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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kultran et al., US2021/0399700 A1, and further in view of Pehlke et al., US2022/0247365 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Kultran teaches A radio frequency system with power amplifier programming for antenna impedance variation (par. 0045; designed for high power radio frequency transmissions, such as in high power microwave, directed energy, radar, and communications applications.), the radio frequency system (Fig. 1; high power radio frequency transmissions) comprising: a phased antenna array comprising a first antenna element and a second antenna element (par. 0045; These antenna elements 190, can have special connectors designed to handle very high voltage levels and power levels, in the directed energy application. The antenna elements can comprise matching circuits that match their impedance to the impedance of the modular power amplifiers.); and a plurality of power amplifiers comprising a first power amplifier operable to drive the first antenna element and a second power amplifier operable to drive the second antenna element (par. 0045; the power amplifiers in the amplifier modules 170 that amplify the RF signal to very high levels and radiate out of the antennas 190.), wherein the first power amplifier is programmable based on an impedance of the first antenna element (par. 0045; The antenna elements can comprise matching circuits that match their impedance to the impedance of the modular power amplifiers.), and wherein the radio frequency system is operable to perform beam scanning (par. 0078; At a half-wavelength spacing, a beam can be scanned over a 180 degree field of regard from the array.).
Kultran fails to teach the following recited limitation. However, Pehlke teaches wherein the impedance of the first antenna element varies as the radio frequency system performs beam scanning (par. 0099 and 0155; the signal conditioning circuits can provide transmit signals to the antenna array 102 such that signals radiated from the antenna elements combine using constructive and destructive interference to generate an aggregate transmit signal exhibiting beam-like qualities with more signal strength propagating in a given direction away from the antenna array 102 and the front end system 803 includes antenna tuning circuitry 810 (i.e., the antenna tuning circuitry is equated as the variable impedance in the circuitry to perform beam scanning.).). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Kultran’s teachings and Pehlke’s teachings in order to manage the power of RF signal transmissions to prolong battery life and/or provide a suitable transmit power level (Pehlke, par. 0003).
Regarding claim 2, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier comprises a multi-core power amplifier including a plurality of power amplifier cores, and each power amplifier core of the plurality of power amplifier cores is programmable based on the impedance of the first antenna element (par. 0045; The PDU 140 regulates these voltages, also stores energy to provide impulses of power without the voltage level drooping, and generally is in charge of providing a DC voltage required to drive power amplifiers in amplifier modules 170.).
Regarding claim 3, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the second power amplifier is programmable based on an impedance of the second antenna element, wherein the impedance of the second antenna element varies as the radio frequency system performs beam scanning (par. 0045; The antenna elements can comprise matching circuits that match their impedance to the impedance of the modular power amplifiers.).
Regarding claim 4, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the second power amplifier is programmable based on the impedance of the first antenna element (par. 0062).
Regarding claim 5, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier is programmable to adjust at least one of a bias current or a bias voltage for the first power amplifier based on the impedance of the first antenna element (par. 0045).
Regarding claim 6, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier is programmable to adjust at least one of an input matching network or an output matching network based on the impedance of the first antenna element (par. 0045).
Regarding claim 7, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier is programmable to adjust an input matching network based on the impedance of the first antenna element to increase linearity of the first power amplifier (par. 0090; consider that an amplifier in the amplifier chain 1070_1 controlled by the power management system 1040_1 is operated to provide a certain amount of gain and linearity.).
Regarding claim 8, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier is programmable to adjust an adaptive bias circuit based on the impedance of the first antenna element to improve increase of the first power amplifier (par. 0098; the signal to be amplified to adjust/tune bias voltages and currents required to power up/down one or more amplifiers in the amplifier chain 1070_1 to improve various figures of merit (e.g., power efficiency, linearity, etc.) of the one or more amplifiers in the amplifier chain 1070_1.).
Regarding claim 9, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier is programmable to adjust at least two of the following based on the impedance of the first antenna element: a bias voltage, a bias current, an input matching network, or an output matching network (par. 0098; the signal to be amplified to adjust/tune bias voltages and currents.).
Regarding claim 10, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches further comprising: a radio frequency coupler in a signal path between the first power amplifier and the first antenna element (par. 0113; A coupler can be used to determine the RF output level. For example, a bias voltage may be applied, a test RF signal is sent, which is read through the coupler into the RF signal generator 1050.); and a detector in communication with the radio frequency coupler, the detector operable to generate an indication of reflected radio frequency power, wherein the reflected radio frequency power is an indication of the impedance of the first antenna element, and wherein the first power amplifier is programmable based on the indication of reflected power (par. 0015; a sensor configured to detect at least one sensed characteristic associated with at least one amplifier of the amplifiers, and a power management system configured to control one or more of the amplifiers based on the sensed characteristic.).
Regarding claim 11, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the first power amplifier is programmable based on an indication of beam angle (par. 0010; the different orientations have an angle of 90 degrees between them to form a portion of a square distribution of high-power amplifiers.).
Regarding claim 12, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 1. Kultran further teaches wherein the phased antenna array comprises at least 36 antenna elements (par. 0062 and 0083; A number of such high-impedance, low-profile apertures 392 can be implemented to form an array such as a connected dipole array 392a, and the notation “X_1 to X_N” describes a collection of elements X of any size 1 to N, including only 1 (i.e., X can be interpreted as 36 elements in an antenna array).).
Regarding claim 13, Kultran teaches A method of power amplifier programming for antenna impedance variation (par. 0044; methods for power amplifiers that provide several benefits over the state of the art. For example, amplifier systems are disclosed that have higher power density, are compact, scalable, have improved cooling, have reduced electromagnetic interference (EMI), etc.), the method comprising: programming a power amplifier driving an antenna element of a phased antenna array for a first impedance value of the antenna element (par. 0045; the power amplifiers in the amplifier modules 170 that amplify the RF signal to very high levels and radiate out of the antennas 190.), the first impedance value corresponding to the phased antenna array generating a first beam with a first beam angle (par. 0140; The three-dimensional power amplifier of any one of the preceding items, wherein the different orientations have an angle of 90 degrees between them to form a portion of a square distribution of high-power amplifiers.), and the phased antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna elements that includes the antenna element (par. 0045; These antenna elements 190, can have special connectors designed to handle very high voltage levels and power levels, in the directed energy application. The antenna elements can comprise matching circuits that match their impedance to the impedance of the modular power amplifiers.); programming the power amplifier for a second impedance value of the antenna element (par. 0045; the power amplifiers in the amplifier modules 170 that amplify the RF signal to very high levels and radiate out of the antennas 190.), the second impedance value corresponding to the phased antenna array generating a second beam with a second beam angle (The three-dimensional power amplifier of any one of the preceding items, wherein the different orientations have an angle of 120 degrees between them to form a portion of a hexagonal distribution of high-power amplifiers.); and controlling the phased antenna array to generate the first beam and the second beam (par. 0116; a phased array system, to perform beam steering, the operating conditions of the various amplifiers in an amplifier module can be different depending on the physical position of a particular amplifier module in the array.).
Kultran fails to teach the following recited limitations. However, Pehlke teaches wherein the power amplifier is programmed for the first impedance value while the first beam is generated, and wherein the power amplifier is programmed for the second impedance value while the second beam is generated (par. 0099 and 0155; the signal conditioning circuits can provide transmit signals to the antenna array 102 such that signals radiated from the antenna elements combine using constructive and destructive interference to generate an aggregate transmit signal exhibiting beam-like qualities with more signal strength propagating in a given direction away from the antenna array 102 and the front end system 803 includes antenna tuning circuitry 810 (i.e., the antenna tuning circuitry is equated as the variable impedance in the circuitry to perform beam scanning.).). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Kultran’s teachings and Pehlke’s teachings in order to manage the power of RF signal transmissions to prolong battery life and/or provide a suitable transmit power level (Pehlke, par. 0003).
Regarding claim 14, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 13. Kultran further teaches further comprising accessing control information stored in memory associated with the first beam, wherein the programming the power amplifier for the first impedance value is based on the accessing (par. 0051; the set point can be detected automatically prior to operation by slowly tuning the gate bias voltage until the ideal leakage current is detected. This voltage bias set point can be stored in memory and then during operation, applied when RF is applied.).
Regarding claim 15, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 13. Kultran further teaches further comprising detecting an indication of impedance of the antenna element and accessing control information stored in memory associated with the impedance of the antenna element, wherein the programming the power amplifier for the first impedance value is based on the accessing (par. 0051; the set point can be detected automatically prior to operation by slowly tuning the gate bias voltage until the ideal leakage current is detected. This voltage bias set point can be stored in memory and then during operation, applied when RF is applied.).
Regarding claim 16, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 13. Kultran further teaches wherein the programming the power amplifier for the second impedance value comprises adjusting an input matching network of the power amplifier to improve linearity of the power amplifier (par. 0098).
Regarding claim 17, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 13. Kultran further teaches wherein the programming the power amplifier for the second impedance value comprises adjusting an adaptive bias circuit of the power amplifier to improve linearity of the power amplifier (par. 0098).
Regarding claim 18, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 13. Kultran further teaches wherein the power amplifier is a multi-core power amplifier comprising a plurality of power amplifier cores, and each power amplifier core of the plurality of power amplifier cores is programmable for generating the first beam and for generating the second beam (par. 0045; The PDU 140 regulates these voltages, also stores energy to provide impulses of power without the voltage level drooping, and generally is in charge of providing a DC voltage required to drive power amplifiers in amplifier modules 170.).
Regarding claim 19, Kultran and Pehlke teach all the limitations in claim 13. Kultran further teaches further comprising programming a second power amplifier driving a second antenna element of the plurality of antenna elements differently for generating the first beam and for generating the second beam (par. 0116; a phased array system, to perform beam steering, the operating conditions of the various amplifiers in an amplifier module can be different depending on the physical position of a particular amplifier module in the array.).
Regarding claim 20, Kultran teaches A radio frequency system with power amplifier programming for antenna impedance variation (par. 0045; designed for high power radio frequency transmissions, such as in high power microwave, directed energy, radar, and communications applications.), the radio frequency system (Fig. 1; high power radio frequency transmissions) comprising: a phased antenna array comprising a first antenna element and a second antenna element (par. 0045; These antenna elements 190, can have special connectors designed to handle very high voltage levels and power levels, in the directed energy application. The antenna elements can comprise matching circuits that match their impedance to the impedance of the modular power amplifiers.); and a plurality of power amplifiers comprising a first multi-core power amplifier operable to drive the first antenna element and a second multi-core power amplifier operable to drive the second antenna element (par. 0045; the power amplifiers in the amplifier modules 170 that amplify the RF signal to very high levels and radiate out of the antennas 190.), wherein the first multi-core power amplifier is programmable to adjust at least a matching network and a bias signal based on impedance of the first antenna element such that the first multi-core power amplifier (par. 0098; the power management system 1040_1 can be configured to use the information (RF data 1210) about the signal to be amplified to adjust/tune bias voltages and currents required to power up/down one or more amplifiers in the amplifier chain 1070_1 to improve various figures of merit (e.g., power efficiency, linearity, etc.) of the one or more amplifiers in the amplifier chain 1070_1.), wherein the radio frequency system is operable to perform beam scanning (par. 0078; At a half-wavelength spacing, a beam can be scanned over a 180 degree field of regard from the array.).
Kultran fails to teach the following recited limitation. However, Pehlke teaches wherein the impedance of the first antenna element varies as the radio frequency system performs beam scanning (par. 0099 and 0155; the signal conditioning circuits can provide transmit signals to the antenna array 102 such that signals radiated from the antenna elements combine using constructive and destructive interference to generate an aggregate transmit signal exhibiting beam-like qualities with more signal strength propagating in a given direction away from the antenna array 102 and the front end system 803 includes antenna tuning circuitry 810 (i.e., the antenna tuning circuitry is equated as the variable impedance in the circuitry to perform beam scanning.).). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Kultran’s teachings and Pehlke’s teachings in order to manage the power of RF signal transmissions to prolong battery life and/or provide a suitable transmit power level (Pehlke, par. 0003).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYODEJI O AYOTUNDE whose telephone number is (571)270-7983. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 7:00am-3:30pm.
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, Yuwen Pan can be reached at 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AYODEJI O AYOTUNDE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649