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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1 – 2 and 4 – 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Jidhage (US 20160380690 A1).
As to claim 1, Jidhage discloses an antenna assembly comprising:
a first RF element, a second RF element, a third RF element, and a fourth RF element (Para. 29 Fig. 2 items 5 – 8);
wherein each RF element further comprises a first port and a second port (Para. 30 “each antenna device 5, 6, 7, 8 comprises at least one corresponding dual polarized antenna element 19, 20, 21, 22 arranged for transmitting and receiving signals at a first polarization P1 via the corresponding first antenna port P1A, P1B, P1C, P1D and for transmitting and receiving signals at a second polarization P2 via the corresponding second antenna port P2A, P2B, P2C, P2D. The polarizations P1, P2 are mutually orthogonal.”);
wherein the first port of each RF element is configured for a first polarization, and the second port of each RF element is configured for a second polarization (Id.); and
an RF network connected to the eight RF element ports with four output ports providing two sets of orthogonal polarizations (Para. 30 Fig. 2 items, e.g., P1A).
As to claim 2, Jidhage discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the first polarization is least one of a 45+ slanted polarization, 45- slanted polarization, an elliptical polarization, and an orthogonal polarization (Para. 30 “orthogonal”).
As to claim 4, Jidhage discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the first polarization is configured to be orthogonal to the second polarization (Para. 30 “orthogonal”).
As to claim 5, Jidhage discloses the antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the first polarization is different from the second polarization (Para. 30 “orthogonal”).
Claims 1 and 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lee (US 20160028166 A1).
As to claim 1, Lee discloses an antenna assembly comprising:
a first RF element, a second RF element, a third RF element, and a fourth RF element (Para. 25 “FIG. 2 is an illustrative diagram of one embodiment of a dual-polarization antenna element 200. Antenna element 200 includes four radiating elements: element 210-1, element 210-2, element 210-3, and element 210-4. Antenna element 200 also includes eight feed ports, port 220-1 through port 220-8.”);
wherein each RF element further comprises a first port and a second port (Id.);
wherein the first port of each RF element is configured for a first polarization, and the second port of each RF element is configured for a second polarization (Para. 23 “The dual-feed network couples to the radiating elements via feed ports. It is realized herein the location of the feed ports on the radiating elements is a function of the wavelength and target impedance of the elements.” See also Para. 25 “dual-polarization”); and
an RF network connected to the eight RF element ports with four output ports providing two sets of orthogonal polarizations (Para. 26 “The four radiating elements are arranged in a co-planar diamond pattern.” Para. 26 “Each of the four radiating elements is shared between two cross-polarized shared-element dipole antenna elements.”).
As to claim 3, Lee discloses an antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the first polarization set is at least one of a vertical polarization, a horizontal polarization, a left hand circular polarization, and a right hand polarization (Para. 26 – 27 vertical, horizontal and circular.).
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 6 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Jidhage in view of Bales (US 9391375 B1).
As to claim 6, Jidhage does not disclose the antenna assembly of claim 1, further comprising a lens; wherein the lens is coupled to at least the first RF element, the second RF element, the third RF element, and the fourth RF element; wherein the power divider is coupled to at least the third RF element and the fourth RF element, and configured for a second polarization set; and wherein the third RF element and the fourth RF element are configured to produce a second beam pattern as a function of the second polarization set.
In same field of endeavor, Bales teaches “FIG. 7 shows a diagram 600 illustrating an embodiment of a 2×4 array 610 of sub-arrays each having four single-fed, single-slot coupled microstrip patch antenna elements with the two feed lines of each sub-array connected to a Rotman lens beamforming system. Array 610 may be the same as array 500 shown in FIG. 6 (col. 5 ll. 27 – 35).” Bales further teaches “The use of T-junction and Wilkinson power combiners/dividers in the vertical direction creates a “corporate” feed network for the elements arrayed vertically. However, the different amounts of additional phase that feed each element would make such a vertical linear array not work on its own. Rather, two vertical linear sub-arrays should be used in conjunction to produce a composite circularly polarized phased array (e.g. a column in array 500) that has greater gain, can beam steer in the horizontal (azimuth) direction, and has a narrower, fixed beam in the vertical (elevation) direction (col. 8 ll. 4 – 25).” Also, Bales’ Fig. 10 shows a graph of co-polarization and cross polarization beam patterns for the array shown in Fig. 6 without any beam steering. Bales’ further teaches witching/phasing blocks 1420, 1430, 1440 and 1450 connected to associated feed ports shown in Fig. 14.
In view of the teachings of Bales, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before filing to apply the lens and dividers in order to focus energy in particular directions and to prevent interference from other directions thereby improving signal-to-noise. It would also be obvious to use different polarized antenna patterns in order to reduce the effects from any one interfering source thereby improving accuracy.
As to claim 7, Jidhage in view of Bales teaches the communication system of claim 6, wherein the second beam pattern differs from the second beam pattern in at least one of a vertical and a horizontal beamwidth.
Bales further teaches “A need exists for an antenna that provides wideband transmission and reception at radio frequencies that can be electronically reconfigured among four different polarizations: vertical linear polarization (VLP), horizontal linear polarization (HLP), right hand circular polarization (RHCP), and left hand circular polarization (LHCP), in a compact, planar form factor (col. 1 ll. 19 – 26).”
In view of the teachings of Bales, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before filing to apply various antennae patterns such as vertical and horizontal in order to reduce the effects from any one interfering source thereby improving accuracy.
Claim 6 – 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Lee in view of Bales (US 9391375 B1).
As to claim 6, Lee does not disclose the antenna assembly of claim 1, further comprising a lens; wherein the lens is coupled to at least the first RF element, the second RF element, the third RF element, and the fourth RF element; wherein the power divider is coupled to at least the third RF element and the fourth RF element, and configured for a second polarization set; and wherein the third RF element and the fourth RF element are configured to produce a second beam pattern as a function of the second polarization set.
In same field of endeavor, Bales teaches “FIG. 7 shows a diagram 600 illustrating an embodiment of a 2×4 array 610 of sub-arrays each having four single-fed, single-slot coupled microstrip patch antenna elements with the two feed lines of each sub-array connected to a Rotman lens beamforming system. Array 610 may be the same as array 500 shown in FIG. 6 (col. 5 ll. 27 – 35).” Bales further teaches “The use of T-junction and Wilkinson power combiners/dividers in the vertical direction creates a “corporate” feed network for the elements arrayed vertically. However, the different amounts of additional phase that feed each element would make such a vertical linear array not work on its own. Rather, two vertical linear sub-arrays should be used in conjunction to produce a composite circularly polarized phased array (e.g. a column in array 500) that has greater gain, can beam steer in the horizontal (azimuth) direction, and has a narrower, fixed beam in the vertical (elevation) direction (col. 8 ll. 4 – 25).” Also, Bales’ Fig. 10 shows a graph of co-polarization and cross polarization beam patterns for the array shown in Fig. 6 without any beam steering. Bales’ further teaches witching/phasing blocks 1420, 1430, 1440 and 1450 connected to associated feed ports shown in Fig. 14.
In view of the teachings of Bales, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before filing to apply the lens and dividers in order to focus energy in particular directions and to prevent interference from other directions thereby improving signal-to-noise. It would also be obvious to use different polarized antenna patterns in order to reduce the effects from any one interfering source thereby improving accuracy.
As to claim 7, Lee in view of Bales teaches the communication system of claim 6, wherein the second beam pattern differs from the second beam pattern in at least one of a vertical and a horizontal beamwidth.
Bales further teaches “A need exists for an antenna that provides wideband transmission and reception at radio frequencies that can be electronically reconfigured among four different polarizations: vertical linear polarization (VLP), horizontal linear polarization (HLP), right hand circular polarization (RHCP), and left hand circular polarization (LHCP), in a compact, planar form factor (col. 1 ll. 19 – 26).”
In view of the teachings of Bales, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before filing to apply various antennae patterns such as vertical and horizontal in order to reduce the effects from any one interfering source thereby improving accuracy.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL W JUSTICE/Examiner, Art Unit 3648