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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/26/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
Para. [0005] “azmuthal” should read “azimuthal”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 1 and 11-16: “azmuthal” should read “azimuthal”.
Claim 6 should depend on claim 5 to avoid antecedent basis issues.
Claim 9: “where in” should read “wherein”.
Claim 9: “the beamwidth control sliders” should read “the one or more beamwidth control sliders”.
Claim 10: “the beamwidth control sliders” should read “the one or more beamwidth control sliders”.
Claim 10: “TMM 10i” should read “TMM® 10i”.
Claim 11: “a motor configured to cause the one or more beamwidth control sliders along the axis perpendicular to the azimuthal plane…” is missing a verb and should read “a motor configured to cause the one or more beamwidth control sliders to translate along the axis perpendicular to the azimuthal plane…”.
Claim 16: “independ” should read “independent”.
Claim 17: Line 3 should read “of the plurality of dielectric layers at the same time as the other one of the beamwidth control slider”.
Claim 17: Line 4 should read “and the second beamwidth control slider extends beyond the dimensions of the plurality of dielectric”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 2-5, 7-8, 12-15, 18-20 are objected to due to their dependency.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 4 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 4 recites the limitation "the vertical axis". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 7 recites the limitation "the top layer". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 8-10 are rejected due to their dependency.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-3, 5-6 and 11-20 are allowed.
Claims 4 and 7-10 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include 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: The pertinent prior art, as a whole, or in combination, cannot be reasonably construed as adequately teaching or suggesting the elements and features of the claimed invention(s) as arranged, disposed, or provided in the manner as claimed by the Applicant.
For example, regarding claim 1, Sato et al. (US 2021/0280987; “Sato”) disclose (fig. 4 below) “A beamwidth-controlled radiator column (400), comprising:
a plurality of radiators (slot antenna array 411); and
a reconfigurable lens (¶63, dielectric member 420 can slide in the X direction, and is therefore reconfigurable) disposed over the plurality of radiators (411), wherein the reconfigurable lens has one or more beamwidth control sliders (420) that are configurable to translate along an axis (X-direction) perpendicular to an azimuthal plane (emitting direction shown in fig. 6) of the beamwidth-controlled radiator column (¶63, “The dielectric member 420 can slide in the X direction”), wherein the reconfigurable lens is formed of a dielectric material”.
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Sato does not teach or suggest “wherein the reconfigurable lens has a bottom layer that has a plurality of bottom layer holes, and a middle layer that has two middle layer sections that are separated along an azimuth axis by a gap”.
Deng et al. (US 2018/0233815; “Deng”) discloses (fig. 11 below) “A beamwidth-controlled radiator column (abstract, “A cellular antenna having an array of radiating elements and a flat sheet of dielectric material in front of the antenna radiating elements and spaced about a half wavelength from the antenna phase center to provide an azimuth beam width that is narrower than without the dielectric sheet”), comprising:
a plurality of radiators (¶38, array of radiators); and
a reconfigurable lens (52 and 54; ¶35 “the dielectric sheet 26 comprises a plurality of layers 30, 32 of dielectric material. Building the dielectric sheet 26 from layers allows for customization of beam patterns. For example, if the dielectric sheet is 5 mm thick, assembling a given antenna with one, two or three layers would provide a dielectric sheet of 5, 10, and 15 mm, respectively. In this case, the AzBW would progressively become more narrow as layers are added to the dielectric sheet”) disposed over the plurality of radiators, wherein the reconfigurable lens has a bottom layer (52), and a middle layer (54) that has two middle layer sections that are separated along an azimuth axis by a gap, wherein the reconfigurable lens is formed of a dielectric material (¶38, “the antenna 50 comprises a low frequency band (e.g. 698-896 MHz) column of radiating elements with a low band dielectric sheet 52 and two columns of high frequency band radiating elements, each high band column also having a high band dielectric sheet 54”).
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Deng does not teach, or suggest, the bottom layer has a plurality of bottom layer holes, and wherein the reconfigurable lens has one or more beamwidth control sliders that are configurable to translate along an axis perpendicular to an azimuthal plane of the beamwidth-controlled radiator column.
Zimmerman (US 2020/0144701) discloses (fig. 6B below) “A beamwidth-controlled radiator column (base station antenna 200), comprising:
a plurality of radiators (elements 122); and
a reconfigurable lens (RF lens 240, ¶83, “Each RF lens 240 substantially surrounds a respective one of the radiating elements 122. This may allow each RF lens 240 to receive the vast majority of the radiation emitted by its associated radiating element 122 so that the RF lens 240 may bend such radiation in a manner that provides an improved shape for the antenna beam generated by the 3.5/5 GHz radiating elements 122. The RF lenses 240 may be formed of any suitable dielectric material that steers RF energy. The RF lenses 240 may be fabricated from materials that are both lightweight and inexpensive in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the RF lenses 240 may be formed of polyethylene, polypropylene, expanded polypropylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polystyrene or expanded polystyrene, each of which are commonly available thermoplastic materials”) disposed over the plurality of radiators (122),
wherein the reconfigurable lens has a bottom layer (underside of 240) that has a plurality of bottom layer holes (¶87, “as can be seen in FIGS. 6A-6C, holes 242 are drilled through each RF lens 240. In the depicted embodiment, eleven vertically-extending columns 244 of holes 242 are formed through each the RF lens 240. Each hole 242 may be filled with air. Air will have a different dielectric constant than the material used to form the RF lenses 240. Thus, each RF lens 240 may be viewed as being formed of two different materials (namely the lens material and air) that have different dielectric constants. Since the dielectric constant of the RF lens 240 impacts how much the RF radiation is bent (i.e., focused or defocused), the provision of the air holes 142 may be used to further change the shape of the antenna beam in a desired fashion.”), wherein the reconfigurable lens is formed of a dielectric material (¶83)”.
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Zimmerman does not teach, or suggest, and a middle layer that has two middle layer sections that are separated along an azimuth axis by a gap, and wherein the reconfigurable lens has one or more beamwidth control sliders that are configurable to translate along an axis perpendicular to an azimuthal plane of the beamwidth-controlled radiator column.
Claims 2-11 are allowed due to their dependency on claim 1.
Regarding independent claim 12, Sato discloses (fig. 4) “A reconfigurable dielectric lens (420) for a plurality of radiators (411), the lens comprising:
a beamwidth control slider (420) configured to translate, in a positive and negative direction along the axis perpendicular to an azimuthal plane associated with the plurality of radiators (dielectric member 420 slides in an X direction along guide rails 415)”.
Sato does not teach, or suggest, a plurality of dielectric layers configured to be positioned over the plurality of radiators along an axis perpendicular to an azimuthal plane associated with the plurality of radiators; and extend in the positive direction beyond the dimensions of the plurality of dielectric layers and reduce the beamwidth of the plurality of radiators.
Deng et al. (US 2018/0233815; “Deng”) discloses (fig. 9 below) “A reconfigurable dielectric lens for a plurality of radiators (abstract, “A cellular antenna having an array of radiating elements and a flat sheet of dielectric material in front of the antenna radiating elements and spaced about a half wavelength from the antenna phase center to provide an azimuth beam width that is narrower than without the dielectric sheet”), the lens comprising:
a plurality of dielectric layers (30, 32) configured to be positioned over the plurality of radiators along an axis perpendicular to an azimuthal plane associated with the plurality of radiators (¶35 “the dielectric sheet 26 comprises a plurality of layers 30, 32 of dielectric material. Building the dielectric sheet 26 from layers allows for customization of beam patterns. For example, if the dielectric sheet is 5 mm thick, assembling a given antenna with one, two or three layers would provide a dielectric sheet of 5, 10, and 15 mm, respectively. In this case, the AzBW would progressively become more narrow as layers are added to the dielectric sheet”); and
the plurality of dielectric layers reduce the beamwidth of the plurality of radiators (see abstract)”.
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Deng does not teach, or suggest, a beamwidth control slider configured to translate, in a positive and negative direction along the axis perpendicular to an azimuthal plane associated with the plurality of radiators, and extend in the positive direction beyond the dimensions of the plurality of dielectric layers and reduce the beamwidth of the plurality of radiators”.
Claims 13-20 are allowed due to their dependency on claim 12.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNA N HAMADYK whose telephone number is (703)756-1672. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dimary Lopez can be reached at (571) 270-7893. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANNA N HAMADYK/Examiner, Art Unit 2845
/DIMARY S LOPEZ CRUZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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