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 10/31/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 18-20 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.
Claims 18-20 recite the limitation “… a clock generator configured to output a transmission clock signal corresponding to the TX signal to the amplifier …” and “… wherein the clock generator adjusts a radio frequency (RF) parameter including at least one of a frequency or phase of the transmission clock signal after transmitting the TX signal to the antenna …” in claim 18, which is unclear how the clock generator adjusts the transmission clock signal after transmitting the TX signal, while the transmission clock signal was output corresponding to the TX signal.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claim(s) 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (KR 20150119484 A – See English text).
Regarding claim 18, Yang et al. (figure 1) disclose a near field communication (NFC) device (100) comprising: an antenna (inductive coil 109) configured to transmit a transmit (TX) signal (132) to an external device (NFC target device) and receive a receive (RX) signal from the external device; an amplifier (105) configured to output the TX signal to the antenna; and a clock generator (104) configured to output a transmission clock signal corresponding to the TX signal to the amplifier before receiving the RX signal from the external device (paragraphs [0013]-[0016]), wherein the clock generator adjusts a radio frequency (RF) parameter including at least one of a frequency or phase of the transmission clock signal after transmitting the TX signal to the antenna and before receiving the RX signal from the external device (paragraph [0046]).
Regarding claim 19, Yang et al. disclose the NFC device of claim 18, wherein the RX signal is a first RX signal first received from the external device (paragraphs [0014]-[0016]).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang et al. in view of Miller et al. (US 7,643,602 B2).
Regarding claim 20, Yang et al. disclose the NFC device of claim 19 above. Yang et al. do not explicitly disclose wherein a phase of the transmission clock signal output from the clock generator to the amplifier, before receiving the first RX signal from the external device, is randomly determined. However, Miller et al. disclose a phase of the transmission clock signal output from the clock generator is randomly determined (column 1, lines 13-23). Therefor, it would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt the teaching of the random phase transmission clock signal Miller et al. to the device of Yang et al. as a system design preference for transmitting operation before phase synchronization process.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-17 are allowed over the cited prior art.
Regarding independent claim 1, Yang et al. (figure 1) disclose a near field communication (NFC) device (100) comprising: an amplifier (105) configured to output a transmit (TX) signal to an antenna (inductive coil 109); a phase detector (106) configured to compare a phase of a recovery clock signal generated by a receive (RX) signal transmitted to the antenna with a phase of a reference clock signal to calculate a phase difference; and a clock generator (104) configured to output a transmission clock signal to the amplifier, and control a phase of the transmission clock signal with reference to the phase difference calculated by the phase detector (paragraphs [0013]-[0016] and [0043]-[0046]. However, Yang et al. fail to further disclose the NFC device above wherein when a field emitted by an external reader is detected, the clock generator outputs a pre-clock signal having a random phase to the amplifier to emit a pre-TX signal from the amplifier before receiving the RX signal from the external reader, and the phase detector transmits, to the clock generator, an initial phase difference calculated by comparing a phase of a reflected clock signal recovered from a reflected signal of the pre-TX signal received at the antenna with the phase of the reference clock signal.
Regarding independent claim 11, Yang et al. (figure 1) disclose a near field communication (NFC) device (100) comprising: a clock generator (104) configured to generate a pre-clock signal having a random phase when entry into a field generated by an external device is detected; an amplifier (105) configured to transmit a pre-transmit (TX) signal through an antenna in response to the pre-clock signal; and a phase detector (106) (paragraphs [0013]-[0016] and [0043]-[0046]. However, Yang et al. fail to further disclose the NFC device above when a reflected signal of the pre-TX signal is received by the antenna, the phase detector is configured to compare a reflected clock signal generated by the reflected signal and a predetermined reference clock signal to calculate an initial phase difference, wherein the clock generator adjusts a radio frequency (RF) parameter including at least one of a frequency or phase of a first TX signal first transmitted to the external device with reference to the initial phase difference.
Claims 2-10 and 12-17 are allowed for being dependent from claims 1 and 11, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Yu et al. (US 10,264,540 B2) disclose a near field communication (NFC) device configured to use in preparing a carrier signal for active load modulation supporting both synchronous and asynchronous transmissions; the NFC device comprises a local clock generator for generating a reference clock signal (REF_CLK), a clock extractor for recovering a clock signal (EXT_CLK) generated by an NFC initiator device, a frequency tracking module (FTM) for performing a frequency tracking operation based on an input clock signal (REF_CLK or EXT_CLK) to produce a FTM output with its frequency aligned with the input clock signal, and a phase tracking module (PTM) for performing a phase tracking operation on the FTM output based on EXT_CLK to produce a PTM output with its phase aligned with EXT_CLK.
Prouel et al. (US 11,099,598 B2) teach a clock alignment module for a near field communication, NFC, controller operable in active load modulation, ALM, card mode, the module being operable during a transmit mode comprising transmit bursts and comprising: an input for receiving a field clock signal (CLK_FIELD); an output for outputting a local controller clock signal (CLK_FB); a transmit envelop unit configured to determine whether a time since an end of a latest transmit burst exceeds a threshold, Tdelay; and a phase locked loop, PLL, configured to selectively lock the phase of the local controller clock signal to the phase of the field clock signal, in response to the time exceeding the threshold and a next transmit burst not having started.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUOCHIEN B VUONG whose telephone number is (571)272-7902. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00-06:00PM M-F.
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/QUOCHIEN B VUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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