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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2,7-13,15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damji to (US 20140098694 A1) in view of Raaf to (WO 02093783 A1)
Regarding claims 1,9,17 Damji teaches a method performed by a user device(FIG.2 ,UE, FIG.3B), the method comprising: configuring a plurality of radios(‘324” “326”,FIG.3B) of the user device to operate in a first diversity mode state of a plurality of diversity mode states,([0084] the wireless communication device reconfigures the first RF receive signal chain and the second RF receive signal chain to enable receive diversity or to disable receive diversity based on the monitor traffic activity and the measured downlink RF receive signal conditions at the wireless communication device 102) the plurality of radios operable to communicate using one or more of a plurality of antennas; ([0084] the wireless communication device 102 establishes a connection with the wireless network 100 using wireless circuitry that includes at least the first RF receive signal chain and the second RF receive signal chain) and while in the first diversity mode state: determining whether a first radio signal strength of a first radio of the plurality of radios is below a first radio signal strength threshold; ([0086] discloses the wireless communication device disables receive diversity when the measured level of data traffic equals or falls below a data activity threshold, and when the measured downlink RF receive signal conditions allow reliable decoding of at least one downlink signaling control channel..) and
Damji does not explicitly teach in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold, configuring the plurality of radios to operate in a second diversity mode state of the plurality of diversity mode states
However, Raaf teaches in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold, (page 4,lines 1-5 , In order to make optimal use of the transmission capacity of a mobile radio communication system, it is of course desirable to limit the extent of interruptions from uplink or downlink, which are associated with the measurements on the signals from the neighboring station ) configuring the plurality of radios to operate in a second diversity mode state of the plurality of diversity mode states(page 5, lines 16-29 discloses In the case of a radio communication system which can be switched over between an operating state without closed-loop antenna diversity and the operating state with closed-loop antenna diversity, such a vector may not exist because the uplink signal is only interrupted in the course of the interruption has been switched to the operating state with closed-loop antenna diversity. In such systems, a default weighting vector is generally defined, which is used to weight the downlink signal in the first time slot after the switchover)
Therefore; it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Damji include in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold, configuring the plurality of radios to operate in a second diversity mode state of the plurality of diversity mode states, as suggested by Raaf. This modification would benefit the system to establish a reliable connection.
Regarding claims 2,13 Damji and Raaf teaches further comprising, while in the first diversity mode state: determining whether a second radio signal strength falls below a second radio signal strength threshold; (Damji,[0086] discloses the wireless communication device disables receive diversity when the measured level of data traffic equals or falls below a data activity threshold, and when the measured downlink RF receive signal conditions allow reliable decoding of at least one downlink signaling control channel..) and in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold and the second radio signal strength being below the second radio signal strength threshold, configuring the plurality of radios to operate in the second diversity mode state(Raaf, page 5, lines 16-29 discloses In the case of a radio communication system which can be switched over between an operating state without closed-loop antenna diversity and the operating state with closed-loop antenna diversity, such a vector may not exist because the uplink signal is only interrupted in the course of the interruption has been switched to the operating state with closed-loop antenna diversity. In such systems, a default weighting vector is generally defined, which is used to weight the downlink signal in the first time slot after the switchover).
Regarding claims 7,15 Damji teaches wherein configuring the plurality of radios to operate in the first diversity mode state comprises configuring the plurality of radios to operate using a first antenna and a second antenna of the plurality of antennas([0084] the wireless communication device 102 establishes a connection with the wireless network 100 using wireless circuitry that includes at least the first RF receive signal chain and the second RF receive signal chain).
Regarding claims 8,16, Damji teaches wherein configuring the plurality of radios to operate in the second diversity mode state comprises configuring the plurality of radios to operate using a first antenna and a diversity antenna of the plurality of antennas([0084] the wireless communication device 102 establishes a connection with the wireless network 100 using wireless circuitry that includes at least the first RF receive signal chain and the second RF receive signal chain).
Regarding claim 10, Damji teaches wherein the radio controller comprises a first radio controller core and a second radio controller core(fig.3B, CONTROL LOGIC).
Regarding claim 11, Damji teaches wherein the first radio controller core is communicatively connected to a first antenna of the plurality of antennas(fig.3B, “324” “326”).
Regarding claim 12, Damji teaches wherein the second radio controller core is
communicatively connected to (i) a second antenna and (ii) a diversity antenna of the plurality of
antennas(fig.3B, “324” “326”, “BASEBAND PROCESSOR”)..
Claim(s) 4,18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Damji to (US 20140098694 A1) in view of Raaf to (WO 02093783 A1) further in view of Song to (US 20150162972 A1)
Regarding claims 4,18 Damji does not explicitly teach further comprising, while in the second diversity mode state: determining whether the first radio signal strength is below the first radio signal strength threshold; and in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold, configuring the plurality of radios to operate in a third diversity mode state
However, Song teaches while in the second diversity mode state: determining whether the first radio signal strength is below the first radio signal strength threshold; and in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold, configuring the plurality of radios to operate in a third diversity mode state ([0119] discloses quality of a communication channel is determined and based on this result, an operating state of the antenna system is changed.[0120] In step S1210, when a GPS, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi antenna is used, a third diversity mode (i.e., a mode for receiving a diversity signal of a second band via the second antenna) is in a switched off state. In step S1220, the antenna system operates in a diversity mode (i.e., a basic diversity mode in which the second antenna receives a diversity signal of a first band and the third antenna receives a diversity signal of a second band. This mode is distinguished from a third diversity mode or a multiplexing mode)
Therefore; it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Damji include while in the second diversity mode state: determining whether the first radio signal strength is below the first radio signal strength threshold; and in accordance with the first radio signal strength being below the first radio signal strength threshold, configuring the plurality of radios to operate in a third diversity mode state, as suggested by Song. This modification would benefit the system to establish a reliable connection.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3,5-6,14,19-20 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A BEYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-6:00.
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/ZEWDU A BEYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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