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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) filed on 7/8/2025 was considered 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3, 6-7, 9-10, 17-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 20220368359, hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 1, Lee teaches an apparatus configured for wireless communications, comprising: radio frequency (RF) circuitry comprising: one or more amplifiers (Fig. 2, amplification circuit 128 and [0029], amplification circuit may include amplifiers), one or more impedance tuning circuits coupled to one or more outputs of the one or more amplifiers (Fig. 2, the impedance tuning circuit 132 is connected to the amplification circuit 128), and an antenna tuner coupled between an antenna feed and one or more outputs of the one or more impedance tuning circuits (Fig. 2, antenna tuner 130 is in between the antenna 124 and impedance controlling circuit 132); one or more memories (Fig. 1, 110); and one or more processors (Fig. 1, 108) coupled to the one or more memories ([0024]), the one or more processors being configured to cause the apparatus to: configure at least one parameter of at least one of the one or more impedance tuning circuits or the one or more amplifiers based at least in part on at least one load characteristic at the antenna feed ([0034]-[0035], impedance controlling circuit 132 determines and monitors a reflection coefficient, i.e., load characteristic, of a signal to keep track of changes in impedance at an antenna, and then based on the change of said impedance, dynamically adjust the impedance at the antenna tuner); communicate one or more signals via the RF circuitry while the at least one parameter is configured based at least in part on the at least one load characteristic at the antenna feed ([0047], the antenna tuners 130-1 to 130-N accept the configuration signals 312-1 to 312-N and adjust (e.g., change) impedances of the substrate tuning circuits 134-1 to 134-N and/or impedances of the IC tuning circuits 136-1 to 136-N accordingly for communicating one or more signals via the RF circuitry while the at least one parameter is configured based at least in part on the at least one load characteristic at the antenna feed).
Regarding claim 2, Lee teaches to configure the at least one parameter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to configure the at least one parameter to achieve one or more performance metrics at the at least one load characteristic ([0019], antenna tuner is able to maintain optimal impedance matching performance throughout different beamforming operations (e.g. across signals with different phases). Therefore, it is able to consistently meet performance metrics across these signals).
Regarding claim 3, Lee teaches to configure the at least one parameter, the one or more processors ([0036], processor 108) are configured to cause the apparatus to configure the at least one parameter based at least in part on a relationship between one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry and a combination of the at least one parameter and the at least one load characteristic (Fig. 4, signal characteristics 416-1 through 416-3 directly relate to the operational configuration (these configurations can be seen as similar to parameters) to produce RF signals 416-1 to 416-3).
Regarding claim 6, Lee teaches that the tuning index corresponds to a reactance value of at least one reactive component of the one or more impedance tuning circuits ([0044], IC tuning circuits 136-1 to 136-N include both capacitive (308) and inductive (310) components that have negative and positive reactances respectively. Seeing as the reactances of the IC tuning circuits can be negative or positive, this falls in line with the commonly accepted definition of an index, which is a value).
Regarding claim 7, Lee teaches that the at least one parameter comprises one or more of: a reactance of at least one reactive component of the one or more impedance tuning circuits or a reference current applied to the one or more amplifiers ([0079], impedance of antenna 130 is based on positive and negative reactance of one or more inductive and capacitive components respectively, of the tuner. These reactances essentially act as parameters for the tuner).
Regarding claim 9, Lee teaches that the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to set an impedance of the antenna tuner based at least in part on the at least one load characteristic ([0034]-[0035], impedance controlling circuit 132 determines and monitors a reflection coefficient (load characteristic) of a signal to keep track of changes in impedance at an antenna, and then based on the change of said impedance, dynamically adjust the impedance at the antenna tuner).
Regarding claim 10, Lee teaches to set the impedance of the antenna tuner, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to set the impedance of the antenna tuner to match a load impedance and a load phase of the at least one load characteristic ([0032], antenna tuner 130 can vary its impedance to perform impedance matching, even across signals with different phases).
Regarding claim 17, the limitations of the claim are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 18, the limitations of the claim are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 2.
Regarding claim 20, Lee teaches that the radio frequency transmitter ([0029], components of the RF integrated circuit 126 may be implemented as separate transmitter and receiver entities), comprising: one or more amplifiers (Fig. 2, amplification circuit 128 and [0029], amplification circuit may include amplifiers), one or more impedance tuning circuits coupled to one or more outputs of the one or more amplifiers (Fig. 2, the impedance tuning circuit 132 is connected to the amplification circuit 128), an antenna tuner coupled between an antenna feed and one or more outputs of the one or more impedance tuning circuits (Fig. 2, antenna tuner 130 is in between the antenna 124 and impedance controlling circuit 132); one or more memories (Fig. 1, 110); and one or more processors (Fig. 1, 108) coupled to the one or more memories ([0024]), the one or more processors being configured to cause the apparatus to: configure at least one parameter of at least one of the one or more impedance tuning circuits or the one or more amplifiers based at least in part on at least one load characteristic at the antenna feed ([0034]-[0035], impedance controlling circuit 132 determines and monitors a reflection coefficient (load characteristic) of a signal to keep track of changes in impedance at an antenna, and then based on the change of said impedance, dynamically adjust the impedance at the antenna tuner); communicate one or more signals via the RF circuitry while the at least one parameter is configured based at least in part on the at least one load characteristic at the antenna feed ([0047], the antenna tuners 130-1 to 130-N accept the configuration signals 312-1 to 312-N and adjust (e.g., change) impedances of the substrate tuning circuits 134-1 to 134-N and/or impedances of the IC tuning circuits 136-1 to 136-N accordingly for communicating one or more signals via the RF circuitry while the at least one parameter is configured based at least in part on the at least one load characteristic at the antenna feed).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 20220368359 A1) in view of Han (US 12348255 B2).
Regarding claim 4, Lee differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching that the one or more performance metrics may comprise of one or more of: a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of the RF circuitry; error vector magnitude (EVM) of the RF circuitry; an error vector magnitude (EVM) of the RF circuitry; an adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the RF circuitry; a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of the RF circuitry; an output power level of the RF circuitry or a power-added efficiency (PAE) of the one or more amplifiers.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Han teaches that the one or more performance metrics may comprise of one or more of: a voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of the RF circuitry (Col. 8, Lines 46-54, VSWR is used as a parameter for the purposes of adaptive tuning by a multifunctional tuner).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention to combine the apparatus described by Lee with the VSWR performance metric taught by Han, in order to better send and receive wireless communications without perceivable interference.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 20220368359 A1, Lee) in view of Han (US 12348255 B2).
Regarding claim 19, Lee teaches configuring the at least one parameter comprises configuring the at least one parameter based at least in part on a relationship between one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry and a combination of the at least one parameter and the at least one load characteristic (Fig. 4, signal characteristics 416-1 through 416-3 directly relate to the operational configuration (these configurations can be seen as similar to parameters) to produce RF signals 416-1 to 416-3).
Lee differs from the claimed invention in not specifically disclosing that the at least one load characteristic comprises one or more of a load impedance or a load phase at the antenna feed; and the at least one parameter comprises a tuning index of the one or more impedance tuning circuits.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Han discloses that the at least one load characteristic comprises one or more of a load impedance or a load phase at the antenna feed (Col. 8, Lines 62-67, load coefficient parameter may be a phase of a forward travelling signal at a transceiver of an antenna); and the at least one parameter comprises a tuning index of the one or more impedance tuning circuits (Col. 10, Lines 61-64, memory device may store tuning states / indices relating to impedance thresholds).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus from the combination of Lee with the load characteristic as described by Han, in order to more accurately measure and tune impedance.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 20220368359 A1) in view of Broyde (KR 20170012447 A).
Regarding claim 5, Lee teaches that the at least one load characteristic comprises one or more of a load impedance or a load phase at the antenna feed ([0034], reflection coefficient (load characteristic) is tied to the changes in impedance at an antenna), but differs from the claimed invention in that it does not specifically disclose that the at least one parameter comprises a tuning index of the one or more impedance tuning circuits.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Broyde teaches that the at least one parameter comprises a tuning index of the one or more impedance tuning circuits (Based on translated foreign document of Broyde: [Page 6, Paragraph 4 and Page 14, Paragraph 3], tuning indication is a setting / variable used to control the impedance tuning of the device).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the combination of Lee with the load characteristic from Broyde in order to more accurately measure impedance.
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 20220368359 A1) in view of Jacomb-Hood (US 7392011 B1).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses that the one or more amplifiers comprise a driver amplifier and a power amplifier ([0041], amplification circuit 128-1 may include a driver and a power amplifier), but differs in not specifically disclosing that the reference current comprises a first reference current applied to the driver amplifier and a second reference current applied to the power amplifier.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Jacomb-Hood discloses that the reference current comprises a first reference current applied to the driver amplifier and a second reference current applied to the power amplifier (Col. 8, Lines 42-50, biasing voltages (may be considered as reference currents) may be supplied to power amplifier 114 and the driver amplifier 106 for a period of time).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of claimed invention to combine the amplifiers of Lee with the reference currents as described by Jacomb-Hood, in order to have both a driver and power amplifier being fed a stable current for impedance measuring purposes.
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 20220368359 A1) in view of Raman (US 20220238300 A1).
Regarding claim 11, Lee differs from the claimed invention in that they do not specifically teach to configure the at least one parameter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to: provide, to a machine learning (ML) model, input data comprising the at least one load characteristic; and obtain, from the ML model, output data comprising the at least one parameter.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Raman discloses the configuration of the at least one parameter, the one or more processors ([0049], system controller 228 may include a microprocessor / CPU) are configured to cause the apparatus to: provide, to a machine learning (ML) model, input data comprising the at least one load characteristic ([0016], providing RF power (load) output data (a characteristic associated with load) associated with RF power flow of an electrical component of a device at some load to a ML model); and obtain, from the ML model, output data comprising the at least one parameter ([0018], obtain RF power outputs from the trained ML model and generate a load’s estimated measurement of electron power flow (RF power levels) to see if a performance criterion for a satisfactory amount of power flow is met at said load).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus of Lee with the processors as described by Raman, in order to train a machine learning model to predict a measurement value that corresponds to a level of quality or effectiveness of an electrical component in a device.
Regarding claim 12, Lee differs from the claimed invention in that they do not specifically teach that the ML model is trained to predict the at least one parameter that achieves one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Raman discloses that the ML model is trained to predict the at least one parameter that achieves one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry ([0017], machine learning model can be trained to predict a measurement value for an electron flow (i.e., a current) across an impedance circuit. Said measurement value for electron flow can be used as an indicator of quality or effectiveness (a performance metric) of electrical components, which are connected to the impedance circuits).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus of Lee with the ML model as described by Raman, in order to train a machine learning model to predict a measurement value that corresponds to a level of quality or effectiveness of an electrical component in a device.
Regarding claim 13, Lee differs from the claimed invention in that they do not specifically teach that the input data further comprises the at least one parameter and the at least one load characteristic in a first state; and the output data comprises the at least one parameter in a second state that is predicted to achieve one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry at the at least one load characteristic.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Raman discloses that the input data further comprises the at least one parameter and the at least one load characteristic in a first state ([0016-0017], RF power flow data at a certain load (power flow may be considered a load characteristic) is first provided as input to a trained ML model. Said model can be used to predict a value for electron flow (aka power flow) for future load measurements. The moment that the input is provided can be considered a first state, or occasion))); and the output data comprises the at least one parameter in a second state that is predicted to achieve one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry at the at least one load characteristic ([0017-0018], machine learning model can be trained to predict a measurement value for an electron flow (i.e., a current) across an impedance circuit. Said measurement value for electron flow can be used as an indicator of quality or effectiveness (a performance metric) of electrical components, which are connected to the impedance circuits All times where predictions are made using the initial ML input data can be considered as secondary states (occasions)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus of Lee with the input data as described by Raman, in order to help train a machine learning model to predict a measurement value (here electron flow) that corresponds to a level of quality or effectiveness of an electrical component in a device.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 20220368359 A1) in view of Raman (US 20220238300 A1), and further in view of Wang (US 11483776 B1).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Lee and Raman differs in that it does not specifically disclose that the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to train the ML model based at least in part on a heatmap that maps a plurality of values for one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry with combinations of the at least one load characteristic and the at least one parameter.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Wang teaches that the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to train the ML model based at least in part on a heatmap (Col. 6, Lines 41-52 and Col. 14, lines 8-12, Non-Real Time RIC 901 may generate (and presumably also train) ML models based on performance information associated with the O-RAN environment or other sources. The heatmap mapping power output levels from various beams may be considered as an “other” source with this in mind) that maps a plurality of values for one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry with combinations of the at least one load characteristic and the at least one parameter (Col. 6, Lines 41-52 and Fig. 4, heat map 401 maps a output power level (which may be considered as a load characteristic or a performance metric) associated with various beams (essentially concentrated RF signals) sent from a base station).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus from the combination of Lee and Raman with the ML model / functionality as taught by Wang, in order to be able to infer or predict output data based on given input data, and subsequently track and improve the performance of a wireless device using said output data.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 20220368359 A1) in view of Zhang (CN 110971202 A).
Regarding claim 15, Lee differs in that it does not specifically disclose that the at least one parameter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to search for the at least one parameter in a heatmap that maps a plurality of values for one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry with combinations of the at least one load characteristic and the at least one parameter.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Zhang teaches that the at least one parameter, the one or more processors (Based on foreign document Zhang: [Page 4, Paragraph 1]) are configured to cause the apparatus (Based on foreign document Zhang: [Page 3, Paragraph 1]) to search for the at least one parameter in a heatmap that maps a plurality of values for one or more performance metrics associated with the RF circuitry with combinations of the at least one load characteristic and the at least one parameter (Based on foreign document Zhang: [Page 5, Paragraph 3], what is essentially a lookup table for a power amplifier is described. It maps input power supply voltage values to their corresponding output power values. As described in the specification of the original application, output power may be considered a performance metric).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus of Lee with the parameter mapping and searching functionality as taught by Zhang, in order to be able to keep track of a tuning device’s performance by searching in a heat map, or some other mapping method.
Regarding claim 16, Lee differs in that it does not specifically disclose that to search for the at least one parameter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the apparatus to search for the at least one parameter that achieves the one more performance metrics at the at least one load characteristic as represented by the heatmap.
However, pertaining to the same field of invention, Zhang teaches that to search for the at least one parameter, the one or more processors (Based on foreign document Zhang: [Page 4, Paragraph 1]) are configured to cause the apparatus to search for the at least one parameter that achieves the one more performance metrics at the at least one load characteristic as represented by the heatmap (Based on foreign document Zhang: [Page 5, Paragraph 3], what is essentially a lookup table for a power amplifier is described. It maps input power supply voltage values to their corresponding output power values. As described in the specification of the original application, output power may be considered a performance metric. This lookup table is used to find an optimal, or satisfactory power supply voltage value so that the power amplifier is in compression as long as possible in a critical area).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the field of the claimed invention before the filing date to combine the apparatus of Lee with the parameter search functionality taught by Zhang, in order to keep track of and finetune a tuning device’s performance by searching in a heat map, or some other mapping method, for a parameter that satisfies a threshold.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN HUYTAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)482-9975. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuwen Pan can be reached at 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BENJAMIN HUY DINH NGUYEN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2649
/YUWEN PAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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