DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1, 3-14, and 18-21 are pending in this application for reissue of US Patent 11,329,658 (“the '658 patent”) issued from application no. 17/068,275. Claims 1-17 are patented claims. In this reissue application, claims 2, 15-17 have been cancelled and new claims 18-21 have been added. Claims 1, 3-4, and 18-21 are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Prior or Concurrent Proceedings
3. Applicant is reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.178(b), to timely apprise the Office of any prior or concurrent proceed-ing in which the ‘658 patents is or was involved. These proceedings would include interferences, reissues, reexaminations, and litigation.
Information Material to Patentability
4. Applicant is further reminded of the continuing obligation under 37 CFR 1.56, to timely apprise the Office of any information which is mate-rial to patentability of the claims under consideration in this reissue appli-cation.
These obligations rest with each individual associated with the filing and prosecution of this application for reissue. See also MPEP §§ 1404, 1442.01 and 1442.04.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. 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.
6. Claims 8-10 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.
Claims 8-10 recite the limitation “the second FLC.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
7. 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.
8. Claims 1, 3, 12, 13, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. 2018/0048263 (“Yun”) in view of US Pub. 2015/0097627 (“Jiang”).
9. With respect to claim 1, Yun discloses an oscillator calibration circuit, comprising:
a first oscillator (see FIG. 6, 612; see also FIGs. 7, 8, 11, 12); and
a first frequency locking circuit (FLC) (540),
wherein the first FLC is coupled to the first oscillator that is to be
calibrated by the oscillator calibration circuit (see FIG. 6),
wherein the first FLC is adapted to calibrate a frequency of the first oscillator using an over-the-air reference signal (see FIG. 1; see also FIGs. 14, 15, 16),
wherein the first FLC is adapted to calibrate the first oscillator substantially immediately prior to a data transmission session (see [0151], calibration is to obtain transmission frequency, thus, calibration should be done prior to data transmission);
[wherein the first FLC is disabled during data transmission thus allowing the first oscillator to be free running during the data transmission session;]
wherein the first oscillator is a local oscillator and it is calibrated by the oscillator calibration circuit to any of: a radio frequency (RF) frequency (see FIG. 1) and an intermediate frequency (IF) employed as the over-the-air reference signal, and
wherein the over-the-air reference signal is only available intermittently (this is not a structural limitation of the calibration circuit) and the first FLC is adapted to calibrate the frequency of the first oscillator only when the over-the-air reference is available (this is inherent for a calibration circuit; all calibration circuits work only when the source reference signal is available).
However, Yun does not specifically disclose disabling the FLC during data transmission (limitation is square brackets above). On the other hand, Jiang discloses a calibration circuit that deactivates calibration and enter free running mode after applying a correction teaching the limitation in square brackets above. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to use calibration mode switching technique taught by Jiang in the calibration circuit of Yun in order to reduce power consumption (see Jiang paragraph [0009]).
10. With respect to claim 3, Yun and Jiang disclose the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1, wherein the RF frequency is any one of: a single point carrier frequency (see Yun, FIG. 1, fRF), a single point carrier frequency (fo) with a positive offset frequency value f; a single point carrier frequency (fo) with a negative offset frequency value f; two calibration points having a carrier frequency (fo) with a negative offset frequency value f; and a carrier frequency (fo) with a positive offset frequency value f.
11. With respect to claim 12, Yun and Jiang disclose the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1, wherein the over-the-air reference signal is derived from any one of: a constant-tone signal (see FIG. 1), a modulated signal, and a frequency-hopping signal.
12. With respect to claim 13, Yun and Jiang disclose the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1, wherein the over-the-air reference signal is received through an antenna utilized for the data transmission (see FIG. 1).
13. With respect to claim 19, Yun and Jiang disclose the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1 wherein the first FLC is adapted to be disenabled so as to be without power during said data transmission and thereby causing the calibrated first oscillator to be free running during the data transmission session (see the rejection of claim 1 above).
14. Claims 4, 14, 20, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yun in view of Jiang and further in view of US Pat. 9,860,096 (“Ganwani”).
15. With respect to claim 4, Yun and Jiang disclose all of the limitations of the parent claim 3 as discussed above. Yun and Jiang also disclose that the calibration circuit is used in a smart phone with a Bluetooth transmitter (see Jiang, FIG. 1, 100, see also paragraph [0012]). However, Jiang does not specifically disclose that the Bluetooth transmitter use in the smart phone is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitter. On the other hand, Gawani discloses a smart phone with a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transmitter (Gawani, FIG. 1, 106a). It would have been obvious to use Yun and Jiang’s teachings of calibration circuit in the smartphone of Gawani to save battery power. Applying a known technique to improve similar devices in the same way is obvious under KSR v. Teleflex. Alternatively, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to substitute Jiang’s smart phone with Gawani’s smart phone to be able to use Bluetooth transmitter that uses less energy.
Regarding the carrier frequency and offset frequency, they are specified in the BLE standard as noted in the specification at 2:3-8 and is known to one skilled in the art.
15. With respect to claim 14, Yun, Jiang, and Gawani disclose the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1, wherein the oscillator calibration circuit is operable in at least a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transmitter (see the rejection of claim 4 above).
16. With respect to claim 20, Yun, Jiang, and Gawani disclose a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transmitter comprising the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1 (see the rejection of claim 4 above).
17. With respect to claim 21, Yun, Jiang, and Gawani disclose a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) transmitter comprising the oscillator calibration circuit of claim 1 wherein the BLE transmitter employs for transmission and reception a carrier frequency (fo) of 2.4 GHz and an offset frequency value Δf of about 185 Khz (see the rejection of claim 4 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
18. Claims 5-7, 11, and 18 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
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Woo H Choi whose telephone number is (571)272-4179. The examiner can normally be reached 9 am - 5 pm.
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, Hetul Patel can be reached on (571) 272-4184. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Woo H. Choi/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
Conferees:
/Cameron Saadat/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3992
/ANDREW J. FISCHER/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3992