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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/31/2023, 2/12/2025, 3/12/2025, 6/26/2025, and 6/26/2025 are acknowledged. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 – 5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Solomko ("A Fully Integrated 3.3–3.8-GHz Power Amplifier With Autotransformer Balun", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MICROWAVE THEORY AND TECHNIQUES, Vol. 57, No. 9. 09/2009).
Regarding Independent Claim 1, Solomko teaches,
Wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) comprising:
a first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) having first input transistors (Fig. 14, T1 and T2);
a second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA2) having second input transistors (Fig. 14, T3 and T4); and
a power splitting transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4) that includes a primary coil (Fig. 14, left hand side coil), and a first secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) having terminals coupled to gate terminals of the first input transistors and having a center tap (Fig. 14, c1) configured to receive a first bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias1) that biases the gate terminals of the first input transistors (Fig. 14, T1 and T2).
Regarding claim 2,
The wireless circuitry of claim 1, wherein the power splitting transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4) further comprises:
a second secondary coil (Fig. 14, lower right hand side coil) having terminals coupled to gate terminals of the second input transistors and having a center tap (Fig. 14, c2) configured to receive a second bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias2) that biases the gate terminals of the second input transistors (Fig. 14, T3 and T4).
Regarding claim 3,
The wireless circuitry of claim 2, wherein the first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) has a first transconductance profile [See page 2166, section IV, subsection A, “When all the transistors are biased at the same operating point (in this case, the derivative superposition PA transforms into a conventional PA), 81 mA is uniformly distributed among all transistors in the circuit. Under such biasing conditions, the simulated input differential impedance of each pair at 3.5 GHz is and (see Fig. 14). For improving linearity, is biased into class AB with a conduction angle of , while operates almost in class B with a conduction angle of (here “almost” means that the quiescent current of is not zero, and according to formal definition [3], it operates in class AB). In this case, the total idle current of 81 mA is distributed in the following way: the current density per one transistor in – is three times higher than the current density per one transistor in – . The reason for making peak amplifier larger is twofold. Firstly, the size compensates the reduction in transconductance due to the lower bias current and helps to keep the output power at high drive levels comparable with the power delivered by PA2.”] wherein the second amplifier has a second transconductance profile different than the first transconductance profile, and wherein the first bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias1) and the second bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias2) have different voltage levels selected to minimize a third transconductance profile that is a sum of the first and second transconductance profiles.
Regarding claim 4,
The wireless circuitry of claim 2, wherein the first input transistors (Fig. 14, T1 and T2) have a first gate capacitance (Fig. 14, gate capacitance for T1 and T2), wherein the second input transistors have a second gate capacitance (Fig. 14, gate capacitance for T3 and T4), and wherein the first bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias1) and the second bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias2) have different voltage levels selected such that a variation in the first gate capacitance cancels out with a variation in the second gate capacitance [See page 2166, section IV, subsection A].
Regarding claim 5,
The wireless circuitry of claim 2, wherein the first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) further comprises first capacitors cross-coupled (Fig. 14, C1) with the first input transistors (Fig. 14, T1 and T2), and wherein the second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA2) further comprises second capacitors cross-coupled (Fig. 14, C2) with the second input transistors (Fig. 14, T3 and T4).
Regarding claim 7,
The wireless circuitry of claim 2, wherein the primary coil (Fig. 14, left hand side coil) has a first winding footprint (See Fig. 15), wherein the first secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) has a second winding footprint (See Fig. 15) nested within the first winding footprint, wherein the second secondary coil (Fig. 14, lower right hand side coil) has a third winding footprint identical to the second winding footprint (See Fig. 15), and wherein the second secondary coil (Fig. 14, lower right hand side coil) overlaps directly with the first secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil).
Regarding claim 8,
The wireless circuitry of claim 2, wherein the primary coil (Fig. 14, left hand side coil) is disposed in a first metal routing layer of an interconnect stack (See Fig. 15), wherein the first secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) is disposed in a second metal routing layer of the interconnect stack (See Fig. 15), and wherein the second secondary coil (Fig. 14, lower right hand side coil) is disposed in a third metal routing layer (See Fig. 15), different than the first and second metal routing layers, of the interconnect stack.
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.
Claims 6 and 9 - 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Solomko in view of Anderson et al. (US 9070506 B2), hereinafter Anderson.
Regarding claim 6, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 2, wherein the primary coil comprises terminals coupled to input driving circuits comprising one or more driver stages and one or more input matching networks.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the primary coil comprises terminals coupled to input driving circuits comprising one or more driver stages and one or more input matching networks.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the primary coil comprises terminals coupled to input driving circuits (Fig. 9, 249) comprising one or more driver stages (Fig. 9, 247) and one or more input matching networks (Fig. 9 and 11, matching circuits 282, 286, 290, 294 are all present in each of the amplifiers respectively. See column 11, lines 49 – 50, “The circuit, generally referenced 280, represents one of the sub-amplifiers of the power amplifier circuit 266 (FIG. 10).”).
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a driving stage and a matching circuit in Solomko‘s design in order to drive output stages of power amplifiers in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 9, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 1, further comprising:
a power combining transformer that includes a first primary coil coupled to the first amplifier, a second primary coil coupled to the second amplifier, and a secondary coil having a first terminal coupled to a ground power supply line and having a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining transformer.
Solomko is silent regarding:
a power combining transformer that includes a first primary coil coupled to the first amplifier, a second primary coil coupled to the second amplifier, and a secondary coil having a first terminal coupled to a ground power supply line and having a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining transformer.
Anderson discloses:
a power combining transformer (Fig. 9, 253) that includes a first primary coil coupled to the first amplifier (Fig. 9, coil from 253 coupled to PA1), a second primary coil coupled to the second amplifier (Fig. 9, coil from 253 coupled to PA2), and a secondary coil (Fig. 9, right hand side of 253) having a first terminal coupled to a ground power supply line and having a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining transformer (Fig. 9, the right hand side of 253 has one terminal coupled to ground and one terminal coupled to RF OUT).
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 10, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 9, wherein the first primary coil has a first winding, wherein the second primary coil has a second winding that overlaps directly with the first winding, wherein the secondary coil has an inner winding and an outer winding, and wherein the first and second windings are nested between the inner and outer windings.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the first primary coil has a first winding, wherein the second primary coil has a second winding that overlaps directly with the first winding, wherein the secondary coil has an inner winding and an outer winding, and wherein the first and second windings are nested between the inner and outer windings.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the first primary coil has a first winding (Fig. 9, winding of coil from 253 coupled to PA1), wherein the second primary coil has a second winding (Fig. 9, winding of coil from 253 coupled to PA2) that overlaps directly with the first winding, wherein the secondary coil has an inner winding and an outer winding (Fig. 9, inner and outer winding of right-hand side of 253), and wherein the first and second windings are nested between the inner and outer windings.
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding independent claim 11, Solomko discloses:
Wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) comprising:
a first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) having first input transistors (Fig. 14, T1 and T2);
a second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA2) having second input transistors (Fig. 14, T3 and T4); and
a power combining transformer that comprises a first primary coil coupled to the first input transistors of the first amplifier, a second primary coil coupled to the second input transistors of the second amplifier, and a secondary coil.
Solomko is silent regarding:
a power combining transformer that comprises a first primary coil coupled to the first input transistors of the first amplifier, a second primary coil coupled to the second input transistors of the second amplifier, and a secondary coil.
Anderson discloses:
a power combining transformer (Fig. 9, 243) that comprises a first primary coil coupled to the first input transistors of the first amplifier (Fig. 9, coil from 253 coupled to PA1), a second primary coil coupled to the second input transistors of the second amplifier (Fig. 9, coil from 253 coupled to PA2), and a secondary coil (Fig. 9, coil on the right-hand side of 253).
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 12, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 11, wherein the secondary coil has a first terminal coupled to a first power supply line and has a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining transformer.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the secondary coil has a first terminal coupled to a first power supply line and has a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining transformer.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the secondary coil (Fig. 9, coil on the right-hand side of 253) has a first terminal coupled to a first power supply line (Fig. 9, coil on the right-hand side of 253 has a terminal coupled to a ground) and has a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining transformer (Fig. 9, coil on right-hand side of 253 is coupled to the output of 243).
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 13, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 12, wherein the first primary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) has a center tap (Fig. 14, c1) coupled to a second power supply line (Fig. 14, VEE) different than the first power supply line, and wherein the second primary coil (Fig. 14, lower right hand side coil) has a center tap (Fig. 14, c2) coupled to the second power supply line (Fig. 14, VEE).
Regarding claim 14, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 11, wherein the first primary coil has a first winding, wherein the second primary coil has a second winding that overlaps directly with the first winding, wherein the secondary coil has an inner winding and an outer winding, and wherein the first and second windings are nested between the inner and outer windings.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the first primary coil has a first winding, wherein the second primary coil has a second winding that overlaps directly with the first winding, wherein the secondary coil has an inner winding and an outer winding, and wherein the first and second windings are nested between the inner and outer windings.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the first primary coil has a first winding (Fig. 9, winding of coil from 253 coupled to PA1), wherein the second primary coil has a second winding (Fig. 9, winding of coil from 253 coupled to PA2) that overlaps directly with the first winding, wherein the secondary coil has an inner winding and an outer winding (Fig. 9, inner and outer winding of right-hand side of 253), and wherein the first and second windings are nested between the inner and outer windings.
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 15, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 14, wherein the second winding is disposed in a first metal routing layer of an interconnect stack, wherein the first winding is disposed in a second metal routing layer of the interconnect stack, wherein the inner winding is disposed in the second metal routing layer, and wherein the outer winding is disposed in a third metal routing layer, different than the first and second metal routing layers, of the interconnect stack.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the second winding is disposed in a first metal routing layer of an interconnect stack, wherein the first winding is disposed in a second metal routing layer of the interconnect stack, wherein the inner winding is disposed in the second metal routing layer, and wherein the outer winding is disposed in a third metal routing layer, different than the first and second metal routing layers, of the interconnect stack.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the second winding (Fig. 9, winding of coil from 253 coupled to PA2) is disposed in a first metal routing layer of an interconnect stack (Fig. 9, 253), wherein the first winding (Fig. 9, winding of coil from 253 coupled to PA1) is disposed in a second metal routing layer of the interconnect stack (Fig. 9, 253), wherein the inner winding is disposed in the second metal routing layer, and wherein the outer winding is disposed in a third metal routing layer, different than the first and second metal routing layers [See column 14, lines 13 – 22, “The transformer has an air core and the width, spacing and thickness of the metal layer is configured to provide sufficient performance at the respective frequency bands (e.g., 2.4 and 5 GHz) and exhibits input and output impedance to meet the required inductance and Q factor. Note that alternative configurations for the transformer windings may be implemented depending on the application. For example, the primary and secondary windings may be implemented on the same or different metal layers.”], of the interconnect stack (Fig. 9, 253).
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 16, Solomko discloses:
The wireless circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 11, further comprising:
a power splitting transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4) that includes a primary coil (Fig. 14, left hand side coil), and a first secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) having terminals coupled to gate terminals of the first input transistors (Fig. 14, T1 and T2), and a second secondary coil (Fig. 14, lower right hand side coil) having terminals coupled to gate terminals of the second input transistors (Fig. 14, T3 and T4).
Regarding independent claim 17, Solomko discloses:
Circuitry (See Fig. 14) comprising:
a power splitting impedance matching transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4);
a power combining impedance matching transformer;
a first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) coupled between the power splitting impedance matching transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4) and the power combining impedance matching transformer, wherein the first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) is configured to receive a first bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias1) that provides the first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) with a first transconductance (Fig. 14, transconductance of PA1. [See page 2166, section IV, subsection A, “When all the transistors are biased at the same operating point (in this case, the derivative superposition PA transforms into a conventional PA), 81 mA is uniformly distributed among all transistors in the circuit. Under such biasing conditions, the simulated input differential impedance of each pair at 3.5 GHz is and (see Fig. 14). For improving linearity, is biased into class AB with a conduction angle of , while operates almost in class B with a conduction angle of (here “almost” means that the quiescent current of is not zero, and according to formal definition [3], it operates in class AB). In this case, the total idle current of 81 mA is distributed in the following way: the current density per one transistor in – is three times higher than the current density per one transistor in – . The reason for making peak amplifier larger is twofold. Firstly, the size compensates the reduction in transconductance due to the lower bias current and helps to keep the output power at high drive levels comparable with the power delivered by PA2.”]); and
a second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA2) coupled between the power splitting impedance matching transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4) and the power combining impedance matching transformer, wherein the second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA2) is configured to receive a second bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias2) that provides the second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA2) with a second transconductance different than the first transconductance (Fig. 14, transconductance of PA2).
Solomko is silent regarding:
a power combining impedance matching transformer;
Anderson discloses:
a power combining impedance matching transformer (Fig. 9, 243);
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 18, Solomko discloses:
The circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 17, wherein the power splitting impedance matching transformer (Fig. 14, transformer coupled to T1 – T4) comprises:
a primary coil (Fig. 14, left hand side coil);
a first secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) coupled to the first amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) and having a center tap (Fig. 14, c1) configured to receive the first bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias1); and
a second secondary coil (Fig. 14, upper right hand side coil) coupled to the second amplifier (Fig. 14, PA1) and having a center tap (Fig. 14, c2) configured to receive the second bias voltage (Fig. 14, Bias2).
Regarding claim 19, Solomko discloses:
The circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 17, wherein the power combining impedance matching transformer comprises:
a first primary coil coupled to the first amplifier;
a second primary coil coupled to the second amplifier; and
a secondary coil having a first terminal coupled to a ground power supply line and having a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining impedance matching transformer.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the power combining impedance matching transformer comprises:
a first primary coil coupled to the first amplifier;
a second primary coil coupled to the second amplifier; and
a secondary coil having a first terminal coupled to a ground power supply line and having a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining impedance matching transformer.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the power combining impedance matching transformer (Fig. 9, 243) comprises:
a first primary coil coupled to the first amplifier (Fig. 9, coil from 253 coupled to PA1);
a second primary coil coupled to the second amplifier (Fig. 9, coil from 253 coupled to PA2); and
a secondary coil (Fig. 9, coil on the right-hand side of 253) having a first terminal coupled to a ground power supply line (Fig. 9, coil on the right-hand side of 253 has a terminal coupled to a ground) and having a second terminal coupled to an output port of the power combining impedance matching transformer (Fig. 9, coil on right-hand side of 253 is coupled to the output of 243).
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Regarding claim 20, Solomko discloses:
The circuitry (See Fig. 14) of claim 19, wherein the first primary coil has a first winding, wherein the second primary coil has a second winding directly overlapping with the first winding, and wherein the first and second windings are coupled in parallel through a plurality of vias disposed along a circumference of the first winding.
Solomko is silent regarding:
wherein the first primary coil has a first winding, wherein the second primary coil has a second winding directly overlapping with the first winding, and wherein the first and second windings are coupled in parallel through a plurality of vias disposed along a circumference of the first winding.
Anderson discloses:
wherein the first primary coil has a first winding (Fig. 9, winding of the coil from 253 coupled to PA1), wherein the second primary coil has a second winding directly overlapping with the first winding (Fig. 9, winding of the coil from 253 coupled to PA2), and wherein the first and second windings are coupled in parallel through a plurality of vias disposed along a circumference of the first winding [See column 14, lines 23 – 43, “A layout diagram illustrating a second example integrated transformer for use with the power amplifier of the present invention is shown in FIG. 16. The transformer, generally referenced 500, comprises four sets of octagonal shaped primary windings and one secondary winding in a quad shaped arrangement. Each set of parallel primary windings comprises a high loop and a low loop to accommodate the high and low amplifiers of the sub-amplifiers shown in FIGS. 12A, 12B, 13A, 13B, 14, for example. The inner winding of each set of primary windings is from the high amplifier and the outer winding is from the low amplifier. The middle winding is the secondary, which runs between the primary windings. Note that separating the high and low power windings has the advantage of providing a way to better control the phase distortion of each sub-amplifier thus providing improved combined control of the total phase distortion of the power amplifier. In addition, stretching the windings of the outer set of windings (or the inner set) also compensates for phase distortion between the PA sub-amplifiers. The use of multiple technique described herein enables the FEM to achieve maximum efficiency and lowest EVM.”].
Solomko and Anderson are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of power amplifiers. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include a combining transformer in Solomko‘s design in order to combine the output of each amplifier in accordance with Anderson‘s design.
Conclusion
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/JOSE E PINERO/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843