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 § 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 person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by KANG (Pub. No.: US 2023/0108782A1).
With respect to claim 1:
KANG discloses a radio frequency front end (RFFE), comprising: a 2G Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) transceiver (fig. 8, item 850 as in parag. 0113); a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) transceiver (fig. 8, item 830 as in parag. 0113); and a combiner coupled to the 2G GSM transceiver and to the 4G LTE transceiver and to a radio head (fig. 8, item with combiner that combines the three radios 817, 837, 857 and input to item 870), wherein the combiner is coupled to the radio head via at least one stream of IQ samples, the at least one stream carrying samples derived from the 2G GSM transceiver and samples derived from the 4G LTE transceiver (Fig. 8, item 837 and 857 combined and coupled to RF 870).
With respect to claim 2:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, wherein the RFFE is configured to provide downlink for 2G and 4G (parag. 0123).
With respect to claim 3:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, wherein the combiner is configured to upsample 2G signals from the 2G GSM transceiver to a 4G carrier frequency (parag. 0122 discloses deframer upsample GSM signal) .
With respect to claim 4:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, wherein the RFFE is configured to transmit both 2G and 4G on a same frequency band (fig. 8 with 837 and 857).
With respect to claim 5:
KANG discloses the e RFFE of claim 1, wherein the RFFE is configured to transmit both 2G and 4G on one or both of a 850 MHz frequency band or a 1900 MHz frequency band (parag. 0130).
With respect to claim 6:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, wherein the RFFE is an uplink RFFE, and wherein the combiner provides demultiplexing of received 2G GSM signals from 2G GSM UEs and received 4G LTE signals from 4G LTE UEs, and wherein the RFFE outputs 2G GSM samples to the 2G GSM transceiver and 4G LTE samples to the 4G LTE transceiver (fig. 8, parag. 0119-0123).
With respect to claim 7:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, wherein the at least one stream uses one of a common public radio interface (CPRI) interface or an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) interface (parag. 0008 and 0009).
With respect to claim 8:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, further comprising a 5G New Radio (NR) transceiver coupled to the combiner, and wherein the combiner is coupled to the radio head via at least one stream of IQ samples carrying samples derived from the 2G GSM transceiver and samples derived from the 5G NR transceiver (fig. 8, item 810, parag 0080 discloses 5G).
With respect to claim 9:
KANG discloses the RFFE of claim 1, wherein the radio head outputs both 2G and 4G downlink on a single frequency carrier (fig. 8, with item 837 and 857 output to 870).
With respect to claim 9:
KANG discloses a method for providing 2G and 4G downlink on a single frequency carrier, comprising: providing a 2G Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) transceiver chain (fig. 8, item 850 as in parag. 0113); providing a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) transceiver chain (fig. 8, item 830 as in parag. 0113); intermixing samples of 2G and 4G at a digital radio frequency front end into a single intermixed sample stream (fig. 8, item with combiner that combines the three radios 817, 837, 857 and input to item 870); upsampling the intermixed sample stream to a carrier frequency compatible with both 2G and 4G (parag. 0074 discloses communication unit 310 may include various communication and upconvert to RF and transmit via antenna); and transmitting the upsampled intermixed sample stream (parag. 0074 discloses communication unit 310 may include various communication and upconvert to RF and transmit via antenna).
With respect to claim 11:
KANG discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting both 2G and 4G on a same carrier frequency (fig. 8 with 837 and 857).
With respect to claim 12:
KANG discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising using one of a common public radio interface (CPRI) interface or an enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) interface (parag. 0008 and 0011).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AJIBOLA A AKINYEMI whose telephone number is (571)270-1846. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm, EST.
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/AJIBOLA A AKINYEMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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