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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP2022-186179, filed on November 22, 2022.
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.
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.
Claims 1-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saha (US 20200144993 A1) in view of Watts et al. (US 20220006187 A1) and further in view of Otaka et al. (US 20110116558 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Saha discloses [Note: what Saha fails to disclose is strike-through]
A phase shift amount adjustment device (see pg. 2, paragraph 0011, “The wireless device may include …a phase shifter configured to modify a phase of a communication signal”), comprising:
a memory (see Fig. 10, memory 1028); and
a processor (see Fig. 10, processor 1026) configured to
(see Fig. 10, reception antennas 1002) from a transmission device that has a first antenna (see Fig. 10, transmission antennas 1004) to transmit the first signal (see pg. 2, paragraph 0030, the device “may distribute the transmit signal to the array of phase shifters, which can shift the phases of each individual signal and then provide the phase-shifted signals to the array of antennas”) whose phase shift amount is adjusted by a first phase shifter (see Fig. 10, phase shifter 1018; pg. 9, paragraph 0091, “the phase shifter 1018 may include one or more of the embodiments described with respect to the phase shifter 500”), and a second antenna (see Fig. 10, transmission antennas 1004) to transmit the second signal (see pg. 2, paragraph 0030, the device “may distribute the transmit signal to the array of phase shifters, which can shift the phases of each individual signal and then provide the phase-shifted signals to the array of antennas”) whose phase shift amount is adjusted by a second phase shifter (see Fig. 10, phase shifter 1018; pg. 9, paragraph 0091, “the phase shifter 1018 may include one or more of the embodiments described with respect to the phase shifter 500”; Fig. 1A, multiple phase shifters connected to multiple antennas);
store, in the memory, table data (see pg. 4, paragraph 0045, “the information or data encoded in the input signal may be maintained while the phase of the signal may be modified”; pg. 9, paragraph 0093, “the wireless device 1000 may include memory 1028 to facilitate processing of data”) representing a characteristic of an amplitude of the first signal with respect to change in the phase shift amount of the first phase shifter, and a characteristic of an amplitude of the second signal with respect to change in the phase shift amount of the second phase shifter (see pg. 10, paragraph 0102, the device includes components to scale the amplitude of transmitted and received signals, as well as phase shifters to phase shift transmitted and received signals; see Fig. 10, controller 1022 may control phase shifters and is within the same device as the memory);
adjust the first phase shift amount and the second phase shift amount (see pg. 3. paragraph 0035, “The different scaling…enables the phase shifter 120 to adjust the phase of the resultant signal”; pg. 3, paragraph 0039, the desired phase shift can be based on calculations)
Watts discloses [Note: what Watts fails to disclose is strike-through]
obtain reception power at a reception device (see pg. 3, paragraph 0081, the device can receive incoming signal power)
calculate a squared value of a sum of a first amplitude of the first signal in a first phase shift amount of the first phase shifter obtained from the table data and a second amplitude of the second signal in a second phase shift amount of the second phase shifter obtained from the table data (see pg. 3, paragraph 0084, “the amplitude of the radiated beam is given by the sum of amplitudes from each antenna element” and the peak beam power is the amplitude squared); and
Otaka discloses
so as to maximize an evaluation value obtained by dividing the reception power by the squared value (see pg. 15, claim 4, “the normalizer unit performs normalization by dividing the phase difference detection signal by a square of the signal amplitude”).
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by Watts and Otaka into the invention of Saha. Saha, Watts, and Otaka are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose phase shifters and phase shifting methods. Saha discloses a multiple antenna structure with phase shifters, the ability to store signal characteristics in memory, and adjusting phase shift amounts based on internal circuit calculations; however, Saha fails to disclose calculating a squared value of a sum of amplitudes and dividing signal reception power by the squared value. Watts discloses calculating a sum of amplitudes and amplitude squared. Otaka discloses normalizing a signal by dividing the power by the amplitude squared. The combination of Saha, Watts, and Otaka would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to normalize the power of the signal to make signal processing and phase shifting easier by having the signals in a standardized range.
Regarding claim 2, Saha further discloses
The phase shift amount adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the table data is table data common to the first phase shifter and the second phase shifter (see Fig. 10, memory 1028 and controller 1022 provided to all phase shifters), the table data representing a characteristic of the amplitudes of the first signal and the second signal with respect to the phase shift amounts in the first phase shifter and the second phase shifter (see pg. 7, paragraph 0076, “control signals may be identified by a controller based at least in part on a lookup table or other data structure that indicates particular control signals to provide to the phase shifter 500 based on a particular desired phase shift angle and/or a particular application of the phase shifter”).
Regarding claim 3, Otaka discloses
The phase shift amount adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the table data includes first table data for the first phase shifter and second table data for the second phase shifter (see pg. 2, paragraph 0041, “A memory unit stores the amplitude control signal and the phase control signal” for each signal; pg. 3, paragraph 0055, the device can “output the stored amplitude difference detection signal and composite phase difference detection signal to the control signal generator”; pg. 4, paragraph 0069, “The amplitude control signal VA generated in this way is converted into a digital value by the ADC 43, and that digital value is stored in the memory”),
wherein the first table data represents a first characteristic of the amplitude of the first signal with respect to the phase shift amount in the first phase shifter, and
wherein the second table data represents a second characteristic of the amplitude of the second signal with respect to the phase shift amount in the second phase shifter.
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by Otaka into the invention of Saha. Saha fails to disclose two table datas, one for each phase shifter. This feature is disclosed by Otaka where each phase shifter can access stored data in the memory, the data corresponding to the signal per phase shifter. The combination of Saha and Otaka would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to organize data from multiple signals or antennas and have the data be easily accessible for phase shifting purposes.
Regarding claim 4, Saha further discloses
The phase shift amount adjustment device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor adjusts the first phase shift amount and the second phase shift amount (see pg. 10, paragraph 0116, the process can be executed by a processor), and updates the first phase shift amount and the second phase shift amount to values after adjustment in response to the evaluation value obtained by the first phase shift amount and the second phase shift amount after adjustment exceeding the evaluation value obtained by the first phase shift amount and the second phase shift amount before the adjustment (see pg. 7, paragraph 0070, the device can improve phase shifting amount).
Regarding claim 5, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 1 are applied.
Regarding claim 6, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 1 are applied.
Regarding claim 7, the same cited sections and rationale from claim 5 are applied.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ISABELLA AMEYALI EDRADA whose telephone number is (571)272-4859. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9am-5pm EST.
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/ISABELLA AMEYALI EDRADA/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/William Kelleher/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648