Systems and Methods for Supporting Both Pulse Amplitude Modulation and Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

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 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 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 – 4, 7, 8, 10 – 12, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Raghavan et al (US 2003/0112896) in view of Yang et al (US 2015/0312081). Regarding claim 1, Raghavan et al teach a transceiver comprising: first circuitry to generate a pulse amplitude modulation with n levels (PAM-n) signals transmissible over a first channel based on data (see figure 2B paragraph 0018, 0019, 0024 “a PAM channel and one or more QAM channels can be utilized”); and second circuitry to generate a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal transmissible over a second channel based on the data (see figure 2B paragraph 0018, 0019, 0024 “a PAM channel and one or more QAM channels can be utilized”). Raghavan et al does not expressly disclose having pair of PAM signals. However, in analogous art, Yang et al teach a QAM modulator using IQ signals to generate a pair of PAM signals. Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to generate a PAM/QAM signal generator. The motivation or suggestion to do so is to reduce the computational complexity of the receiver (see paragraph 0067). Regarding claim 2, which inherits the limitations of claim 1, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach wherein the first channel comprises a wireline channel and the second channel comprises the wireline channel, another wireline channel, a wireless channel, an optic channel, or a coaxial channel (see Raghavan, paragraph 0016, 0057, 0059 “wireless, twisted copper pair, or copper based backplane interconnect channel” and Yang et al pragpah 0031, 0098). Regarding claim 3, which inherits the limitations of claim 1, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach comprising: baseband modulator circuitry associated with the first circuitry and the second circuitry; and passband modulator circuitry associated with the second circuitry (see Raghavan paragraph 0060 – 0062 ). Regarding claim 4, which inherits the limitations of claim 1, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach comprising encoding circuitry to map data from an input stream to the IQ data, wherein the first circuitry comprises PAM-n encoding circuitry, and the second circuitry comprises QAM encoding circuitry (see Yang et al figure 7). Regarding claim 7, which inherits the limitations of claim 4, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach wherein the encoding circuitry maps the input stream to the IQ data based on a QAM-n constellation map (see yang figure 7, 9 and 10). Regarding claim 8, Raghavan et al teach an electronic device (see figure 2A, 2B, and 2C), comprising: receiver circuitry (see figure 2A and 2B); and transmitter circuitry (see figure 2B) to generate pulse amplitude modulation with n levels (PAM-n) signals transmissible on a first channel and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals transmissible on a second channel (see figure 2B paragraph 0018, 0019, 0024 “a PAM channel and one or more QAM channels can be utilized”). Raghavan et al does not expressly disclose having pair of PAM signals. However, in analogous art, Yang et al teach a QAM modulator using IQ signals to generate a pair of PAM signals. Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to generate a PAM/QAM signal generator. The motivation or suggestion to do so is to reduce the computational complexity of the receiver (see paragraph 0067). Regarding claim 10, which inherits the limitations of claim 8, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach comprising driver circuitry to transmit the pairs of PAM-n signals and the QAM signals over wireline channels (see Raghavan, paragraph 0016, 0057, 0059 “wireless, twisted copper pair, or copper based backplane interconnect channel” and Yang et al pragpah 0031, 0098) Regarding claim 11, which inherits the limitations of claim 10, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach comprising baseband modulator circuitry to modulate the QAM signal based on consecutive PAM symbol modulation (see Yang et al figure 7). Regarding claim 12, which inherits the limitations of claim 8, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach comprising encoding circuitry to map an input bit stream to in-phase and quadrature-phase (IQ) data comprising an in-phase component and a quadrature phase component (see yang figure 7, 9 and 10) Regarding claim 14, which inherits the limitations of claim 12, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach wherein the PAM-n encoding circuitry encodes the input bit stream as a series of single-symbol PAM data (see yang figure 7, 9 and 10). Claim(s) 5, 6, and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Raghavan et al (US 2003/0112896) in view of Yang et al (US 2015/0312081) and further in view of Gockler et al (US 6185202). Regarding claim 5, which inherits the limitations of claim 4, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach does not expressly disclose that using a multiplexer as a switch It is well known in the art that using multiplexer as switch. Further, in analogous art, Gockler et al disclose using multiplexer as switch (see figure 2, component Dmux). Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to use multiplexer as a switch. The motivation or suggestion to do so is to facilitate simple circuits to direct the data. Regarding claim 6, which inherits the limitations of claim 4, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al and Gockler et al further teach wherein the encoding circuitry maps the input stream to the first circuitry or the second circuitry based on a mode of the transceiver (see Gockler et al, figure 2, component Dmux). Regarding claim 13, which inherits the limitations of claim 12, Raghavan et al in view of Yang et al further teach does not expressly disclose that using a multiplexer as a switch It is well known in the art that using multiplexer as switch. Further, in analogous art, Gockler et al disclose using multiplexer as switch (see figure 2, component Dmux). Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to use multiplexer as a switch. The motivation or suggestion to do so is to facilitate simple circuits to direct the data. Claim(s) 15 – 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 2005/0099992) in view of Gockler et al (US 6185202) and Raghavan et al (US 2003/0112896). Regarding claim 15, Sato teaches an integrated circuit, comprising: baseband encoding circuitry (see figure 8) comprising phase shift keying modulation with n levels (QPSK) encoding circuitry and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) encoding circuitry (see figure 8, component 38, 40, and 42); and a switching circuitry coupled to the baseband encoding circuitry to route an input stream to the PSK encoding circuitry or the QAM encoding circuitry (see figure 8, component 35). Sato does not expressly disclose using Pusle amplitude modulation and using a multiplexer as a switch. It is well known in the art that using multiplexer as switch. Further, in analogous art, Gockler et al disclose using multiplexer as switch (see figure 2, component Dmux). Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to use multiplexer as a switch. The motivation or suggestion to do so is to facilitate simple circuits to direct the data. Raghavan et al teach encoder comprises PAM modulation and QAM modulator (see figure 2B and paragraph 0019).Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to use PAM modulation and QAM modulation to encode the data. The motivation of suggestion to do so is to eliminate cross-channel interference between the QAM channels and the PAM channel. Regarding claim 16, which inherits the limitations of claim 15, Sato in view of Gockler et al and Raghavan et al further teach comprising driver circuitry to transmit a pair of PAM- n signals or a QAM signal to an electronic device over a wireline connector (see Sato figure 3, Raghavan figure 2B) . Regarding claim 17, which inherits the limitations of claim 15, Sato in view of Gockler et al and Raghavan et al further teach comprising baseband PAM/QAM modulator circuitry (see Sato figure 8, Raghavan figure 2B). Regarding claim 18, which inherits the limitations of claim 17, Sato in view of Gockler et al and Raghavan et al further teach comprising passband PAM/QAM modulator circuitry (see Sato figure 8, Raghavan figure 2B). Regarding claim 19, which inherits the limitations of claim 15, Sato in view of Gockler et al and Raghavan et al further teach wherein the PAM encoding circuitry is coupled to the baseband PAM/QAM modulator circuitry and the QAM encoding circuitry is coupled to the baseband PAM/QAM modulator circuitry, the passband PAM/QAM modulator circuity, or both (see Sato figure 8, Raghavan figure 2B). Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sato (US 2005/0099992) in view of Gockler et al (US 6185202) and Raghavan et al (US 2003/0112896) and further in view of Yang et al (US 2015/0312081). Regarding claim 20, which inherits the limitations of claim 15, Sato in view of Gockler et al and Raghavan et al does not expressly disclose that wherein the PAM-n encoding circuitry maps data from an input bit stream to in-phase and quadrature-phase (IQ) data based on a QAM-n constellation map. However in analogous art, Yang et al teach QAM modulation having the PAM-n encoding circuitry maps data from an input bit stream to in-phase and quadrature-phase (IQ) data based on a QAM-n constellation map, the QAM-n constellation map corresponding to a first PAM-n encoding and a second PAM-n encoding (see figure 7, components 208, 210, and paragraph 0071 -0076). Therefore, it would have been obvious to an ordinary skilled in the art at the time the invention was filed to use a PAM modulation to generate QAM signals. The motivation or suggestion to do so is to reduce the computational complexity of the receiver (see paragraph 0067). Allowable Subject Matter Claim 9 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAISON JOSEPH whose telephone number is (571)272-6041. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 - 4. 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, Sam K Ahn can be reached at 571 272 3044. 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. JAISON . JOSEPH Primary Examiner Art Unit 2633 /JAISON JOSEPH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633