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) 1-10 and 14-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2010/0049723 (“Baks” or “B”) in view of US 5231406 (“Sreenivas” or “S”).
1: B teaches an apparatus (that of fig 1) for a wireless device (it’s wireless communications package), the apparatus comprising: at least one antenna (the 124s); a transceiver circuit (130) configured to process radio frequency (RF) signals received by the at least one antenna (as shown); a transmission line (the 114s) coupled to the at least one antenna and the transceiver circuit (as shown); and a metal structure comprising at least one portion (112), the at least one portion of the metal structure to provide a ground for the at least one antenna (as shown), and the metal structure to shield the transceiver circuit (as shown).
Nevertheless, B fails to teach that the at least one antenna and the transceiver circuit are disposed on opposite surfaces of a substrate; and the metal structure comprising at least one portion embedded in the substrate, the at least one portion of the metal structure to provide a ground for the at least one antenna, and the metal structure to shield the transceiver circuit.
However, S teaches that separation distances can be filled with low dielectric material in order to provide structural rigidity (column 1, lines 35-51).
Thus, it would have been obvious to fill the region of height H between 112 and the 124s with a low dielectric material to provide structural rigidity.
Once this were done, the low dielectric material and 110 could be considered a single substrate, on the top of which would be the 124s, on the bottom of which would be 130 and embedded within would be 112.
2: B teaches a plurality of redistribution layers (the horizontal portions of the 114s) within the substrate (as shown), the plurality of redistribution layers coupling the transceiver circuit to the at least one antenna (as shown).
3: B fails to teach a plurality of surface-mount devices (SMDs), the plurality of SMDs and the transceiver circuit being collocated on one of the opposite surfaces of the substrate. However, it was old and well-known to locate devices to control transceivers like 130 on the same surfaces of PCBs as such transceivers. The motivation would have been to take advantage of ubiquitous well-known standards and processes and to allow for control of the transceiver.
4: The modified device of claim 3 would be such that the transceiver circuit is configured to process the RF signals based on one or more of the plurality of SMDs (they would be control devices, as described above).
5: The modified device described in regard to claim 1 would comprise a mold compound (the low dielectric), the mold compound disposed within a cavity formed between the metal structure and the substrate (the low dielectric would be between 112 and wall portions 122.
6: B teaches that the transmission line comprises at least one metal trace (the 114s) coupled to the at least one antenna and the transceiver circuit (the 114s feed the antennas and are, therefore, electrically coupled to both).
7: B teaches a shield (112), the shield configured to protect the transceiver circuit from radio frequency interference (RFI) (112 is a ground plane and will act to shield 130).
8: B teaches that the shield is further configured as a reflector for the at least one antenna (112 is a ground plane).
9: B fails to teach that the transceiver circuit comprises at least one power amplifier (PA). However, it was old and well-known for transceivers to comprise power amplifiers to boost a transmitted signal.
10: B fails to teach that the transceiver circuit comprises at least one low-noise amplifier (LNA). However, it was old and well-known for transceivers to comprise low noise amplifiers to boost a received signal.
14: B teaches that the transceiver circuit comprises: baseband circuitry (130 is a transceiver), the baseband circuitry configured to generate baseband signals based on digital output signals (it’s an RFIC transceiver); and a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) (130 is an RFIC), wherein the RFIC is configured to generate output signals for transmission via the at least one antenna (as shown), the output signals based on the baseband signals (as shown).
15: B fails to teach a touchscreen display; and a signal processor, the signal processor coupled to the touchscreen display via an interconnect, the signal processor configured to: detect signal input received from the touchscreen display via the interconnect; and generate the output signals based on the signal input.
However, it was old and well-known to employ touchscreen with signal processors to convert touchscreen inputs into outputs.
Thus, it would have been obvious to provide a touchscreen display; and a signal processor, the signal processor coupled to the touchscreen display via an interconnect, the signal processor configured to: detect signal input received from the touchscreen display via the interconnect; and generate the output signals based on the signal input.
The motivation would have been to allow for control of the communications of B’s device.
16: The modified device discussed in regard to claim 1 would inherently teach a method for processing radio frequency (RF) signals, the method comprising: receiving RF signals via at least one antenna coupled to a transceiver circuit (signals would be received by the 124s and coupled to 130 via the 114s); downconverting the RF signals to baseband signals using a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC) of the transceiver circuit (130 is an RFIC transceiver), the transceiver circuit and the at least one antenna disposed on opposite surfaces of a substrate (as discussed above), and the transceiver circuit coupled to the at least one antenna via a plurality of redistribution layers within the substrate (the 124s and the 130 are coupled via the 114s and their horizontal portions); and during the downconverting, shielding the transceiver circuit from radio frequency interference (RFI) via a metal structure (112 will shield at all times), the metal structure comprising at least one portion embedded in the substrate (the 112 would be embedded under the low dielectric fill).
16: The modified device of claim 3 would inherently the method of processing the RF signals based on one or more of a plurality of surface-mount devices (SMDs) (the SMDs would be control devices), the plurality of SMDs disposed on the substrate (as described above).
18: B teaches that the metal structure is to provide a ground for the at least one antenna (112 is a ground).
19: The modified device of claim 1 would be a system for processing radio frequency (RF) signals (as described), the system comprising: means for receiving RF signals (the 124s), the means for receiving comprising at least one antenna (the 112s are antennas); means for processing the RF signals (130), the means for processing comprising a transceiver circuit (as shown), the transceiver circuit and the at least one antenna disposed on opposite surfaces of a substrate (as discussed); and means for shielding the transceiver circuit from radio frequency interference (RFI) during the receiving (112), the means for shielding being separate from the at least one antenna (as shown) and the means for shielding comprising at least one portion embedded in the substrate (as discussed above).
20: B teaches that the means for shielding comprises a metal structure providing a ground for the at least one antenna (112 is a metal ground).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11-13 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GRAHAM P SMITH whose telephone number is (571)270-1568. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am - 6pm.
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, Dameon Levi can be reached at 571-272-2105. 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.
/GRAHAM P SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845