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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 6-9, 12-13, and 20-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hayakawa (US 11,336,278).
In regard to Claim 1:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, a radio frequency (RF) switching circuit (101a) comprising:
a first switchable signal path (32a signal path);
a second switchable signal path (32b signal path); and
a shunt circuit (103a) connected between the first switchable signal path (32a signal path) and the second switchable signal path (32b signal path), wherein the shunt circuit comprises a shunt switch (104a); and
an inductor (L1) connected in series with the shunt switch (104a).
In regard to Claim 2:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, the RF switching circuit of claim 1, wherein the shunt circuit further comprises a first switch (102a) and a second switch (106a) connected in series, and wherein the shunt switch (104a) comprises an input connected between the first switch (102a) and the second switch (106a) and an output connected to the inductor (L1).
In regard to Claim 6:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 1, the RF switching circuit of claim 2, wherein the RF switching circuit is implemented as an integrated circuit (1, Column 4: lines 54-65).
In regard to Claim 7:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 6, a wireless communication device comprising:
the RF switching circuit of claim 2 (see the rejection of claim 2 above);
a first antenna (A1); and
a second antenna (A2), wherein RF switching circuit (3a) is configured to route a first signal occupying a first RF band to the first antenna (A1) using the first switchable signal path (32a signal path) and to route a second signal occupying a second RF band from the second antenna (A2) using the second switchable signal path (32b signal path). (Column 7: lines 25-36)
In regard to Claim 8:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, the wireless communication device of claim 7, wherein the first RF band is a first Long Term Evolution (LTE) frequency band (Column 4: lines 47-54), and wherein the second RF band is a second LTE frequency band (Column 4: lines 47-54).
In regard to Claim 9:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 1, an integrated circuit assembly comprising
the RF switching circuit of claim 1 (see the rejection of Claim 1 above);
an integrated circuit (2), wherein the integrated circuit (3) comprises the first switchable signal path (32a), the second switchable signal path (32b), and the shunt circuit (103a); (the switching circuit 101 is included in the switch IC 3 (Column 4: lines 61-62))
an interposer (22), wherein the inductor is located on the interposer (22); and
a printed circuit board (2) coupled to the integrated circuit (3) via the interposer (22).
In regard to Claim 12:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, a radio frequency (RF) circuit comprising:
a RF switching circuit (101) comprising:
a common port (33);
a first switch group (102a, 106a) connected between the common port (33) and a first output port (102a connected to 31);
a configurable RF signal path (32a signal path); and
a second switch group (104a) connected between the common port (33) and the configurable RF signal path (32a signal path), wherein the second switch group comprises a shunt switch (104a); and
at least one inductor comprising an inductor (L1), wherein the shunt switch is configurable to form a shunt path via the inductor (L1, 104a and L1 shunt 32a to GND when 104a is closed).
In regard to Claim 13:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, the RF circuit of claim 12, wherein the second switch group further comprises a pair of switches (102a, 106a) connected in series between the common port (33) and the configurable RF signal path (32a signal path), and wherein the shunt switch (104a) comprises an input connected between the pair of switches (104a is connected between 102a, 106a at 32a) and an output connected to the inductor (104a output connected to L1 at 22).
In regard to Claim 20:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, the RF circuit of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of switchable signal paths (32b, 32c, 32d signal paths) connected between the common port (33) and a second output port (102b, 102c, 102d outputs connected to 31).
In regard to Claim 21:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, a method of routing radio frequency (RF) signals comprising:
routing a first RF signal using a first signal path (32a signal path);
routing a second RF signal using a second signal path (32b signal path); and
configuring a shunt circuit (103a) connected between the first signal path (32a signal path) and the second signal path (32b signal path), wherein the shunt circuit comprises a pair of switches (102a, 106a) connected in series and a shunt switch (104a), and
wherein the configuring comprises setting the shunt switch (104a) to an on state to form a path to a system ground (GND) via an inductor (L1).
In regard to Claim 22:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, the method of claim 21, wherein a configurable inductor circuit comprises the inductor (L1), wherein the configurable inductor circuit (L1) is configurable into one of a plurality of inductor configurations (L1 is configured to be connected in a shunt configuration with 104a; Column 5: lines 47-60), and wherein the method further comprises configuring the configurable inductor circuit into one of the plurality of inductor configurations (L1 is configured to be connected in a shunt configuration with 104a; Column 5: lines 47-60).
In regard to Claim 23:
Hayakawa discloses, in Figure 7, the method of claim 21, wherein the first RF signal and the second RF signal are different carriers in a wireless communication device employing carrier aggregation (Column 4: lines 47-54).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 3 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hayakawa (US 11,336,278), in view of Ayranci et al. (US 10,700,658).
In regard to Claim 3:
All of the claim limitations have been discussed with respect to Claim 1 above, except for further comprising a second inductor, wherein the inductor and the second inductor are configurable into a plurality of inductor configurations.
Ayranci discloses, in Figure 5, further comprising a second inductor (L2), wherein the inductor (L1) and the second inductor (L2) are configurable into a plurality of inductor configurations (the switchable inductors are configurable into a plurality of configurations, i.e. S1 on/S2 off, S1 on/S2 on, S1 off/S2 on, S1 off/S2 off).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the inductors taught by Ayranci with the shunt circuit taught by Hayakawa, in order to meet the impedance tuning ratio required to be able to impedance match a selected combination of RF band filters with respect to the load on the common port while minimizing additional insertion loss (Ayranci Column 7: lines 44-47).
In regard to Claim 14:
All of the claim limitations have been discussed with respect to Claims 12 and 13 above, except for wherein the at least one inductor further comprises a second inductor, and wherein the at least one inductor is configurable into a plurality of inductor configurations.
Ayranci discloses, in Figure 5, wherein the at least one inductor (L1) further comprises a second inductor (L2), and wherein the at least one inductor (L1 and L2) is configurable into a plurality of inductor configurations (the switchable inductors are configurable into a plurality of configurations, i.e. S1 on/S2 off, S1 on/S2 on, S1 off/S2 on, S1 off/S2 off).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was effectively filed to use the inductors taught by Ayranci with the shunt circuit taught by Hayakawa, in order to meet the impedance tuning ratio required to be able to impedance match a selected combination of RF band filters with respect to the load on the common port while minimizing additional insertion loss (Ayranci Column 7: lines 44-47).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-5, 10-11, 15-17, and 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cheon et al. (US 2018/0145707) discloses a first switching circuit (100-1) connected between an antenna terminal and a first signal terminal. A second switching circuit (100-2) is connected between the antenna terminal and a second signal terminal. An inductor circuit (120) comprises an inductor device (121) connected between a shunt switching circuit (SW1-2) and a ground, where the inductor device suppresses noise, except for a first signal band and a second signal band, by being resonant with a capacitance present upon the shunt switching circuit being turned off.
Smith et al. (US 9,438,196) discloses a frequency based integrated circuit that selectively filters out unwanted bands or regions of interfering frequencies utilizing one or more tunable notch or bandpass filters or tunable low or high pass filters capable of operating across multiple frequencies and multiple bands in noisy RF environments. The tunable filters are fabricated within the same integrated circuit package as the associated frequency-based circuitry, thus minimizing R, L, and C parasitic values, and also allowing residual and other parasitic impedance in the associated circuitry and IC package to be absorbed and compensated.
Gaynor et al. (US 9,300,286) discloses an antenna switch can connect an antenna to either transmit circuitry or receive circuitry, depending on control signals applied to the antenna switch while presenting different impedances to a connected circuitry.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to John W Poos whose telephone number is (571)270-5077. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-5.
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/JOHN W POOS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896