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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hanafi et al., Pub. No.: US 2018/0198428 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Hanafi discloses An apparatus (Fig. 4A; single-mode amplifier 400) comprising: a first amplifier coupled to a first node of a receiver signal processing path, the first amplifier to receive and amplify a radio frequency (RF) signal (par. 0045; The amplification stage 416 may include a transistor M1, and the amplification stage 418 may include a transistor M2.); a first resistive attenuator coupled to the first node, the first resistive attenuator programmable to reduce a level of the RF signal (par. 0046; The resistive device 412 provides the real part (i.e., the resistance) of the input impedance (Zin) of the amplifier 400, and can be configured to tune the gain of the LNA.); a second amplifier coupled in parallel with the first amplifier, the second amplifier to receive and amplify the RF signal (par. 0045; The amplification stage 416 may include a transistor M1, and the amplification stage 418 may include a transistor M2.); and a second attenuator coupled between the first node and the second amplifier, the second attenuator programmable to reduce the level of the RF signal (par. 0045; The node 410 may be coupled to a resistive device (Rmatch) 412 and a capacitive attenuator 414. The capacitive attenuator 414 may be coupled to an amplification stage 416 and an amplification stage 418, each coupled to respective output nodes CA1 and CA2, which may be used for carrier aggregation (CA) (e.g., intra-band CA).).
Regarding claim 2, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses further comprising a controller to control a first attenuation level of the first attenuator and to control a second attenuation level of the second attenuator (par. 0053; the switch 404 acts as the claimed controller).
Regarding claim 3, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 2. Hanafi also discloses wherein the controller is to control the first attenuation level and the second attenuation level based at least in part on a gain level of the first amplifier and a gain level of the second amplifier (par. 0053).
Regarding claim 4, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 2. Hanafi also discloses wherein the controller is to control the gain level of the first amplifier, the gain level of the second amplifier, the first attenuation level and the second attenuation level according to a predetermined order (par. 0047; the capacitive attenuator 414 has a controller to control amplifier gain as well as adjusting the total capacitance.).
Regarding claim 5, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 4. Hanafi also discloses wherein the controller is to control the control the gain level of the first amplifier, the gain level of the second amplifier, the first attenuation level and the second attenuation level according to the predetermined order to maintain a return loss below a threshold level (par. 0047).
Regarding claim 6, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 4. Hanafi also discloses wherein the predetermined order comprises first controlling the gain level of the first amplifier, second controlling the first attenuation level, third controlling the gain level of the second amplifier, and fourth controlling the second attenuation level (par. 0048; transistors M1, M2, M3 and M4 of FIG. 4A may be implemented using multiple transistors M1.sub.1 to M1.sub.n, M2.sub.1-M2.sub.n, M3.sub.1-M3.sub.n, M4.sub.1-M4.sub.n that can be biased to adjust the gain of each of the amplification stages 416 and 418.).
Regarding claim 7, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses the first resistive attenuator comprises: a first programmable resistor coupled between the first node and a reference voltage node (Fig. 4A; shows Rmatch 412 coupled between node 410 and capacitor 422); and the second attenuator comprises: a first resistor coupled between the first node and an input of the second amplifier (Fig. 5B); and a second programmable resistor coupled between the input of the second amplifier and the reference voltage node (Fig. 5B).
Regarding claim 8, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses wherein the second attenuator comprises: a first capacitor coupled between the first node and an input of the second amplifier (Fig. 5B); and a first programmable capacitor coupled between the input of the second amplifier and a reference voltage node (Fig. 5B).
Regarding claim 9, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses further comprising: a third amplifier coupled in parallel with the first amplifier, the third amplifier to receive and amplify the RF signal (Fig. 5B); and a third attenuator coupled between the second attenuator and the third amplifier, the third attenuator to reduce the level of the RF signal (Fig. 5B).
Regarding claim 10, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 9. Hanafi also discloses wherein the second attenuator comprises a programmable resistive attenuator and the third attenuator comprises a programmable capacitive attenuator (Fig. 6B).
Regarding claim 11, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses further comprising: a third amplifier coupled in parallel with the first amplifier, the third amplifier to receive and amplify the RF signal (Fig. 6B); and a third attenuator coupled between the first node and the third amplifier, the third attenuator to reduce the level of the RF signal (Fig. 6B).
Regarding claim 12, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses wherein the first resistive attenuator and the second attenuator are located apart from the receiver signal processing path (Fig. 7B).
Regarding claim 13, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 1. Hanafi also discloses wherein the first resistive attenuator and the second attenuator provide an attenuation range of at least 20 decibels and enable a reflection coefficient of the receiver to be less than approximately -10 decibels (par. 0042).
Regarding claim 14, Hanafi discloses A method (par. 0005; a method for signal amplification) comprising: determining, in a receiver, a signal level associated with a radio frequency (RF) signal received in the receiver (par. 0039; RF signals received via the antenna 303 may be amplified by the LNA 322, and the mixer 324 mixes the amplified RF signals with a receive LO signal to convert the RF signal of interest to a different baseband frequency (i.e., downconvert). The baseband signals output by the mixer 324 may be filtered by the BBF 326 before being converted by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 328 to digital I or Q signals for digital signal processing.); based at least in part on the signal level associated with the RF signal, first controlling a gain of a first amplifier coupled along a receiver signal processing path of the receiver, the first amplifier to receive and amplify the RF signal, and thereafter controlling a gain of a first resistive attenuator coupled to an input of the first amplifier, until the first amplifier and the first resistive attenuator are turned off (par. 0044; the input RF (RFin) node 440 may be coupled to an impedance matching network 402 and a switch network 404 to enable/disable the amplifier 400. For example, the switch network 404 may include a transistor 406 that can be closed (e.g., via an enable signal) to couple the Rfin node 440 to node 410.); and thereafter controlling a gain of a second attenuator coupled between the input of the first amplifier and an input of a second amplifier coupled in parallel with the first amplifier, and thereafter controlling a gain of the second amplifier (par. 0053; the switch network 404 may be used to selectively couple the Rfin node 440 to node 410. For example, when amplifier 504 is enabled (e.g., either one of amplification paths 506 or 508 are enabled), transistor 406 is on (closed) and transistors 408 is off (open). When amplifier 504 is disabled (e.g., both the amplification paths 506 and 508 are disabled) and the amplifier 502 is enabled, transistor 406 may be off and transistors 408 can be either on or off.).
Regarding claim 15, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 14. Hanafi also discloses further comprising prior to controlling the gain of the first amplifier, controlling a gain of lower frequency gain control circuitry coupled along the receiver signal processing path downstream of the first amplifier (par. 0040).
Regarding claim 16, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 14. Hanafi also discloses further comprising iteratively controlling the gain of the first amplifier and controlling the gain of the first resistive attenuator, until the gain of the first amplifier is exhausted (par. 0053).
Regarding claim 17, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 14. Hanafi also discloses further comprising controlling the gain of the second attenuator and thereafter controlling the gain of the second amplifier, when the signal level associated with the RF signal exceeds a second level greater than the first level (par. 0053).
Regarding claim 18, Hanafi discloses A wireless device (Fig. 2; access point 110) comprising: an antenna to receive and transmit radio frequency (RF) signals of at least a first frequency band and a second frequency band (par. 0029; Access point 110 is equipped with N.sub.ap antennas 224a through 224ap.); switching circuitry coupled to the antenna (par. 0032; For receive diversity, a transceiver front end 222 may select signals received from one of the antennas 224 for processing.); matching network circuitry coupled to the switching circuitry to provide impedance matching (par. 0044; the input RF (RFin) node 440 may be coupled to an impedance matching network 402 and a switch network 404 to enable/disable the amplifier 400.); and a multi-band transceiver coupled to the matching network circuitry to process the RF signals of at least the first frequency band and the second frequency band, the multi-band transceiver comprising a first receiver (par. 0037; The transceiver front end 300 includes a transmit (TX) path 302 (also known as a transmit chain) for transmitting signals via one or more antennas and a receive (RX) path 304 (also known as a receive chain) for receiving signals via the antennas.), the first receiver comprising: a first amplifier adapted along a first receiver signal processing path between a first node and a second node, the first amplifier to receive and amplify a first RF signal of the first frequency band (par. 0039; The RX path 304 includes a low noise amplifier (LNA) 322, a mixer 324, and a baseband filter (BBF) 326. In certain aspects, the LNA may be implemented using a capacitive attenuator, as will be described in more detail herein.); a first resistive attenuator coupled between the first node and a reference voltage node, the first resistive attenuator programmable to reduce a level of the first RF signal of the first frequency band (par. 0046; the resistive device 412 may be implemented using a resistor network (e.g., a resistor string). For example, the resistive device 412 may include multiple resistors in parallel, that can be switched in and out to provide a desired resistance between node 410 and the reference potential.); a second amplifier coupled in parallel with the first amplifier between the first node and the second node, the second amplifier to receive and amplify the first RF signal of the first frequency band (par. 0045; The amplification stage 416 may include a transistor M1, and the amplification stage 418 may include a transistor M2, each having a gate coupled to a tap node 430 of the capacitive attenuator 414.); and a first capacitive attenuator coupled in parallel with the first resistive attenuator between the first node and the reference voltage node, the first capacitive attenuator further coupled to an input of the second amplifier, the second capacitive attenuator programmable to reduce the level of the first RF signal of the first frequency band (par. 0050; the amplifier 504 includes two amplification paths 506 and 508, each amplification path including a separate capacitive attenuator 510, 512, but sharing a common resistive device 516 for adjusting the input impedance of the amplifier 504. Thus, the matching provided by the resistive device 516 can be performed independently from the gain control (e.g., via the capacitive attenuators 510, 512) of each amplification path, providing increased design flexibility.).
Regarding claim 19, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 18. Hanafi also discloses further comprising a controller to control a first attenuation level of the first resistive attenuator and to control a second attenuation level of the first capacitive attenuator based at least in part on a signal level of the first RF signal of the first frequency band (par. 0053; the switch 404 acts as the claimed controller).
Regarding claim 20, Hanafi discloses all the limitations in claim 19. Hanafi also discloses wherein the controller is to first back off a gain of the first resistive attenuator and the first amplifier, and thereafter back off a gain of the first capacitive attenuator and the second amplifier, wherein the first amplifier has a greater gain than the second amplifier (par. 0043).
Conclusion
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/AYODEJI O AYOTUNDE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649