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 Objection
Claims 1 and 20 are objected for missing ( : ) in the preamble. Examiner suggests the applicant to amend the claim as below:
A communication device for a base station, the communication device comprising :
a processor, configured to: …..
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 20-21 are allowable assuming applicant address the objection stated above.
Claims 6, 12-14 and 23 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 and addressing all the objections stated above.
Regarding claims 6 & 20, none of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “generate a downlink data descriptor comprising a first field indicating that the downlink data block allocation scheme comprises blocks of downlink data that remain constant or monotonically decrease starting at the designated symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data, a second field indicating a symbol position of the designated symbol, and a third field indicating a ratio of a number of blocks of downlink data in the symbol position indicated in the second field compared with a maximum amount of blocks ” when considered as a whole along with other claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 12, none of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “wherein the processor is configured to apply two or more of the plurality of bias voltages sequentially in decreasing order over the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data in the slot, and, after the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data are transmitted, return to apply a bias voltage of the plurality of bias voltages in anticipation of a second plurality of symbols in a second slot.” when considered as a whole along with other claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 14, none of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “estimate, for the downlink data block allocation scheme, a total number of blocks of downlink data to be transmitted across the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data; and determine a schedule for the number of blocks of downlink data in each respective symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data based on the total number of blocks of downlink data and the plurality of bias voltages of the voltage profile, wherein the number of blocks of downlink data in each respective symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data is aligned to one of the plurality of bias voltages of the voltage profile such that an average bias voltage applied to the power amplifier over the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data is minimized” when considered as a whole along with other claimed inventions.
Claims 13 and 21 are allowable because of their dependency on claims 12 and 20 respectively.
Regarding claims 23, none of the prior art of record disclose or render obvious the claimed limitations including “applying two or more of the plurality of bias voltages sequentially in decreasing order over the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data in the slot; and after the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data are transmitted, return to apply a bias voltage of the plurality of bias voltages in anticipation of a second plurality of symbols in a second slot, wherein the bias voltage of the plurality of bias voltages in anticipation of the second plurality of symbols in the second slot is the highest bias voltage of the plurality of bias voltages” when considered as a whole along with other claimed limitations.
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 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 20claimed 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 1-3, 5 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Langer et al. (US 2012/0064849, hereinafter Langer) in view of Shimura (JP 2012129638, hereinafter Shimura).
Regarding claim 1, Langer discloses a communication device for a base station (Fig. 1; para 0023), the communication device comprising a processor (104) configured to: determine (para 0017; and 0053; The one or more characteristics of the transmitted signal's modulation scheme are associated with a predetermined bias voltage value(s) at 804. The predetermined bias voltage value(s) may be determined to correspond to characteristics of a transmitted signal's modulation scheme from calibration performed of the system prior to transmission, for a slot comprising a plurality of symbols (para 0026; A RB physically occupies 0.5 ms (1 slot) in the time domain and 180 kHz (16 subcarriers) in the frequency domain, although the number of subcarriers per RB and the number of symbols per RB may vary as a function of the cyclic prefix length and subcarrier spacing) allocated for downlink data (para 0026; downlink), a downlink data block allocation scheme (para 0014; 0017; 0019; a number of subcarriers/resource blocks which determine the instantaneous effective bandwidth of the modulation scheme, channel bandwidth which determines the maximum bandwidth); with a number of blocks of downlink data that remain constant (para 0027; 0046 and 0049; 9, 18, 40, and 100 RBs – number of resource blocks are fixed) or monotonically decrease starting at a designated symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data;
determine a voltage profile corresponding to the downlink data block allocation scheme, wherein the voltage profile comprises a plurality of bias voltages (para 0017; 0023; and 0053; The one or more characteristics of the transmitted signal's modulation scheme are associated with a predetermined bias voltage value(s). The predetermined bias voltage value(s) may be determined to correspond to characteristics of a transmitted signal's modulation scheme from calibration performed of the system prior to transmission); and apply a bias voltage selected from the plurality of bias voltages to a power amplifier (para 0014-0015; The operating point is varied by changing the bias voltage (s) (e.g., supply voltage, quiescent voltage) of the amplifier to a predetermined value that is chosen based upon the effect that a given transmitted signal modulation scheme characteristic (e.g., channel bandwidth and/or number of subcarriers) has on the operating point of a power amplifier) in a transmission chain of the base station (para 0015; improve the power consumption of a transmission chain by varying the operating point of a power amplifier).
Langer does not explicitly disclose to generate the voltage profile.
In an analogous art, Shimura discloses to generate the voltage profile (page 13; para 01-02; voltage generation unit generates voltage based on the scheme). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer’s method/system by having Shimura’s disclosure in order to reduce power consumption in a communication system.
Regarding claim 22, Langer discloses a method for a base station (Fig. 1; para 0023) to apply bias voltages to a power amplifier in a transmission chain of the base station (para 0014-0015; The operating point is varied by changing the bias voltage (s) (e.g., supply voltage, quiescent voltage) of the amplifier to a predetermined value that is chosen based upon the effect that a given transmitted signal modulation scheme characteristic (e.g., channel bandwidth and/or number of subcarriers) has on the operating point of a power amplifier), the method comprising:
determining (para 0017; and 0053; The one or more characteristics of the transmitted signal's modulation scheme are associated with a predetermined bias voltage value(s) at 804. The predetermined bias voltage value(s) may be determined to correspond to characteristics of a transmitted signal's modulation scheme from calibration performed of the system prior to transmission), for a slot comprising a plurality of symbols (para 0026; A RB physically occupies 0.5 ms (1 slot) in the time domain and 180 kHz (16 subcarriers) in the frequency domain, although the number of subcarriers per RB and the number of symbols per RB may vary as a function of the cyclic prefix length and subcarrier spacing) allocated for downlink data (para 0026; downlink), a downlink data block allocation scheme (para 0014; 0017; 0019; a number of subcarriers/resource blocks which determine the instantaneous effective bandwidth of the modulation scheme, channel bandwidth which determines the maximum bandwidth
); with a number of blocks of downlink data that remain constant (para 0027; 0046 and 0049; 9, 18, 40, and 100 RBs – number of resource blocks are fixed)
or monotonically decrease starting at a designated symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data;
determining a voltage profile corresponding to the downlink data block allocation scheme, wherein the voltage profile comprises a plurality of bias voltages (para 0017; 0023; and 0053; The one or more characteristics of the transmitted signal's modulation scheme are associated with a predetermined bias voltage value(s). The predetermined bias voltage value(s) may be determined to correspond to characteristics of a transmitted signal's modulation scheme from calibration performed of the system prior to transmission); and applying a bias voltage selected from the plurality of bias voltages to a power amplifier (para 0014-0015; The operating point is varied by changing the bias voltage (s) (e.g., supply voltage, quiescent voltage) of the amplifier to a predetermined value that is chosen based upon the effect that a given transmitted signal modulation scheme characteristic (e.g., channel bandwidth and/or number of subcarriers) has on the operating point of a power amplifier) in a transmission chain of the base station (para 0015; improve the power consumption of a transmission chain by varying the operating point of a power amplifier).
Langer does not explicitly disclose generating the voltage profile.
In an analogous art, Shimura discloses generating the voltage profile (page 13; para 01-02; voltage generation unit generates voltage based on the scheme). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer’s method/system by having Shimura’s disclosure in order to reduce power consumption in a communication system.
Regarding claim 2, Langer discloses wherein the voltage profile tracks the number of blocks of downlink data in each symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data by remaining the same or monotonically decreasing over the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data (para 0041; 0046; 0049; voltage can be varied to different values according to RB – it implies if the RBs stay constant over symbols then the voltage profile remains the same or monotonically decrease if RBs decrease over symbols).
Regarding claim 3, Langer discloses wherein a first bias voltage of the plurality of bias voltages is greater than one or more other bias voltages of the plurality of bias voltages (fig. 4 & 7; different values for voltages where one voltage vaule is greater than other- e.g. supply voltage 5 is greater than 1, 4.98. 4.99 and ram voltage 2 is greater than 02.,1.97, 1.99).
Regarding claim 5, Langer discloses that the processor further configured to apply a constant or decreasing bias voltage to the power amplifier across the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data (para 0041; 0046; 0049; voltage can be varied to different values according to RB – it implies if the RBs stay constant over symbols then the voltage profile remains the same or monotonically decrease if RBs decrease over symbols).
5. Claims 4 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Langer/Shimura in view of Xiong et al. (US 2022/0085940, hereinafter Xiong).
Regarding claim 4, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose wherein a first symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data has the greatest number of blocks of downlink data compared with the other symbols of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data.
In an analogous art, Xiong discloses wherein a first symbol of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data has the greatest number of blocks of downlink data compared with the other symbols of the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink data (Fig. 1; para 0024;0058; front loaded more data blocks in the beginning). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Xiong’s disclosure in order to reduce latency in the communication system.
Regarding claim 15, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose wherein the downlink data comprises downlink control data and downlink user data, and wherein the downlink control data is provided in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and the downlink user data is provided in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).
In an analogous art, Xiong discloses wherein the downlink data comprises downlink control data (para 0109; 0116; downlink data) and downlink user data (para 0092; The PDSCH carries user data), and wherein the downlink control data is provided in a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) (para 0011 and 0058; PDCCH) and the downlink user data is provided in a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) (para 0092; The PDSCH carries user data). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Xiong’s disclosure in order to reduce latency in the communication system.
6. Claims 7-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Langer/Shimura in view of Lin et al. (US 2020/0336122, hereinafter Lin).
Regarding claim 7, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose an envelope detector, a low-pass filter, and a comparator.
In an analogous art, Lin discloses an envelope detector (para 0174; envelope tracker and detection circuit), a low-pass filter (para 0182; low pass filter), and a comparator (para 0103; comparator). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to extract and digitize the information from a high frequency carrier signal.
Regarding claim 8, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose wherein the envelope detector is configured to track a signal envelope in real-time and forward the signal envelope to the low-pass filter.
In an analogous art, Lin discloses wherein the envelope detector is configured to track a signal envelope in real-time and forward the signal envelope to the low-pass filter (para 0182; and 0192; the analog envelope signal is filtered by the reconstruction filer to generate an envelope signal suitable for use by the envelope tracker. In certain implementations, the reconstruction filter includes a low pass filter). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to extract and digitize the information from a high frequency carrier signal.
Regarding claim 9, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose wherein the low-pass filter is configured to generate an averaged envelope value to forward to the comparator.
In an analogous art, Lin discloses wherein the low-pass filter is configured to generate an averaged envelope value to forward to the comparator (para 0157). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to extract and digitize the information from a high frequency carrier signal.
Regarding claim 10, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose wherein the comparator is configured to trigger a change in the plurality of bias voltages based on the averaged envelope value meeting a pre-defined threshold.
In an analogous art, Lin discloses wherein the comparator is configured to trigger a change in the plurality of bias voltages based on the averaged envelope value meeting a pre-defined threshold (para 0130 and 0157). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to extract and digitize the information from a high frequency carrier signal.
Regarding claim 11, Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose additional comparators configured to trigger additional changes in the plurality of bias voltages based on the averaged envelope value meeting additional pre-defined thresholds.
In an analogous art, Lin discloses additional comparators configured to trigger additional changes in the plurality of bias voltages based on the averaged envelope value meeting additional pre-defined thresholds (para 0130 and 0157).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Lin’s disclosure in order to extract and digitize the information from a high frequency carrier signal.
7. Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Langer/Shimura in view of Chen et al. (US 2016/0360550, hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 18, Langer/Shimura discloses the communication device of claim 1.
Langer/Shimura does not explicitly disclose wherein the designated symbol is a first symbol in the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink user data.
In an analogous art, Chen discloses wherein the designated symbol is a first symbol in the plurality of symbols allocated for downlink user data (para 0049; 0083-0084; symbols assigned for first set of REs for low-latency downlink user data is the first symbol in the plurality).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Langer/Shimura’s method/system by having Chen’s disclosure in order to reduce TTI for low latency communication in order to reduce network delay.
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462