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 § 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, 7-8, 10, 21-23, 27-28 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kaho (US-11201397-B2).
Regarding claims 1 and 21, Kaho discloses an antenna filter unit (AFU)/RU comprising:
one or more antenna elements (see 204a/204n, Fig 2C);
a first digital phase shifter (inherently built in)(the interference/PIM detection control device 203d may, through the use of digital signal processing, analyze and/or examine the interference/PIM signals received from the monitoring elements 203m, and determine appropriate cancellation measures/decisions, col. 16, lines 37-41) communicatively coupled to at least a first antenna element of the one or more antenna elements, and configured to shift a phase of a first signal that is to be transmitted by the first antenna element (performing phase adjusting for one or more radiating elements of an antenna system such that an impact of the interference on the antenna system is minimized, Abstract); and
a first intermodulation (IM) filtering module (module 203c in Fig. 2C) communicatively coupled between the first digital phase shifter and the first antenna element, and configured to filter out an IM component from the first signal and output the filtered first signal.
Regarding claims 2 and 22, Kaho discloses a first band-pass filter (BPF) communicatively coupled to the first digital phase shifter and disposed at an upstream location relative to the first digital phase shifter in a transmission direction, and configured to filter out any signal having a frequency outside of a desired operating frequency range of the first antenna element (see Fig. 2C & 3A, between baseband unit/BBU and phase shifter/radiation element, a band pass filter is used).
Regarding claims 3 and 23, Kaho discloses wherein the first IM filtering module is further configured to filter out any signal having a frequency outside of a desired operating frequency range of the first antenna element (the polarization of the uplink can be adjusted relative to the polarization of the downlink, or vice versa, such that the uplink polarization and the downlink polarization are different from one another, col. 9, lines 36-38).
Regarding claims 7 and 27, Kaho discloses wherein the first antenna element is communicatively coupled to the first IM filtering module and configured to radiate the filtered first signal that is received from the first IM filtering module (performing phase adjusting for one or more radiating elements of an antenna system such that an impact of the interference on the antenna system is minimized, Abstract)(interference cancellation through filtering of some unwanted signals).
Regarding claims 8 and 28, Kaho discloses wherein the one or more antenna elements form a phased array for beamforming. (methods employed by a MIMO 2D array antenna for beamforming and nulling (of interference at certain points in space), for example, can be modified or otherwise replaced with advanced algorithm(s) configured to effect rotation of certain group(s) of radiating elements of the antenna. col. 27, lines 37-42).
Regarding claims 10 and 30, Kaho discloses comprising an antenna board (710,711) on which the one or more antenna elements are disposed (There are various types of radiating antenna elements, such as those with wire and aperture elements that include dipole and monopole elements. Aperture elements can also include slot elements. Some designs incorporate combinations of both types and can also be built over printed circuit boards (PCBs) or micro strip patches, col. 4, lines 50-55).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4-6, 9, 24-26, 29 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