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 .
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 14 and 18 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 1, line 7, “capacity” should correctly be “capacitor”.
Regarding claim 14, page 4, line 6, “capacity” should correctly be “capacitor”.
Regarding claim 18, page 5, line 4, “capacity” should correctly be “capacitor”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 9, 12, 14 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. (9,166,538), hereafter called HONG.
Regarding claim 1, HONG discloses claimed invention except having a capacitance of the second capacitor being less than a capacitance of the first capacitor. HONG (Fig. 14) discloses a power supply circuit for a power amplifier (424) comprising: a supply module (518) read as a converter configured to output the supply voltage to the power amplifier; a switch (614) connected to a first capacitor (1333) and a second capacitor (1332), a first end of the first capacitor being connected to the converter, a second end of the first capacitor being connected to the switch, a first end of the second capacitor being connected to the converter, a second end of the second capacitor being connected to a ground and the switch (both are connected to ground),
Regarding claim 9, wherein a first end of the switch (614) is connected to the second end of the first capacitor (1333); and the first end floats based on the switch being turned off.
Regarding claim 12, wherein the converter (518) is configured to adjust the supply voltage through the second capacitor (1332) based on the switch (614) being turned off.
Regarding claim 14, HONG discloses claimed invention except having a capacitance of the second capacitor being less than a capacitance of the first capacitor. HONG (Fig. 14) discloses a power supply circuit for a power amplifier (424) comprising:: a power amplifier (424) configured to amplify a radio-frequency (RFin) signal; a power modulator (1405) configured to provide a supply voltage of the power amplifier; a first capacitor (1333) connected to the power amplifier and the power modulator; and a second capacitor (1332) connected to the power amplifier and the power modulator, wherein the power modulator comprises: a supply module (518) read as a converter configured to output the supply voltage to the power amplifier; a switch (614) connected to a first capacitor (1333) and a second capacitor (1332), a first end of the first capacitor being connected to the converter, a second end of the first capacitor being connected to the switch, a first end of the second capacitor being connected to the converter, a second end of the second capacitor being connected to a ground and the switch (both are connected to ground), of a transition of the supply voltage. However, change in size/value of a component is generally recognized as being with the level of ordinary skill in the art and thus would have been obvious as a matter of design engineering in the absence of any unexpected results. It is further noted desired capacitance are readily available in circuit design.
Regarding claim 17, wherein a first end of the switch (614) is connected to the second end of the first capacitor (1333); and the first end of the switch floats based on the switch being turned off.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-8, 10, 11, 13, 15 and 16 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 2-4 and 13, prior art(s) does not disclose a switch body voltage control circuit (330) connected to the switch, the switch body voltage control circuit being configured to adjust a body voltage of the switch to a lower voltage among a voltage at the second end of the first capacitor and a ground voltage at the ground.
Regarding claim 5, prior art(s) does not disclose the driver is configured to: apply a ground voltage to a gate terminal of the switch based on a rising transition of the supply voltage; and apply a voltage at the second end of the first capacitor to the gate terminal of the switch based on a falling transition of the supply voltage.
Regarding claims 6-8, prior art(s) does not disclose a switch assist circuit configured to charge a gate capacitor to a threshold voltage based on a transition of the supply voltage being completed, the gate capacitor being connected to a gate terminal of the switch.
Regarding claims 10 and 11, prior art(s) does not disclose a protection circuit configured to adjust an operating voltage of the driver to a sum of a driving voltage of the driver and a body voltage of the switch.
Regarding claim 15, prior art(s) does not disclose the power amplifier is configured to output the RF signal having a modulated voltage for each of a plurality of symbols included in the RF signal.
Regarding claim 16, prior art(s) does not disclose the driver is configured to: apply a ground voltage to a gate terminal of the switch based on a rising transition of the supply voltage; and apply a voltage at the second end of the first capacitor to the gate terminal of the switch based on a falling transition of the supply voltage.
Claims 18-20 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 18-20 call for, among others, a driver connected to a gate terminal of the switch, the driver being configured to apply a lower voltage among a first voltage or a ground voltage to the gate terminal of the switch based on an occurrence of a transition of the supply voltage, the first voltage being a voltage at the second end of the first capacitor, and the ground voltage being a voltage at the ground.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
The prior arts made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ripley et al. (12,348,189), which is considered to be the closest prior art, discloses power supply circuit for the power amplifier having first and second capacitors. However, it lacks the driver as claimed.
Xu et al. (20160036388) also lacks the driver as claimed.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Khanh V. Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 272-1767. The examiner can normally be reached from 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JESSICA HAN can be reached on (571) 272-2078. The fax phone numbers for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KHANH V NGUYEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2843
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