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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 12, 13, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by McEwan (Patent 8115673).
As to claim 1, McEwan teaches a module comprising (fig 6 and 7a):
a first port (105)(fig 6, gate of 22) for being energized by a first modulated signal (column 4 lines 19-27, column 10 lines 23-39);
a first self-oscillating mixer (SOM)(104a)(column 9 lines 33-40) for transformation between the first signal and a first component of a second signal (CLK2, column 10 lines 23-39) the first SOM comprising a second port (30) and a third port (input gate port of (44) receiving CLK2); and
a second SOM (104b) for transformation between the first signal and a second component of the second signal (output of 116, column 10 lines 23-39), the second SOM comprising a fourth port (30) and a fifth port (input gate port of (44) receiving CLK2, 104a and 104b have identical structures);
wherein the first and second SOMs have a substantially same fundamental frequency (104a and 104b are identical and generate substantially the same fundamental frequency, column 9 lines 33-53);
wherein the first and second SOMs are configured to be injection-locked at a coupling
frequency (frequency of CLK2);
wherein the second and fourth ports are connected to the first port (30 connected to the gate); and wherein the third and fifth ports are configured to be energized by the first and second
components of the second signal, respectively (column 9 lines 32-55, gate of 44 receives CLK2 and energized by the signal).
As to claim 2, McEwan wherein the coupling frequency is substantially equal to a multiple of
the fundamental frequency (column 6 lines 35-65, the mixed frequency is based on the coupling frequency).
As to claim 12, McEwan teaches a method comprising (fig 6 and 7a):
injection-locking a first self-oscillating mixer (SOM) (104a) and a second SOM (104b) at a coupling frequency (frequency of CLK2);
wherein the first and second SOMs have a substantially same fundamental frequency;
wherein the first and second SOMs are oscillating at a carrier frequency (104a and 104b are identical and generate substantially the same fundamental frequency, column 9 lines 33-53);
wherein the first SOM is for transforming between a first signal and a first component of a
second signal (CLK2, column 10 lines 23-39); and
wherein the second SOM is for transforming between the first signal and a second component
of the second signal (output of 116, column 10 lines 23-39).
As to claim 13, McEwan wherein the coupling frequency is substantially equal to a multiple of
the fundamental frequency (column 6 lines 35-65, the mixed frequency is based on the coupling frequency).
As to claim 16, McEwan wherein the carrier frequency is substantially equal to a multiple of
the fundamental frequency (column 6 lines 35-65, the mixed frequency is based on the coupling frequency).
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(s) 6, 8, 9, 11, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over McEwan.
As to claims 6, 9, 18, and 19 McEwan teaches a module comprising (fig 6 and 7a):
a first port (105)(fig 6, gate of 22) for being energized by a first modulated signal (column 4 lines 19-27, column 10 lines 23-39);
a first self-oscillating mixer (SOM)(104a)(column 9 lines 33-40) for transformation between the first signal and a first component of a second signal (CLK2, column 10 lines 23-39) the first SOM comprising a second port (30) and a third port (input gate port of (44) receiving CLK2); and
a second SOM (104b) for transformation between the first signal and a second component of the second signal (output of 116, column 10 lines 23-39), the second SOM comprising a fourth port (30) and a fifth port (input gate port of (44) receiving CLK2, 104a and 104b have identical structures);
wherein the first and second SOMs have a substantially same fundamental frequency (104a and 104b are identical and generate substantially the same fundamental frequency, column 9 lines 33-53);
wherein the first and second SOMs are configured to be injection-locked at a coupling
frequency (frequency of CLK2);
wherein the second and fourth ports are connected to the first port (30 connected to the gate); and wherein the third and fifth ports are configured to be energized by the first and second
components of the second signal, respectively (column 9 lines 32-55, gate of 44 receives CLK2 and energized by the signal), where the SOM can be used with transceiver or receiver circuit (Fig 3b (108a or 108b)) or with a combined input/output (108c)(column 8 lines 1-24).
McEwan does not explicitly teach modulation and demodulation.
As would have been recognized by a person of ordinary skill in the art modulation and demodulation in transceiver and receiver circuitry is notoriously well known in the art signal mixing as is done merely as intended use to use notoriously well known in the art signal modifications. As such it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to use the mixer taught in McEwan for modulation or demodulation as doing so would be a mere matter of intended to use to well known in the art signal modification.
As to claims 8, 11, and 20, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in art to use a low noise amplifier or amplifier at the first port is done merely as a design choice to choosing a user amplitude to the input of the SOM taught in McEwan.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 7, 10, 14, 15, 17 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.
None of the cited prior art teach or suggest operating at harmonics as is recited in claims 3-5, 14, 16, and 17; and the power combiner and splitter at the port as is recited in claims 7, 10 and 15.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gebhard et al (Patent 9935722) teaches an mixer to suppress harmonics. Jang et al (pub 2009/0102565) teaches injection locking mixer. Zhou et al (Patent 5465418) teaches a self oscillating mixer.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JEFFREY M SHIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7356. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-6pm PST.
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, Menatoallah Youssef can be reached at (571) 270-3684. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JEFFREY M SHIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2836
Prosecution Insights