DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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 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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/22/2024 and 02/06/2025 are 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 § 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 of this title, 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 1-4, 6, 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woolrich (US 2020/0067199 A1) in view of Seler (US 2016/0043455 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Woolrich teaches an antenna comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB) structure (Figs. 1A, 1B, [0030] printed circuit board 110)
at least one beamforming integrated circuit (IC) ([0036] transmitter 198, receiver 199); and
at least one horn antenna radiating element (Fig. 5, [0044] horn antenna array 503) formed on the PCB structure (110), wherein the at least one horn antenna radiating element includes a feed structure formed in the PCB layer (Figs. 9A-9C, [0041] launchers 610, 611, 612) and a horn aperture extending from the feed structure outside of the PCB layer (Fig. 9, 230, 240).
However, Woolrich does not explicitly teach the antenna, wherein:
the PCB structure includes a plurality of prepreg buildup layers; and
the at least one beamforming integrated circuit (IC) is formed on one side the PCB structure.
Seler teaches an antenna wherein:
a PCB structure includes a plurality of prepreg buildup layers ([0037] prepreg materials are typically used to manufacture PCBs); and
at least one beamforming integrated circuit (IC) is formed on one side the PCB structure (Fig. 6, 10, [0044] a semiconductor package 10 configured to transmit a microwave waveguide signal).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply the teachings of Seler to the teachings of Woolrich as it is typical (Woolrich, [0037] prepreg materials are typically used to manufacture PCBs).
Regarding claim 2, all the limitations of claim 1 are taught by Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich in view of Seler further teaches the antenna, wherein the horn aperture is formed in a metal layer (Woolrich [0038] a waveguide horn element, Seler [0047] waveguide part 60, metallization for microwave transmission).
Regarding claim 3, all the limitations of claim 1 are taught by Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich further teaches the antenna, wherein the horn aperture is tapered (Fig. 9A, 120).
Regarding claim 4, all the limitations of claim 1 are taught by Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich further teaches the antenna, wherein the horn aperture includes opposing ridges extending into an aperture waveguide (Fig. 9A, [0040] 400).
Regarding claim 6, all the limitations of claim 1 are taught by Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich further teaches the antenna, wherein the antenna is a phased array antenna ([0002] phased array antennas), the at least one beamforming IC is a plurality of beamforming ICs (Fig. 1, 198, 199) and the at least one horn radiating element is a plurality of horn radiating elements (Fig. 9A).
Regarding claim 8, this claim has substantially the same subject matter as that in claim 2. Therefore, claim 8 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 2 above.
Regarding claim 9, this claim has substantially the same subject matter as that in claim 3. Therefore, claim 9 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 3 above.
Regarding claim 10, this claim has substantially the same subject matter as that in claim 4. Therefore, claim 10 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 4 above.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woolrich (US 2020/0067199 A1) in view of Seler (US 2016/0043455 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hunziker (US 2020/0067198 A1).
Regarding claim 5, all the limitations of claim 1 are taught by Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich in view of Seler does not explicitly teach the antenna, wherein the prepreg buildup layers include microvias.
Hunziker teaches an antenna comprising a printed circuit board made of prepreg buildup layers including vias ([0077], [0078]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply the teachings of Hunziker to the teachings of Woolrich in view of Seler as the forming vias as through-hole connection is a desired way to connect conductive layers through laminate as taught by Hunziker (Hunziker, [0078]).
Claims 7 and 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Woolrich (US 2020/0067199 A1) in view of Seler (US 2016/0043455 A1) as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Shams (US 2021/0296764 A1).
Regarding claim 7, all the limitations of claim 6 are taught by Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich in view of Seler.
Woolrich in view of Seler does not explicitly teach the antenna, wherein the antenna is part of a 5G radio.
Shams teaches a phased array horn antenna ([0129]), wherein the antenna is part of a 5G radio ([0045], [0127]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply the teachings of Woolrich in view of Seler to implement Shams’s phase array horn antenna in order for high density phased array without increasing the cost (Woolrich, [0002]).
Regarding claim 11, this claim has substantially the same subject matter as that in claim 7. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected under the same rationale as claim 7 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEOKJIN KIM whose telephone number is (571)272-1487. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:30am-5:00pm.
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/SEOKJIN KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2844