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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 7-9, 14-16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sun (U.S. PG-PUB NO. 2022/0385272) in view of Matsumoto (U.S PG-PUB NO. 2019/0199324).
-Regarding claim 1, Sun discloses an acoustically switched radio frequency (RF) frontend circuit (FIG. 23) comprising: a plurality of acoustic filter circuits each configured to pass an RF signal in a respective one of a plurality of passbands (duplexer 234 can include one or more switchable acoustic wave filters, FIG. 23, paragraph 144); and a plurality of acoustic structures each comprising at least one acoustic switch circuit coupled to a respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits (antenna switch 232, FIG. 23).
Sun is silent to teaching that the at least one acoustic switch circuit is configured to: receive a differential input of the RF signal; and output the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving a switching voltage. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by Matsumoto.
In the same field of endeavor, Matsumoto teaches the at least one acoustic switch circuit is configured to: receive a differential input of the RF signal (switch 7, FIG. 4, paragraph 61-66); and output the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving a switching voltage (paragraph 66).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Sun with the teaching of Matsumoto in order to provide automated, software-define control of the RF signal path based on the operating mode of the wireless device.
-Regarding claim 2, the combination further discloses at least one of the plurality of acoustic structures comprises a second acoustic switch circuit coupled to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits and is configured to: receive a second differential input of the RF signal (Matsumoto, switch 7 switches a selective terminal to be electrically connected to the common terminal 71 between the plurality of selective terminals 72 and 73, paragraph 44); and output the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving the switching voltage (Matsumoto, paragraph 66).
-Regarding claim 7, the combination further discloses the plurality of acoustic filter circuits each comprises a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) acoustic ladder network (Sun, bulk acoustic wave (BAW), paragraph 79).
-Regarding claim 8, Sun discloses a wireless device (radio frequency system 230, FIG. 23) comprising: transmit circuitry (power amplifier 238, FIG. 23), receive circuitry (low noise amplifier 237, FIG. 23), and antenna switching circuitry coupled to the transmit circuitry and the receive circuitry (antenna 231, FIG. 23); and an acoustically switched radio frequency (RF) frontend circuit provided in any one or more of the transmit circuitry, the receive circuitry, and the antenna switching circuitry, the acoustically switched radio frequency (RF) frontend circuit comprises: a plurality of acoustic filter circuits each configured to pass an RF signal in a respective one of a plurality of passbands (duplexer 234 can include one or more switchable acoustic wave filters, FIG. 23, paragraph 144); and a plurality of acoustic structures each comprising at least one acoustic switch circuit coupled to a respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits (antenna switch 232, FIG. 23).
Sun is silent to teaching that the at least one acoustic switch circuit is configured to: receive a differential input of the RF signal; and output the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving a switching voltage. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by Matsumoto.
In the same field of endeavor, Matsumoto teaches the at least one acoustic switch circuit is configured to: receive a differential input of the RF signal (switch 7, FIG. 4, paragraph 61-66); and output the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving a switching voltage (paragraph 66).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Sun with the teaching of Matsumoto in order to provide automated, software-define control of the RF signal path based on the operating mode of the wireless device.
-Regarding claim 9, the combination further discloses at least one of the plurality of acoustic structures comprises a second acoustic switch circuit coupled to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits and is configured to: receive a second differential input of the RF signal (Matsumoto, switch 7 switches a selective terminal to be electrically connected to the common terminal 71 between the plurality of selective terminals 72 and 73, paragraph 44); and output the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving the switching voltage (Matsumoto, paragraph 66).
-Regarding claim 14, the combination further discloses the plurality of acoustic filter circuits each comprises a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) acoustic ladder network (Sun, bulk acoustic wave (BAW), paragraph 79).
-Regarding claim 15, Sun discloses a method for configuring an acoustically switched radio frequency (RF) frontend circuit (FIG. 23) comprising: configuring a plurality of acoustic filter circuits to each pass an RF signal in a respective one of a plurality of passbands (duplexer 234 can include one or more switchable acoustic wave filters, FIG. 23, paragraph 144); providing at least one acoustic switch circuit in each of a plurality of acoustic structures coupled to a respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits (antenna switch 232, FIG. 23).
Sun is silent to teaching that receiving, in the at least one acoustic switch circuit, a differential input of the RF signal; and outputting, from the at least one acoustic switch circuit, the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving a switching voltage. However, the claimed limitation is well known in the art as evidenced by Matsumoto.
In the same field of endeavor, Matsumoto teaches the receiving, in the at least one acoustic switch circuit, a differential input of the RF signal (switch 7, FIG. 4, paragraph 61-66); and outputting, from the at least one acoustic switch circuit, the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving a switching voltage (paragraph 66).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teaching of Sun with the teaching of Matsumoto in order to provide automated, software-define control of the RF signal path based on the operating mode of the wireless device.
-Regarding claim 16, the combination further discloses receiving, using a second acoustic switch circuit provided in at least one of the plurality of acoustic structures, a second differential input of the RF signal (Matsumoto, switch 7 switches a selective terminal to be electrically connected to the common terminal 71 between the plurality of selective terminals 72 and 73, paragraph 44); and outputting, from the second acoustic switch circuit, the RF signal to the respective one of the plurality of acoustic filter circuits in response to receiving the switching voltage (Matsumoto, paragraph 66).
-Regarding claim 20, the combination further discloses the plurality of acoustic filter circuits each comprises a bulk acoustic wave (BAW) acoustic ladder network (Sun, bulk acoustic wave (BAW), paragraph 79).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-6, 10-13 and 17-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Cited references do not teach the allowable subject matter or the claimed limitations, such as inter alia, the at least one acoustic switch circuit in each of the plurality of acoustic structures comprises: an input interdigital transducer (IDT) configured to convert the differential input of the RF signal into a surface acoustic wave (SAW); an output IDT configured to convert the SAW into the RF signal; and an acoustic switch provided between the input IDT and the output IDT and configured to: pass the SAW from the input IDT to the output IDT in response to receiving the switching voltage; and block the SAW between the input IDT and the output IDT in absence of the switching voltage.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PING Y HSIEH whose telephone number is (571)270-3011. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jennifer Mehmood can be reached at (571) 272-2976. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PING Y HSIEH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2664
Prosecution Insights