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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the applicants' communication filed on November 3, 2023. In virtue of this communication, claims 1-20 are currently presented in the instant application.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on November 13, 2023 have been reviewed and accepted 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 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.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pub No.: US-2024/0097756-A1 (herein “Pehlke”).
Claims 1 and 14
Consider claim 1, Pehlke teaches a high frequency circuit (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note front-end system 140 for a mobile device (UE)) comprising:
a first filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note Bw element 175) that has a passband comprising a reception band of a first band that is usable in a first geographic region and a second geographic region;
a second filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note Bx element 176) that has a passband comprising a reception band of a second band that is usable in the first geographic region;
a third filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note By element 177 where 146 is an antenna-plexer (with sections for LB/MHB/n79/n77)) that has a passband comprising the reception band of the first band;
a fourth filter that has a passband comprising a reception band of a third band (see Pehlke Fig. 6 note Bz element 177) that is usable in the second geographic region; and
a switch (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note switch 179 ) having a first terminal connected to a first antenna connection terminal (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note MHB to ANT2), a second terminal connected to a second antenna connection terminal (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note cross UE cable 156 to ANT1), a third terminal connected to the first filter and the second filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note Bw element 175 and Bx element 176), and a fourth terminal connected to the third filter and the fourth filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note Bw element 175 and Bx element 176),
wherein the high frequency circuit has:
a first mode in which in the first geographic region, the first terminal or the second terminal is connected to the third terminal such that the high frequency circuit is configured to simultaneously receive signals of the first band and the second band (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note MHB diversity receive module 152),
a second mode in which in the second geographic region, the first terminal or the second terminal is connected to the fourth terminal such that the high frequency circuit is configured simultaneously receive signals of the first band and the third band (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note MHB diversity receive module 152), and
a third mode in which in the first geographic region and the second geographic region, the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to the third terminal and the fourth terminal, respectively, such that the high frequency circuit is configured to simultaneously receive two signals of the first band (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note MHB diversity receive module 152).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected for at least the same reason(s) set forth in claim 1.
Claim 2
Consider claim 2, Pehlke teaches wherein the third mode is a communication mode for multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note MIMO DRx 154).
Claim 3
Consider claim 3, Pehlke teaches wherein the first band is Band41 for Long Term Evolution (LTE) or n41 for 5th Generation New Radio (5G NR) (see Pehlke [0111] note band n41), wherein the second band is Band1, Band3, or Band 40 for LTE (see Pehlke [0067] note BAND1) or n1, n3, or n40 for 5G NR, and wherein the third band is Band34 or Band39 for LTE or n34 or n39 for 5G NR (see Pehlke [0110] operating using various 5G frequency bands such as n41, n77, n79 where n34 and n39 are chosen 5G bands).
Claim 12
Consider claim 12, Pehlke teaches further comprising:
a first low noise amplifier connected to the first filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, [0112] note MB LNA 163);
a second low noise amplifier connected to the third filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, [0112] note HB LNA 164);
a power supply voltage terminal connected to the first low noise amplifier and the second low noise amplifier (see Pehlke Fig. 6, MB power amplifier 161, HB power amplifier 162, n41 power amplifier 201), and configured to receive a supply voltage from outside of the high frequency circuit; and
a low pass filter (see Pehlke Fig. 6, note n41 filter 202) connected between the first low noise amplifier or the second low noise amplifier, and the power supply voltage terminal .
Claim 13
Consider claim 13, Pehlke teaches wherein the first filter and the third filter are acoustic wave filters (see Pehlke Fig. 6, [0113] note band Bw filter 175 and band By filter 177), and are mounted in or on a same piezoelectric body (see Pehlke Fig. 6, [0113] note band Bw filter 175 and band By filter 177 mounted on MHB DRx module 152).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-11 are 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.
Claims 15-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
The prior art of record fails to anticipate or render, singly or in combination, obvious the claimed limitations, especially "a fifth filter that has a passband comprising a reception band of a fifth band that is usable in the first geographic region and the third geographic region; a sixth filter that has a passband comprising a reception band of a fourth band that is usable in the third geographic region; a first switch having a first terminal connected to a first antenna connection terminal, a second terminal connected to a second antenna connection terminal, a third terminal connected to the second filter, a fourth terminal connected to the third filter and the fourth filter, a fifth terminal connected to the sixth filter, and a sixth terminal selectively connected to the first filter and the fifth filter; and a second switch having a seventh terminal connected to the sixth terminal of the first switch, an eighth terminal connected to the first filter, and a ninth terminal connected to the fifth filter, wherein the high frequency circuit has: a first mode in which in the first geographic region, the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to the third terminal and the sixth terminal, respectively, and the seventh terminal is connected to the eighth terminal such that the high frequency circuit is configure to simultaneously receive signals of the first band and the second band, a second mode in which in the second geographic region, the first terminal or the second terminal is connected to the fourth terminal such that the high frequency circuit is configure to simultaneously receive signals of the first band and the third band, a third mode in which in the third geographic region, the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to the fifth terminal and the sixth terminal, respectively, and the seventh terminal is connected to the eighth terminal, such that the high frequency circuit is configure to simultaneously receive signals of the first band and the fourth band, a fourth mode in which in the first geographic region, the second geographic region, and the third geographic region, the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to the fourth terminal and the sixth terminal, respectively, and the seventh terminal is connected to the eighth terminal, such that the high frequency circuit is configure to simultaneously receive two signals of the first band, a fifth mode in which in the first geographic region, the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to the third terminal and the sixth terminal, respectively, and the seventh terminal is connected to the ninth terminal, such that the high frequency circuit is configure to simultaneously receive signals of the second band and the fifth band, and a sixth mode in which in the third geographic region, the first terminal and the second terminal are connected to the fifth terminal and the sixth terminal, respectively, and the seventh terminal is connected to the ninth terminal, such that the high frequency circuit is configure to simultaneously receive signals of the fourth band and the fifth band” within context of the claims as a whole.
Consequently, the disclosed independent claims are allowed on behalf of the above-discussed reasons. Since the disclosed dependent claims are dependent on one of the above independent claims, therefore they are also patentable.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARCUS C HAMMONDS whose telephone number is (571)270-3193. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10:00AM-6:00PM.
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, ALISON T. SLATER can be reached at (571)270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARCUS HAMMONDS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647