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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on August 16, 2024; October 27, 2025; and February 23, 2026 have been considered by the examiner. A copy of each IDS is included with this Office Action.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
in FIG. 4B, “ti FROM 302” should be “ti FROM 304” (see paragraph [0049], lines 1-3 and paragraph [0060], lines 1-3);
in FIG. 4B, both instances of “C x R” and “C x C” should be deleted;
in FIG. 6A, “C x C” should be deleted;
in FIG. 6A, “DYNAMIC DPD TERM GENERATOR 606” should be “DYNAMIC DPD ENVELOPE GENERATOR 606” (see paragraph [0067], line 1);
in FIG. 6B, both instances of “C x R” should be deleted;
in FIG. 8, one of the two instances of “c(i,j)” shown as an input to “SLOW DYNAMICS TERM GENERATOR 806” (see below) should be deleted’
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in FIG. 10, “1008” should be “summation circuitry” instead of “multiplier circuitry” (see paragraph [0093], lines 4-5 and paragraph [0097], line 8);
in FIG. 11, the three instances of “800” should be “304” (see paragraph [00107], lines 1-3);
in FIG. 14, the examiner suggests changing “BASE SIGNAL STATISTICS MODULE” TO “FIRST SIGNAL STATISTICS MODULE” (see 306 in FIG. 3 and paragraph [00116], lines 1-2); and
in FIG. 17, “PROCESSOR CIRCUITRY 1712” should be “PROGRAMMABLE CIRCUITRY 1712” in order to be consistent with the detailed description (e.g. paragraphs [00132]-[00134]).
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: 1612 in FIG. 16.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because:
on line 2, “pre-distortion” should be “predistortion” (see lines 6-8); and
on line 8, it appears that “terminal” should be “term”.
A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
in paragraph [0030], line 7, the examiner suggests changing “analog to digital” to “analog-to-digital”;
in paragraph [0047], line 6, “yd(n)” should be “yd(n)” (see paragraphs [0048] and [0050]);
in paragraph [0063], line 7, “each signal statistics” should be “each signal statistic”;
in paragraph [0073], line 8, “Equation 2;however,” should be “Equation 2. However,”;
in paragraph [0074], line 7, “each signal statistics” should be “each signal statistic”;
in paragraph [0075], line 3, “Interpolation” should be “interpolation”;
in paragraph [0079], lines 14-15, “the modulation circuitry 802” should be “the decimation circuitry 802” (“see paragraph [0079], lines 1-5);
in paragraphs [0093]-[00102], the description of FIG. 10 does not include reference character “1000”;
in paragraph [0093], line 2, “FIG. 9 includes” should be “FIG. 10 includes”;
in paragraph [0094], line 1, “if” should be deleted; and
in paragraph [00103], line 5, “110” should be “1100.”
Appropriate correction is required.
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claim 1, line 7, “and” should be inserted before “the second”;
in claim 1, line 10, “and” should be inserted at the end of the line;
in claim 1, line 13, “and” should be inserted before “the second”;
in claim 4, line 7, “and” should be inserted before “the third”;
in claim 5, line 2, “further including” should be “and wherein the first dynamics term generator circuitry further includes” (see claim 4, lines 1-2 and the detailed description of FIG. 9);
in claim 5, line 7, “, the output” should be deleted since it duplicates “an output” on line 4 and does not further limit “the output”;
in claim 5, line 9, “the multiplier circuitry,” should be “the first multiplier circuitry, and”;
in claim 5, line 14, “and” should be inserted before “the second”;
in claim 13, line 12, “terminal” should be “term”;
in claim 17, line 13, “and” should be inserted before “the second”;
in claim 17, line 15, a comma should be inserted after “first input”;
in claim 17, line 17, “and” should be inserted before “the second”;
in claim 17, line 20, “and” should be inserted after “generator circuitry,”; and
dependent claim(s) are objected to under the same ground(s) as the claim(s) from which it depends.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 5, 6 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claim 5, it is unclear if “the output of the counter” on line 5 is referring to the “first output” or the “second output” of the counter in claim 4, line 3.
Regarding claim 16, it is unclear how the result of “determine a modulus of the input signal” on line 3 differs from the result of “determine a modulus of the input signal” in claim 15, line 5 since the result of both is “the modulus”. It is also unclear if “the modulus of the input signal” is referring to the result of claim 15, line 5 or the result of claim 16, line 3.
Dependent claim(s) are rejected under the same ground(s) as the claim(s) from which it depends.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claims 13 and 14 recite generating statistics, grouping the statistics, decimating a group of the statistics and generating terms based on the respective groups of statistics. The limitations/steps, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind but for the recitation of the programmable circuitry. Nothing in the claim elements precludes the respective steps from practically being performed in the mind, with or without the use of physical aid. (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) III) For example, “generating” encompasses someone thinking or calculating the respective values and “grouping” encompasses someone evaluating and sorting the statistics. Since the claim limitations, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations in the mind but for the recitation of the programmable circuitry, then it falls with the “mental processes” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, claims 13 and 14 recite an abstract idea.
Claims 15 and 16 each recite additional limitations wherein the additional limitations may be performed by the mind (see “generating…” and “determining…” in the respective claims) or are directed to mathematical calculations (see “multiply…” and “sum…).” The mathematical calculations fall within the “mathematical concepts” grouping of abstract ideas. (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)I) Claims 15 and 16 recite both a mental process and a mathematic concept thereby respectively also reciting an abstract idea. (See MPEP 2106.04 II.B)
This judicial exception in claims 13-16 is not integrated into a practical application. The respective claims recite a memory and programmable circuitry to perform the steps. The memory is not related to or applied to the judicial exception and the programmable circuitry is recited at a high-level of generality (e.g. generic circuitry/processor for performing the functions) such that it amounts to no more than using circuitry/processor to apply/implement the judicial exception. Accordingly, neither the memory nor programmable circuitry integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because these elements do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The additional elements (i.e. the memory and the programmable circuit) are not sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the memory is not related or applied to the judicial exception and the programmable circuitry is generic circuitry/processor for applying/implementing the judicial exception. Using circuitry or hardware to apply/implement a judicial exception does not amount to an inventive concept. Therefore, claims 13-16 are not patent eligible.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-4, 7-12 and 17-20 are allowable if the claim objections are overcome.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references disclose predistortion circuits:
Summerfield (US Patent No. 7,741,906 B1);
Bhandari et al. (US Patent No. 7,801,245 B2); and
Hu et al. (US Patent No. 10,298,366 B2)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Betsy Deppe whose telephone number is 571-272-3054. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:00 am - 3:00 pm (ET).
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, Sam Ahn, can be reached at 571-272-3044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BETSY DEPPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
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