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 .
Claim Objections
Claims 2-18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2-17, line 1 of each claim, the examiner suggests rewriting “the apparatus of claim” to --the waveguide apparatus of claim-- to provide consistency in the claim language.
Claims 7, 8 and 10, line 2 of each claim, the examiner suggests rewriting “the primary wave” to --the at least one primary wave-- to provide consistency in the claim language.
Claim 12, line 2, the examiner suggests rewriting “the polarization of the first wave” to --a polarization of the first wave-- to avoid an antecedent issue, since the “polarization” of the first wave has not been defined previously.
Claim 18, line 16, the examiner suggests rewriting “a second waveguide” to --the second waveguide-- to avoid an antecedent issue, since the “second waveguide” has already been defined in line 5 herein.
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.
Claim 15 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 15, line 2, note that the recitation of “the first waveguide and the second waveguide” lacks proper antecedent basis, since both the first/second waveguides have not been defined in the chain of dependency (note that the first/second waveguides are defined in claim 14, however claim 15 does not depend from claim 14). Correction is required. For the purpose of examination, the examiner will interpret that claim 15 depends from claim 14, in which the recited “first” and “second” waveguides are defined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yao et al. (NPL “Design of Duplex Terahertz Waveguide Rotary Joint Based on Septum Polarizer”).
In regards to claim 1, Yao et al. teaches in Fig. 3 a waveguide apparatus comprising:
A first polarizer (SP 1) comprising a first radio frequency (RF) interface (right end of SP 1) configured to output at least one primary wave to a second polarizer (SP 2);
The second polarizer (SP 2) comprising a second RF interface (left end of SP 2) configured to receive, from the first RF interface, the at least one primary wave; and
A contactless flange (center rotary joint) configured to: dispose the first polarizer and the second polarizer such that the first RF interface and the second RF interface are communicatively connected and not mechanically in contact (see related Fig. 4(a) and 4(b) and Section II Paragraph B); and
Physically connect the first polarizer (SP 1) and the second polarizer (SP 2) wherein the first polarizer is rotatable relative to the second polarizer via the connection and wherein the communicative connection of the first RF interface relative to the second RF interface is maintained in rotation.
In regards to claim 2, based on Fig. 3, both the first polarizer (SP 1) and the second polarizer (SP 2) comprises a stepped septum polarizer (present but not labeled).
In regards to claim 3, based on Fig. 3, the contactless flange (center rotary joint) comprises a choke flange/groove.
In regards to claim 4, based on Fig. 3, both the first polarizer (SP 1) and the second polarizer (SP 2) each comprise a septum polarizer (present but not labeled) and the contactless flange comprises a gap waveguide flange (labeled circular waveguide located in center rotary joint).
In regards to claim 5, based on related Fig. 4(a), wherein the first RF interface (right end of SP 1) and second RF interface (left end of SP 2) are separated by a gap comprising air.
In regards to claim 6, based on the abstract, a scanning antenna system comprises the apparatus of claim 1, the antenna system configured to transmit or receive a signal comprising one or more waves having a frequency between 200 GHz to 235 GHz.
In regards to claim 7, based on Section II, Paragraph A and Fig. 3, the first polarizer (SP 1) is further configured to receive and circularly polarize a first wave (TE10 mode) to obtain the primary wave.
In regards to claim 8, based on Section II, Paragraph A and Fig. 3, the second polarizer (SP 2) is further configured to depolarize the primary wave to convert back to a TE10 mode wave.
In regards to claim 9, based on Section II, Paragraph A and Fig. 3, the first polarizer (SP 1) is further configured to receive and combine a first wave (Received from Port 1) and a second wave (Received from Port 2) to obtain the at least one primary wave.
In regards to claim 10, based on Section II, Paragraph A and Fig. 3, the second polarizer (SP 2) is further configured to separate the primary wave to obtain a first output wave (output to Port 3) and a second output wave (output to Port 4).
In regards to claim 11, based on Section III, the first wave is in a first frequency range (between 200 GHz to 235 GHz) and the second wave is in a second frequency range (also between 200 GHz to 235 GHz) wherein the first frequency range and second frequency range, at least in part, overlap (both frequency ranges are the same, hence they will necessarily overlap).
In regards to claim 12, based on Section II, Paragraph A and Fig. 3, the polarization of the first wave and the second wave via the first polarizer is to a circular polarization.
In regards to claim 13, based on Section II, Paragraph A, the polarization is from a rectangular fundamental mode (TE10 mode which is provided from input ports 1 and 2).
In regards to claim 14, based on Fig. 3 and Section II, Paragraph A: a first waveguide (combination of SP 1, Transition 1 and rectangular waveguide input ports 1 and 2) configured to receive the first wave and the second wave and output the at least one primary wave to a second waveguide (combination of SP3, transition 2 and rectangular waveguide output ports 3 and 4) via the first RF interface (right end of SP 1), the first waveguide comprising:
The first polarizer (SP 1) further configured to circularly polarize each of the first wave and the second wave and combine the first wave and second wave to obtain the at least one primary wave, wherein the at least one primary wave is a combination and circular polarization of the first wave and the second wave, the first polarizer comprising: a first in port (Port 1) configured to receive the first wave; a second in port (Port 2) configured to receive the second wave; and
A first polarizer output port (right end of SP 1) configured to output the at least one primary wave;
The second waveguide configured to receive the combined wave from the first waveguide via the second RF interface (left end of SP 2) and output a first output wave and second output wave, the second waveguide comprising:
The second polarizer (SP 2) further configured to depolarize the at least one primary wave to obtain a first output wave and a second output wave, the second polarizer comprising:
A second polarizer input port (left end of SP 2) configured to receive the at least one primary wave;
A first output port (Port 3) configured to output the first output wave; and
T second output port (Port 4) configured to output the second output wave; and
Wherein the contactless flange (central rotary joint) is further configured to physically and communicatively connect to physically connect the first waveguide and the second waveguide, the physical connection physically rotatable such that the communicative connection of the first RF interface and the second RF interface is maintained in rotation.
In regards to claim 15, in light of the 35 USC 112 interpretation made above, based on Fig. 3, the first waveguide (combination of SP 1, Transition 1 and rectangular waveguide input ports 1 and 2) and the second waveguide (combination of SP3, transition 2 and rectangular waveguide output ports 3 and 4) each further comprise at least one diplexer (note that each waveguide combines signals from two input/output ports which are then combined in a single signal in their respective polarizer, therefore both waveguide function/contains a diplexer).
In regards to claim 16, based on Fig. 3, wherein the first RF interface (right end of SP 1) comprises the first polarizer output port.
In regards to claim 17, based on Fig. 3, wherein the second RF interface (left end of SP 2) comprises the second polarizer input port.
In regards to claim 18, Yao et al. teaches based on Fig. 3 and Section II, Paragraph A, a method of assembling a waveguide apparatus for supporting multiple channels via a contactless rotary joint, the method comprising: connecting a first waveguide (combination of SP 1, Transition 1 and rectangular waveguide input ports 1 and 2) to a contactless flange of the contactless rotary joint (central rotary joint), the first waveguide configured to receive a first wave (signal from Port 1) and a second wave (signal from port 2) and output a combined wave to a second waveguide (combination of SP3, transition 2 and rectangular waveguide output ports 3 and 4) via a first radio frequency (RF) interface (right end of SP1), wherein the first waveguide comprises:
A first polarizer (SP 1) configured to polarize each of the first wave and the second wave and combine the first wave and second wave to obtain the combined wave wherein the combined wave comprises a combination and circular polarization of the first wave and the second wave, the first polarizer comprising:
A first input port (Port 1) configured to receive the first wave;
A second input port (Port 2) configured to receive the second wave; and
A first polarizer output port (right end of SP 1) configured to output the circularly polarized combined wave;
Connecting the second waveguide (combination of SP3, transition 2 and rectangular waveguide output ports 3 and 4) to the contactless flange of the contactless rotary joint (central rotary joint), the second waveguide configured to: receive the combined wave from the first waveguide via a second RF interface (left end of SP 2) and output a first output wave (output signal to Port 3) and second output wave (output signal to Port 4), the second waveguide comprising:
A second polarizer (SP 2) configured to depolarize the combined wave and separate the combined wave to obtain the first output wave and the second output wave, the second polarizer comprising:
A second polarizer input port (left end of SP 2) configured to receive the combined wave;
A first output port (Port 3) configured to output the first output wave; and
A second in port (Port 3) configured to output the second output wave; and
Wherein the contactless flange is configured to physically and communicatively connect the first waveguide and the second waveguide, wherein the first RF interface and the second RF interface are communicatively connected and not mechanically in contact (See related Fig. 4(a)), and wherein the physical connection of first waveguide to the second waveguide via the contactless flange is physically rotatable such that the communicative connection is maintained in rotation.
In regards to claim 19, Yao et al. teaches based on Fig. 3 and Section II, Paragraph A, a method of supporting multiple channels in a waveguide apparatus via a contactless rotary joint, comprising: receiving by a first waveguide (combination of SP 1, Transition 1 and rectangular waveguide input ports 1 and 2) a first wave (signal from Port 1) and a second wave (signal from Port 2);
Converting the first wave and the second wave to a circular polarization and combining the first wave and the second wave via a first polarizer (SP 1) of the first waveguide to obtain a combined wave; outputting the combined wave from the first waveguide via a first RF interface (right end of SP 1) of the first waveguide;
Rotating one or more of the first RF interface and a second RF interface (left end of SP 2) of a second waveguide (combination of SP3, transition 2 and rectangular waveguide output ports 3 and 4) via contactless rotary joint from a first interface orientation to a second interface orientation of the first RF interface to the second RF interface;
Receiving the combined wave by the second waveguide via the second RF interface (left end of SP 2);
Depolarizing and reseparating via a second polarizer (SP 2) of the second waveguide the rotated combined waves to obtain a first output wave and a second output wave; and outputting, from the second waveguide, the first output wave via a first output port (Port 3) of the second waveguide and the second output wave via a second output port (Port 4) of the second waveguide.
In regards to claim 20, based on Section III and Fig. 3, further comprising rotating one or more of the first RF interface (right end of SP 1) and the second RF interface (left end of SP 2) to at least one additional interface orientation (based on Section III, multiple angle rotations can be set between 0 and 90 degrees), outputting the combined wave from the first waveguide via the first RF interface in each additional interface orientation, receiving the combined wave by the second waveguide via the second RF interface (left end of SP 2) in each additional interface orientation.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORGE L SALAZAR JR whose telephone number is (571)-272-9326. The examiner can normally be reached between 9am - 6pm Monday-Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Andrea Lindgren Baltzell can be reached on 571-272-5918. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JORGE L SALAZAR JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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