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 § 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) 1 and 7-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahverdi et al. (US 20240243700).
As to claim 1, Shahverdi et al.’s figures 3A or 3B shows a phase shifting circuit comprising: a dividing circuit (309) configured to divide an input signal (RFin 108) into a first signal (0˚ or -90˚) and a second signal (-90˚ or 0˚), the second signal having a phase different from a phase of the first signal; a first phase shifter (114 or 316) configured to shift the phase of the first signal by a first angle, and to output a first output signal; a second phase shifter (316 or 114) configured to shift the phase of the second signal by a second angle in a direction opposite to a direction of the first angle, and to output a second output signal. The figure fails to show that a phase difference between the first output signal and the second output signal being greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees. However, ¶0064 teaches that “Also note that while the parameter β is equal to 90 degrees in the examples shown herein, the parameter β can be equal to any other value thereby moving the value of the phase difference lines at the center frequency to higher phase values or lower phase values in accordance with a desired design.” It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to select b (i.e., 180 ˚< b < 360˚ or -180˚ < b < 0˚ in figure 3B) such that a phase difference between the first output signal and the second output signal being greater than 0 degrees and less than 90 degrees for the purpose of achieving desired performance, MPEP 2144.05. The modified Shahverdi et al.’s figure further shows a first amplifier [(104-112) or 106-158)] configured to amplify the first output signal, and to output a first amplified signal; and a second amplifier [(106-158) or (104-112)] configured to amplify the second output signal, and to output a second amplified signal, the second amplifier being connected to the first amplifier such that the first amplified signal and the second amplified signal are combined.
As to claim 7, the modified Shahverdi et al.’sa figure shows that an output terminal of the first amplifier is directly electrically connected to an output terminal of the second amplifier.
As to claim 8, the modified Shahverdi et al.’s figure shows that the dividing circuit is a 90-degree hybrid coupler.
As to claim 9, the modified Shahverdi et al.’s figure fails to show that the dividing circuit is a balun. However, balun used as a signal spliter/divider is well known in the art. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use balun for Shahverdi et al.’s splitter/divider for the purpose of improving efficiency.
Claim(s) 2-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shahverdi et al. (US 20240243700) in view of Lee et al. (US 20220085774).
As to claim 2, Shahverdi et al.’s figures show 4 and 5 shows the internal structure of the first and second phase shifters. The figures to show that the first and/or the second phase shifter comprises structure(s) as claimed. However, Lee et al.’s figure 2 show equivalent lead and lag phase shifters (1001 equivalents to 1002 and 1003 equivalents to 1004, wherein Lee’s 1001 is similar to Shahverdi’s figure 4, and Lee’s 1003 is similar to Shahverdi’s figure 5). It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to use Lee et al.’s 1002 and/or 1004 respectively to Shahverdi et al.’s figures 4 and/or 5 due to the doctrine of equivalent function and for the purpose of achieving desired space occupation. Thus, the modified Shahverdi et al.’s figure shows that the first phase shifter (figure 5) comprises: a first inductor (504) connected in series to the dividing circuit, a first capacitor (502), a first end of the first capacitor being electrically connected to a first end of the first inductor, and a second end of the first capacitor being electrically connected to a reference potential, and a second capacitor (506), a first end of the second capacitor being electrically connected to a second end of the first inductor, and a second end of the second capacitor being electrically connected to the reference potential, and wherein the second phase shifter (Lee et al.’s 1002 used for Shahverdi et al.’s figure 4) comprises: a third capacitor (Lee’s left capacitor) connected in series to the dividing circuit, a fourth capacitor (Lee’s right capacitor) connected in series to the third capacitor, and a second inductor (Lee’s inductor), a first end of the second inductor being electrically connected to a node between the third capacitor and the fourth capacitor, and a second end of the second inductor being electrically connected to the reference potential.
As to claim 3, the modified Shahverdi et al.’s figure shows that the first phase shifter (Lee et al.’s 1002 used for Shahverdi ‘s figure 4) comprises: a fifth capacitor connected in series to the dividing circuit, a sixth capacitor connected in series to the fifth capacitor, and a third inductor, a first end of the third inductor electrically connected to a node between the fifth capacitor and the sixth capacitor, and a second end of the third inductor being electrically connected to a reference potential, and wherein the second phase shifter (Shahverdi ‘s figure 5) comprises: a fourth inductor connected in series to the dividing circuit, a seventh capacitor, a first end of the seventh capacitor being electrically connected to a first end of the fourth inductor, and a second end of the seventh capacitor being electrically connected to the reference potential, and an eighth capacitor, a first end of the eighth capacitor being electrically connected to a second end of the fourth inductor, and a second end of the eighth capacitor being electrically connected to the reference potential.
As to claim 4, selecting the second angle to have an absolute value equal to an absolute value of the first angle is seen as an obvious design preference to ensure optimum performance, MPEP 2144.05.
As to claim 5, selecting the phase difference between the first output signal and the second output signal to be 45 degrees is seen as an obvious design preference to ensure optimum performance, MPEP 2144.05, i.e., selecting b= -45˚ or 270˚ in figure 3B).
As to claim 6, selecting the phase difference between the first output signal and the second output signal to be 45 degrees is seen as an obvious design preference to ensure optimum performance, MPEP 2144.05.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANH-QUAN TRA whose telephone number is (571)272-1755. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri from 8:00 A.M.-5:00 P.M.
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/QUAN TRA/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2843
Prosecution Insights