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 § 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 1,2,7,8,10,12,13,14,15,19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 115175290, hereinafter Li) in view of Yamashita et al. (US 10317503, hereinafter Yamashita)
Regarding claim 1, Li discloses a pathloss calibration method used for a radio-frequency communication device, comprising:
defining m×n conditions according to m frequency bands and n power gears (Par. 27: Lines 1-6; Calibration schemes include multiple calibration conditions across different channel intervals (frequency bands) and multiple calibration power levels; The different channel intervals correspond to different frequency-band conditions, while the different calibration power levels correspond to different power operating conditions (power gears), thereby defining multiple calibration conditions);
obtaining x base pathloss values under x conditions of the m×n conditions on a first route of the radio-frequency communication device (Par. 27: Lines 1-6; Full level power scanning (every power level in the channel is calibrated) is performed on a calibration (intermediate) channel. The Factor value closest to the expected power of each power is selected and stored. This sequence will be used as a pre scanning parameter; The stored Factor Value sequence corresponds to the x base pathloss values because the stored Factor Values are calibration values associated with the RF pathloss and will be used to calibrate other channels. The calibration (intermediate) channel corresponds to the first route);
generating z anchor pathloss values on the route according to the y offset values and the x base pathloss values (Par. 36-37; Formula for compensation values; Par, 39; Formula for Power Factor Value of X-Channel; The default power factor values (x base pathloss values) are used in determining the compensation factor and Factor Values of other channels. The compensation value used to determine the Factor Values is a difference (offset));
wherein m, n, x, y, and z are integers larger than zero, x < m×n, and x > y (Par. 27: Lines 7-10; One representative channel is subject to full-power level calibration (every power level in the channel is calibrated) while the remaining channels undergo only maximum power level calibration (The maximum power level for all channels is calibrated). The Factor Values of the remaining channels are obtained using the Factor Value of the middle channels; The combinations of channels and power levels correspond to the mxn conditions. Only the middle channels undergo full power calibration while the remaining channel/power combinations are obtained through compensation calculations. The number of directly obtained reference calibrations, x, is less than the total number of conditions, mxn, and greater than the number of compensation values, y).
Li does not disclose obtaining y anchor pathloss values under y conditions of the m×n conditions on a second route of the radio-frequency communication device.
Yamashita, however, discloses obtaining y anchor pathloss values under y conditions on a second route of the radio-frequency communication device (Col. 10: Lines 66-67 and Col. 11: Lines 1-5; The amplifier channel has different RF paths depending of which input and output are selected; These multiple RF paths correspond to the second route; Col. 13: Lines 65-67 and Col. 14: Lines 1-14; The reception level for each amplifier channel is measured and a corresponding measurement level difference for each channel is calculated; The measurement level difference calculated for the amplifier channel corresponds to the y anchor pathloss values because it is associated with RF path loss of the respective route. The calibration of the amplifier channel corresponds to the y conditions).
Li further does not disclose generating y offset values according to the y anchor pathloss values and the y base pathloss values of the x base pathloss values, wherein the y base pathloss values are obtained under the y conditions.
Yamashita, however, discloses generating y offset values according to the y anchor pathloss values and the y base pathloss values (Col. 17: Lines 35-43; The testing device determines the difference (offset) between measured reception levels and stores that difference as a correction value; Col. 13: Lines 65-67 and Col. 14: Lines 1-14; The difference between the reception level of each channel and a reference reception level is calculated. Each channel is corrected using this difference (offset). This difference is used to calibrate the loss difference).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to determine calibration values for different RF routes using the correction-value generation technique of Yamashita because Yamashita teaches determining correction values for respective RF transmission and reception paths to compensate RF path losses, thereby improving calibration accuracy across multiple RF paths while maintaining efficient calibration. Applying Yamashita's correction-value generation technique to Li's representative-channel calibration method would merely involve using known RF-path correction values during Li's calibration procedure, yielding the predictable result of accurately calibrating multiple RF routes while maintaining Li's reduced calibration effort.
Regarding claim 2 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein:
each of the y offset values is generated by subtracting a corresponding base pathloss value of the x base pathloss value from a corresponding anchor pathloss value of the y anchor pathloss values; and
the corresponding base pathloss value and the corresponding anchor pathloss value are obtained under a same condition of the mxn conditions
Yamashita, however, discloses wherein each correction value is generated by calculating the difference between corresponding calibration measurements (Col. 17: Lines 35-43; The testing device determines the difference between measured reception levels and stores that difference as a correction value; The calculated difference represents an offset value generated from corresponding calibration measurements. Col. 9: Equation 7; The correction value is determined from a reference measurement together with measured differences between channels, thereby generating correction values (offsets) from corresponding calibration measurements for RF path calibration). Yamashita further discloses generating correction values from measured differences between corresponding calibration measurements (Col. 9: Equation 7; The correction value is determined from a reference measurement together with measured differences between channels, thereby generating correction values (offsets) from corresponding calibration measurements for RF path calibration; The measured differences are obtained from corresponding measurements under the same calibration condition and are used to generate correction values).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Li to generate the compensation values by subtracting corresponding calibration values as taught by Yamashita because Yamashita teaches determining correction values from differences between corresponding calibration measurements to accurately compensate RF path losses. Applying Yamashita's subtraction-based correction technique to Li's calibration method would have predictably improved the accuracy of the derived calibration values while preserving Li's reduced calibration methodology.
Regarding claim 7 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein an external test device is used to obtain the x base pathloss values and the y anchor pathloss values, and the external test device is not a part of the radio-frequency communication device.
Yamashita, however, discloses wherein an external test device is used to obtain calibration values for radio-frequency calibration (Col. 8: Lines 20-29; A testing device performs calibration measurements for the radio-frequency communication device; The testing device is external to the radio-frequency communication device and obtains the calibration measurements used to determine the correction values). Yamashita further discloses determining correction values from the calibration measurements (Col. 17: Lines 35-43; The testing device determines correction values from the measured calibration values obtained during calibration; The measured calibration values correspond to the claimed base pathloss values and anchor pathloss values obtained by the external test device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to obtain the calibration values using the external testing device of Yamashita because Yamashita teaches performing RF calibration using external testing equipment that obtains the calibration measurements used to generate correction values. Employing the external testing device of Yamashita in the representative calibration method of Li would have predictably improved calibration accuracy while maintaining the reduced calibration methodology of Li.
Regarding claim 8 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein the radio-frequency communication device comprises a first amplifier, a second amplifier and a third amplifier, wherein the first amplifier and the second amplifier are on the first route, and the first amplifier and the third amplifier are on the second route.
Yamashita, however, discloses a radio-frequency communication device having multiple amplifier channels including multiple amplifiers (Col. 3: Lines 14-19; There are multiple amplifier channels including multiple amplifiers arranged on radio-frequency routes). Yamashita further discloses a first route including two amplifiers (Col. 10: Lines 56-61; A first RF route includes a first amplifier and a second amplifier connected along the same RF path). Yamashita additionally discloses another RF route including another amplifier (Col. 11: Lines 49-55; A different RF route includes amplifier circuitry. Collectively, Yamashita teaches at least a first amplifier, second amplifier, and third amplifier disposed on multiple RF routes corresponding to the claimed amplifier arrangement).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to employ the amplifier arrangement taught by Yamashita because Yamashita teaches arranging multiple amplifiers on different radio-frequency routes to support selectable calibration paths while reducing calibration time. Applying the amplifier arrangement of Yamashita to the calibration method of Li would have predictably enabled calibration over multiple RF routes having multiple amplifier configurations while maintaining the representative calibration methodology of Li.
Regarding claim 10 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein the radio-frequency communication device comprises a first amplifier, a second amplifier and a third amplifier, wherein the first amplifier and the second amplifier are on the first route, and the second amplifier and the third amplifier are on the second route.
Yamashita, however, discloses a radio-frequency communication device comprising multiple amplifier channels including multiple amplifiers (Col. 3: Lines 14-19; There are multiple amplifier channels including multiple amplifiers arranged on radio-frequency routes). Yamashita further discloses amplifier channels including multiple amplifiers (Col. 10: Lines 56-61; A RF route includes multiple amplifiers connected along the same RF path). Yamashita additionally discloses another RF route including amplifier circuitry within the reception front-end module (Col. 11: Lines 49-55; A different RF route includes amplifier circuitry; Collectively, Yamashita teaches at least a first amplifier, second amplifier, and third amplifier disposed on multiple RF routes corresponding to the claimed amplifier arrangement).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to employ the amplifier arrangement taught by Yamashita because Yamashita teaches arranging multiple amplifiers on different radio-frequency routes to support selectable calibration paths and improve calibration flexibility. Applying the amplifier arrangement of Yamashita to the representative calibration method of Li would have predictably enabled calibration over multiple RF routes having multiple amplifier configurations while maintaining the reduced calibration methodology of Li.
Regarding claim 12 as applied to claim 10, Li discloses wherein the y conditions are of a same frequency band of the m frequency bands (Par. 27: Lines 1-8; The operating spectrum is divided into separate frequency-band intervals. Calibration is performed using channels within a selected frequency-band interval; Accordingly, the calibration conditions associated with the representative calibration are within the same frequency band; Par. 28; Calibration is performed for channels within a selected frequency bin; Thereby teaching that the calibration conditions correspond to the same frequency band).
Regarding claim 13 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein the radio-frequency communication device comprises a front end circuit comprising a first amplifier, a first port, and a second port, and a radio-frequency circuit comprising a second amplifier, wherein the first port, the first amplifier, and the second amplifier are on the first route, and the second port, the first amplifier, and the second amplifier are on the second route.
Yamashita, however, discloses a radio-frequency communication device comprising a front end (FE) module (Col. 7: Lines 30-35; A front-end circuit of a radio-frequency communication device is disclosed). Yamashita further discloses that the front-end module comprises input terminals, output terminals, and amplifiers (Col. 10: Lines 18-23; The FE module comprises input terminals, amplifiers, and output terminals; The input terminals correspond to the claimed first and second ports, while the amplifier corresponds to the claimed first amplifier within the front-end circuit). Yamashita further discloses a transmission route including an input terminal, an amplifier, and downstream circuitry (Col. 10: Lines 51-55; The first route includes a first port, a first amplifier, and downstream RF circuitry). Yamashita also discloses another route selectable through the same front-end circuitry (Col. 10: Lines 66-67 and Col. 11: Lines 1-5; A second port is connected through the front-end amplifier along a second radio-frequency route).
Yamashita additionally discloses a radio-frequency circuit including amplifiers (Col. 11: Lines 49-67 and Col. 12: Lines 1-17; A radio-frequency circuit includes a second amplifier arranged along the radio-frequency signal path).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the pathloss calibration method of Li to employ the front-end circuit and radio-frequency circuit architecture taught by Yamashita because Yamashita teaches routing signals from multiple front-end input ports through amplifier circuitry along selectable radio-frequency paths while calculating correction values for the respective paths. Applying Yamashita's front-end architecture to Li's representative calibration technique would have predictably enabled calibration over multiple radio-frequency routes while maintaining the reduced-calibration methodology taught by Li.
Regarding claim 14 as applied to claim 13, the rejection of claim 9 addresses the limitations presented in claim 14. Therefore, the limitations presented in claim 14 have been addressed.
Regarding claim 15 as applied to claim 13, Li discloses wherein the y conditions of the m×n conditions are of a same frequency band of the m frequency bands and a same power gear of the n power gears (Par. 3: Lines 1-2; Calibrations are organized according to frequency-band intervals; Par. 27: Lines 7-9; Calibration is performed using a selected frequency-band interval together with a selected power level; Accordingly, Li teaches calibration conditions corresponding to the same frequency band and the same power gear).
Regarding claim 19, the rejection of claim 1 addresses the limitations presented in claim 19. Therefore, the limitations presented in claim 19 have been addressed.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 115175290, hereinafter Li) in view of Yamashita et al. (US 10317503, hereinafter Yamashita) in further view of Li et al. (CN 116155311, hereinafter Li2)
Regarding claim 3 as applied to claim 1,Li does not disclose wherein:
the radio-frequency communication device comprises a first amplifier on the first route, and a second amplifier on the second route;
the first amplifier and the second amplifier are operated in a first gear in a first condition of the y conditions;
the first amplifier and the second amplifier are operated in a second gear in a second condition of the y conditions;
a first offset value related to the first condition is used to generate a first group of the z anchor pathloss values related to the first gear; and
a second offset value related to the second condition is used to generate a second group of the z anchor pathloss values related to the second gear.
Yamashita, however, discloses wherein the radio-frequency communication device comprises a first route and a second route (Col. 8: Lines 20-29; There are separate transmission and reception RF paths connected through loopback channels during calibration; These transmission and reception paths correspond to first and second RF routes of the radio-frequency communication device). Yamashita further discloses generating correction values for the RF routes (Col. 17: Lines 35-43; Correction values are calculated from corresponding calibration measurements for the RF paths; These correction values correspond to offset values associated with the RF routes).
Yamashita, however, does not disclose wherein the first route and the second route each comprise amplifier circuitry operated according to first and second operating gears, nor does Yamashita disclose using first and second offset values associated with respective operating gears to generate first and second groups of anchor pathloss values.
Li2, however, discloses wherein the transmission path comprises amplifier circuitry (Par. 13: Lines 7-10; Amplifier circuitry is disposed on the RF transmission path). Li2 further discloses operating the RF circuitry according to different gain settings (Par. 17: Lines 1-2; The calibration circuit is set to a first gain setting; Par 20: Lines 1-2; The calibration circuit is set to a second gain setting). Li2 further discloses generating offset values corresponding to the different operating conditions (Par. 23; A power difference (offset) is calculated using the first and second gain settings). Li2 additionally discloses repeatedly applying different gain settings and corresponding calibration adjustments (Pars. 27-29; Successive gain-setting groups generate corresponding calibration adjustments, thereby corresponding to first and second groups of generated calibration values).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to employ the multiple RF routes and correction-value generation techniques taught by Yamashita together with the amplifier arrangement and multiple gain-setting calibration techniques taught by Li2 because Yamashita teaches improving RF calibration by generating correction values for different RF routes, while Li2 teaches calibrating amplifier circuitry under multiple gain settings using corresponding power-difference measurements. Applying the amplifier calibration techniques of Li2 to the multiple RF routes of Yamashita within the representative calibration framework of Li would have predictably enabled calibration of multiple RF routes under different operating gain settings while generating corresponding calibration values for each operating condition.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 115175290, hereinafter Li) in view of Yamashita et al. (US 10317503, hereinafter Yamashita) in further view of Lai et al. (CN 116743088, hereinafter Lai)
Regarding claim 4 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein the radio-frequency communication device comprises a low noise amplifier on the first route and the second route, and the low noise amplifier has k gears corresponding to the n power gears.
Yamashita, however, discloses first and second radio-frequency routes used during calibration (Col. 8: Lines 20-29; There are separate transmission and reception RF paths connected through loopback channels for calibration; These transmission and reception RF paths correspond to the first and second routes of the radio-frequency communication device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to employ the multiple radio-frequency routes taught by Yamashita because Yamashita teaches performing calibration over separate transmission and reception radio-frequency paths using correction values associated with the respective RF routes, thereby improving calibration across multiple RF signal paths while maintaining efficient RF calibration.
Yamashita, does not disclose wherein the first and second routes comprise a low noise amplifier, and wherein the low noise amplifier has k gears corresponding to the n power gears.
Lai, however, discloses wherein the radio-frequency communication device comprises a gain-adjustable low-noise amplifier (LNA) (Abstract; A radio-frequency front-end module includes a gain-adjustable low-noise amplifier). Lai further discloses that the gain-adjustable low-noise amplifier comprises multiple gain gears (Abstract; The LNA includes multiple selectable gain gears that are controlled by a logic control unit). Lai additionally discloses operating the low-noise amplifier according to different gain gears (Par. 6: Lines 30-38; There are multiple gain gears of the LNA corresponding to different operating conditions).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to employ the first and second radio-frequency routes taught by Yamashita together with the gain-adjustable low-noise amplifier of Lai because Yamashita teaches calibration over multiple RF routes, while Lai teaches improving RF front-end operation by providing a low-noise amplifier having multiple selectable gain gears. Applying the gain-adjustable low-noise amplifier of Lai to the RF routes of Yamashita within the calibration framework of Li would have predictably enabled calibration using low-noise amplifiers having multiple operating gain gears corresponding to the calibration power settings, thereby improving calibration flexibility while maintaining efficient RF calibration.
Claims 5,6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 115175290, hereinafter Li) in view of Yamashita et al. (US 10317503, hereinafter Yamashita) in further view of Peng et al. (CN 111224723, hereinafter Peng)
Regarding claim 5 as applied to claim 1, Li does not disclose wherein:
each of the z anchor pathloss values is generated by adding a corresponding offset value of the y offset values to a corresponding base pathloss value of the x base pathloss values; and
the each of the z anchor pathloss values and the corresponding base pathloss value of the x base pathloss values are related to a same condition of the mxn conditions.
Yamashita, however, discloses generating correction values associated with corresponding radio-frequency calibration paths (Col. 17: Lines 35-43; Correction values from corresponding calibration measurements of the RF paths are determined; The correction values correspond to offset values associated with the respective calibration conditions).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the calibration method of Li to employ the correction-value generation technique of Yamashita because Yamashita teaches determining correction values for corresponding RF calibration paths, thereby improving calibration accuracy across multiple RF paths while maintaining efficient calibration.
Yamashita, however, does not disclose wherein each generated calibration value is obtained by adding a corresponding offset value to a corresponding base calibration value under the same calibration condition.
Peng, however, discloses generating a calibrated value by adding an offset value to a corresponding base value (Par. 36-37; "AGC Gain_multi = AGC Gain + delta_RxIL"; the AGC gain for the multi-channel condition is generated by adding the corresponding insertion-loss difference (offset value) to the corresponding single-channel AGC gain (base value); Accordingly, the generated AGC gain corresponds to an anchor value generated from a base value and a corresponding offset value). Peng further discloses performing the calculation for each corresponding channel and operating frequency (Par. 17; Each generated calibration value corresponds to the same operating channel and operating frequency as its corresponding base calibration value, thereby corresponding to the same calibration condition).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Li and Yamashita to generate each calibration value by adding a corresponding offset value to a corresponding base calibration value as taught by Peng because Peng teaches generating calibration values from a base value and a corresponding insertion-loss difference for the same operating condition. Applying the addition-based calibration technique of Peng to the representative calibration method of Li and the correction-value generation of Yamashita would have predictably enabled efficient generation of additional calibration values while maintaining calibration accuracy across corresponding operating conditions
Regarding claim 6 as applied to claim 1, the combination of Li in view of Yamashita in further view of Peng, as detailed in the rejection of claim 1, discloses obtaining base calibration values, obtaining anchor calibration values, generating corresponding offset values from the anchor calibration values and the base calibration values, and generating additional calibration values from the base calibration values and the corresponding offset values.
The combination of Li in view of Yamashita further discloses performing calibration on multiple radio-frequency routes rather than being limited to only a first and second route (Yamashita, Col. 8: Lines 20-29; Yamashita discloses multiple radio-frequency calibration paths connected through loopback channels for calibration; These multiple calibration paths correspond to additional radio-frequency routes on which the same calibration procedure may be performed; Col. 17: Lines 35-43; Correction values are determined for the respective calibration paths and are used to generate corresponding calibration values). Accordingly, the calibration methodology discussed in the rejection of claim 1 is equally applicable to an additional (third) radio-frequency route, including obtaining anchor calibration values, generating corresponding offset values, and generating additional anchor calibration values for the third route.
Furthermore, as discussed in the rejection of claim 1, Li teaches performing complete calibration for fewer than all calibration conditions while deriving remaining calibration values from the measured calibration values (Par. 4; One representative channel is fully calibrated while the remaining channels undergo only partial calibration). Applying the same calibration methodology to an additional radio-frequency route likewise results in the number of fully calibrated values remaining greater than the number of anchor values obtained for the third route (x > y').
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to apply the calibration methodology of Li, as modified by Yamashita in view of Peng, to an additional radio-frequency route because Yamashita teaches performing RF calibration over multiple calibration paths using corresponding correction values. Extending the same calibration procedure to an additional RF route would have been no more than the predictable use of the known calibration technique on another known RF path to improve calibration coverage while maintaining the reduced calibration effort taught by Li.
Claims 9,11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (CN 115175290, hereinafter Li) in view of Yamashita et al. (US 10317503, hereinafter Yamashita) in further view of Song et al. (CN 116846361, hereinafter Song)
Regarding claim 9 as applied to claim 8, the combination of Li in view of Yamashita, as detailed in the rejection of claim 8, discloses a radio-frequency communication device comprising a first amplifier, a second amplifier, and a third amplifier, wherein the first amplifier and the second amplifier are on a first route, and the first amplifier and the third amplifier are on a second route.
Li in view of Yamashita, however, does not disclose wherein the first amplifier is a low-noise amplifier, and wherein the second amplifier and the third amplifier are transconductance amplifiers.
Song, however, discloses wherein the first amplifier is a low-noise amplifier and the second amplifier and the third amplifier are transconductance amplifiers (Abstract: A radio-frequency circuit including multiple low-noise amplifiers and multiple transconductance amplifiers is disclosed; Accordingly, the disclosed low-noise amplifiers correspond to the claimed first amplifier, while the disclosed transconductance amplifiers correspond to the claimed second and third amplifiers). Song further discloses the low-noise amplifier is operatively connected with the transconductance amplifiers in the radio-frequency signal path (Abstract: Each low-noise amplifier is respectively connected with two input ends of the transconductance amplifier; Accordingly, the disclosed amplifier arrangement corresponds to the claimed arrangement in which the first amplifier is a low-noise amplifier and the second and third amplifiers are transconductance amplifiers).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Li and Yamashita to employ the amplifier types taught by Song because Song teaches using low-noise amplifiers together with transconductance amplifiers in a radio-frequency signal path to improve overall gain while reducing noise and performing signal processing. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that implementing the amplifier arrangement of Yamashita using the well-known amplifier types taught by Song would have predictably improved the radio-frequency front-end while preserving the calibration methodology of Li.
Regarding claim 11 as applied to claim 10, the combination of Li in view of Yamashita, as detailed in the rejection of claim 10, discloses a radio-frequency communication device comprising a first amplifier, a second amplifier, and a third amplifier, wherein the first amplifier and the second amplifier are on the first route, and the second amplifier and the third amplifier are on the second route.
Li in view of Yamashita, however, does not disclose wherein the first amplifier and the third amplifier are low noise amplifiers in a front end circuit of the radio-frequency communication device, and wherein the second amplifier is a transconductance amplifier in a radio-frequency circuit of the radio-frequency communication device.
Song, however, discloses a circuit comprising a low-noise amplifier group and a transconductance amplifier group (Abstract; Multiple low-noise amplifiers and multiple transconductance amplifiers are within the signal processing circuit). Song further discloses that each low-noise amplifier is connected to the input of the transconductance amplifiers (Par. 5: Lines 6-8; The low-noise amplifiers are placed at the input portion of the signal path ahead of the transconductance amplifiers, corresponding to low-noise amplifiers in the front-end circuit feeding a transconductance amplifier in the radio-frequency circuit). Song additionally discloses that the input of the low-noise amplifier serves as the input of the filter and that the output of the low-noise amplifier is connected to the input of the transconductance amplifier (Par. 28: Lines 1-3; The LNA is positioned at the front end of the signal path while the transconductance amplifier processes the amplified signal within the circuit). Song further discloses a fully differential transconductance amplifier (Par. 14: Line 1; The transconductance amplifier is a fully differential transconductance amplifier).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify the combination of Li and Yamashita to implement the first and third amplifiers as low-noise amplifiers and the second amplifier as a transconductance amplifier as taught by Song because Song teaches placing low-noise amplifiers at the input of the signal path to improve gain and reduce noise while employing transconductance amplifiers to process the amplified signals. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that implementing the amplifier arrangement of Yamashita using the amplifier types taught by Song would have predictably improved RF front-end performance while preserving the calibration methodology of Li.
Conclusion
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/FABIAN BOTELLO/Examiner, Art Unit 2648
/WESLEY L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2648
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