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 .
Preliminary Amendment
1. The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed on January 16, 2024 as modified by the preliminary amendment also filed on January 16, 2024. Claims 26-43 are now pending in the present application and Claims 1-25 are canceled.
Information Disclosure Statement
2. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/16/2024 and 02/18/2025. 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 § 103
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.
3. Claim(s) 26, 39 and 41-43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naguib et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2006/0240784 A1) in view of Harel et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2015/0124634 A1).
Regarding claim 26, Naguib et al discloses a method of antenna calibration for a radio system comprising an antenna system (figure 12, a methodology 1200 for calibrating an antenna array; paragrph0081), wherein the antenna system comprises a plurality of antenna elements corresponding to a plurality of radio chains(paragraph 0049-0051 and 0081, “…an antenna array 200 comprising N antennas”) , the method comprising: performing first level antenna calibrations at a first time interval (figure 12, step 1202, paragraph 0081), wherein each first level antenna calibration comprises: performing measurements of full active bandwidth of each radio chain for obtaining radio chain channel state (paragraphs 0054 and 0056-0057, “…antenna calibration in conjunction with a narrowband signal and/or measurement bandwidth”); calculating first calibration values based on the measurements (figure 12, step 1206, paragraph 0081, “…a determination can be made regarding whether automatic gain control (AGC) is employed in the antenna array”); and calibrating the antenna system with the first calibration values (figure 12, step 1210, at a first time calibration value; paragraph 0082) ; and performing second level antenna calibrations in between the first level antenna calibrations at a second time interval (figure 12, step 1210, at a second time calibration value; paragraph 0082), wherein the second level antenna calibrations are based on estimations(abstract and paragraphs 0046-0047 “.. array and/or individual antennas therein can be calibrated based on the mismatch estimates”).
Naguib et al does not explicitly disclose wherein a length of the first time interval is of more than one length of second time intervals.
Harel et al disclose performing first level antenna calibrations at a first time interval (figure 10, step 1002; paragraph 0065, “…calibration where the wideband calibration, for both the receive circuitry and transmitting circuitry, takes place, every T2 millisecond, e.g. 50-1,000 milliseconds,”) and performing second level antenna calibrations at a second time interval (figures10, step 1003, paragraph 0066, “…calibration, for the receive circuitry only, where narrowband calibration takes place during every frame's gap T1 of for example 5 or 10 milliseconds”), wherein a length of the first time interval is of more than one length of second time intervals (paragraphs 0065- 0066).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teachings of Harel et al in to the method of Naguib et al, such that a length of the first time interval of the antenna calibration could be set more than one length of second time intervals to ensures consistent performance.
Regarding claim 39, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al discloses the method of claim 26. Harel et al disclose wherein the first time interval at an initial stage is shorter than the first time interval at a subsequent stage (paragraph 0054).
Regarding claim 41, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al discloses the method of claim 26. Harel et al discloses wherein the second time interval is at a granularity of a slot or a traffic symbol (paragraph 0054).
Regarding claim 42, claim 42 is similar in scope to the claim 26 except in apparatus form and thus the rejection to claim 26 hereinabove is also applicable to claim 42.
Regarding claim 43, claim 43 is similar in scope to the claim 26 and thus the rejection to claim 26 hereinabove is also applicable to claim 43.
4. Claim(s) 27-31 and 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naguib et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2006/0240784 A1) in view of Harel et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2015/0124634 A1) further in view of Miao et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2018/0212658 A1).
Regarding claim 27, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al discloses the method of claim 26. Harel et al discloses wherein performing each of the second level antenna calibrations comprises: monitoring one or more factors affecting the radio chain channel state (paragraph 0064, “…measuring …Power Amplifiers wideband non-linearity, and RF circuitry misalignments”).
Naguib et al in view of Harel et al does not disclose estimating the radio chain channel state based on the monitored one or more factors by an estimation model; calculating second calibration values based on the estimating; and calibrating the antenna system with the second calibration values.
Miao et al discloses estimating a radio chain channel state based on the monitored one or more factors by an estimation model; calculating second calibration values based on the estimating; and calibrating an antenna system (paragraphs 0124-0128).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teachings of Miao et al in to the method of Naguib et al in view of Harel et al, such that the radio chain channel state could be estimated based on the monitored one or more factors by an estimation model and the second calibration values could be calculated based on the estimating; and calibrating the antenna system with the second calibration values to enhance antenna calibration.
Regarding claim 28, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al discloses the method of claim 27. Naguib et al discloses wherein the radio chain channel state obtained in the first level antenna calibrations is used to update parameters of the estimation model at the first time interval (paragraph 0082).
Regarding claim 29, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al discloses the method of claim 27. Harel et al discloses wherein the monitored one or more factors comprise any one or more of the following: temperature, component aging, traffic load, or radio frequency power level of the antenna elements (paragraph 0065).
Regarding claim 30, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al discloses the method of claim 27. Miao et al discloses wherein the estimation model estimates current radio chain channel state based on the monitored one or more factors and a previous estimated radio chain channel state (paragraphs 0131-0132).
Regarding claim 31, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al discloses the method of claim 30. Miao et al discloses wherein the radio chain channel state obtained in the first level antenna calibrations is used to update the previous estimated radio chain channel state at the first time interval (paragraphs 0125 and 0128).
Regarding claim 40, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al discloses the method of claim 27. Naguib et al discloses wherein performing each of the first level antenna calibrations further comprises injecting antenna calibration signals into the plurality of radio chains at the first time interval (paragraph 0081)
5. Claim(s) 32 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naguib et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2006/0240784 A1) in view of Harel et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2015/0124634 A1) further in view of Miao et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2018/0212658 A1) further in view of Vander velde et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2010/0289687 A1) (herein after referenced as Vander)
Regarding claim 32, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al discloses the method of claim 27. Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al does not disclose wherein the estimation model comprises a Kalman Filter model.
Vander discloses an estimation model comprises a Kalman Filter model (paragraph 0056).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teachings of Vander in to the method of Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al, such that the estimation model could be comprised a Kalman Filter model in order to provide the flexibility of using any number of available measurements as taught by Vander (paragraph 0064).
Regarding claim 34, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al, Miao et al and Vander discloses the method of claim 32. Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Miao et al does not disclose wherein performing each of the second level antenna calibrations further comprises: estimating an error covariance matrix of the estimation model; and in response to determining that the error covariance matrix is not tolerable, invoking the first level antenna calibration, and updating parameters of the estimation model with the radio chain channel state obtained in the invoked first level antenna calibration, before a next second level antenna calibration.
Vander discloses estimating an error covariance matrix of the estimation model; and in response to determining that the error covariance matrix is not tolerable, invoking the first level antenna calibration, and updating parameters of the estimation model with the radio chain channel state obtained in the invoked first level antenna calibration, before a next second level antenna calibration (paragraph 0062).
6. Claim(s) 35-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Naguib et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2006/0240784 A1) in view of Harel et al (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2015/0124634 A1) further in view of Rofougaran (U.S. Patent Pub. # US 2010/0048154 A1).
Regarding claim 35, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al discloses the method of claim 26. Harel et al discloses wherein performing each of the second level antenna calibrations comprises: injecting antenna calibration signals into the plurality of radio chains on a narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth at the second time interval (figure 10, step 1003, paragraph 0066).
Naguib et al in view of Harel et al silent to performing measurements on the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth of each radio chain for obtaining radio chain channel state for antenna calibration to determine a change of the radio chain channel state on the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth; estimating radio chain channel state on full active bandwidth with the change of the radio chain channel state on the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth; calculating second calibration values based on the estimated radio chain channel state; and calibrating the antenna system with the second calibration values.
Rofougaran discloses performing measurements on a narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth of each radio chain for obtaining radio chain channel state for antenna calibration to determine a change of the radio chain channel state on the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth (figure 5, step 502, paragraph 0053); estimating radio chain channel state on full active bandwidth with the change of the radio chain channel state on the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth (figure 5, steps 502 and 504; paragraphs 0053-0054); calculating second calibration values based on the estimated radio chain channel state (figure 5, step 504; paragraph 0054); and calibrating the antenna system with the second calibration values (figure 5, step 506; paragraph 0054).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teachings of Rofougaran in to the method of Naguib et al in view of Harel et al , such that measurements could be performed on a narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth of each radio chain for obtaining radio chain channel state for antenna calibration to determine a change of the radio chain channel state on the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth in order to facilitate accurate antenna calibration.
Regarding claim 36, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Rofougaran discloses the method of claim 35. Naguib et al discloses wherein the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth comprises one or more subcarriers of the full active bandwidth (paragraph 0054).
Regarding claim 37, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Rofougaran discloses the method of claim 35. Harel et al discloses wherein the narrowband portion of the full active bandwidth is varied for different second level antenna calibrations according to the traffic load (paragraph 0066).
Regarding claim 38, Naguib et al in view of Harel et al and Rofougaran discloses the method of claim 35. Naguib et al discloses wherein the first time interval varies among the first level antenna calibrations (figure 12, step 1210, at a first time calibration value; paragraph 0082), and/or the second time interval varies among the second level antenna calibrations (figure 12, step 1210, at a second repeat time calibration value; paragraph 0082).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claim 33 is 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.
Conclusion
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/FATUMA G SHERIF/Examiner, Art Unit 2649 /YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649