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 § 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.
Claims 1, 2, 12, 13, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over IKEGAMI (US 20210367622 A1) in view of Kitazawa et al. (US 6586786 B2), hereafter referred to as “IKEGAMI” and “Kitazawa”, respectively.
Regarding claims 1, 2, 12, 13, 15, and 16, in the embodiment of Fig. 1, IKEGAMI discloses:
An apparatus (Fig. 1, communication device 300) comprising:
a low noise amplifier (LNA)(Fig. 1, low noise amplifier 21) formed on a semiconductor die (Figs. 3 and 5, paragraph [0081], lines 1-6, mounting board 9 is a multi-layer substrate including a plurality of dielectric layers) to receive and amplify a receive radio frequency (RF) signal (per paragraph [0035] lines 1-6);
a first power amplifier (PA) (power amplifier 11) of a wireless device (communication devices (i.e. 300) are inherently wireless) formed on the semiconductor die to amplify a transmit RF signal (in a transmit mode) and output the amplified transmit RF signal at an output node of the PA (output terminal 112, paragraph [0033] lines 1-6);
an input/output (I/O) pad (attenuation filter 3 can be considered the input/output pad) coupled to the output node (via one of selection terminals 51-53), the I/O pad to interface with an antenna (antenna 310) coupled to the semiconductor die; and
a pad attenuator (attenuation filter 3 also serves as an attenuator, as per claim 2) formed on the semiconductor die (per paragraph [0161]) and coupled to the output node of the first PA (via one of selection terminals 51-53), the pad attenuator to attenuate the receive RF signal in a receive mode and minimize a load on the PA in a transmit mode (paragraph [0058], attenuation filter 3 attenuates a harmonic wave component of a reception signal received through the antenna 310) and comprising first and second switches (Fig. 6, switches 4 and 5 per claim 13), wherein
in the receive mode, the LNA is coupled to the I/O pad is receiving a second RF signal, attenuating the second RF signal via the pad attenuator (paragraph [0077] lines 7-11, radio frequency module 1 transfers an RF signal between the antenna 310 and the RF signal processing circuit 302 (which would include the attenuation filter 3)), and furthermore, causing one or more of the first switches of the pad attenuator to be connected to provide a selected amount of attenuation of the second RF signal (paragraph [0033], switch 5 selects three communication bands, respectively, different communication bands inherently required different amounts of attenuation, per claim 15), providing a control code to the first switches of the pad attenuator to cause the one or more of the first switches of the pad attenuator to be connected to provide the selected amount of attenuation of the second RF signal (paragraphs [0050]-[0053] switches 4 and 5 are controlled by signal processing circuit 301 in accordant with a control signal per claim 16), and the apparatus further comprising a harmonic filter (filter units 2A, 2B, and/or 2C ) coupled between the output node of the PA and the pad attenuator (as shown in Fig. 1, via switches 4 and 5, per claim 12).
However, IKEGAMI is silent in teaching a blocking capacitor coupled to the output node of the PA and shared with the pad attenuator, and furthermore the harmonic filter comprising an inductor coupled in series with a programmable capacitance.
Kitazawa teaches:
a blocking capacitor (Fig. 12, C1201, column 1 lines 43-45, C1301 of Fig. 13, as analogous to Fig. 12, blocks components of direct current) coupled to the output node of the PA (as shown in Fig. 12).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify configuration of the wireless device as taught by IKEGAMI to include a blocking capacitor as taught by Kitazawa (Fig. 12), to block direct current (per paragraph [0009] lines 3-5), and as known in the art, thereby suggesting the obviousness of such a combination. Furthermore, it would be obvious to modify the harmonic filter as taught by IKEGAMI (Fig. 1, 2A-2C) to comprise an inductor coupled in series with a programmable capacitance to attenuate a harmonic wave component as taught by IKEGAMI (Fig. 7, paragraph [0128]-[0130], series circuits 391A-393A formed by series inductors and capacitors, respectively), and furthermore it would be obvious to replace the capacitor of the of the harmonic wave component with a programmable capacitance to modify the capacitance, as known in the art, thereby suggesting the obviousness of such a modification.
.Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-11, 14, and 17 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 3, 4, 14, and 17:
the cited prior art of record, IKEGAMI (US 20210367622 A1), either singly or in proper combination, does not teach or make obvious, along with the other claimed features, “the pad attenuator is to: operate with a first voltage from a first regulator associated with the PA in the transmit mode; and operate with a second voltage from a second regulator associated with the LNA in the receive mode, the first voltage greater than the second voltage” per claim 3, “the pad attenuator comprises: a programmable resistor” per claim 4, “powering the pad attenuator with a second regulated voltage, the second regulated voltage provided to the LNA” per claim 14, and “first attenuating the second RF signal using a RF attenuator coupled to the LNA; and further attenuating the second RF signal using the pad attenuator” per claim 17.
Claims 5-11 are objected to as they depend on objected claim 4.
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Although the closest prior art of record, IKEGAMI (US 20210367622 A1), teaches most of the limitations of independent claim 18, the art alone or in combination does not teach that “a second PA formed on the semiconductor die to amplify a second transmit RF signal and output the amplified second transmit RF signal at a second output node of the second PA; an output path coupled to the first output node of the first PA and the second output node of the second PA;”.
Claims 19 and 20 are allowed, as they depend on allowed claim 18.
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.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MALANE LIENG whose telephone number is (571)272-5739. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 6:30 - 4:00 CST.
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/Malane Lieng/Examiner, Art Unit 2843
/ANDREA LINDGREN BALTZELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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