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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 should instead recite,
“A unit cell for use in a phased array comprising a plurality of unit cells, the unit cell comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly comprising one or more PCB layers;
a patch radiating element centrally disposed on a top surface of the PCB assembly;
a plurality of electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures on the top surface of the PCB assembly, the EBG structures arranged around the patch radiating element, the EBG structures grounded in the PCB assembly; and
a feed network embedded in the PCB assembly, the feed network in RF communication with the patch radiating element, the feed network for emitting or receiving an RF signal.”
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 2 is 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 2 recites the limitation "the second unit cell" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For the sake of examination, Examiner has construed it to recite, “a second unit cell”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7, 9-11, 13-15, and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being clearly anticipated by Cho et al. (US 20220399634 A1), hereinafter Cho.
Regarding claim 1, Cho teaches a unit cell for use in a phased array comprising a plurality of unit cells (Figs. 3, 4A, and 7, phased arrays 1110a-d each contain multiple of antenna 1110 construed as a unit cell) , the unit cell comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly comprising one or more PCB layers (see para. 203 for evidence of the antenna element 1110 of Fig. 4B [analogous to the unit cell as claimed] being integrated into a PCB; Fig. 4B, multiple PCB layers),
a patch radiating element centrally disposed on a top surface of the PCB assembly, a plurality of electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures on the top surface of the PCB assembly, the EBG structures arranged around the patch radiating element, the EBG structures grounded in the PCB assembly (paras. 168-169, “On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows a side view in which the antenna and the EBG structure disposed therearound are implemented in a multi-layer substrate according to an embodiment. Meanwhile, unlike FIG. 4A, when the EBG structures having the same shape are disposed around the patch antenna such that the EBG structures having the same shape surround the patch antenna, antenna radiation performance may be deteriorated.”; Figs. 4A and 4B, the patch 1101 [analogous to the patch radiating element as claimed] may be centrally disposed on a top surface of antenna element 1110, where EBG elements 1103 [analogous to the EBG structures as claimed] are arranged around the patch on the top surface of multi-layer substrate and coupled to a ground layer 1102), and
a feed network embedded in the PCB assembly, the feed network in RF communication with the patch radiating element, the feed network for emitting or receiving an RF signal (para. 178, “Specifically, the RFIC [Radio Frequency Integrated Chip] 1250, which is a processor, is connected to a feeding line 1104 in the form of bumping under the feeding line 1104 to transmit a millimeter wave band signal between the RFIC 1250 and the feeding line 1104.”; Fig. 4A, feeding line 1104 coupled to patch 1101).
Regarding claim 2, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
wherein at least some of the EBG structures are truncated such that, when arranged in an array next to an adjacent patch element, the truncated EBG structures of the first unit cell and the truncated EBG structures of a second unit cell together form at least one full non-truncated EBG structure (Fig. 7, each unit cell shares two or three EBG elements, the shared EBG elements effectively truncated).
Regarding claim 3, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
wherein the EBG structures are arranged in at least two rows or rings around the patch radiating element (Fig. 4A, EBG structures surround patch 1101, where the EBG2 elements each consist of two rows).
Regarding claim 4, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1, further comprising
at least one electronic component or amplifier that serves the unit cell surface mounted to a bottom surface of the PCB assembly, the at least one electronic component or amplifier being contained entirely within a cross sectional volume of the PCB assembly (Figs. 2 and 4B, RFIC/transceiver circuits 250/1250 contains 4 amplifiers and is mounted to the bottom of the PCB, contained entirely in its cross sectional volume; RFICs 250 and 1250 belong to interchangeable embodiments, see the circuit diagrams of Figs. 2 and 7).
Regarding claim 5, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1, further comprising
at least one interface connector for connecting to at least one electronic component or amplifier external to the unit cell, the at least one interface connector disposed on a bottom surface of the PCB assembly (para. 178, “Specifically, the RFIC [Radio Frequency Integrated Chip] 1250, which is a processor, is connected to a feeding line 1104 in the form of bumping under the feeding line 1104 to transmit a millimeter wave band signal between the RFIC 1250 and the feeding line 1104.”; Fig. 4B, bumping under feeding line 1104 connects to RFIC 1250).
Regarding claim 6, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
where the EBG structures each comprise a patch element and a short circuit post centrally located on the patch element (see paras. 186-187, 201, and Figs. 5-6, Examiner is construing the vias Via1-4 as patch elements, each via connected to the ground layer through a post centrally extending through each via, the post being construed as a short circuit post).
Regarding claim 7, Cho teaches a phased array antenna including
an array of the unit cells of claim 1 (Figs. 3, 4A, and 7, phased arrays 1110a-d each contain multiple antenna elements 1110).
Regarding claim 9, Cho teaches the phased array antenna of claim 7,
wherein the array is configured as a square lattice (Fig. 7, array 1110a in which antenna elements/unit cells 1110 are configured as a square lattice).
Regarding claim 10, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1, further comprising
one or more beamforming network components mounted to the bottom surface of the PCB assembly behind the patch radiating element (para. 178, “Meanwhile, the transceiver circuit 1250 is configured to control a signal applied to each antenna element of the array antennas 1110 a to 1100 d to perform beamforming through the array antennas 1110 a to 1100 d.”; Fig. 4B, RFIC/transceiver circuit 1250 mounted to the bottom of the PCB under the patch 1101).
Regarding claim 11, Cho teaches the phased array antenna of claim 7, further comprising
a beamforming network including a plurality of beamforming network components mounted to the bottom surface of the PCB assemblies of the unit cells in the array (see rejection of claim 10; Figs. 4B and 7, transceiver circuit/RFIC 1250 is configured as a network connected to the bottom surface of the array 1110a that contain multiple antenna elements/unit cells 1110).
Regarding claim 13, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
wherein each EBG structure includes a patch element and a post connecting the patch element to a ground plane in the PCB assembly (see paras. 186-187, 201, and Figs. 5-6, Examiner is construing the vias Via1-4 as patch elements, each via connected to the ground layer through a post extending through each via).
Regarding claim 14, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
wherein the PCB assembly includes at least one ground plane and the patch radiating element includes a post connecting the patch radiating element to the ground plane (Figs. 5 and 6, post connecting ground layer to EBG structures which are connected to patch 1101 through the top layer; see Woo [US 20220407233 A1] Fig. 4, for further example of a patch radiating element connected by a post/via to a ground plane).
Regarding claim 15, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
wherein the PCB assembly includes at least two PCB layers that work as transmission lines to provide a hybrid connection between a beamforming network and the patch radiating element (para. 26, “In this case, a feeding line that supplies a signal to the patch antenna may be disposed under the ground layer of the multi-layer substrate, and a signal transmitted through the feeding line may be coupled to the patch antenna through a slot region disposed in the ground layer.”; Fig. 4B, slot region and feeding line 1104 each form a layer where each work as a transmission line in a hybrid connection between RFIC 1250 and patch 1101), and
wherein the PCB includes at least one additional layer that forms a radiating structure to emit or receive radiofrequency signals and periodic EBG to reduce a surface wave (Fig. 4B, patch 1101 and EBG elements form distinct layer above top layer of multi-layer substrate; see para. 26 for evidence that the patch 1101 may transmit signals; Fig. 7, EBG elements periodically spaced; para. 211, “Meanwhile, in order to effectively reduce a surface wave flowing along a dielectric, the first EBG element EBG1 and the second EBG element EBG2 may be implemented on a multi-layer substrate.”).
Regarding claim 17, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1,
wherein the EBG structures impede electromagnetic propagation along a top surface of the PCB assembly within a frequency band of operation of the unit cell (para. 211, “Meanwhile, in order to effectively reduce a surface wave flowing along a dielectric, the first EBG element EBG1 and the second EBG element EBG2 may be implemented on a multi-layer substrate. In this case, the patch antennas 1101, P1 to P8 and the feeding line 1104 may be disposed on different layers of the multi-layer substrate.”; EBG structures implicitly impede EM propagation within a frequency band of operation).
Regarding claim 18, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 4,
wherein the at least one electronic component or amplifier is a solid state power amplifier (para. 134, “Accordingly, the RFIC 250 may control transmission circuits including the first and second power amplifiers 210, 220 to transmit 4G or 5G signals in a specific time interval.”; power amplifiers 210 and 220 are implemented on a PCB and are thus solid state).
Regarding claim 19, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 4,
wherein the at least one electronic component or amplifier is a low noise amplifier (para. 108, “Meanwhile, the electronic device includes a plurality of low noise amplifiers (LNAs) 410 to 440 in the receiver. Here, the first power amplifier 210, the second power amplifier 220, the RFIC 250, and the plurality of low noise amplifiers 310 to 340 are all operable in a first communication system and a second communication system.”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Miki et al. (US 20230231317 A1), hereinafter Miki.
Regarding claim 8, Cho teaches the phased array antenna of claim 7, but fails to teach
wherein the array is configured as a triangular lattice.
However, Miki teaches
wherein the array is configured as a triangular lattice (Fig. 1, array 10 in which unit cells 51 are configured as a triangular lattice).
Cho and Miki are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same technological field of PCB patch antenna arrays utilizing EBG structures. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cho with the teachings of Miki with the motivation that a triangular lattice reduces the total number of required antenna elements while maintaining performance, compared to square lattices.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Ng et al. (US 20170133762 A1), hereinafter Ng.
Regarding claim 12, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1, but fails to teach
wherein the feed network provides circular polarization.
However, Ng teaches
wherein the feed network provides circular polarization (paras. 29-30, “In the illustrated embodiment, an elongated patch radiating element 140 is used in the ramp EBG antenna system 10. It should be appreciated, however, that any type of element may be used that can operate as a linear or circular polarized electric field source. A feed circuit 42 may be coupled to radiating element 40 such that radio frequency (RF) signals may be coupled to/from the radiating element 40 from feed circuit 42. In some embodiments, the feed circuit 42 is provided from an RF coaxial signal path (i.e. it is a coaxial feed) having a first end coupled to radiating element 40 and extending through EBG structure 30 (i.e., horizontal EBG structure 34, vertical EBG structure 36) and ground plane 14 in a manner known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Other techniques for coupling RF signal to/from the radiating element 40 may alternatively be used.”; see para. 4 for evidence of the EBG structures comprising multiple unit cells).
Cho and Ng are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same technological field of PCB patch antenna arrays utilizing EBG structures. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cho with the teachings of Ng with the motivation that circular polarization provides immunity to antenna orientation mismatch and resistance to multipath interference.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho in view of Rogers (US 20230369766 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Cho teaches the unit cell of claim 1, further comprising
a plurality of probes disposed between first and second adjacent layers of the PCB assembly (para. 171, “In particular, there is an advantage in that the E-field of the antenna is further radiated into a free space due to the plurality of metal strips corresponding to the second EBG element EBG2 and vias located at the center portions of the metal strips.”; Figs. 4A and 5-6, metal strips are disposed between the EBG/patch layer of the PCB assembly and the top layer of the multi-layer substrate; Examiner is construing the metal strips of Cho to be probes as they facilitate E-field radiation) but fails to teach
one or more striplines and Wilkinson power dividers disposed between third and fourth adjacent layers of the PCB assembly.
However, Rogers teaches
one or more striplines and Wilkinson power dividers disposed between third and fourth adjacent layers of the PCB assembly (para. 44, “The patch antenna element 207 is formed on a top side of a third dielectric material and below the at least one parasitic patch element 209. The microstrip feed line 203 is formed on a bottom side of the third dielectric material and below the patch antenna element 207. The power divider 205 is formed on the bottom side of the third dielectric material and is configured to divide the microstrip feed line 203 into two microstrip feed lines that are approximately ±90 degrees out of phase with each other and proximity-coupled to the patch antenna element 207 to circularly-polarize the patch antenna element 207. In an exemplary embodiment, the power divider 205 may be a T-junction power divider, a Wilkinson power divider, or a ±90 degree hybrid coupler.”; Fig. 10B, power divider 205 and microstrip feed line 203 are disposed between third and fourth adjacent layers of antenna 200; see para. 56 for evidence that antenna 200 is a formed as a PCB).
Cho and Rogers are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same technological field of PCB patch antenna arrays. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Cho with the teachings of Rogers with the motivation that Wilkinson power dividers split input signals into output signals with low loss and high isolation.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
Woo (US 20220407233 A1) teaches a PCB antenna array utilizing EBG structures, with a slightly different PCB layout from Cho. It is cited in the rejection of claim 14 to provide an example of a post directly connecting a patch radiation element to a ground plane, as opposed to the indirect connection taught in Cho.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC K HODAC whose telephone number is (571) 270-0123. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 8-6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE can be reached at (571) 270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ERIC K HODAC/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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