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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 2-21 are currently pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/17/2025 has been considered by the examiner and an initialed copy of the IDS is hereby attached.
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.
Claim(s) 2-9 and 13-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 20180035444 A1) in view of IYENGAR et al. (US 20220085839 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Wu discloses [Note: what WU fails to clearly disclose is strike-through]
An electronic device (see Fig. 2, further see paragraph 0045, “FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a device 200, in which a GNSS receiver 220 and/or one or more RAT transceivers 210 are used in conjunction in a device to enable full duplex communication of the GNSS receiver and the RAT transceivers.”) comprising:
a cellular transceiver configured to communicate with a satellite (see Fig. 2, further see paragraph 0045, “FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a device 200, in which a GNSS receiver 220 and/or one or more RAT transceivers 210 are used in conjunction in a device to enable full duplex communication of the GNSS receiver and the RAT transceivers.”, further see paragraph 0066, “In certain embodiments, a RAT transceiver can operate to transmit LTE signals, as disclosed herein.”);
a satellite receiver configured to receive location signals from a satellite network (see Fig. 2, further see paragraph 0045, “GNSS receiver 220”, furthers see paragraph 0049, “The pseudorange calculations made by measurement engine 240 can be output (e.g., to another component, an application being executed, or a high-level operating system) and/or may be passed to position engine 250. Position engine 250, based on the pseudorange calculations from measurement engine 240, may determine a location of GNSS receiver 220 in the form of coordinates.”) and
processing circuitry (see Fig. 6, processor 610, further see paragraph 0079) configured to
receive a request to communicate (see paragraph 0046, “As illustrated, RATs 210 include three RAT transceivers 230-1, 230-2, and 230-3. Some or all of RAT transceivers 210 may be configured to receive commands from and/or transmit data to GNSS receiver 220. Some or all RAT transceivers 210 may include controller functionality and may be configured to provide a controller (not shown) with information about one or more upcoming transmissions…The information (which may be referred to as a characteristic) about the one or more upcoming transmissions may include: the time of the start of the transmission, end time of the transmission, and/or time window (also referred to as the time period) of the transmission; an indication of the RAT; the frequency of the transmission; and/or the power level of the transmission. Some or all RAT transceivers 210 may be configured to receive commands from GNSS receiver 220.”),
blank the satellite receiver based on the request (see paragraph 0029, “As a controller (such as a coexistence manager) of an IoT device reacts to data transmission and/or GNSS locating requests, the controller and/or GNSS receiver can include functionality to enable the GNSS receiver to dynamically adapt to the requests. For example, the GNSS receiver can include functionality to variably blank reception of locating signals for a variable amount of time, at a variable duty cycle, etc. This functionality can enable, for example, a GNSS receiver to expeditiously react to relatively random requests (random in duration, for example) to blank reception of location signals.”, further see paragraph 0043, “Certain embodiments describe techniques to closely coordinate GNSS and RAT operation to mitigate or eliminate the impact of radio transmissions (RFI) within a device on GNSS operation. Current systems are designed such that the GNSS receiver reacts to the RAT transmission issues. For example, if there is strong interference in the GNSS L1 band, the GNSS receiver switches to the GNSS L2 band. In another example, the system may artificially limit a RAT transmission duty cycle to reduce interference on the GNSS receiver. However, for an IoT device which may be required to randomly transmit RAT messages, as disclosed herein, artificially limiting a RAT transmission duty cycle may not be able to support initiation times for relatively immediate transmittal of a message in response to a randomly received request for transmittal. Another scheme is to blank the GNSS receiver when other transceivers in the device are transmitting.”), and
communicate (see paragraph 0043, “Another scheme is to blank the GNSS receiver when other transceivers in the device are transmitting.”).
IYENGAR discloses,
communicate with the satellite using the cellular transceiver (see paragraph 0061, “Wireless transceiver 510 may, for example, include a transmitter 512 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 514 to receive one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks, and may be configured for various communication protocols/standards, such as satellite communications, 5G NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, etc.”),
communicate with the satellite using the cellular transceiver while the satellite receiver is blanked (see paragraph 0022, “Consequently, when the mobile device is transmitting aggressor satellite communication signals, an L1 SPS receiver with a single down convert section must blank or disable its input to avoid saturating or even damaging the sensitive SPS L1 front end, thereby disabling all L1 SPS signals including GPS, GAL, BDS, and GLO.”).
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by IYENGAR into the invention of Wu. Both references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose a wireless transceiver which blanks the receiver at certain times to avoid interference. Wu discloses a RAT transceiver which operates at frequency bands overlapping the GNSS frequency bands (see paragraph 0043), however, fails to clearly disclose that the RAT transceiver communicates with the satellite after the GNSS is blanked. IYENGAR discloses such a feature. The combination would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to reduce interference by the system.
Regarding claim 3, Wu further discloses
The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to receive a second request to communicate with the satellite network using the satellite receiver (see paragraph 0029, “As a controller (such as a coexistence manager) of an IoT device reacts to data transmission and/or GNSS locating requests, the controller and/or GNSS receiver can include functionality to enable the GNSS receiver to dynamically adapt to the requests. For example, the GNSS receiver can include functionality to variably blank reception of locating signals for a variable amount of time, at a variable duty cycle, etc. This functionality can enable, for example, a GNSS receiver to expeditiously react to relatively random requests (random in duration, for example) to blank reception of location signals.”, where switching between blanking and not blanking the satellite receiver indeed encompasses “a second request”).
Regarding claim 4, Wu further discloses
The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to communicate with the satellite network using the satellite receiver based on the second request (see paragraph 0029, “As a controller (such as a coexistence manager) of an IoT device reacts to data transmission and/or GNSS locating requests, the controller and/or GNSS receiver can include functionality to enable the GNSS receiver to dynamically adapt to the requests. For example, the GNSS receiver can include functionality to variably blank reception of locating signals for a variable amount of time, at a variable duty cycle, etc. This functionality can enable, for example, a GNSS receiver to expeditiously react to relatively random requests (random in duration, for example) to blank reception of location signals.”, where switching between blanking and not blanking the satellite receiver indeed encompasses “a second request” which is used to communicate using the satellite network).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of WU and IYENGAR discloses [Note: what Wu fails to disclose is strike-through]
The electronic device of claim 2, .
IYENGAR discloses,
wherein the satellite comprises a low Earth orbit satellite (see paragraph 0040, “Consequently, when a mobile device 105 is transmitting in the Ligado or GlobalStar frequencies, the L1 SPS receiver, e.g., using a single down convert section, must blank or disable its input to avoid saturating or even damaging the sensitive SPS L1 front end. Accordingly, during Ligado or GlobalStar transmission by the mobile device 105, the L1 SPS receiver may essentially disable all L1 SPS signals, including the GPS, GAL, BDS, and GLO.”, where GlobalStar is a LEO satellite, further see paragraph 0038, “For example, Ligado frequencies are partly from 1627-1637 MHz and GlobalStar frequencies are from 1610 to 1626.5 MHz.”).
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by IYENGAR into the invention of Wu. Both references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose a wireless transceiver which blanks the receiver at certain times to avoid interference. The combination would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to receiver data at a higher rate with lower latency.
Regarding claim 6, Wu further discloses
The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the satellite network comprises a global navigation satellite system (see paragraph 0032, “FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified diagram of an environment 100 in which reception of Signal Positioning System (SPS) signals by the mobile device may be desensed during transmission of wireless signals by the mobile device. The term Satellite Positioning System (SPS) is used herein to refer to various types of satellite positioning systems, including different Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). For example, the SPS system may be a Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, Beidou, and/or other type of satellite positioning system.”).
Regarding claim 7, Wu further discloses
The electronic device of claim 2, comprising one or more antennas coupled to the cellular transceiver and the satellite receiver (see Fig. 2, further see paragraph 0050, “The device 200 of FIG. 2 includes an antenna element 260 coupled to GNSS receiver 220 and each of RAT transceivers 210. Antenna element 260 can be coupled to a housing of a device, be a discrete component, be distributed across several components, and/or can be integrated within a transceiver, receiver, and/or transmitter. Antenna element 260 can be operable to emit a radio frequency transmission from both or for each of GNSS receiver 220 and/or each of RAT transceivers 210.”).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of WU and IYENGAR discloses [Note: what Wu fails to disclose is strike-through]
The electronic device of claim 7,
IYENGAR discloses,
wherein the request is associated with tuning the one or more antennas to communicate with the satellite using the cellular transceiver (see paragraph 0061, “Wireless transceiver 510 may, for example, include a transmitter 512 enabled to transmit one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver 514 to receive one or more signals transmitted over the one or more types of wireless communication networks, and may be configured for various communication protocols/standards, such as satellite communications, 5G NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, etc.”, where to operate at these different communication protocols, the antenna must be able to tune between them and therefore be tuned to operate at the satellite communications protocol).
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by IYENGAR into the invention of Wu. Both references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose a wireless transceiver which blanks the receiver at certain times to avoid interference. The combination would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to reduce interference by the system.
Regarding claim 9, the same cited section and rationale as claim 2 is applied.
Regarding claim 13, Wu further discloses
The method of claim 9, comprising receiving one or more global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals from a second electronic device (see paragraph 0048, “GNSS receiver 220 can include: measurement engine 240 and position engine 250, controller 245. A measurement engine 240o can process timing data received via an antenna element 260 from multiple satellites of one or more global navigation satellite systems.”).
Regarding claim 14, Wu further discloses
The method of claim 13, comprising sending time or frequency information associated with the one or more GNSS signals to the satellite using the cellular transceiver (see paragraph 0047, “The information (which may be referred to as a characteristic) about the one or more upcoming transmissions may include: the time of the start of the transmission, end time of the transmission, and/or time window (also referred to as the time period) of the transmission; an indication of the RAT; the frequency of the transmission; and/or the power level of the transmission. Some or all RAT transceivers 210 may be configured to receive commands from GNSS receiver 220”).
Regarding claim 15, Wu further discloses
The method of claim 9, comprising stopping blanking of the satellite receiver based on an inability to communicate with the satellite (see paragraph 0059, “Although not illustrated, each of coexistence managers 324-1 through 324-3 can include an interference data structure. Used in conjunction with a coexistence manager of a RAT transceiver, an interference data structure can be used to record transmission parameters of one or more RAT transceivers 320. For example, a transmission signal strength can be determined and recorded within an interference data structure. The signal strength can indicate an amount of interference that may be imparted into antenna element 330 during transmission by a respective RAT transceiver. In certain embodiments, an interference data structure can be shared by two or more RAT transceivers 320. Also, not shown can be an interface component (e.g., analog to digital converter, switch, etc.) that can be used to couple an antenna to GNSS receiver 220 and/or a RAT transceiver 340. The interface components can be implemented within a same integrated circuit as GNSS receiver 220 or RAT transceiver 340. During blanking, for example, a GNSS receiver 220 can configured interface components to dissociate the GNSS receiver from antenna 230, for example.”, further see paragraphs 0043 and 0069 for support).
Regarding claim 16, Wu further discloses
The method of claim 15, comprising determining the inability to communicate with the satellite based on comparing signal quality or signal power associated with the satellite to a threshold (see paragraph 0059, “Although not illustrated, each of coexistence managers 324-1 through 324-3 can include an interference data structure. Used in conjunction with a coexistence manager of a RAT transceiver, an interference data structure can be used to record transmission parameters of one or more RAT transceivers 320. For example, a transmission signal strength can be determined and recorded within an interference data structure. The signal strength can indicate an amount of interference that may be imparted into antenna element 330 during transmission by a respective RAT transceiver. In certain embodiments, an interference data structure can be shared by two or more RAT transceivers 320. Also, not shown can be an interface component (e.g., analog to digital converter, switch, etc.) that can be used to couple an antenna to GNSS receiver 220 and/or a RAT transceiver 340. The interface components can be implemented within a same integrated circuit as GNSS receiver 220 or RAT transceiver 340. During blanking, for example, a GNSS receiver 220 can configured interface components to dissociate the GNSS receiver from antenna 230, for example.”, further see paragraphs 0043 and 0069 for support).
Regarding claim 17, the same cited section and rationale as claim 2 is applied.
Regarding claim 18, the same cited section and rationale as claim 5 is applied where Global Star operates at 1610 to 1626.5 MHz
Regarding claim 19, the same cited section and rationale as claim 3 is applied.
Regarding claim 20, the same cited section and rationale as claim 4 is applied.
Regarding claim 21, the same cited sections and rationale as claims 11 or 12 are applied where Wu in view of IYENGAR disclose the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 20180035444 A1) in view of IYENGAR et al. (US 20220085839 A1) further in view of Kasser (US 4704736 A).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Wu and IYENGAR discloses [Note: what Wu and IYENGAR fails to disclose is strike-through]
The method of claim 9,
Kasser discloses,
wherein blanking the satellite receiver comprises replacing a signal received by the satellite receiver with a dummy signal (see claim 1, “blanking reception by said receiver for intervals determined by detection of said pulses and replacing said received signal by a synthetic signal during said intervals for which reception by said receiver is blanked”, further see Col. 1, lines 5-11, “This invention concerns a method and apparatus particularly useful for reducing interference in an FM receiver usually receiving broadcasts at VHF radio frequencies and having a noise blanker monitoring the received signal for blanking it out during the presence of a disturbing signal and means for replacing the blanked out signal with a synthetic signal.”).
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by Kasser into the invention of Wu in view of IYENGAR. All three references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose a wireless transceiver which blanks the receiver at certain times to avoid interference. The combination would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to reduce spectral splatter and maintain system stability.
Regarding claim 11, Wu further discloses
The method of claim 10, wherein the signal received by the satellite receiver comprises a frequency in an L1 frequency band (see paragraph 0043, “Certain embodiments describe techniques to closely coordinate GNSS and RAT operation to mitigate or eliminate the impact of radio transmissions (RFI) within a device on GNSS operation. Current systems are designed such that the GNSS receiver reacts to the RAT transmission issues. For example, if there is strong interference in the GNSS L1 band, the GNSS receiver switches to the GNSS L2 band.”).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Wu and IYENGAR and Kasser discloses [Note: what Wu and Kasser fails to disclose is strike-through]
The method of claim 10,
IYENGAR discloses,
wherein the signal received by the satellite receiver comprises a frequency in an L5 frequency band (see paragraph 0012, “FIGS. 3A and 3B are illustrate a schematic views of a front end SPS receiver with a controllable filter 310 that receives L1 and L5 bands, and receives the L1 band, respectively.”).
It would have been obvious to someone with ordinary skill in the art prior to the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the features as disclosed by IYENGAR into the invention of Wu in view of Kasser. All three references are considered analogous arts to the claimed invention as they all disclose a wireless transceiver which blanks the receiver at certain times to avoid interference. The combination would be obvious with a reasonable expectation of success in order to increase system accuracy and resistance to interference than civilians signal bands.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Regarding claim 2, Leclercq et al. (US 20160056882 A1) discloses
An electronic device (see Fig. 1B, Femtocell 109 is an electronic device, further see paragraph 0021) comprising:
a cellular transceiver configured to communicate with a satellite (see Fig. 1B, further see paragraph 0034, “The femtocell device 109 may comprise common RF front end elements such as an antenna/low-noise amplifier (LNA)/signal splitter 111. The femtocell device 109 may also comprise configurable or dual MEO/LEO RF paths 113, a processing block 115, a femtocell RF module 117, and motion sensors 118.”);
a satellite receiver configured to receive location signals from a satellite network (see Fig. 1B, further see paragraph 0034, “The femtocell device 109 may comprise common RF front end elements such as an antenna/low-noise amplifier (LNA)/signal splitter 111. The femtocell device 109 may also comprise configurable or dual MEO/LEO RF paths 113, a processing block 115, a femtocell RF module 117, and motion sensors 118.”) and
processing circuitry (see Fig. 1B, processing 115) configured to
blank the satellite receiver based request (see paragraph 0026, “The femtocell 109 may comprise a blanking or switching module for enabling TDD signal reception, where the TDD process may be carried out in the digital domain. For example, the MEO, or GPS, processing path may be blanked, i.e. set to and held at the last sampled value, while the LEO path receives and demodulates LEO signals.”, further see paragraph 0073, “The blanking/switching module 259 may be operable to provide the TDD function for the receiver, switching the LEO path 260 on and off and blanking the MEO path 250 by configuring the output of the S/H module 253 to retain the previous data to the GNSS acquisition module. The LO/PLL 261 may provide a timing signal for the blanking/switch module.”).
LOOMIS et al. (US 20160036519 A1) discloses wherein the instructions cause the processing circuitry to communicate with the satellite using the cellular transceiver by sending or receiving signals having frequencies between 1610 megahertz and 1618.725 megahertz (see paragraph 0116, “Second antenna 312 is configured for receiving, over-the-air, analog form L1 GNSS signals in the 1525-1614 MHz frequency range. In various embodiments, the L1 signals may be analog form L1 GPS signals, or analog form L1 GPS signals and one or more of analog form L1 Galileo signals and analog form pseudolite transmitted GNSS signals in the L1 band.”).
Mayor et al. (US 8862060 B2) discloses blanking a GPS receiver to mitigate the effects of interference (see Col. 4, lines 11-25, “To mitigate the effects of interference, control circuitry in device 10 can monitor for the presence of interference. When interference conditions are detected, the control circuitry can take appropriate mitigating actions. For example, the control circuitry may temporarily deactivate (i.e., blank) GPS receiver 24 and/or GLONASS receiver 26, may impose a duty cycle on an interference-producing transmitter such as transmitter 32, may implement a combination of transmitter duty cycle limitations and satellite navigation system receiver blanking functions, may dynamically adjust the performance of satellite navigation system receiver circuitry 16 (e.g., by adjusting the strategy used for implementing cross-correlation protection), and/or may use intelligent combinations of these schemes or other suitable interference mitigation schemes.”).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NAZRA N. WAHEED whose telephone number is (571)272-6713. The examiner can normally be reached M-F (8 AM - 4:30 PM).
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/NAZRA NUR WAHEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
