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.
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.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith et al. (US 20200111756, hereinafter “Smith”) and further in view of Chan et al. (US 20070047681, hereinafter “Chan”).
Regarding claim 1, Smith discloses,
An apparatus for attenuating an interferer signal (An apparatus and method for a frequency based integrated circuit that selectively filters out unwanted bands or regions of interfering frequencies utilizing one or more tunable notch or bandpass filters or tunable low or high pass filters capable of operating across multiple frequencies and multiple bands in noisy RF environments, see abstract), comprising:
a tunable filter constructed to receive signals within a frequency bandwidth (The invention provides a frequency based integrated circuit solution that selectively filters out unwanted bands or regions of interfering frequencies utilizing one or more tunable notch or bandpass filters or tunable low or high pass filters, [0060]), wherein the tunable filter includes a plurality of tunable bandpass filters with respective bandpass filter responses (the tunable notch filter comprises the switch 502 is designed to couple a selected operational RF circuit 512 to the antenna 504 by activating corresponding switch elements SW1-SWN while simultaneously selectively coupling the associated tunable notch filter 510 to the same signal path through a corresponding switch element…. additional tunable notch filters 510 may be accommodated in similar fashion, so that multiple frequency bands may be simultaneously filtered out of an operational circuit signal path, [0075]-[0076]), and wherein the tunable filter has a band reject filter response dependent upon the bandpass filter responses (an optional bypassable low pass filter 506 is shown coupled to the common port of the RF switch 502. When engaged, the bypassable low pass filter 506 can filter out a broad range of interfering high frequencies that may adversely affect all of the RF circuits 512, while the tunable notch filter 510 can filter out selected frequency bands within the lower range of frequencies admitted by the low pass filter 506. If desired, the bypassable low pass filter 506 may also be made tunable, Fig. 5 and [0091]), and
the apparatus configured to perform voltage control on the plurality of tunable bandpass filters to alter the band reject filter response of the tunable filter such that the interferer signal is attenuated in an output of the tunable filter (The tunability of the filter may be implemented using, for example, a digitally tunable capacitor circuit and/or a tunable inductance circuit. The switch is designed to couple a selected operational RF circuit to a corresponding antenna while simultaneously selectively coupling an associated tunable filter to the same signal path. Additional tunable filters (shunt or series type) may be accommodated in similar fashion, so that multiple frequency bands may be simultaneously filtered out of an operational circuit signal path, [0031]).
However, Smith does not disclose, an autonomous tracking control circuit constructed to track an interferer signal within the frequency bandwidth.
In the same field of endeavor, Chan discloses, an autonomous tracking control circuit constructed to track an interferer signal within the frequency bandwidth (The centering unit 42 determines if the energy in the interfering signal is at least partially minimized at step 130. In one exemplary embodiment, the centering unit 42 determines if the energy in the interfering signal is attenuated to a maximum degree. In another exemplary embodiment, the centering unit 42 determines if the energy in the interfering signal is attenuated to a pre-determined offset from the maximum degree. In the event the energy in the interfering signal is not at least partially minimized, the centering unit 42 repeats steps 120 and 125 until the energy in the interfering signal is at least partially minimized, Fig. 3; step 120-1130 and [0021]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Smith by specifically providing an autonomous tracking control circuit constructed to track an interferer signal within the frequency bandwidth, as taught by Shin for the purpose of providing a method for aligning a notch filter to reject an interfering signal in a radio signal [0004].
Prior Art of the Record:
The prior art made of record not relied upon and considered pertinent to
Applicant’s disclosure:
US 20210336597: The filter has a first filter bank that includes a high-pass filter having a different cutoff frequency. A second filter bank includes a low-pass filter having a different cutoff frequency. A first pair of switches is configured to select a first filter chosen from the first filter bank. A second pair of switches is configured to select a second filter chosen from the second filter bank. A control circuitry is configured to generate multiple filter tuning control signals configured to individually tune a portion of multiple high-pass filters and to individually tune a portion of multiple low-pass filters.
US 10911015: Systems, devices, and methods for tunable filters that are configured to support multiple frequency bands, such as within the field of cellular radio communication, can include a first resonator and a second resonator configured to block signals within one or more frequency ranges, and one or more coupling element connected to both the first resonator and the second resonator. The one or more coupling element can be configured to provide low insertion loss within a pass band.
WO 2019179304: The apparatus has a tunable bandpass filter connected between an input port and an output port configured to provide out-of-band rejection about a tunable frequency center. A set of fixed frequency filters (of different corresponding fixed frequency is connected in parallel between ground and a line connecting the tunable bandpass filter to the input port and/or the output port and configured to provide high rejection at the corresponding fixed frequency.
Conclusion
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/GOLAM SOROWAR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641