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 .
1. This office action, in response to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) and the amendment received 3/19/2026, is a non-final office action.
Response to Amendment and Arguments
2. Independent claims 1, 8 and 18 have been amended to remove the limitations added in the amendment received on 12/4/2025. The amendment also adds new limitations to the independent claims.
Applicant states Yoo describes a single weight value that sets the relative importance of all out-of-band frequency ranges equal and Yoo does not support monitor circuity configured to determine a plurality of out-of-band frequency ranges responsive to adjacent channel leakage ratio and generate plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges as stated on pages 9-10 of the remarks.
The examiner agrees that Yoo does not disclose all of the limitations of the amended independent claims. The rejections of the claims stated below recite the newly amended claims.
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.
3. Claims 1, 2, 6, 8-10, 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo et al (US 2024/0080052) in view of Spring et al (US 2019/0326942).
Regarding claim 1, Yoo discloses an apparatus (Figure 1) comprising:
monitor circuitry having a first terminal and a second terminal (Figure 1: ACLR adjustment circuit 140), the monitor circuitry configured to:
determine a range of out-of-band frequencies responsive to adjacent channel leakage ratio data; and generate weight values responsive to electromagnetic emissions within the range of out-of-band frequencies of a first signal (Figure 1: ACLR adjustment circuit. Paragraph 0003: Since the power amplifier has a non-linear characteristic, a wireless signal passing through the power amplifier may cause interference in adjacent channels around the target channel. An Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) is a parameter for measuring an amount of interference in the adjacent channels around the target channel and an ACLR value is regulated such that the amount of interference not exceed a specific value. For example, in the case of 5G communication system, in Frequency range 1 (FR 1) the ACLR value should be less than -31dB power class 2 (PC2) or -30 db (PC3). The output of the PA is the first signal.);
function applier circuitry having a first terminal coupled to the first terminal of the monitor circuitry, a second terminal and a third terminal, the function applier circuitry configured to use the weight values to modify a pre-distortion function (Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR. The ACLR adjustment circuit will determine the weight values and provided those weight values to the output ports to be provided to the predistorter circuit 110.); and
digital pre-distortion (DPD) corrector circuitry having a terminal coupled to the second terminal of the function applier circuitry, the DPD corrector circuitry configured to apply the modified pre-distortion function to generate a second signal (Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal. The subsequent PDS signal is a second signal.), wherein the second signal exhibits fewer emissions in the range of out-of-band frequencies than the first signal during transmission (paragraph 0005: one or more embodiments of the disclosure provides an electronic device capable of resolving a nonlinearity of a power amplifier by reducing or rebalancing an ACLR while minimizing an NMSE between an input signal and an output signal.).
Yoo does not disclose determining a plurality of out-of-band frequency ranges responsive to adjacent channel leakage ratio data and generate a plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges, wherein a given weight within the plurality of weight values describe a relative importance of reducing electromagnetic emissions in a corresponding out-of-band frequency range of a first signal, wherein a first weight and a second weight have different values.
Spring discloses a method and apparatus for asymmetric adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) control as stated in the abstract. Figure 6 shows the transmitter comprising the DPD 514, processing/correlation circuit 518, Skewing DPD 604, power amplifier 506 and additional components. Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands, which in some cases may raise emissions on the other one of the adjacent bands. Paragraph 0036 and figure 4 illustrate this. There may be power leakage from the main band 414 to the left (L) and the right (R) adjacent bands 412 and 416 that are adjacent to the main band. Paragraph 0038 discloses the specification for leakage thresholds that are specific to the R and L adjacent bands may be more stringent than the total emission threshold, and moreover, the leakage threshold for one adjacent band (e.g., R adjacent band 416) may be more stringent than the leakage threshold for the other adjacent band (e.g., L adjacent band 412). Thus, aspects of the present discloser are directed to skewing ACLR such that emissions on one adjacent band with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on the other adjacent band.
Spring discloses determining a plurality of out-of-band ranges responsive to ACLR data (figure 4 shows left and right adjacent bands, adjacent to the main band 414). Spring further discloses generating a plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges (Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. Paragraph 0042: a correlation module 518 may be used to correlate a baseband signal generated by the transmitter 512 with a signal-processed version of the amplified RF signal generated by the PA 506, based on which one or more coefficients of the Volterra series may be selected. The baseband signal is then predistorted to compensate for the transmit chain non-linearity. Paragraph 0044: the skewing DPD module 604 skews the ACLR by adjusting the kernels of the Volterra series as previously described and as described herein. Each of the adjustments to the Volterra series is a weight for that adjacent band.), wherein a given weight within the plurality of weight values describes a relative importance of reducing electromagnetic emissions in a corresponding OOB frequency range of a first signal (Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands), wherein a first weight and a second weight from the plurality f weight values have different values (Paragraph 0035: In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands. So the reducing the ACLR is different for each of the R and L adjacent bands. Paragraph 0044: the skewing DPD module 604 skews the ACLR by adjusting the kernels of the Volterra series as previously described and as described herein. Each of the adjustments to the Volterra series is a different weight for that adjacent band. These weights are not the same as one another.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Spring into the apparatus of Yoo to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the apparatus. By utilizing the asymmetric processing of the adjacent bands, the PA can be operated at a higher compression point, improving the efficiency of the PA as stated in Spring in paragraph 0039. Paragraph 0057 of Spring discloses the methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps of actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged or modified with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. The order of the DPD and the Skewing DPD of figure 6 is a design choice and the order of these components can be reversed so the skewing DPD operates first and provides the input to the DPD. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to conduct this simple substitution of the order of the components since they will operate in the substantially the same manner and would yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, Yoo discloses wherein the apparatus further includes capture circuitry having a terminal coupled to a second terminal of the monitor circuitry, the capture circuitry configured to generate the first signal responsive to a transmission from power amplifier circuitry (Figure 1: the ACLR adjustment circuit will provide the predistortion coefficient update that will generate the output of the power amplifier. These circuits will comprise a capture circuit.).
Regarding claim 6, Yoo discloses wherein: the apparatus further includes parameter generator circuitry having a first terminal coupled to the monitor circuitry and a second terminal coupled to the function applier circuitry, the parameter generator circuitry configured to convert the weight values into shaping parameters (Paragraph 0005: one or more embodiments of the disclosure provides an electronic device capable of resolving a nonlinearity of a power amplifier by reducing or rebalancing an ACR while minimizing an NMSE between an input signal and an output signal.); and wherein the function applier circuitry is configured to use the shaping parameters to modify a nonlinear term corresponding to the pre-distortion function (Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR.).
Regarding claim 8, Yoo discloses an apparatus (Figure 1) including:
processor circuitry configured to generate adjacent channel leakage ratio data that describes a range of out-of-band frequencies (Figure 1: ACLR adjustment circuit. Paragraph 0003: Since the power amplifier has a non-linear characteristic, a wireless signal passing through the power amplifier may cause interference in adjacent channels around the target channel. An Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) is a parameter for measuring an amount of interference in the adjacent channels around the target channel and an ACLR value is regulated such that the amount of interference not exceed a specific value. For example, in the case of 5G communication system, in Frequency range 1 (FR 1) the ACLR value should be less than -31dB power class 2 (PC2) or -30 db (PC3).);
monitor circuitry configured to generate weight values responsive to electromagnetic emissions within the range of out-of-band frequencies of a first signal (Figure 1: ACLR adjustment circuit. Paragraph 0003: Since the power amplifier has a non-linear characteristic, a wireless signal passing through the power amplifier may cause interference in adjacent channels around the target channel. An Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) is a parameter for measuring an amount of interference in the adjacent channels around the target channel and an ACLR value is regulated such that the amount of interference not exceed a specific value. For example, in the case of 5G communication system, in Frequency range 1 (FR 1) the ACLR value should be less than -31dB power class 2 (PC2) or -30 db (PC3). The output of the PA is the first signal.);
parameter generator circuitry configured to convert the weight values into shaping parameters (Paragraph 0005: one or more embodiments of the disclosure provides an electronic device capable of resolving a nonlinearity of a power amplifier by reducing or rebalancing an ACR while minimizing an NMSE between an input signal and an output signal.);
function applier circuitry configured to use the shaping parameters to modify a pre-distortion function (Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR.); and
digital pre-distortion (DPD) corrector circuitry configured to apply the modified pre-distortion function to generate a second signal (Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal. The subsequent PDS signal is a second signal.); and
PA circuitry to amplify an amount of power used to transmit the second signal (Figure 1: power amplifier 120), wherein the second signal exhibits fewer emissions in the range of out-of-band frequencies than the first signal during transmission (Paragraph 0005: one or more embodiments of the disclosure provides an electronic device capable of resolving a nonlinearity of a power amplifier by reducing or rebalancing an ACR while minimizing an NMSE between an input signal and an output signal.).
Yoo does not disclose determining a plurality of out-of-band frequency ranges responsive to adjacent channel leakage ratio data and generate a plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges, wherein a given weight within the plurality of weight values describe a relative importance of reducing electromagnetic emissions in a corresponding out-of-band frequency range of a first signal, wherein a first weight and a second weight have different values.
Spring discloses a method and apparatus for asymmetric adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) control as stated in the abstract. Figure 6 shows the transmitter comprising the DPD 514, processing/correlation circuit 518, Skewing DPD 604, power amplifier 506 and additional components. Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands, which in some cases may raise emissions on the other one of the adjacent bands. Paragraph 0036 and figure 4 illustrate this. There may be power leakage from the main band 414 to the left (L) and the right (R) adjacent bands 412 and 416 that are adjacent to the main band. Paragraph 0038 discloses the specification for leakage thresholds that are specific to the R and L adjacent bands may be more stringent than the total emission threshold, and moreover, the leakage threshold for one adjacent band (e.g., R adjacent band 416) may be more stringent than the leakage threshold for the other adjacent band (e.g., L adjacent band 412). Thus aspects of the present discloser are directed to skewing ACLR such that emissions on one adjacent band with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on the other adjacent band.
Spring discloses determining a plurality of out-of-band ranges responsive to ACLR data (figure 4 shows left and right adjacent bands, adjacent to the main band 414). Spring further discloses generating a plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges (Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. Paragraph 0042: a correlation module 518 may be used to correlate a baseband signal generated by the transmitter 512 with a signal-processed version of the amplified RF signal generated by the PA 506, based on which one or more coefficients of the Volterra series may be selected. The baseband signal is then predistorted to compensate for the transmit chain non-linearity. Paragraph 0044: the skewing DPD module 604 skews the ACLR by adjusting the kernels of the Volterra series as previously described and as described herein. Each of the adjustment s to the Volterra series is a weight for that adjacent band.), wherein a given weight within the plurality of weight values describes a relative importance of reducing electromagnetic emissions in a corresponding OOB frequency range of a first signal (Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands), wherein a first weight and a second weight from the plurality of weight values have different values (Paragraph 0035: In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands. So the reducing the ACLR is different for each of the R and L adjacent bands. Paragraph 0044: the skewing DPD module 604 skews the ACLR by adjusting the kernels of the Volterra series as previously described and as described herein. Each of the adjustments to the Volterra series is a different weight for that adjacent band. These weights are not the same as one another.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Spring into the apparatus of Yoo to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the apparatus. By utilizing the asymmetric processing of the adjacent bands, the PA can be operated at a higher compression point, improving the efficiency of the PA as stated in Spring in paragraph 0039. Paragraph 0057 of Spring discloses the methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps of actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged or modified with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. The order of the DPD and the Skewing DPD of figure 6 is a design choice and the order of these components can be reversed so the skewing DPD operates first and provides the input to the DPD. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to conduct this simple substitution of the order of the components since they will operate in the substantially the same manner and would yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 9, Yoo discloses wherein: the digital pre-distortion (DPD) corrector is circuitry to apply the modified pre-distortion function to counteract nonlinearity that is introduced into the second signal by the power amplifier circuitry (Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal.); and the nonlinearity generated by the power amplifier circuitry causes the emissions in the out-of-band frequencies (Paragraph 0005: one or more embodiments of the disclosure provides an electronic device capable of resolving a nonlinearity of a power amplifier by reducing or rebalancing an ACR while minimizing an NMSE between an input signal and an output signal.).
Regarding claim 10, Yoo discloses wherein the apparatus further includes: feedback circuitry having a first terminal coupled to the power amplifier circuitry and a second terminal, the feedback circuitry configured to generate a feedback signal that characterizes a transmission from the power amplifier circuitry (figure 1); and capture circuitry having a terminal coupled to the second terminal of the feedback circuitry, the capture circuitry configured to generate the first signal by sampling the feedback signal (Figure 1: the ACLR adjustment circuit will provide the predistortion coefficient update that will generate the output of the power amplifier. These circuits will comprise a capture circuit. Figure 10 shows the feedback signal input to the ACLR adjustment circuit is sampled in the ADC 162.).
Regarding claim 18, Yoo discloses an apparatus comprising: memory configured to store machine-readable instructions and adjacent channel leakage ratio data; and programmable circuitry (Figure 10: processor 101 and memory 103. Paragraph 0122: the memory 103 may store program codes and/or computer instructions to instruct the processor 101 to implement one or more functions described in the specifications.), the programmable circuitry configured to execute the machine-readable instructions to:
determine a range of out-of-band frequencies responsive to adjacent channel leakage ratio data; generate weight values responsive to instances where energy corresponding to a first signal is transmitted within the range of out-of-band frequencies (Figure 1: ACLR adjustment circuit. Paragraph 0003: Since the power amplifier has a non-linear characteristic, a wireless signal passing through the power amplifier may cause interference in adjacent channels around the target channel. An Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) is a parameter for measuring an amount of interference in the adjacent channels around the target channel and an ACLR value is regulated such that the amount of interference not exceed a specific value. For example, in the case of 5G communication system, in Frequency range 1 (FR 1) the ACLR value should be less than -31dB power class 2 (PC2) or -30 db (PC3). The output of the PA is the first signal.);
convert the weight values into shaping parameters (Paragraph 0005: one or more embodiments of the disclosure provides an electronic device capable of resolving a nonlinearity of a power amplifier by reducing or rebalancing an ACR while minimizing an NMSE between an input signal and an output signal.);
modify a pre-distortion function responsive to the shaping parameters (Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR.); and
apply the modified pre-distortion function to generate a second signal, the second signal to exhibit fewer electromagnetic emissions in the range of out-of-band frequencies than the first signal during transmission (Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal. The subsequent PDS signal is a second signal.).
Yoo does not disclose determining a plurality of out-of-band frequency ranges responsive to adjacent channel leakage ratio data and generate a plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges, wherein a given weight within the plurality of weight values describe a relative importance of reducing electromagnetic emissions in a corresponding out-of-band frequency range of a first signal, wherein a first weight and a second weight have different values.
Spring discloses a method and apparatus for asymmetric adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) control as stated in the abstract. Figure 6 shows the transmitter comprising the DPD 514, processing/correlation circuit 518, Skewing DPD 604, power amplifier 506 and additional components. Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands, which in some cases may raise emissions on the other one of the adjacent bands. Paragraph 0036 and figure 4 illustrate this. There may be power leakage from the main band 414 to the left (L) and the right (R) adjacent bands 412 and 416 that are adjacent to the main band. Paragraph 0038 discloses the specification for leakage thresholds that are specific to the R and L adjacent bands may be more stringent than the total emission threshold, and moreover, the leakage threshold for one adjacent band (e.g., R adjacent band 416) may be more stringent than the leakage threshold for the other adjacent band (e.g., L adjacent band 412). Thus aspects of the present discloser are directed to skewing ACLR such that emissions on one adjacent band with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on the other adjacent band.
Spring discloses determining a plurality of out-of-band ranges responsive to ACLR data (figure 4 shows left and right adjacent bands, adjacent to the main band 414). Spring further discloses generating a plurality of weight values for the respective plurality of OOB frequency ranges (Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. Paragraph 0042: a correlation module 518 may be used to correlate a baseband signal generated by the transmitter 512 with a signal-processed version of the amplified RF signal generated by the PA 506, based on which one or more coefficients of the Volterra series may be selected. The baseband signal is then predistorted to compensate for the transmit chain non-linearity. Paragraph 0044: the skewing DPD module 604 skews the ACLR by adjusting the kernels of the Volterra series as previously described and as described herein. Each of the adjustment s to the Volterra series is a weight for that adjacent band.), wherein a given weight within the plurality of weight values describes a relative importance of reducing electromagnetic emissions in a corresponding OOB frequency range of a first signal (Paragraph 0035 discloses in certain aspects, the ACLR of a transmit chain, which may be caused at least in part by a power amplifier (PA), may be skewed such that emissions on a first adjacent bandwidth with more stringent specifications are met while sacrificing ACLR margin on a second adjacent bandwidth having less stringent specifications. In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands), wherein a first weight and a second weight from the plurality of weight values have different values (Paragraph 0035: In other words, instead of aiming to reduce the ACLR of the transmit chain in a symmetric manner by reducing emissions on both adjacent bands, certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for reducing the ACLR if the transmit chain in an asymmetric manner by focusing on the adjacent bands. So the reducing the ACLR is different for each of the R and L adjacent bands. Paragraph 0044: the skewing DPD module 604 skews the ACLR by adjusting the kernels of the Volterra series as previously described and as described herein. Each of the adjustments to the Volterra series is a different weight for that adjacent band. These weights are not the same as one another.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Spring into the apparatus of Yoo to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the apparatus. By utilizing the asymmetric processing of the adjacent bands, the PA can be operated at a higher compression point, improving the efficiency of the PA as stated in Spring in paragraph 0039. Paragraph 0057 of Spring discloses the methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps of actions for achieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged or modified with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. The order of the DPD and the Skewing DPD of figure 6 is a design choice and the order of these components can be reversed so the skewing DPD operates first and provides the input to the DPD. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to conduct this simple substitution of the order of the components since they will operate in the substantially the same manner and would yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 19, Yoo discloses wherein: the weight values are first weight values; and the programmable circuitry is configured to, responsive to a change in signal profile data or the adjacent channel leakage ratio data, stop generating the first weight values and begin generating second weight values (Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR. The ACLR will change according to the subsequent input signals and subsequent adjustments that take pace in the DPD), the second weight values corresponding to a different modification of the pre-distortion function than the first weight values (Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal. The DPD will be adjusted for each iteration.).
4. Claims 3-5, 7, 11-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yoo et al (US 2024/0080052) in view of Spring et al (US 2019/0326942) further in view of Cova et al (US 2021/0067386).
Regarding claims 3 and 11, the combination of Yoo and Spring discloses the apparatus stated above. The combination does not disclose wherein: the monitor circuitry is further configured to generate the weight values responsive to signal profile data; and the signal profile data describes an in-band frequency range of an input signal.
Cova discloses the feedback control systems for wireless devices as stated in the abstract. Figure 5 discloses the circuit comprising a CFR 510, DPD 515 and RF front end 520 with the feedback path providing controls to adjust the components. Paragraph 0121 discloses the DPD maintains the ACLR and EVM performance to improve the quality of service such as data throughput. Figure 7 shows an example of the processing circuitry that may be used in filtering and amplification circuitry 500 of figure 5 (paragraph 0069). In some aspects, the distortion within the compressed signal may be categorized as in-band distortion and out-of-band distortion. The in-band distortion may be distortion that occurs within the intended frequency range (referred to herein as the band of interest) of the output signal (paragraph 0071). Paragraph 0072 discloses additionally, the quality of the output signal may also be measured based on adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the output signal, which may indicate a ratio of power of in-band frequencies of the output signal with respect to the power of the out-of-band frequencies within the output signal. Therefore, the error detection circuitry 705 may be configured to generate an in-band error signal and an out-of-band error signal from the error output by the comparator 710 such that the in-band distortion and/or out-of-band distortion may be adjusted as sated in paragraph 0073. Paragraph 0074 discloses the in-band filter 715 may filter out frequencies substantially outside of the band of interest of the output signal. These functions are based on a signal profile in the band of interest.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cova into the apparatus of the combination of Yoo and Spring. The removal of errors from the in-band frequency range as taught by Cova will allow for a proper adjustment in the DPD and will improve the function of the transmitter.
Regarding claim 4, the combination discloses wherein: the weight values are first weight values; and responsive to a change in the signal profile data or the adjacent channel leakage ratio data, the monitor circuitry is configured to stop generating the first weight values and begin generating second weight values (Yoo: Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR. The ACLR will change according to the subsequent input signals and subsequent adjustments that take pace in the DPD. Cova: Paragraph 0071: In some aspects, the distortion within the compressed signal may be categorized as in-band distortion and out-of-band distortion. The in-band distortion may be distortion that occurs within the intended frequency range (referred to herein as the band of interest) of the output signal. Paragraph 0072 discloses additionally, the quality of the output signal may also be measured based on adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the output signal, which may indicate a ratio of power of in-band frequencies of the output signal with respect to the power of the out-of-band frequencies within the output signal.), the second weight values corresponding to a different modification of the pre-distortion function than the first weight values (Yoo: Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal. The DPD will be adjusted for each iteration.).
Regarding claims 5, 16 and 20, the combination of Yoo and Spring discloses the apparatus comprising the monitor circuitry, generating the weight values and the function applier circuitry as stated above. The combination does not disclose wherein the monitor circuitry is configured to generate the weight values and the function applier circuitry is configured to modify the pre-distortion function in response to a determination that performance of the DPD circuitry has converged to a steady state.
Cova discloses the feedback control systems for wireless devices as stated in the abstract. Figure 5 discloses the circuit comprising a CFR 510, DPD 515 and RF front end 520 with the feedback path providing controls to adjust the components. Paragraph 0121 discloses the DPD maintains the ACLR and EVM performance to improve the quality of service such as data throughput. Figure 7 shows an example of the processing circuitry that may be used in filtering and amplification circuitry 500 of figure 5 (paragraph 0069). Figure 8 illustrates adaptation circuitry 800 that can be the adaptation circuitry 755 of figure 7. To that end the adaptation circuitry may be used in the filtering and adaptation circuitry 500 of figure 5 as stated in paragraph 0083. Paragraph 0100 discloses the optimization scheme may be any suitable optimization scheme configured to determine in-band and or out-of-band gains such that the distortion of the output signal may be within a desired range. Paragraph 0102 discloses a term in the above expression may represent a step size parameter that may be used to control the speed of convergence of the gradient function. This expression will determine the in-band or out-of-band gains.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of the convergence of the error signals from the output of the DPD as taught by Cova into the apparatus of the combination of Yoo and Spring. The convergence of the DPD will show that no further adjustments need to be made and the errors present at the output signal are within an acceptable range, which will reduce processing power and improve the function of the transmitter.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Yoo and Spring discloses the apparatus comprising the monitor circuitry, generating the weight values and the function applier circuitry as stated above. The combination does not disclose the function applier circuitry is configured to use the shaping parameters to modify elements of a nonlinear matrix and an error vector; and the apparatus further includes conjugate gradient solver circuitry configured to produce coefficients responsive to the modified elements of the nonlinear matrix and the error vector, the modified pre-distortion function to include the coefficients.
Cova discloses the feedback control systems for wireless devices as stated in the abstract. Figure 5 discloses the circuit comprising a CFR 510, DPD 515 and RF front end 520 with the feedback path providing controls to adjust the components. Paragraph 0121 discloses the DPD maintains the ACLR and EVM performance to improve the quality of service such as data throughput. Figure 7 shows an example of the processing circuitry that may be used in filtering and amplification circuitry 500 of figure 5 (paragraph 0069). In some aspects, the distortion within the compressed signal may be categorized as in-band distortion and out-of-band distortion. The in-band distortion may be distortion that occurs within the intended frequency range (referred to herein as the band of interest) of the output signal (paragraph 0071). Cova discloses the function applier circuitry is configured to use the shaping parameters to modify elements of a nonlinear matrix and an error vector; and the apparatus further includes conjugate gradient solver circuitry configured to produce coefficients responsive to the modified elements of the nonlinear matrix and the error vector, the modified pre-distortion function to include the coefficients (Cova: Paragraph 0083: Figure 8 illustrates adaptation circuitry 800 that can be the adaptation circuitry 755 of figure 7. To that end the adaptation circuitry may be used in the filtering and adaptation circuitry 500 of figure 5. Paragraph 0100 discloses the optimization scheme may be any suitable optimization scheme configured to determine in-band and or out-of-band gains such that the distortion of the output signal may be within a desired range. Paragraph 0102 discloses a term in the above expression may represent a step size parameter that may be used to control the speed of convergence of the gradient function. This expression will determine the in-band or out-of-band gains.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Cova into the apparatus of the combination of Yoo and Spring. The optimization and the removal of errors from the in-band frequency range as taught by Cova will allow for a proper adjustment in the DPD and will improve the function of the transmitter.
Regarding claim 12, the combination discloses wherein the monitor circuitry is configured to obtain the signal profile data through a third terminal that is coupled to the processor circuitry (Cova: Paragraph 0081: an adaptation circuitry 755 receives the input signal and the output signal of each processing circuitry 700 to adjust the in-band gain circuit 725 and the out-of-band gain circuit 730 of the processing circuitry. In an aspect each CFR circuitry of a CFR system utilizes a single sharded adaptation circuitry 755.).
Regarding claim 13, the combination discloses wherein the monitor circuitry is configured to obtain the signal profile data through a third terminal coupled to Crest Factor Reduction (CFR) circuitry (Cova: Paragraph 0081: an adaptation circuitry 755 receives the input signal and the output signal of each processing circuitry 700 to adjust the in-band gain circuit 725 and the out-of-band gain circuit 730 of the processing circuitry. In an aspect each CFR circuitry of a CFR system utilizes a single sharded adaptation circuitry 755.).
Regarding claims 14 and 17, the combination discloses wherein: the weight values are first weight values; and responsive to a change in the signal profile data or the adjacent channel leakage ratio data, the monitor circuitry is configured to stop generating the first weight values and begin generating second weight values (Yoo: Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR. The ACLR will change according to the subsequent input signals and subsequent adjustments that take pace in the DPD. Cova: Paragraph 0071: In some aspects, the distortion within the compressed signal may be categorized as in-band distortion and out-of-band distortion. The in-band distortion may be distortion that occurs within the intended frequency range (referred to herein as the band of interest) of the output signal. Paragraph 0072 discloses additionally, the quality of the output signal may also be measured based on adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) of the output signal, which may indicate a ratio of power of in-band frequencies of the output signal with respect to the power of the out-of-band frequencies within the output signal.), the second weight values corresponding to a different modification of the pre-distortion function than the first weight values (Yoo: Figure 1. The ACLR circuit 140 provides an update to the predistorter circuit 110, which outputs the predistorted signal. The DPD will be adjusted for each iteration.).
Regarding claim 15, the combination discloses wherein the function applier circuitry is configured to use the shaping parameters to modify an individual term corresponding to the pre-distortion function (Yoo: Figure 1. Paragraph 0006: an ACLR adjustment circuit configured to operate based in a determination that the NMSE is minimized, calculate an ACLR from the output signal of the power amplifier and update the predistortion coefficient to minimize a cost function based on the ACLR.).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/KEVIN M BURD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 5/19/2026
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