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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Receipt of preliminary amendment filed on 05/16/2024 is acknowledged. Claims 13-20 have been amended. Claims 21-23 have been canceled. Thus, claims 1-20 are pending in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 10/31/2024 and 03/21/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements have been considered by the examiner.
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 1-20 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 claims 1, 13 and 17, the limitation recites “tuning a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state” and the limitation recites “changing the tuning state of the first antenna element” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that what is a first tuning state? And there is not any second tuning state recite in any claims. It is also unclear what is the tuning state of the first antenna element?
Claims 1, 13 and 17 recite the limitation "the tuning state" in line 11 of claim 1, line 24 of claim 13, and line 13 of claim 17. There is a lack of antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Regarding claims 1, 13 and 17, the limitation recites “tuning a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites,” “transitioning from the acquisition mode to a tracking mode” and “changing the tuning state of the first antenna element” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that how does the mobile device tune a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state, transitioning from the acquisition mode to a tracking mode, and changing the tuning state of the first antenna element?
Regarding claims 7, 14, and 18, the limitation recites “transitioning from the tracking mode to the acquisition mode” and “tuning the first antenna element of the mobile device to the first tuning state” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that how does it transitioning from the tracking mode to the acquisition mode and tuning the first antenna element of the mobile device to the first tuning state?
Regarding claims 8, 15, and 19, the limitation recites “determining that the mobile device is in a low power mode,” “turning off a first radio frequency chain that is configured to process signals in the first frequency range” and “turning on a second radio frequency chain that is configured to process signals in the second frequency range” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that how does it determining that the mobile device is in a low power mode, turning off a first radio frequency chain, and turning on a second radio frequency chain?
Regarding claims 9, 16, and 20, the limitation recites “determining that the mobile device is in a low power mode,” “turning off the second antenna element” and “tuning the first antenna element of the mobile device to the first tuning state” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that how does it determining that the mobile device is in a low power mode, turning off the second antenna element and tuning the first antenna element of the mobile device to the first tuning state?
Regarding claim 10, the limitation recites “determining that the mobile device is in a thermal state” and “tuning the first antenna element of the mobile device to the first tuning state” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that how does it determining that the mobile device is in a thermal state” and “tuning the first antenna element of the mobile device to the first tuning state?
Regarding claim 11, the limitation recites “determining one or more thermal inputs for the mobile device,” “providing the one or more thermal inputs as input to a model,” “receiving a probability that the mobile device is in the thermal state as output from the model” and “classifying the mobile device as being in the thermal state in response to the probability exceeding a threshold” are unclear and leaves the reader in doubt as to the meaning of the technical feature to which it refers. It is unclear that how does it determine one or more thermal inputs for the mobile device, providing the one or more thermal inputs as input to a model, receiving a probability that the mobile device is in the thermal state as output from the model, and classifying the mobile device as being in the thermal state? And what kind of model?
The claims above fail to recite sufficiently definite structure, material or acts for achieving the functional result recited in the claim to reasonably apprise one of ordinary skill in the art of the scope of the claim.
Claims 2-11, 14-16 and 18-20 are depending on claims 1, 13 and 17, and are rejected the same reasons under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph.
Note: for compact prosecution purposes, the examiner interprets the claims above as best understood in the rejection below.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iyengar et al. (U.S Publication No. 20220291395 A1) in view of Atmatzakis et al. (U.S Publication No. 20220283551 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Iyengar discloses a method for configuring antennas of a mobile device to receive signals from a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), (see fig. 1-12, paragraph [0002]), the method comprising performing, by the mobile device (which relates to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antennas, and, more specifically, to circular polarization and polarization configurable GNSS antennas for smartphone or other portable devices, see fig. 1, 3 and 8-9):
establishing the communication channels using the first antenna element in the first tuning state during the acquisition mode (see paragraph [0045], [0048], [0073], [0079], and [0130]);
transitioning from the acquisition mode to a tracking mode (see paragraph [0083] and [0084]); and
changing the tuning state of the first antenna element (see paragraph [0009], [0013]-[0015], and [0112]); and
during the tracking mode, determining a location of the mobile device (1) using the first antenna element and a second antenna element of the mobile device or (2) not using the first antenna element and using the second antenna element that is configured to receive signals in a second frequency range (see paragraph [0039] and [0043], [0062], [0130], and [0133]).
Iyengar further discloses in some embodiments, the portable device may also include means for tuning the antenna to a frequency band for a second wireless communication technology, means for disconnecting the antenna from the means for combining the first linear polarization component of the GNSS signal and the second linear polarization component of the GNSS signal, and means for feeding the first linear polarization component of the GNSS signal or the circularly polarized GNSS signal to a radio frequency front end circuit of the portable device (see paragraph [0014]). In some embodiments, the means for tuning the antenna may include means for tuning the antenna to both the GNSS band and a frequency band for a second wireless communication technology, and the portable device may further include means for separating the second linear polarization component of the GNSS signal and a radio frequency signal conforming to the second wireless communication technology (see paragraph [0015]).
Iyengar does not explicitly disclose tuning a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites, wherein the first tuning state configures the first antenna element to receive signals in a first frequency range;
Atmatzakis, on the other hand, a wrist-worn electronic device with a multiple mode, multiple frequency band antenna configuration, wherein the electronic device can selectively switch between modes. In a first mode, the electronic device receives and processes multiple frequency band signals, which improves the accuracy of the determination of a geolocation of the electronic device. In a second mode, the electronic device receives and processes a single frequency band signal, which reduces power consumption. The electronic device broadly comprises a housing, a bezel, an antenna, and an aperture tuning network. The aperture tuning network has an adjustable configuration wherein adjustment of the adjustable configuration changes the operating mode of the antenna (see abstract, paragraph [0002]). When the electronic device 10 is in either the dual band mode or the single band mode, the first aperture 44 is tuned (by the first aperture tuning network 30) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L1 band, i.e., the first frequency band, which has a center frequency of approximately 1575 MHz (see paragraph [0050]). When the electronic device 10 is in the dual band mode, the second aperture 46 is tuned (by the second aperture tuning network 32) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L5 band, i.e., the second frequency band, which has a center frequency of approximately 1175 MHz (see paragraph [0051]). When the electronic device 10 is in the single band mode, in some embodiments, the second aperture 46 is tuned (by the second aperture tuning network 32) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L1 band. Thus, the effective length of the second aperture 46 is reduced so that it occupies a third portion of the circumference of the bezel 20, which is smaller than the second portion and lies within the second portion (see paragraph [0052]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the method as taught by Iyengar with the method as taught by Atmatzakis by tuning a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites, wherein the first tuning state configures the first antenna element to receive signals in a first frequency range in order to provide an aperture tuning network has an adjustable configuration wherein adjustment of the adjustable configuration changes the operating mode of the antenna (see paragraph [0002] by Atmatzakis).
Regarding claim 2, Iyengar in view of Atmatzakis discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the location of the mobile device is determined (1) using the first antenna element and the second antenna element of the mobile device (see fig. 10, paragraph [0129], [0130], and [0133] by Iyengar).
Regarding claim 3, Iyengar in view of Atmatzakis discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the location of the mobile device is determined (2) not using the first antenna element and using the second antenna element that is configured to receive signals in a second frequency range (see paragraph [0088], and [0133] by Iyengar).
Regarding claim 4, Iyengar in view of Atmatzakis discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the signals in the first frequency range are L1 signals (see paragraph [0062] and [0063] by Iyengar).
Regarding claim 5, Iyengar in view of Atmatzakis discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the signals in the second frequency range are L5 signals (see paragraph [0062] and [0063] by Iyengar).
Regarding claim 6, Iyengar in view of Atmatzakis discloses the method of claim 1, wherein establishing the communication channels further comprises: determining the location of the mobile device (see paragraph [0052] and [0129] by Iyengar).
Regarding claim 13, Iyengar discloses a computing device (see fig. 1 and 10), comprising:
one or more memories (1060), (see paragraph [0089], [0135]-[0136]); and
one or more processors (1010) in communication with the one or more memories (1060), (see fig. 10, paragraph [0089], [0128]-[0129], and [0135]-[0136]), and configured to execute instructions stored in the one or more memories to:
establish the communication channels using the first antenna element in the first tuning state during the acquisition mode (see paragraph [0045], [0048], [0073], [0079], and [0130]);
transition from the acquisition mode to a tracking mode (see paragraph [0083] and [0084]); and
change the tuning state of the first antenna element (see paragraph [0009], [0013]-[0015], and [0112]); and
during the tracking mode, determine a location of the mobile device (1) using the first antenna element and a second antenna element of the mobile device or (2) not using the first antenna element and using the second antenna element that is configured to receive signals in a second frequency range (see paragraph [0039] and [0043], [0062], [0130], and [0133]).
Iyengar further discloses in some embodiments, the portable device may also include means for tuning the antenna to a frequency band for a second wireless communication technology, means for disconnecting the antenna from the means for combining the first linear polarization component of the GNSS signal and the second linear polarization component of the GNSS signal, and means for feeding the first linear polarization component of the GNSS signal or the circularly polarized GNSS signal to a radio frequency front end circuit of the portable device (see paragraph [0014]). In some embodiments, the means for tuning the antenna may include means for tuning the antenna to both the GNSS band and a frequency band for a second wireless communication technology, and the portable device may further include means for separating the second linear polarization component of the GNSS signal and a radio frequency signal conforming to the second wireless communication technology (see paragraph [0015]).
Iyengar does not explicitly disclose tune a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites, wherein the first tuning state configures the first antenna element to receive signals in a first frequency range.
Atmatzakis, on the other hand, a wrist-worn electronic device with a multiple mode, multiple frequency band antenna configuration, wherein the electronic device can selectively switch between modes. In a first mode, the electronic device receives and processes multiple frequency band signals, which improves the accuracy of the determination of a geolocation of the electronic device. In a second mode, the electronic device receives and processes a single frequency band signal, which reduces power consumption. The electronic device broadly comprises a housing, a bezel, an antenna, and an aperture tuning network. The aperture tuning network has an adjustable configuration wherein adjustment of the adjustable configuration changes the operating mode of the antenna (see abstract, paragraph [0002]). When the electronic device 10 is in either the dual band mode or the single band mode, the first aperture 44 is tuned (by the first aperture tuning network 30) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L1 band, i.e., the first frequency band, which has a center frequency of approximately 1575 MHz (see paragraph [0050]). When the electronic device 10 is in the dual band mode, the second aperture 46 is tuned (by the second aperture tuning network 32) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L5 band, i.e., the second frequency band, which has a center frequency of approximately 1175 MHz (see paragraph [0051]). When the electronic device 10 is in the single band mode, in some embodiments, the second aperture 46 is tuned (by the second aperture tuning network 32) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L1 band. Thus, the effective length of the second aperture 46 is reduced so that it occupies a third portion of the circumference of the bezel 20, which is smaller than the second portion and lies within the second portion (see paragraph [0052]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the method as taught by Iyengar with the method as taught by Atmatzakis by tune a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites, wherein the first tuning state configures the first antenna element to receive signals in a first frequency range in order to provide an aperture tuning network has an adjustable configuration wherein adjustment of the adjustable configuration changes the operating mode of the antenna (see paragraph [0002] by Atmatzakis).
Regarding claim 17, Iyengar discloses a computer-readable medium storing a plurality of instructions (see fig. 1 and 10, paragraph [0038], [0135]-[0136]) that, when executed by one or more processors (1010) of a computing device, cause the one or more processors (1010) to:
establish the communication channels using the first antenna element in the first tuning state during the acquisition mode (see paragraph [0045], [0048], [0073], [0079], and [0130]);
transition from the acquisition mode to a tracking mode (see paragraph [0083] and [0084]); and
change the tuning state of the first antenna element (see paragraph [0009], [0013]-[0015], and [0112]); and
during the tracking mode, determine a location of the mobile device (1) using the first antenna element and a second antenna element of the mobile device or (2) not using the first antenna element and using the second antenna element that is configured to receive signals in a second frequency range (see paragraph [0039] and [0043], [0062], [0130], and [0133]).
Iyengar further discloses in some embodiments, the portable device may also include means for tuning the antenna to a frequency band for a second wireless communication technology, means for disconnecting the antenna from the means for combining the first linear polarization component of the GNSS signal and the second linear polarization component of the GNSS signal, and means for feeding the first linear polarization component of the GNSS signal or the circularly polarized GNSS signal to a radio frequency front end circuit of the portable device (see paragraph [0014]). In some embodiments, the means for tuning the antenna may include means for tuning the antenna to both the GNSS band and a frequency band for a second wireless communication technology, and the portable device may further include means for separating the second linear polarization component of the GNSS signal and a radio frequency signal conforming to the second wireless communication technology (see paragraph [0015]).
Iyengar does not explicitly disclose tune a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites, wherein the first tuning state configures the first antenna element to receive signals in a first frequency range.
Atmatzakis, on the other hand, a wrist-worn electronic device with a multiple mode, multiple frequency band antenna configuration, wherein the electronic device can selectively switch between modes. In a first mode, the electronic device receives and processes multiple frequency band signals, which improves the accuracy of the determination of a geolocation of the electronic device. In a second mode, the electronic device receives and processes a single frequency band signal, which reduces power consumption. The electronic device broadly comprises a housing, a bezel, an antenna, and an aperture tuning network. The aperture tuning network has an adjustable configuration wherein adjustment of the adjustable configuration changes the operating mode of the antenna (see abstract, paragraph [0002]). When the electronic device 10 is in either the dual band mode or the single band mode, the first aperture 44 is tuned (by the first aperture tuning network 30) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L1 band, i.e., the first frequency band, which has a center frequency of approximately 1575 MHz (see paragraph [0050]). When the electronic device 10 is in the dual band mode, the second aperture 46 is tuned (by the second aperture tuning network 32) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L5 band, i.e., the second frequency band, which has a center frequency of approximately 1175 MHz (see paragraph [0051]). When the electronic device 10 is in the single band mode, in some embodiments, the second aperture 46 is tuned (by the second aperture tuning network 32) to have an effective length that is proportional to, corresponds to, or varies according to, a half wavelength of the GPS L1 band. Thus, the effective length of the second aperture 46 is reduced so that it occupies a third portion of the circumference of the bezel 20, which is smaller than the second portion and lies within the second portion (see paragraph [0052]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to modify the method as taught by Iyengar with the method as taught by Atmatzakis by tune a first antenna element of the mobile device to a first tuning state during an acquisition mode for establishing communication channels with a plurality of satellites, wherein the first tuning state configures the first antenna element to receive signals in a first frequency range in order to provide an aperture tuning network has an adjustable configuration wherein adjustment of the adjustable configuration changes the operating mode of the antenna (see paragraph [0002] by Atmatzakis).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-12, 14-16 and 18-20 are allowable if the objections and 112 issues above are fixed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI N PHAM whose telephone number is (571)270-5518. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00 am-5:00 pm.
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/Thai Pham/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844 12/19/2025