DETAILED ACTION
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 § 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gutman et al., US2022/0038057 A1, and further in view of Xing et al., US2022/0124629 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Gutman teaches An apparatus (Fig. 4 item 400; UE 400) comprising: processing circuitry (Fig. 4 item 416; Processor 416) configured to: process a request of a base station for a power output (par. 0088; the base station optionally transmits an OOB interference measurement request to the UE.); compare the power output and a threshold associated with power amplifier usage (par. 0094; the UE measures the power at each of the, e.g. 6, offsets and compares the measured power to the in-band power to obtain a ratio.); and select, based on an outcome of the compare, a power amplifier from a plurality of power amplifiers that are coupled to an antenna (par. 0078; the UE 400 may be configured to select an uplink component carrier within the wideband mmWave bandwidth to optimize or reduce power consumption in the UE 400.).
Gutman fails to teach the following recited limitation. However, Xing teaches cause data to be transmitted to the base station by at least using the power amplifier and the antenna (par. 0069; the UE may determine the preset transmission power according to the path loss between the UE and the NR normal base station, and adopt the preset transmission power to send the power control request to the NR normal base station, which ensures the signal quality while saving energy consumption.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Gutman’s teachings with Xing’s teachings in order for the UE to obtain power control information which is used to adjust the uplink transmission power of the UE (Xing, par. 0010).
Regarding claim 2, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine a set of transmission parameters associated with transmitting the data (par. 0069); and determine a value of the threshold based on the set of parameters (par. 0069).
Regarding claim 3, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 2. Gutman further teaches wherein the set of transmission parameters includes at least one of: a radio access technology (RAT), a frequency band, a bandwidth, or the antenna (par. 0068).
Regarding claim 4, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 2. Gutman further teaches wherein the value is determined based on a look-up of characterization data stored in memory, wherein the characterization data is defined based on an offline characterization process and associates the value with at least a radio access technology (RAT), a frequency band, a bandwidth, and the antenna (par. 0090).
Regarding claim 5, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the threshold corresponds to a power level over which a power amplifier switch is to occur from a first power amplifier to a second power amplifier of the plurality of power amplifiers (par. 0078).
Regarding claim 6, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 5. Gutman further teaches wherein the outcome of the compare indicates that the power output is larger than the power level, and wherein the power amplifier is selected as the first power amplifier such that the power amplifier switch is foregone (par. 0079).
Regarding claim 7, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 5. Gutman further teaches wherein the outcome of the compare indicates that the power output is smaller than the power level, and wherein the power amplifier is selected as the second power amplifier such that the power amplifier switch is performed (par. 0094).
Regarding claim 8, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: process additional power output requests of the base station received during a period of time (par. 0088); and determine the power output as an average of requested power outputs over the period of time (par. 0088).
Regarding claim 9, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine power levels of transmissions via the antenna during a period of time (par. 0100); and determine the power output as an average of the power levels over the period of time (par. 0100).
Regarding claim 10, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the outcome of the compare indicates that the power output is smaller than the threshold, and wherein the power amplifier is selected as a first power amplifier that has a lower power loss than a second power amplifier of the plurality of power amplifiers (par. 0096).
Regarding claim 11, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the outcome of the compare indicates that the power output is smaller than the threshold, and wherein the power amplifier is selected as a first power amplifier that is physically closer than a second power amplifier of the plurality of power amplifiers to the antenna (par. 0078).
Regarding claim 12, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 1. Gutman further teaches wherein the outcome of the compare indicates that the power output is smaller than the threshold, and wherein the power amplifier is selected as a first power amplifier that has a lower current consumption than a second power amplifier of the plurality of power amplifiers (par. 0081).
Regarding claim 13, Gutman teaches A device (Fig. 4 item 400; UE 400) comprising: an antenna (Fig. 4 item 402; Antenna 402); a first power amplifier coupled with the antenna (Fig. 4 item 424, par. 0079; Many high-power RF power amplifiers, such as PA 424 is connected to antenna 402.); a second power amplifier coupled with the antenna (Fig. 4 item 424, par. 0079; Many high-power RF power amplifiers, such as PA 424 is connected to antenna 402.); and processing circuitry (Fig. 4 item 416; Processor 416) configured to: process a request of a base station for a power output (par. 0088; the base station optionally transmits an OOB interference measurement request to the UE.); compare the power output and a threshold associated with power amplifier usage (par. 0094; the UE measures the power at each of the, e.g. 6, offsets and compares the measured power to the in-band power to obtain a ratio.); and select, based on an outcome of the compare, a power amplifier from the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier (par. 0078; the UE 400 may be configured to select an uplink component carrier within the wideband mmWave bandwidth to optimize or reduce power consumption in the UE 400.).
Gutman fails to teach the following recited limitation. However, Xing teaches cause data to be transmitted to the base station by at least using the power amplifier and the antenna (par. 0069; the UE may determine the preset transmission power according to the path loss between the UE and the NR normal base station, and adopt the preset transmission power to send the power control request to the NR normal base station, which ensures the signal quality while saving energy consumption.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Gutman’s teachings with Xing’s teachings in order for the UE to obtain power control information which is used to adjust the uplink transmission power of the UE (Xing, par. 0010).
Regarding claim 14, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 13. Gutman further teaches wherein the antenna is a first antenna, and wherein the device further comprises: a second antenna coupled with the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine that the first antenna instead of the second antenna is to be used for transmitting the data (par. 0073); and determine a value of the threshold based on a look-up of characterization data, the look-up using an identifier of the first antenna, the characterization data associating the value with a set of transmission parameters (par. 0068).
Regarding claim 15, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 14. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine a frequency band to use for the transmitting of the data, wherein the look-up further uses an identifier of the frequency band (par. 0067).
Regarding claim 16, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 14. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine a frequency bandwidth to use for the transmitting of the data, wherein the look-up further uses a value of the frequency bandwidth (par. 0078).
Regarding claim 17, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 14. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine a radio access technology (RAT) to use for the transmitting of the data, wherein the look-up further uses an identifier of the RAT (par. 0066).
Regarding claim 18, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 13. Gutman further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: store characterization data that associates the threshold with a set of transmission parameters, wherein the characterization data indicates, for one or more values of the set of transmission parameters, a value of the threshold (par. 0067).
Regarding claim 19, Gutman and Xing teach all the limitations in claim 18. Gutman further teaches wherein the characterization data further indicates, for the one or more values of the set of transmission parameters, which of the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier is to be used if the power output is larger than the value of the threshold and which of the first power amplifier and the second power amplifier is to be used if the power output is smaller than the value of the threshold (par. 0077).
Regarding claim 20, Gutman teaches A method (Fig. 9) comprising: sending, to a user equipment (UE), a request for a power output (par. 0109; a request to transmit an OOB power measurement IE is received from the base station.); and wherein the power amplifier is selected from a plurality of power amplifiers of the UE based on a comparison of the power output and a threshold (par. 0078; the UE 400 may be configured to select an uplink component carrier within the wideband mmWave bandwidth to optimize or reduce power consumption in the UE 400.).
Gutman fails to teach the following recited limitation. However, Xing teaches receiving, from the UE, data transmitted using a power amplifier and antenna of the UE (par. 0069; the UE may determine the preset transmission power according to the path loss between the UE and the NR normal base station, and adopt the preset transmission power to send the power control request to the NR normal base station, which ensures the signal quality while saving energy consumption.), wherein the threshold is associated with power amplifier usage (par. 0049; The preset threshold value may also be other threshold values, which may be set by persons skilled in the art according to actual requirements (i.e., the preset threshold value is also related to power usage).). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine Gutman’s teachings with Xing’s teachings in order for the UE to obtain power control information which is used to adjust the uplink transmission power of the UE (Xing, par. 0010).
Conclusion
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/AYODEJI O AYOTUNDE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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