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 .
Response to Amendment
This is in response to an amendment/response filed 8/17/2026.
Claims 2, 9, and 16 have been cancelled.
Claims 21, 22, and 23 have been added.
Claims 1, 3-8, 10-15, 17-23 are now pending.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome each and every objection previously set forth in the Non-Final Office Action mailed 4/16/2026.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the independent claim(s) (pages 6-8) in a reply filed 8/17/2026 have been considered but are moot because the arguments are based on newly changed limitations in the amendment and new ground of rejections using newly introduced references or a newly introduced portion of an existing reference are applied in the current rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 5-8, 10, 12-15, 17, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Drogi et al. US 20220407755 (hereinafter “Drogi”) in view of Li et al. CN 115378444 A (hereinafter “Li”)
As to claim 1, 8, and 15 (claim 8 is the method claim for the mobile device and system in claim 1 and 15 respectively):
Drogi discloses:
A mobile device having a capability of skipping symbol blanking, (“In various embodiments, the baseband system notifies a base station in a communication network that the sounding reference signal symbols are transmitted without preceding and following blank symbols.”, Drogi [0040]) the mobile device comprising: a transceiver; (“The transceiver 802 generates RF signals for transmission and processes incoming RF signals received from the antennas 804.”, Drogi [0226])
a radio frequency front end system coupled to the transceiver; and a baseband system configured to generate a sequence of symbols for transmission to a base station by way of the radio frequency front end system coupled to the transceiver, (“In certain embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a mobile device. The mobile device includes a baseband system configured to generate a sequence of symbols for transmission and a command for initiating sounding reference signal switching; and a power amplifier module including a switch configured to switch between a first antenna and a second antenna and a power amplifier, the front end module configured to, in response to receiving the command, reduce gain of the power amplifier, switch the switch from the first antenna to the second antenna, and transmit a sounding reference signal symbol on the second antenna without blank symbols inserted into the sequence of symbols for transmission during switching.”, Drogi [0015])
and to generate a sequence of symbols including capability information, the capability information indicating that the mobile device has the capability of skipping symbol blanking. (“As shown in FIG. 15, the baseband system 900 is further configured to receive a base station capability inquiry from a base station, and to control transmission of capability information to the base station in response to the base station capability inquiry. In certain implementations, the baseband system 900 can further receive transmit configuration information from the base station in response to sending the compatibility information. The baseband system 900 can configure first transmit chain 901, second transmit chain 902, and/or the switches 903 based on the inquiry and/or transmit configuration information.”, Drogi [0242]) (“In various embodiments, the baseband system notifies a base station in a communication network that the sounding reference signal symbols are transmitted without preceding and following blank symbols.”, Drogi [0040])
Drogi as described above does not explicitly teach:
the radio frequency front end system including first and second power amplifiers and four antennas, the first power amplifier coupled to at least first and second antennas of the four antennas by a first multi-throw switch including two throws, and the second power amplifier connected to each of the four antennas by a second multi-throw switch including four throws;
However, Li further teaches multi-throw switching front end which includes:
the radio frequency front end system including first and second power amplifiers and four antennas, the first power amplifier coupled to at least first and second antennas of the four antennas by a first multi-throw switch including two throws, and the second power amplifier connected to each of the four antennas by a second multi-throw switch including four throws; (“Referring to FIG. 4, each first RF front end module 131 is configured with a first transceiving port connected to the gating circuit 120. wherein, each first radio frequency front end module 131 is configured with a first transmission path A-TX for supporting the first radio frequency signal transmission, the first receiving path A-RX and the first transmission path A-TX in the same first radio frequency front end module 131 are respectively connected with the first receiving port. each second front end radio frequency module is configured with a second transceiving port connected with the gating circuit 120, wherein each of the second radio frequency front end module 132 is configured with a second transmission path B-TX for supporting the second radio frequency signal transmission, the second receiving path B-RX and the second transmitting path B-TX in the same second radio frequency front end module 132 are respectively connected with the second transmitting and receiving port.”, Li [page 8, line 43]) (FIG. 4, Li) (Examiner’s Note: FIG. 4 shows at least 2 front end modules each including a power amplifier connected to ‘n’ number of antennas via multi-throw switches)
Drogi and Li are analogous because they pertain to RF front end design.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include multi-throw switching front end as described in Li into Drogi. By modifying the method to include multi-throw switching front end as taught by Li, the benefits of improved antenna switching scheme (Li [page 8, line 43]) and improved throughput (Drogi [0110]) are achieved.
As to claim 3, 10, and 17 (claim 10 is the method claim for the mobile device and system in claim 3 and 17 respectively):
Drogi discloses:
The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the capability of skipping symbol blanking is encoded over 1 bit per supported frequency band of operation either within frequency range 1 (FR1) or within frequency range 2 (FR2). (“The communication links can operate over a wide variety of frequencies. In certain implementations, communications are supported using 5G NR technology over one or more frequency bands that are less than 6 Gigahertz (GHz) and/or over one or more frequency bands that are greater than 6 GHz. For example, the communication links can serve Frequency Range 1 (FR1), Frequency Range 2 (FR2), or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the mobile devices support a HPUE power class specification.”, Drogi [0113]) (“In certain implementations, the UE provides binary reporting of SRS switching latency. In one example, the binary reporting includes four states: 0 μs/less than 3 μs/less than 5 μs/less than 15 μs. In certain implementations, binary reporting is provided per frequency band.”, Drogi [0188]) (Examiner’s Note: it is not clear what is exactly meant by this limitation but reporting that the UE supports 0us switching latency (i.e. capability of skipping symbol blanking) can be done with 1 bit since anything beyond 0us means there is symbol blanking)
As to claim 5 and 12 (claim 12 is the method claim for the mobile device in claim 5):
Drogi discloses:
The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the baseband system is further configured to receive a base station capability inquiry, and to control transmission of the capability information in response to the base station capability inquiry. (“As shown in FIG. 15, the baseband system 900 is further configured to receive a base station capability inquiry from a base station, and to control transmission of capability information to the base station in response to the base station capability inquiry. In certain implementations, the baseband system 900 can further receive transmit configuration information from the base station in response to sending the compatibility information. The baseband system 900 can configure first transmit chain 901, second transmit chain 902, and/or the switches 903 based on the inquiry and/or transmit configuration information.”, Drogi [0242])
As to claim 6, 13, and 19 (claim 13 is the method claim for the mobile device and system in claim 6 and 19 respectively):
Drogi discloses:
The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the capability of skipping symbol blanking is encoded over 2 or more bits. (“In certain implementations, the UE provides binary reporting of SRS switching latency. In one example, the binary reporting includes four states: 0 μs/less than 3 μs/less than 5 μs/less than 15 μs. In certain implementations, binary reporting is provided per frequency band.”, Drogi [0188]) (Examiner’s Note: binary reporting of 4 states mean there could be at least 2 bits)
As to claim 7, 14, and 20 (claim 14 is the method claim for the mobile device and system in claim 7 and 20 respectively):
Drogi discloses:
The mobile device of claim 1 wherein the mobile device has the capability of skipping symbol blanking in at least one of frequency range 1 (FR1) and frequency range 2 (FR2). (“The communication links can operate over a wide variety of frequencies. In certain implementations, communications are supported using 5G NR technology over one or more frequency bands that are less than 6 Gigahertz (GHz) and/or over one or more frequency bands that are greater than 6 GHz. For example, the communication links can serve Frequency Range 1 (FR1), Frequency Range 2 (FR2), or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, one or more of the mobile devices support a HPUE power class specification.”, Drogi [0113])
Claim(s) 4, 11, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Drogi, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lahteensuo et al. US 20220256475 (hereinafter “Lahteensuo”)
As to claim 4, 11, and 18 (claim 11 is the method claim for the mobile device and system in claim 4 and 18 respectively):
Drogi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The mobile device of claim 3 wherein an error vector magnitude (EVM) measurement period spans from an end of a transition period.
However, Lahteensuo further teaches EVM which includes:
The mobile device of claim 3 wherein an error vector magnitude (EVM) measurement period spans from an end of a transition period. (“Alternatively, using only EVM-based verification techniques also fails to provide accurate transient measurements since a UE may be unable to achieve certain signal quality requirements following a shortened transition time period. For example, 3GPP R4-1906028 describes transient time periods made up of a power ramp up/down time and settling period, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Furthermore, 3GPP R4-1906941 discusses that an EVM may be used to verify transient times. However, after the transient time period, there exist no solutions on relaxing an EVM requirement from current requirements while still being verified with constant power levels and without transients.”, Lahteensuo [0014])
Drogi and Lahteensuo are analogous because they pertain to transient period configuration.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include EVM as described in Lahteensuo into Drogi. By modifying the method to include EVM as taught by Lahteensuo, the benefits of improved requirement coverage (Lahteensuo [0015]) and improved throughput (Drogi [0110]) are achieved.
Claim(s) 21, 22, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Drogi, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Manolakos et al. US 20260040266 (hereinafter “Manolakos”)
As to claim 21, 22, and 23 (claim 22 is the method claim for the mobile device and system in claim 21 and 23 respectively):
Drogi as described above does not explicitly teach:
The method of claim 8 wherein the transmitting is implemented using sounding reference signal antenna switching of 0 microseconds.
However, Manolakos further teaches SRS switching of 0 microseconds which includes:
The method of claim 8 wherein the transmitting is implemented using sounding reference signal antenna switching of 0 microseconds. (“As a second option, an-SRS-for-positioning may be defined that is associated with the component carrier and not the active BWP. In this case, new switching gaps would need to be introduced. As a first sub-option, SRS frequency hopping may use the SRS switching time for SRS carrier switching as a starting point. In this case, the switching time would be selected from the set {0 μs, 30 μs, 100 μs, 140 μs, 200 μs, 300 μs, 500 μs, 900 μs}”, Manolakos [0156])
Drogi and Manolakos are analogous because they pertain to RF signal switching scheme.
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include SRS switching of 0 microseconds as described in Manolakos into Drogi. By modifying the method to include SRS switching of 0 microseconds as taught by Manolakos, the benefits of minimized switching delay (Manolakos [0156]) and improved throughput (Drogi [0110]) are achieved.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANDREW C KIM whose telephone number is (703)756-5607. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM - 5PM (PST).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy K Kundu can be reached at (571) 272-8586. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.C.K./
Examiner
Art Unit 2471
/SUJOY K KUNDU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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