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
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.
Claim(s) 1-6, 8, 10-12, and 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ono (US 2020/0313714) in view of Kang (US 2021/0297103).
Referring to Claim 1, Ono teaches a wireless communication device, including:
a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) 3 (fig. 1A), including a signal processing module (see paragraph 22 which shows the RFIC as a signal processing circuit), a switching module (see 12 and 22 of fig. 1A) and n communication ports (see ports 110 and 120 of fig. 1A);
an antenna switch module (see 30 of fig. 1A); and
an antenna array, including m antennas, wherein the signal processing module is configured to process a signal to be transmitted from the signal processing module and a signal that is received by the signal processing module (see antennas 2a and 2b in fig. 1A sending and receiving signals to and from RFIC),
wherein the switching module is configured to be connected between the signal processing module and the n communication ports and connect the signal processing module to one of the n communication ports (see switches 12 and 22 between RFIC and ports 110 and 120 in fig. 1A),
wherein each of the n communication ports is connected to at least one of the m antennas through the antenna switch module, and n and m are integers greater than 1 (see two ports 110 and 120 and two antennas 2a and 2b in fig. 1a).
Ono does not teach individual signal processing modules for individual signals. Kang teaches individual signal processing modules for individual signals (see fig. 7A which shows two separate signal processing modules 1200a and 1200b for two transmitting signals output by an array antenna where a skilled artisan would be able to implement the two signal processing modules to the device of Ono since the Ono reference also has two transmitting signals output to an antenna array).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Kang to the device of Ono in order to more efficiently allocate ideal signals to be transmitted.
Claim 15 has similar limitations as claim 1.
Referring to Claims 2 and 16, Ono also teaches the switching module as an n-pole n-throw switching module (see paragraph 43 which shows double pole double throw switching module).
Referring to Claims 3 and 17, wherein the n communication ports include at least one of transmitting ports and transceiver ports (see two transmitter ports 110 and 120 in fig. 1A).
Referring to Claims 4 and 18, Ono also teaches wherein, a first communication port among the n communication ports is connected to a first antenna group among the m antennas through a first switch in the antenna switch module (see port 110 connected to antennas 2a and 2b by way of switch 30 in fig. 1A).
Referring to Claims 5 and 19, Ono also teaches wherein, a second communication port among the n communication ports is connected to a second antenna group among the m antennas through a switch in the antenna switch module (see port at the end of 40 in fig. 5 connected to antennas 2Sa and 2Sb by way of switch 60).
Referring to Claims 6, 8, and 20, Ono also teaches wherein in an Antenna Switch Diversity switching from a 1-1-th antenna in the first antenna group to a 1-2-th antenna in the first antenna group, the switching module connects a corresponding signal processing module to the first communication port, and the first switch in the antenna switch module connects the first communication port to the 1-2-th antenna and disconnects the first communication port from the 1-1-th antenna (see fig. 1A which shows antennas 2a and 2b connected to port 110 by way of switch 30 where when antenna 2b is connected, antenna 2a is disconnected from port 110). Kang teaches individual signal processing modules for individual signals (see fig. 7A which shows two separate signal processing modules 1200a and 1200b for two transmitting signals output by an array antenna where a skilled artisan would be able to implement the two signal processing modules to the device of Ono since the Ono reference also has two transmitting signals output to an antenna array). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Kang to the device of Ono in order to more efficiently allocate ideal signals to be transmitted.
Referring to Claim 10, Ono also teaches a third communication port among the n communication ports connected to the second antenna group among the m antennas through the second switch in the antenna switch module (see port at the end of 40 in fig. 5 connected to antennas 2Sa and 2Sb by way of switch 60).
Referring to Claim 11, Ono also teaches wherein a radio frequency signal output from the first communication port and the second communication port is a transmission signal of a first frequency band, and a radio frequency signal output from the third communication port is a transmission signal of a second frequency band, wherein the first frequency band is a frequency band for 5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (5G), and the second frequency band is a frequency band for 4th Generation Mobile Communication Technology (4G) (see paragraph 60 which shows operations in both 4G and 5G).
Referring to Claim 12, Ono also teaches wherein when an antenna used to transmit a Sounding Reference Signal is switched from a 1-1-th antenna in the first antenna group to a 1-2-th antenna in the first antenna group, the switching module connects a corresponding signal processing module to the first communication port, and the first switch in the antenna switch module connects the first communication port to the 1-2-th antenna and disconnects the first communication port from the 1-1-th antenna (see fig. 1A which shows antennas 2a and 2b connected to port 110 by way of switch 30 where when antenna 2b is connected, antenna 2a is disconnected from port 110). Kang teaches individual signal processing modules for individual signals (see fig. 7A which shows two separate signal processing modules 1200a and 1200b for two transmitting signals output by an array antenna where a skilled artisan would be able to implement the two signal processing modules to the device of Ono since the Ono reference also has two transmitting signals output to an antenna array). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Kang to the device of Ono in order to more efficiently allocate ideal signals to be transmitted.
Claim(s) 7, 9, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ono and Kang and further in view of Seyed (US 2021/0099205).
Referring to Claims 7 and 9, the combination of Ono and Kang does not teach wherein in an Antenna Switch Diversity switching from a 1-1-th antenna in the first antenna group to a 2-1-th antenna in the second antenna group, the switching module connects a corresponding signal processing module among the n signal processing modules to the second communication port, and the second switch in the antenna switch module connects the second communication port to the 2-1-th antenna. Seyed teaches wherein in an Antenna Switch Diversity switching from a 1-1-th antenna in the first antenna group to a 2-1-th antenna in the second antenna group (see antennas 731-1 and 731-2 as antennas 1-1 and 2-1 of fig. 11A), the switching module connects a corresponding signal processing module among the n signal processing modules (see signal processing modules 715-1 and 715-2 of fig. 11A) to the second communication port, and the second switch in the antenna switch module connects the second communication port to the 2-1-th antenna (see path from 731-2 to module 715-1 through switch 1140-3 of fig. 11A). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Seyed to the modified device of Ono and Kang in order to more efficiently allocate ideal signals to be transmitted.
Referring to Claim 13, Seyed also teaches wherein when an antenna used to transmit a Sounding Reference Signal is switched from a 1-1-th antenna in the first antenna group to a 2-1-th antenna in the second antenna group (see antennas 731-1 and 731-2 as antennas 1-1 and 2-1 of fig. 11A) and the transmission signal of the second frequency band output from the third communication port is transmitted via a 2-2-th antenna in the second antenna group (see antenna 735-2 of fig. 11A), the switching module connects a corresponding signal processing module among the n signal processing modules (see signal processing modules 715-1 and 715-2 of fig. 11A) to the second communication port, and the second switch in the antenna switch module connects the second communication port to the 2-1-th antenna (see path from 731-2 to module 715-1 through switch 1140-3 of fig. 11A). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Seyed to the modified device of Ono and Kang in order to more efficiently allocate ideal signals to be transmitted.
Referring to Claim 14, Seyed also teaches wherein when an antenna used to transmit a Sounding Reference Signal is switched from a 1-1-th antenna in the first antenna group to a 2-2-th antenna in the second antenna group (see antennas 731-1 and 731-2 as antennas 1-1 and 2-1 of fig. 11A) and the transmission signal of the second frequency band output from the third communication port is transmitted via the 2-2-th antenna in the second antenna group (see antenna 735-2 of fig. 11A), the switching module connects a corresponding signal processing module among the n signal processing modules to the second communication port (see signal processing modules 715-1 and 715-2 of fig. 11A), the second switch in the antenna switch module connects the second communication port to the 2-2-th antenna, and the second switch in the antenna switch module connects the third communication port to a 2-1-th antenna in the second antenna group (see paths from 731-2 and 735-2 to module 715-1 through switch 1140-3 of fig. 11A). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to provide the teachings of Seyed to the modified device of Ono and Kang in order to more efficiently allocate ideal signals to be transmitted.
Conclusion
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/EUGENE YUN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648