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 .
1. This office action, in response to the amendment and remarks received 11/19/2025, is a final office action.
Response to Arguments and Amendments
2. Independent claims 1, 6 and 8 are amended to recite additional features of the claims. Applicant states applicant disagrees with the examiner and notes where none of the references cited disclose or suggest the claimed limitations on pages 7-8 of the remarks. The examiner disagrees that the claims are not taught for the reasons stated below and in the rejections of the claims.
Applicant states the claimed amendments now clarify that the protection unit be implemented within the physical interface itself where the interface comprises an FPGA or ASIC on page 8 of the remarks. The examiner disagrees that the features are not disclosed by the cited references. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0001, the present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies and in particular to a power amplifier protection method and apparatus implemented by an FPGA. Paragraph 0081 discloses the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration. Since the transmitter is implemented in a software configuration, a processor will run that software. Ge further discloses a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms in paragraph 0053. This component will be a portion of the interface since it provides the necessary calculations for the circuit to function properly.
Applicant states Ge depends on additional modules and feedback circuitry, specifically a DAC front amplifier protection module and separate power control hardware to sense and regulate amplifier power on pages 9 of the remarks. However, these are components forming the software defined radio of the combination. Since these are components of the radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the software-defined radio of independent claims 1, 6 and 8.
Applicant states none of the references disclose wherein the protection unit is configured to calculate said average power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface over said predefined reference period, and control transmission to the DAC when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold on pages 9-10 of the remarks. The examiner disagrees. Ge discloses the radio comprises, arranged in said physical interface, a protection unit that protects said radio-frequency power amplifier (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.) dependent on an average power, over a predefined reference period, of the digital signal that is received by said physical interface (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms.), predefined power threshold not to be exceeded during said predefined reference period (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.). The baseband receiver module will receive the baseband signal.
Applicant states a person of ordinary skill in the art would not be motivated to carry out a number of steps as recited in page 10 of the remarks. As stated above and in the rejections of the claims below, the combination does not have to carry out these number of steps to disclose the claimed invention. In the previous rejections to the claims, the rationale for combining the references is stated.
Applicant notes the features of the claimed invention that applicant’s representative feels are advantageous on page 10 of the remarks. This statement is acknowledged. In the previous rejections to the claims, the rationale for combining the references is stated.
The rejections to claims 6 and 8 are also stated below. The response to arguments for claim 1 are applied to these independent claims as well.
Regarding the previous rejection to claim 10, applicant states Ge does not disclose the recited feature in pages 11-12 or the remarks. Ge discloses, in paragraph 0053: In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1. Since this causes the power of the baseband signal to be reduced, the gain of the signal is reduced.
The rejections of the claims are stated below and address the features of the amended claims.
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.
3. Claims 1-4, 6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ge et al (WO 2019/080566) in view of Carmel et al (US 2007/0259628). A machine translation of the WO 2019/080566 reference is provided. The citations below correspond to that machine translation.
Regarding claims 1 and 6, Ge discloses a device (Figure 1) comprising a radio (Paragraph 0049: the DAC 104 is configured to convert a digital signal processed by the DAC front power amplifier protection module 103 into an analog signal and send the analog signal to the power amplifier 106 through a radio frequency circuit. Since radio frequency signals are sent by the transmitter of figure 1, figure 1 is a device comprising a radio.) comprising:
- at least one processor running a software to produce a digital signal representing a data stream to be transmitted (Figure 1: baseband receiving module 101. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration. Since the transmitter is implemented in a software configuration, a processor will run that software.),
- a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts said digital signal into an analog signal (Figure 1: digital to analog conversion module 104. Paragraph 0045.),
- a physical interface between said at least one processor and said DAC (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.), and
- a radio-frequency power amplifier that amplifies a power of said analog signal (Figure 1: power amplifier 106.);
wherein said software-defined radio further comprises, arranged in said physical interface, a protection unit that protects said radio-frequency power amplifier (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.) dependent on
- an average power, over a predefined reference period, of the digital signal that is received by said physical interface (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms.),
- predefined power threshold not to be exceeded during said predefined reference period (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.),
wherein the protection unit is implemented within said physical interface and wherein the physical interface comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (Ge: paragraph 0001: the present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies and in particular to a power amplifier protection method and apparatus implemented by an FPGA. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.);
wherein the protection unit does not require addition of any further components, beyond components forming the radio (The components recited in the device of Ge form the radio. Since these are components of the radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the radio.);
wherein the protection unit is configured to calculate said average power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface over said predefined reference period (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms.), and
control transmission to the DAC when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.).
Ge does not disclose the radio disclosed above is a software-defined radio.
Carmel discloses software defined radios in paragraphs 0004-0006 and shown in figure 1. Paragraph 0005 discloses the highly flexible software defined nature of these radios. Paragraph 0006 discloses the transmitter output power can be limited to protect the final RF power amplifier under worst case scenarios. Paragraph 0004 discloses these highly flexible radios are capable of operating over a very wide range of frequencies for communicating voice and data using any one of a variety of modulation schemes. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the software radio of Carmel into the device of Ge. these are components forming the software defined radio of the combination. Since these are components of the software-defined radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the software-defined radio of claims 1 and 6.
Regarding claim 2, the combination discloses wherein the protection unit comprises - a calculator that calculates the average power, over the predefined reference period, of the digital signal received by the physical interface, - a comparator comparing said average power that is calculated with the predefined power threshold, and - a modification stage that modifies an instantaneous power of the digital signal supplied to the DAC, when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.).
Regarding claim 3, the combination discloses wherein the modification stage is configured to stop supply of the digital signal to the DAC (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold. Therefore, the transmitter will stop the supply of this digital signal to the DAC and will supply the adjusted baseband signal to the downstream elements of the transmitter once the adjustment has been applied.).
Regarding claim 4, the combination discloses wherein the modification stage comprises a reducer, or a splitter, configured to reduce power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface (Ge: paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule. In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain.).
Regarding claim 8, Ge discloses a method for protecting a radio (Paragraph 0049: the DAC 104 is configured to convert a digital signal processed by the DAC front power amplifier protection module 103 into an analog signal and send the analog signal to the power amplifier 106 through a radio frequency circuit. Since RF signals are sent by the transmitter of figure 1, figure 1 is a device comprising a radio.), said radio comprising
- at least one processor running a software to produce a digital signal representing a data stream to be transmitted (Figure 1: baseband receiving module 101. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration. Since the transmitter is implemented in a software configuration, a processor will run that software.),
- a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that converts said digital signal into an analog signal (Figure 1: digital to analog conversion module 104. Paragraph 0045.),
- a physical interface between said at least one processor and said DAC (Figure 1: baseband power amplifier protection module 102 and DAC front power amplifier protection module 103.), and
- a radio-frequency power amplifier that amplifies a power of said analog signal (Figure 1: power amplifier 106.);
said method comprising: an execution, within said physical interface (110), of a protection function of said radio-frequency power amplifier (108) , said execution comprising:
- calculating an average power, over a predefined reference period, of the digital signal received by said physical interface, - comparing said average power with a predefined power threshold not to be exceeded during said predefined reference period, and - when said average power reaches the predefined power limit threshold, reducing an instantaneous power of the digital signal supplied to the DAC (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.);
wherein the protection unit is implemented within said physical interface and wherein the physical interface comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (Ge: paragraph 0001: the present invention relates to the field of mobile communication technologies and in particular to a power amplifier protection method and apparatus implemented by an FPGA. Paragraph 0081: the transmitter in this embodiment uses a FPGA chip to perform digital signal processing so as to implement power amplifier protection and there is no redundant external circuit to be controlled again, which is convenient for software configuration.);
wherein the protection unit does not require addition of any further components, beyond components forming the radio (The components recited in the device of Ge form the radio. Since these are components of the radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the radio.);
wherein the protection unit is configured to calculate said average power of the digital signal received at an input of the physical interface over said predefined reference period (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms.), and
control transmission to the DAC when said average power reaches said predefined power threshold (paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length, detect whether the baseband signal mean power is greater than a linear region power threshold if the power amplifier and adjust the power of the baseband digital signal when the baseband signal average power is greater than the linear region power threshold.).
Ge does not disclose the radio disclosed above is a software-defined radio.
Carmel discloses software defined radios in paragraphs 0004-0006 and shown in figure 1. Paragraph 0005 discloses the highly flexible software defined nature of these radios. Paragraph 0006 discloses the transmitter output power can be limited to protect the final RF power amplifier under worst case scenarios. Paragraph 0004 discloses these highly flexible radios are capable of operating over a very wide range of frequencies for communicating voice and data using any one of a variety of modulation schemes. For these reasons, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the software radio of Carmel into the device of Ge. Since these are components of the software-defined radio, the components are not an addition of further components beyond components forming the software-defined radio of claim 8.
Regarding claim 9, the combination discloses wherein said reducing the instantaneous power is carried out for a predetermined period of time, known as the as a delay time (Ge: Paragraph 0053: a mean power control submodule, configured to calculate a baseband signal mean power of the baseband signal within a second preset time length. Specifically, the mean power control submodule is configured to calculate the average power of the baseband signal every 10 ms. if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power at this level will be conducted until the next time the mean power control submodule measures calculates the average power (10 ms).).
Regarding claim 10, the combination discloses wherein said reducing the instantaneous power is carried out by applying a gain of less than 1 to the digital signal that is received at an input of the physical interface (Ge: paragraph 0053: In this embodiment, if the upper limit value exceeds the upper limit value, cause the power of the baseband digital signal to fall back into the linear region by reducing the gain. The reducing of the power is the equivalent of applying a gain of less than 1.).
4. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ge et al (WO 2019/080566) in view of Carmel et al (US 2007/0259628) further in view of Bergman et al (US 2021/0065529). A machine translation of the WO 2019/080566 reference is provided. The citations below correspond to that machine translation.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Ge and Carmel discloses the device stated above. The combination does not disclose wherein the electronic device is a Wifi transmitter, a Bluetooth® transmitter, a terrestrial digital radio transmitter, or a digital mobile radio transmitter (DMR for "Digital Mobile Radio").
Bergman discloses the communication device shown in figure 2. Paragraph 0058 discloses the communication enabled device 204 comprises a software defined radio (SDR). SDRs are well known in the art and the SDR can be programmatically assigned any communication protocol that is chosen by the user (e.g., RFID, WiFi, Lifi, Bluetooth, etc.). When the Wifi or Bluetooth communication protocol is selected, the transmitter will become the selected WiFi or Bluetooth protocol transmitter in the SDR. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the transmitting using the selected protocol in the SDR as taught by Bergman into the device of the combination of Ge and Carmel. Using well known and commonly used protocols will reduce the complexity and cost of a communication system as well as utilize the advantages of the WiFi and Bluetooth protocols.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN M. BURD whose telephone number is (571)272-3008. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 - 5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN M BURD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 2/9/2026