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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 1-25 are non-provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-28 of US Patent No.12,177,797. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-28 of US Patent No. 12,177,797 encompasses the limitations of claims 1-25 of instant application. Moreover, omission of a reference element whose function is not needed would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. It is well settled that the omission of an element and its functions is an obvious expedient if the remaining elements performs the same function as before In re Karison, 163 USPQ 184 (CCPA 1963). Also note Ex parte Rainu, 168 uspq 375 (Bd. App. 1969).
More specifically, the independent claims 1-25 of the present application are same scope, same function and same results as claims 1-28 of the US Patent No. 12,177,797. In addition, even though the claims of present application omitted or simply rearranged claimed structure, or added the limitation using similar claimed elements, the function and results of claimed invention of the US Patent No. 12,177,797 is same as claimed invention of the present application.
In addition, the independent claims 1, 8, and 22 of the present application is the same invention as the independent claims 1, 18, and 28 of the US Patent No. 12,177,797. The subject matter in the instant application is fully disclosed in the US Patent No. 12,177,797 and is covered by the US Patent No. 12,177,797 since the US Patent No. 12,177,797and the instant application are claiming common subject matter, as follows, and the difference of the limitations are wordings differently.
Instant Application
U.S. Patent No. 12,177,797, Application No. 17/412,343
1. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising:
accessing a stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups; and
transmitting, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group, a signal at a transmission power level based on the stored backoff factor in compliance with a radio frequency (RF) exposure requirement, wherein: transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises
transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on a sum of RF exposures for each of the plurality of antenna groups being less than or equal to a threshold;
the stored backoff factor comprises a plurality of backoff factors; and
each of the plurality of backoff factors is associated with a respective antenna group among the plurality of antenna groups such that a respective backoff factor among the plurality of backoff factors applies to the sum of the RF exposures for each of the plurality of antenna groups.
1. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising:
accessing a stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups; and
transmitting, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group, a signal at a transmission power level based on the backoff factor in compliance with a radio frequency (RF) exposure requirement, wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on enforcing RF exposure compliance for one of the plurality of antenna groups having a transmit power limit less than another one of the plurality of antenna groups.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on a sum of RF exposures for each of the antenna groups being less than or equal to a threshold.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the backoff factor comprises a plurality of backoff factors, and
each of the backoff factors is associated with a separate antenna group among the plurality of antenna groups such that a separate backoff factor among the plurality of backoff factors is applied to the sum of the RF exposures for each of the antenna groups.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing comprises accessing a first stored backoff factor associated with a first antenna group in a first grouping, the method further comprising accessing a second stored backoff factor associated with a second antenna group in a second grouping.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein accessing the second stored backoff factor is based on one or more switching criteria.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing comprises accessing a first stored backoff factor associated with a first antenna group in a first grouping in the plurality of antenna groups, the method further comprising accessing a second stored backoff factor associated with a second antenna group in a second grouping in the plurality of antenna groups, based on one or more switching criteria.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first mode is a sub-6 GHz band transmission mode and wherein the second mode is a millimeter wave (mmWave) band transmission mode.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first mode is a sub-6 GHz band transmission mode and wherein the second mode is a millimeter wave (mmWave) band transmission mode.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of antenna groups comprises a plurality of transmit antennas; the transmit antennas comprise one or more first antennas configured to transmit in a first mode and one or more second antennas configured to transmit in a second mode; the one or more first antennas are separately assigned to the antenna groups; and the one or more second antennas are included in each of the antenna groups.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of antenna groups comprises a plurality of transmit antennas; the transmit antennas comprise one or more first antennas configured to transmit in a first mode and one or more second antennas configured to transmit in a second mode; the one or more first antennas are separately assigned to the antenna groups; and the one or more second antennas are included in each of the antenna groups.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting in the first mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies below 6 GHz, and wherein transmitting in the second mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies above 6 GHz.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting in the first mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies below 6 GHz, and wherein transmitting in the second mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies above 6 GHz.
8. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising:
accessing a stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups;
selecting a first grouping of antenna groups based on one or more criteria, wherein the antenna group is in the first grouping and wherein the stored backoff factor is among a plurality of stored backoff factors for the first grouping and is associated with the antenna group in the first grouping; and
transmitting, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group, a signal at a transmission power level based on the stored backoff factor in compliance with a radio frequency (RF) exposure requirement.
1. A method of wireless communication by a user equipment, comprising:
accessing a stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups;
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising
selecting a first grouping in the plurality of antenna groups based on one or more criteria, wherein the antenna group is in the first grouping and wherein the backoff factor is among a plurality of stored backoff factors for the first grouping and is associated with the antenna group in the first grouping.
1……. transmitting, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group, a signal at a transmission power level based on the backoff factor in compliance with a radio frequency (RF) exposure requirement,
wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on enforcing RF exposure compliance for one of the plurality of antenna groups having a transmit power limit less than another one of the plurality of antenna groups.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more criteria comprise total RF exposure margins available for different groupings of antenna groups, including for the first grouping.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more criteria comprise total RF exposure margins available for different groupings in the plurality of antenna groups, including for the first grouping.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more criteria comprise: total RF exposure margins available for different groupings of antenna groups; and a priority of a radio type.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more criteria comprise: total RF exposure margins available for different groupings in the plurality of antenna groups; and a priority of a radio type.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: selecting a second grouping of antenna groups based on the one or more criteria; accessing another stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group in the second grouping; and transmitting, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group in the second grouping, another signal at another transmission power level based on the other backoff factor in compliance with the RF exposure requirement.
15. The method of claim 12, further comprising: selecting a second grouping in the plurality of antenna groups based on the one or more criteria; accessing another stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group in the second grouping; and transmitting, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group in the second grouping, another signal at another transmission power level based on the other backoff factor in compliance with the RF exposure requirement.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise total RF exposure margins available for different groupings of antenna groups, including for the first grouping and for the second grouping; and the total RF exposure margin available for the second grouping is greater than the total RF exposure margin available for the first grouping at a time of selecting the second grouping.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein: the one or more criteria comprise total RF exposure margins available for different groupings in the plurality of antenna groups, including for the first grouping and for the second grouping; and the total RF exposure margin available for the second grouping is greater than the total RF exposure margin available for the first grouping at a time of selecting the second grouping.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein at least one of the antenna groups comprises a first antenna configured to transmit in a first mode and a second antenna configured to transmit in a second mode.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the antenna groups comprises a first antenna configured to transmit in a first mode and a second antenna configured to transmit in a second mode.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first mode is a sub-6 GHz band transmission mode and wherein the second mode is a millimeter wave (mmWave) band transmission mode.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the first mode is a sub-6 GHz band transmission mode and wherein the second mode is a millimeter wave (mmWave) band transmission mode.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of antenna groups comprises a plurality of transmit antennas; the transmit antennas comprise one or more first antennas configured to transmit in a first mode and one or more second antennas configured to transmit in a second mode; the one or more first antennas are separately assigned to the antenna groups; and the one or more second antennas are included in each of the antenna groups.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of antenna groups comprises a plurality of transmit antennas; the transmit antennas comprise one or more first antennas configured to transmit in a first mode and one or more second antennas configured to transmit in a second mode; the one or more first antennas are separately assigned to the antenna groups; and the one or more second antennas are included in each of the antenna groups.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein transmitting in the first mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies below 6 GHz, and wherein transmitting in the second mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies above 6 GHz.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting in the first mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies below 6 GHz, and wherein transmitting in the second mode involves transmitting at one or more frequencies above 6 GHz.
17. The method of claim 8, wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on a time-averaged sum of RF exposures for each antenna group in the first grouping being less than or equal to a threshold.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on a time-averaged sum of RF exposures for each of the antenna groups being less than or equal to a threshold.
18. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining time-averaged RF exposures for each antenna group in the first grouping, wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on each of the determined time-averaged RF exposures being less than or equal to a threshold.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining time-averaged RF exposures for each of the antenna groups, wherein transmitting the signal at the transmission power level comprises transmitting the signal at the transmission power level based on each of the time-averaged RF exposures being less than or equal to a threshold.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining the time-averaged RF exposures comprises determining the time-averaged RF exposures for each of the antenna groups in the first grouping in parallel.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the time-averaged RF exposures comprises concurrently determining the time-averaged RF exposures for each of the antenna groups.
20. The method of claim 8, wherein: the antenna group is a first antenna group in the first grouping; the stored backoff factor is a first stored backoff factor associated with the first antenna group; the accessing comprises accessing the first stored backoff factor associated with the first antenna group in the first grouping of antenna groups; and
the method further comprises accessing a second stored backoff factor associated with a second antenna group in a second grouping of antenna groups, based on one or more switching criteria.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing comprises accessing a first stored backoff factor associated with a first antenna group in a first grouping in the plurality of antenna groups,
the method further comprising accessing a second stored backoff factor associated with a second antenna group in a second grouping in the plurality of antenna groups, based on one or more switching criteria.
22. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: at least one memory; one or more processors coupled to the at least one memory, the processors and the memory being configured to access a stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups; and
a transmitter configured to transmit, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group, a signal at a transmission power level based on the stored backoff factor in compliance with a radio frequency (RF) exposure requirement,
wherein: the transmitter is configured to transmit the signal at the transmission power level based on a sum of RF exposures for each of the plurality of antenna groups being less than or equal to a threshold;
the stored backoff factor comprises a plurality of backoff factors; and each of the plurality backoff factors is associated with a respective antenna group among the plurality of antenna groups such that a respective backoff factor among the plurality of backoff factors applies to the sum of the RF exposures for each of the plurality of antenna groups.
18. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; a processor coupled to the memory, the processor and the memory being configured to access a stored backoff factor associated with an antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups; and
a transmitter configured to transmit, from at least one transmit antenna in the antenna group, a signal at a transmission power level based on the backoff factor in compliance with a radio frequency (RF) exposure requirement,
wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the signal at the transmission power level based on enforcing RF exposure compliance for one of the plurality of antenna groups having a transmit power limit less than another one of the plurality of antenna groups.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the backoff factor comprises a plurality of backoff factors, and each of the backoff factors is associated with a separate antenna group among the plurality of antenna groups such that a separate backoff factor among the plurality of backoff factors is applied to the sum of the RF exposures for each of the antenna groups.
23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein at least one antenna group of the plurality of antenna groups comprises a first antenna configured to transmit in a first mode and a second antenna configured to transmit in a second mode.
24. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein at least one of the antenna groups comprises a first antenna configured to transmit in a first mode and a second antenna configured to transmit in a second mode.
24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first mode is a sub-6 GHz band transmission mode and wherein the second mode is a millimeter wave (mmWave) band transmission mode.
25. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first mode is a sub-6 GHz band transmission mode and wherein the second mode is a millimeter wave (mmWave) band transmission mode.
25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein: the plurality of antenna groups comprises a plurality of transmit antennas; the transmit antennas comprise one or more first antennas configured to transmit in a first mode and one or more second antennas configured to transmit in a second mode; the one or more first antennas are separately assigned to the antenna groups; and the one or more second antennas are included in each of the antenna groups.
26. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein: the plurality of antenna groups comprises a plurality of transmit antennas; the transmit antennas comprise one or more first antennas configured to transmit in a first mode and one or more second antennas configured to transmit in a second mode; the one or more first antennas are separately assigned to the antenna groups; and the one or more second antennas are included in each of the antenna groups.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhou et al. (US 2021/0345410), Youtz et al. (US 2020/0358589), Kim et al. (US Patent #10,264,584), Zandhi (US 2017/0311330), Lee et al. (US Patent #8,977,312), Kim et al. (US Patent #8,948,115), and Kazmi et al. (US 2015/0011236).
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/DOMINIC E REGO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648 Tel 571-272-8132
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