0018 “the gain control circuit 10 is configured to calculate the current output power P[N] according to the transmitter signal strength indication of the output signal RFout and the environmental temperature TEMP currently, then calculate a difference between the current output power P[N] and the target power TG[N] to calculate the compensated power C[N], and finally adjust the gain A[N] of the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA via the automatic gain controller 18. As a result, the gain control circuit 10 may realize automatic power tracking to adjust the gain A[N] of the digital amplifier DA, the analog amplifier AA and the power amplifier PA accordingly, such that a difference between the power of the output signal RFout and the target power TG[N] can be minimized.”).
Regarding Claim 14 Chen teaches the limitations "The transmitter device of claim 13, comprising one or more sensors arranged to measure the one or more operating conditions" (see fig. 1 (13)).
Regarding Claim 15 Chen teaches the limitations "The transmitter device of claim 13, wherein the amplifier portion comprises an RF power amplifier" (see fig. 1 (PA)).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 DAVID BILODEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-3192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 6:00am-4:00pm Eastern Standard Time.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wesley Kim can be reached at (571) 272-7867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/David Bilodeau/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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