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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed on 07/26/2023 has been considered and
placed in the application file.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noori (U.S. 10,110,166).
Regarding claim 1, Noori (hereinafter, Ref~166) discloses (e.g., please see Figs. 4 and related text for details) a tunable radio frequency (RF) low noise amplifier (LNA) circuit (e.g., see Fig. 4b) comprising:
an amplifier circuit (208/211/213 of Fig. 4b), wherein the amplifier circuit is configured to receive an input RF signal (RF input of Fig. 4b) from an RF input source and provide an amplified output RF signal (RF output of Fig. 4b);
a bias resistor (230 of Fig. 4b), wherein a first end of the bias resistor is operatively coupled to an input of the amplifier circuit as seen;
a digitally programmable bias circuit (please note that the generic/tunable bias source 228 of Fig. 4b can be employed/configured in a digital fashion as well-known/widely used in the field depending on custom specifications) operatively coupled to a second end of the bias resistor, wherein the bias circuit outputs a reference voltage (disposed at gate input transistor 210 and/or 211 and/or 213 of Fig. 4b); and
a programmable input impedance circuit (centered by capacitors 302:306 and/or 401 of Fig. 4b) operatively coupled between the first end of the bias resistor and a ground, comprising:
an input transconductor transistor (210 and/or 211 and/or 213 of Fig. 4b), wherein a gate-to-source capacitance between a gate and a source of the input transconductor transistor is programmable by a programmable capacitor network (302:306 of Fig. 4b) comprising at least one capacitor coupled to a first switch (308:312 of Fig. 4b), wherein a first side of the programmable capacitor network is coupled to the gate of the input transconductor transistor and second side of the programmable capacitor network is coupled to the source of the input transconductor transistor as seen from Fig. 4b; and
a programmable inductance network (401 of Fig. 4b) comprising at least a first inductor (402: 406 of Fig. 4b) coupled to a second switch (see 408:412 of Fig. 4b), wherein a first end of the programmable inductance network is coupled to the source of the input transconductor transistor and a second end of the programmable inductance network is coupled to ground, wherein the reference voltage of the digitally programmable bias circuit is coupled to the gate of the input transconductance transistor, and wherein varying the reference voltage generates a variable programmable transconductance of the input transconductor transistor as seen, meeting claim 1.
Regarding claim 2, Ref~166 discloses the tunable RF LNA circuit of claim 1, wherein a degeneration inductance of the programmable inductance network is digitally programmable using the second switch (please note that more than one switches are employed here), operatively connected to the at least first inductor as seen, meeting claim 2.
Regarding claim 3, Ref~166 discloses the tunable RF LNA circuit of claim 1, wherein the programmable inductance network further comprises a third switch (e.g., 412 of Fig. 4b) and a second inductor (see Fig. 4b for details) and a third inductor (see Fig. 4b for details), wherein: the second inductor is coupled to the second switch at a first tap point (see 401 of Fig. 4b for details); and
the third inductor is coupled to the third switch at a second tap point (see Fig. 4b for details), wherein the first inductor, second inductor, and third inductor are connected in series as seen from Fig. 4b, and wherein the first tap point is between the first inductor and the second inductor and the second tap point is between the second inductor and the third inductor as seen from Fig. 4b, meeting claim 3.
Regarding claim 4, Ref~166 discloses the tunable RF LNA circuit of claim 3, wherein the programmable inductance network further comprises a fourth switch (please note more switches and/or inductors can be added in the same manner depending on specifications), wherein: the fourth switch is coupled between the third inductor and ground, meeting claim 4.
Regarding claim 5, Ref~166 discloses the tunable RF LNA circuit of claim 1, wherein a capacitance of the a ?? (please correct typo errors) programmable capacitor network is digitally programmable by actuating the first switch as seen from Fig. 4b, meeting claim 5.
Regarding claim 6, Ref~166 discloses the tunable RF LNA circuit of claim 1 , further comprising a control circuit (not expressly shown, but inherently needed to provide control signal used by tunable/adjustable features shown in the circuit of Fig. 4b) configured to provide control signals to the first switch and the second switch, wherein the control signals actuate a respective switch as seen, meeting claim 6.
Regarding claim 7, Ref~166 supports the claimed “wherein the control circuit is further configured to provide control signals to the digitally programmable bias circuit to adjust a value of the reference voltage”, since said bias circuit is also required control signals to operate as tunable bias circuit as advertised, meeting claim 7.
Regarding claim 8, Ref~166 supports the claimed “wherein the RF receiver is tunable over a range of RX bands comprising a plurality of frequencies, and wherein an effective parallel resistance of the RF receiver is substantially constant over the range of RX bands by adjusting the gate-to-source capacitance, the transconductance of the input transconductor transistor, and the degeneration inductance of the programmable inductance network”, since Ref~116 has all the claimed feature and it is also configured to operate in the same manner compared to the claimed one, meeting claim 8.
Regarding claim 9, Ref~166 does not expressly suggest “wherein the effective parallel resistance of the RF receiver is substantially constant over the range of RX bands when effective parallel resistance of the RF receiver varies less than 20% from a target parallel resistance over the range of RX bands”. However, these are normal design parameters/features in the field depending on custom specifications, meeting claim 9.
Regarding claim 10, Ref~166 supports the claimed “wherein the RF receiver is tunable over a range of RX bands comprising a plurality of frequencies, and wherein a gain of the RF receiver is substantially constant over the range of RX bands by adjusting the gate-to-source capacitance, the transconductance of the input transconductor transistor and the degeneration inductance of the programmable inductance network”, since it discloses all claimed features and it is also configured to operate in the same manner compared to the claimed one, meeting claim 10.
As to claims 11-20, these claims are merely the method to operate the circuit having structure recited in claims 1-10. Since Ref~166 teaches the structure, the method to operate such a circuit is inherently disclosed, meeting claim 11-20.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HIEU P NGUYEN whose telephone number is 571-272-8577. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30AM-6:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached on 571-272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306.
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/HIEU P NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843