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 Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because a memory component to store one or more settings for the system processing module does not specify it is a ”non-transitory” type. Applicant needs to amend the claims by adding non-transitory in front of memory/computer readable storage medium in order to overcome the 101 rejections.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 7-12 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hormis (US-20230336237-A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 10, Hormis discloses a method (see Fig. 8) and beamforming transmission system, the system comprising,
one or more transmission elements (antenna 515, Fig. 5), the one or more transmission elements each comprising:
a power amplifier (PA 535, Fig. 5);
an antenna (antenna 515, Fig. 5) coupled to the power amplifier; and
a power detector coupled to the antenna (power detector 565)( power detector 565 detects the power of the transmit signal amplified by PA 535, paragraph 0058);
a power controller coupled to the power amplifier (Based upon the detected power, a gain controller controls the gain of LNA 510 and also controls the gain of PA 535 by controlling a PA driver 530, paragraph 0058);
a system processing module (gain controller 570 and TX beam controller 560 combined) coupled to the one or more transmission elements, the system processing module further coupled to the power controller, the system processing module being arranged to instruct the power controller to control an output power of the power amplifier;
wherein the system processing module is arranged to determine a desired beam scanning angle (TX beam controller 560 controls the steering of a TX antenna beam, paragraph 0058) of the one or more transmission elements and to obtain a present output power of the power amplifier from the power detector (gain controller 570 receives from power detector 565);
and further wherein the system processing module is arranged to instruct the power controller to control the output power of the power amplifier based on both the desired beam scanning angle (TX beam controller 560) and the present output power of the power amplifier (gain controller 570).
Regarding claims 2-3 and 11-12, Hormis discloses beamforming transmission system as claimed in claim 1/10, further comprising the system processing module being arranged to instruct the power controller to control the output power of the power amplifier based on one of at least a first operating point of the power amplifier and a second operating point of the power amplifier (signal relay chain includes a feedback path including the power detector 565 coupled to a gain controller 570. The power detector 565 receives a signal from the PA 535, and the signal may include the output of the PA 535. Based on the detected output, the gain controller 570 may adjust a gain of the PA driver 530 to the PA 535 and/or the LNA 510 to increase or maintain stability of signal transmission within the signal relay chain, paragraph 0061)(a feedback chain implies two operating points used to control and keep the power in control)( Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes, paragraph 0034)(such operating modes determines power consumption).
Regarding claims 7-8 and 16-17, Hormis discloses wherein the power controller comprises a power mode controller coupled to the power amplifier and a bias current generator coupled to the power amplifier, both the power mode controller and the bias current generator being coupled to the system processing module; and wherein the system processing module is arranged to switch on or off the power amplifier based on operating points, the switch on or off being independent of at least one other power amplifier of the one or more transmission elements (refer to rejection of claims 2and 11, paragraph 0034, operating mode of half-deplex or full duplex or power conservation).
Regarding claims 9 and 19, Hormis discloses beamforming transmission system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a memory component to store one or more settings for the system processing module to instruct the power controller to control the output power of the power amplifier based on both the desired beam scanning angle and the present output power of the power amplifier (see memory 250/code 255 in Fig. 2, paragraph 0048)(memory/memory 340 in Fig. 3, paragraph 0052).
Regarding claim 18, Hormis discloses method as claimed in claim 10 further comprising storing one or more settings in a memory component of the beamforming transmission system, the one or more settings for instructing the power controller to control the output power of the power amplifier based on both the desired beam scanning angle and the present output power of the power amplifier (processor/memory 340, which may be used to control one or more of the beam controller 310 and the signal relay chain 315, Repeater 305 includes a signal relay chain 315 that amplifies a received signal from the RX antenna before it is re-transmitted by the TX antenna for better reception or retransmission of the signal, paragraph 0052)(signal relay chain and memory combined to control direction and power of transmission).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 and 13-15 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HARRY K LIU whose telephone number is (571)270-1338. The examiner can normally be reached on every M-F 10 AM to 6:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, please leave a voice message with application serial number and nature of call, a response within 24 hours can be expected during regular business days. Also, the Examiner’s supervisor Hodge, Robert W. can be reached at (571) 272-6496. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-270-2338.
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/HARRY K LIU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645 Tel: (571) 270-1338
Fax: (571) 270-2338
Email: harry.liu@uspto.gov