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
2. 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
3. Claims 1 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Camuffo US 20240364266 A1 in view of King US 20160044677 A1.
4. Consider claims 1 and 18. Camuffo teaches wireless circuitry and electronic device (fig 3) comprising: first transceiver circuitry(28) that implements a first radio access technology (RAT) (from 0041…in general, the first radio-frequency signals (e.g., cellular signals) and the second radio-frequency signals (e.g., WLAN and/or BT signals) can be signals generated using different radio access technologies (RATs). In FIG. 3, transceiver(s) 28′ can include a WLAN transceiver, a BT transceiver, and/or other types of wireless transceivers….); a first radio-frequency transmission line path (74) coupled to the first transceiver circuitry; a switchable filter on the first radio-frequency transmission line path (74) and having a stopband; second transceiver circuitry (28) that implements a second RAT different from the first RAT (0041 different RAT’s); a second radio-frequency transmission line path (74’) coupled to the second transceiver circuitry. Camuffo fails to teach a switchable notch filter in the first path and a switchable bandpass filter on the second radio-frequency transmission line path, wherein a passband of the switchable bandpass filter overlaps the stopband of the switchable notch filter. However, from the same field of endeavor, King (fig 5a) teaches such. Note King teaches plural paths where in one path a switchable notch filter (510) is switched in and in another path a bandpass filter (540) is switched in with the overlap of the stop band being obvious based on the design and usage (see 0069 and 0070).
5. Claims 2, 10, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Camuffo US 20240364266 A1 in view of King US 20160044677 A1 further in view of Pfann US 10979021 B2.
6. Regarding claim 2. Pfann teaches (fig 14) a digital controller coupled to the switchable notch filter and the switchable bandpass filter over a digital backbone, wherein the digital controller is configured to adjust (97) the passband of the switchable bandpass filter and is configured to adjust the stopband of the switchable bandpass filter to overlap the adjusted passband of the switchable bandpass filter. It would have been obvious, before the effective date to use the teachings of Pfann in the combination in order to remove unwanted harmonic interference.
7. Regarding claim 10. Pfann teaches (fig 15A) further comprising: a radio chip, wherein the first transceiver circuitry (1802) comprises a first core (inherent) of the radio chip, the first core has a port coupled to the first radio-frequency transmission line path, the second transceiver circuitry (1804) comprises a second core (inherent) of the radio chip, and the second core is coupled to the second radio-frequency transmission line path.
8. Regarding claim 11. Pfann teaches (fig 15A) further comprising: a first radio chip (inherent) that includes the first transceiver circuitry (1802) and that has a first port coupled to the first radio-frequency transmission line path; and a second radio chip (inherent) that includes the second transceiver circuitry (1804) and that has a second port coupled to the second radio-frequency transmission line path.
9. Claims 12-17are allowed.
Regarding claim 12. The prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious wireless circuitry comprising: first and second transmission line paths; transceiver circuitry coupled to the first and second transmission line paths, the transceiver circuitry being configured to convey a first radio-frequency (RF) signal of a first radio access technology (RAT) over the first transmission line path and being configured to convey a second RF signal of a second RAT different from the first RAT over the second transmission line path; first and second switches on the first transmission line path; first and second notch filters coupled in parallel between the first and second switches, the first notch filter having a first stopband and the second notch filter having a second stopband different from the first stopband; third and fourth switches on the second transmission line path; and first and second bandpass filters coupled in parallel between the third and fourth switches, the first bandpass filter having a first passband that overlaps the first stopband and the second bandpass filter having a second passband that overlaps the second stopband. Dependent claims 13-17 are allowable since the depend upon claim 12.
10. Claims 3-9, 19 and 20 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.
Regarding claim 3. the prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious wherein the first transceiver circuitry is configured to convey a first radio-frequency signal over the first radio-frequency transmission line path, the second transceiver circuitry is configured to convey a second radio-frequency signal over the second radio-frequency transmission line path, and the first transceiver circuitry is configured to scan, without adjustment to the switchable notch filter, the first radio-frequency signal over a set of bands while the second radio-frequency transceiver circuitry concurrently conveys the second radio-frequency signal over the second radio-frequency transmission line path. Dependent claims 4-8 are objected to since the depend upon claim 3. Claim 20 is objected to since it includes the allowable limitation set forth in claim 3.
Regarding claim 9. The prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious wherein the first radio-frequency transmission line path is coupled to a first antenna and a first port of the first transceiver circuitry and wherein the second radio-frequency transmission line path is coupled to a second antenna, the wireless circuitry further comprising: a third radio-frequency transmission line path coupled between a second port of the first transceiver circuitry and a third antenna; and an additional switchable notch filter on the third radio-frequency transmission line path and having an additional stopband that overlaps the stopband of the switchable notch filter and the passband of the switchable bandpass filter.
Regarding claim 19. The prior art of record fails to teach or make obvious wherein the transceiver circuitry has a third port and is configured to convey a third radio-frequency signal using the first RAT over the third port, the electronic device further comprising: a third antenna; a third transmission line path that couples a third port of the transceiver circuitry to the third antenna; an additional switched notch filter on the third transmission line path, wherein the switched notch filter and the additional switched notch filter are configured to exhibit a same stopband; an additional RFFE module on the third transmission line path between the additional switched notch filter and the third port; and an additional bandpass filter on the third transmission line path between the additional RFFE module and the third port, wherein the bandpass filter and the additional bandpass filter are configured to exhibit a same passband.
11. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tsuda US 20210314010 A1 teaches a radio-frequency module includes a switch performing switching of the connection between a common terminal and a selection terminal, a reception filter having a reception band in a band A as a passband, a transmission filter that has a transmission band in a band B as a passband and has an output terminal connected to the selection terminal, a filter (which could be a notch filter 0047) that has the transmission band in a band B as an attenuation band and has an input terminal connected to the selection terminal, a reception path which connects the selection terminal and an input terminal of the reception filter and on which the filter is disposed, a bypass path which connects the selection terminal and the input terminal of the reception filter and on which no filter is disposed, and a transmission path which connects the selection terminal and a transmission terminal and on which the transmission filter is disposed.
Beaudin US 20210067186 A1 teaches a switched filter (128) which is coupled to an antenna (130). The switched filter includes a filter (210), a bypass line (212) and a switching circuitry which is coupled to the filter and the bypass line. The switching circuitry is configured to selectively establish a bypass signal path that includes the bypass line or a filtered signal path that includes the filter. A transceiver unit (126-1- 126-n) is coupled to the antenna by the switched filter and is configured to process a carrier signal transmitted or received by the antenna. A switched filter controller (132) is coupled to the switching circuitry and is configured to cause the switching circuitry to selectively connect the transceiver unit to the antenna by the bypass signal path or by the filtered signal path based on a frequency band of the carrier signal and a bandwidth of the carrier signal.
Conclusion
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CURTIS A KUNTZ whose telephone number is (571)272-7499. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th from 530am to 330pm and Fri from 530am to 10am.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew D Anderson, can be reached at telephone number 5712724177. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Examiner interviews are available via a variety of formats. See MPEP § 713.01. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/InterviewPractice.
/CURTIS A KUNTZ/Primary examiner, Art Unit 2646
Prosecution Insights