`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Patent No. 8,311,582
`Issue Date: November 13, 2012
`Title: ASYMMETRICAL BEAMS FOR SPECTRUM EFFICIENCY
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PETITION FOR INTER PARTES REVIEW OF
`U.S. PATENT NO. 8,311,582
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`COMMUNICATIONS COMPONENTS ANTENNA INC.,
`Patent Owner
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`Petition for Inter Partes Review
`
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................................................................... iii
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`LISTING OF EXHIBITS ........................................................................................... v
`
`I.
`
`INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 1
`
`II. GROUNDS FOR STANDING PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(A) ...... 2
`
`III. OVERVIEW OF THE ‘582 PATENT AND PRIOR ART ............................. 2
`
`A. Overview of the ‘582 Patent .................................................................. 2
`
`B. Overview of the admitted prior art of the ‘582 Patent .......................... 5
`
`C. Overview of Patent Owner’s Assertions Regarding Asymmetry ......... 9
`
`D. Overview of Yea and the Metawave Website ..................................... 11
`
`E.
`
`F.
`
`Overview of The Asymmetric Beam Prior Art ................................... 18
`
`Overview of Mouly ............................................................................. 21
`
`G. Overview of the Smith ‘935 Patent ..................................................... 21
`
`H. Overview of CSA Antennas, Johansson and Ebine ............................ 22
`
`I.
`
`J.
`
`Overview of Wästberg......................................................................... 22
`
`Overview of Derneryd ......................................................................... 23
`
`K.
`
`Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art ..................................................... 23
`
`IV.
`
`IDENTIFICATION OF CHALLENGE PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. §
`42.104(B) ....................................................................................................... 24
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`Claims For Which Inter Partes Review Is Requested ......................... 24
`
`The Prior Art And Specific Grounds On Which The Challenge To The
`Claims Is Based ................................................................................... 24
`
`C.
`
`Claim Construction ............................................................................. 25
`
`D. How The Construed Claims Are Unpatentable ................................... 32
`
`i
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`E.
`
`Supporting Evidence ........................................................................... 32
`
`V.
`
`THERE IS A REASONABLE LIKELIHOOD THAT AT LEAST ONE
`CLAIM OF THE ‘582 PATENT IS UNPATENTABLE ............................. 33
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`Claim 1 is anticipated by Yea ............................................................. 35
`
`Claim 1 is obvious in view of Yea and the Metawave Website and/or
`the Asymmetric Beam Prior Art.......................................................... 39
`
`Independent Claims 13 and 20 are anticipated by Yea, or are obvious
`in view of Yea in combination with the Metawave Website and/or the
`Asymmetric Beam Prior Art ............................................................... 44
`
`D. Dependent Claims 2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, and 27
`are anticipated by Yea or are obvious in view of Yea and the
`Metawave Website .............................................................................. 47
`
`E.
`
`F.
`
`Dependent Claims 3-5 are obvious in view of Yea and Mouly .......... 53
`
`Dependent Claims 8, 16, and 23 are obvious in view of Yea and the
`Smith ‘935 Patent ................................................................................ 56
`
`G. Dependent Claim 10 is obvious in view of Yea and CSA Antennas;
`and Dependent Claim 28 is obvious in view of Yea, the Metawave
`Website, Johansson and Ebine ............................................................ 58
`
`H. Dependent Claims 17 and 25 are obvious in view of Yea in
`combination with Wästberg; and Dependent Claim 26 is obvious in
`view of Yea in combination with Derneryd ........................................ 60
`
`VI. MANDATORY NOTICES PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. § 42.8(A)(1) ......... 63
`
`A.
`
`B.
`
`C.
`
`C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(1): Real Party-In-Interest ........................................ 63
`
`C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(2): Related Matters ................................................. 63
`
`C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(3) and (4): Lead and Backup Counsel and Service
`Information .......................................................................................... 63
`
`VII. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................. 64
`
`ii
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Page(s)
`
`Cases
`
`Graham v. John Deere Co.,
` 383 U.S. 1 (1966) ................................................................................................. 33
`
`In re Am. Acad. Sci. Tech. Ctr.,
` 367 F.3d 1359, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2004) .................................................................. 26
`
`KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex, Inc.,
` 550 U.S. 398 (2007) ............................................................................................. 33
`
`Microsoft Corp. v. Proxyconn, Inc.,
` 789 F.3d 1292 (Fed. Cir. 2015) ............................................................................ 25
`
`Other Authorities
`
`Laird Technologies, Inc. v. Graftech International Holdings, Inc.,
` IPR2014-00023, Paper 1 (Petition) (Oct. 24, 2013) ............................................. 10
`
`Rules
`
`35 U.S.C. § 102(b) ................................................................................................... 33
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(A)................................................................................................ 2
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(B) .............................................................................................. 22
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(3) .......................................................................................... 23
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(4) .......................................................................................... 30
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.104(b)(5) .......................................................................................... 30
`
`37 C.F.R. § 42.8(A)(1) ............................................................................................. 60
`
`iii
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`
`C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(2) ................................................................................................... 60
`
`C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(3) ................................................................................................... 60
`
`C.F.R. § 42.8(b)(4) ................................................................................................... 60
`
`iv
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`
`Exhibit 1001:
`
`Exhibit 1002:
`
`
`Exhibit 1003:
`
`
`Exhibit 1004:
`
`
`Exhibit 1005:
`
`
`Exhibit 1006:
`
`
`Exhibit 1007:
`
`
`Exhibit 1008:
`
`
`Exhibit 1009:
`
`
`Exhibit 1010:
`
`
`Exhibit 1011:
`
`LISTING OF EXHIBITS
`
`U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582 (“‘582 Patent”)
`
`Constantine A. Balanis and Panayiotis I. Ioannides,
`Introduction to Smart Antennas, Morgan & Claypool, (2007)
`(“Smart Antennas”)
`
`Valerio Palestini, Alternative Frequency Plans in Hexagonal-
`Shaped Cellular Layout, Proceedings of the 3rd International
`Symposium on personal, Indoor and Mobile Communications,
`IEEE, (1992)
`
`Michel Mouly, The GSM System for Mobile Communications,
`(1992) (“Mouly”)
`
`Digital Cellular Telecommunications system (Phase 2+);
`Mobile Radio Interface Layer 3 Specification (GSM 04.08),
`(December 1995)
`
`Mingbo Xiao, et al., Resource Management in Power-
`Controlled Cellular Wireless Systems, Wireless
`Communication and Mobile Computing, (2001)
`
`Juha Korhonen, Introduction to 3G Communications, Second
`Edition, Artech House, Boston/London, 2nd edition (2003)
`
`Ben Allen and Mark Beach, On the Analysis of Switched-Beam
`Antennas for the W-CDMA Downlink, IEEE Transactions of
`Vehicular Technology, Vol. 53, No. 3, (May 2004)
`
`John Litva and Titus Kwok-Yeung Lo, Digital Beamforming in
`Wireless Communications, Artech House, (1996) (“Litva
`Book”)
`
`Brian Collins, Base Station Antenna Design, Wireless Design &
`Development, (USA), June 1996)
`
`U.S. Patent Application No. 12/094,299 Prosecution History
`
`v
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`TenXc's Amended Complaint in Indian Litigation (“Indian
`Suit”)
`
`Indian Patent No. 240893 (“Indian Patent”)
`
`Brian Collins Slides
`
`Internet Archive Affidavit of Christopher Butler
`
`Ji-Hae Yea, Smart Antennas for Multiple Sectorization in
`CDMA Cell Sites, RF Design (April 2001) (“Yea”)
`
`Brian Collins, Asymmetry measurements
`
`U.S. Patent 6,608,591, issued to Wästberg, et al. on August 19,
`2003 (“Wästberg”)
`
`U.S. Patent 6,104,935, issued to Smith, et al. on August 15,
`2000 (“Smith ’935 Patent”)
`
`Brian Collins, Description of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for
`computation and the spreadsheet of radiation patterns of a 4-
`element linear broadside array
`
`Anders Derneryd and Bjorn Johansson, Adaptive base-station
`antenna arrays, Ericsson Review No. 3, (1999) (“Derneryd”)
`
`B. Christer V. Johansson and Sara Stefansson, Optimizing
`Antenna Parameters for Sectorized W-CDMA Networks, IEEE
`VTC (2000) (“Johansson”)
`
`Yoshio Ebine and Masaki Ito, A Dual Beam Base Station
`Antenna for Land Mobile Communication – 60° Beam Width in
`Horizontal Plane, Antenna and Propagation, 4-7 (April 1995)
`(“Ebine”)
`
`Declaration of Brian S. Collins
`
`vi
`
`
`Exhibit 1012:
`
`
`Exhibit 1013:
`
`Exhibit 1014:
`
`Exhibit 1015:
`
`Exhibit 1016:
`
`
`Exhibit 1017:
`
`Exhibit 1018:
`
`
`Exhibit 1019:
`
`
`Exhibit 1020:
`
`
`Exhibit 1021:
`
`
`Exhibit 1022:
`
`
`Exhibit 1023:
`
`
`Exhibit 1024:
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`I.
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`The Petition demonstrates that claims 1-28 of United States Patent No.
`
`8,311,582 (Ex. 1001, “the ‘582 Patent”) are anticipated and/or obvious by the prior
`
`art discussed herein. The claimed invention is directed to increasing network
`
`capacity in a cellular communications system. The Patent Owner said the
`
`invention does so by replacing conventional sector base station antennas with
`
`multibeam base station antennas having asymmetrical beams that reduce overlap
`
`with neighboring sub-sector coverage areas while maintaining the critical coverage
`
`area of the replaced sector antenna. As shown herein, however, this was already
`
`known in the prior art expressly, as well as inherently. The most pertinent of the
`
`prior art was not considered by the Patent Office, including prior art that discloses
`
`the precise grounds relied on by the Examiner in the Notice of Allowability.
`
`Petitioner also provides declaratory evidence from Mr. Brian S. Collins
`
`(“Collins Decl.” or Ex. 1024), which corroborates that a person of ordinary skill in
`
`the art (“POSA”) would have understood these prior art references disclose the
`
`subject matter of claims 1-28, including that it would have been obvious to a
`
`POSA to combine certain of the references that render obvious the claims
`
`challenged on obviousness grounds. Mr. Collins has worked in the field of cellular
`
`communications systems for over 25 years and has extensive experience in antenna
`
`system design, development, and manufacture, as well as on-site experience in
`
`
`
`1
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`installing, commissioning, and maintaining such systems. As explained herein,
`
`there is a reasonable likelihood that at least one claim of the ‘582 Patent is
`
`unpatentable under the identified grounds, and Petitioner requests that the Board
`
`institute an inter partes review proceeding.
`
`II. GROUNDS FOR STANDING PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R. § 42.104(A)
`
`Petitioner certifies that the ‘582 Patent is available for inter partes review
`
`and that Petitioner is not barred or estopped from requesting this review
`
`challenging the patent claims on the grounds identified herein.
`
`
`
`III. OVERVIEW OF THE ‘582 PATENT AND PRIOR ART
`
`A. Overview of the ‘582 Patent
`
`The ‘582 Patent (Ex. 1001) was filed November 18, 2008, as U.S. Patent
`
`Application No. 12/094,299 (“the ‘299 application”) and claims priority to PCT
`
`Application No. PCT/CA2007/000434 filed March 19, 2007, and Canadian Patent
`
`Application No. 2540218, filed on March 17, 2006. The ‘582 Patent issued
`
`November 13, 2012, with 28 claims, of which Claims 1, 13, and 20 are
`
`independent. Id.
`
`The ‘582 Patent is directed to increasing network capacity in a cellular
`
`communications system. Id., Abstract. According to the ‘582 Patent, there were a
`
`number of technical limitations in wireless communications systems, including
`
`“[a] first limitation is that the frequency spectrum is a scarce resource.” Id., 1:12-
`
`
`
`2
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`14, 17-32. A second limitation of prior art wireless communication systems was
`
`their “finite communications range.” Id., 1:33-37.
`
`The ‘582 Patent states that “[t]o overcome these two limitations, the cellular
`
`concept has been introduced for wireless systems. To cover a large area, the
`
`available resources are used for a small coverage area, called a cell, and repeated
`
`for other cells. The expected number of subscribers that can be served by a
`
`network will increase in proportion to the number of cells in the network.” Id.,
`
`1:38-43. However, this gives rise to another set of challenges attributable to
`
`increased risk of interference. Id., 1:44-50, 1:51-2:13. The Patent explains that it
`
`was known in the prior art that capacity could be increased by replacing an omni-
`
`directional antenna with a plurality of directional antennas. Id., 2:14-21.
`
`
`
`According to the ‘582 Patent, however, “practical deployment
`
`considerations will generally limit this. . .” because increasing sectorization greater
`
`than three does not provide “optimal coverage” due to either “excessive overlap
`
`between beam patterns or . . . [causing] an excessive number of conditions for
`
`handover. . . [or] coverage holes [that] could result in handover failures.” Id.,
`
`2:30-52.1
`
`
`1 As a subscriber moves between sectors and cells, a call is automatically
`
`transferred, a process known as “handover” (or “handoff”). Ex. 1024, ¶ 26.
`
`
`
`3
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`The ‘582 Patent explains that “alternative means of increasing network
`
`capacity are under investigation, such as deploying antennas with optimized beam
`
`patterns,” and that “it is desirable to provide an antenna with beam patterns that are
`
`tailored for specific sector coverage.” Id., 3:6-13. The ‘582 Patent summarizes its
`
`alleged invention: “In the present invention . . . an existing antenna is substituted
`
`with a new one, which has substantially the same coverage area as the fixed cell
`
`sector being replaced, but divided into a plurality of complementary asymmetrical
`
`separate beams or sub-sectors.” Id., 4:32-38 (emp. added). Figure 3 of the ‘582
`
`Patent (reproduced below) shows “a polar plot showing a single pair of
`
`asymmetrical sub-sector beams overlaying a conventional tri-sector coverage
`
`region,” and Figure 5 of the ‘582 Patent (reproduced below) shows “a cartesian
`
`plot of a tri sub-section beam pattern overlying a conventional beam pattern
`
`according to an embodiment of the present invention.” Id., 4:4-6 and 11-13.2
`
`
`2 The shape of antenna beams is shown with “radiation patterns,” which may be
`
`drawn in polar format or in Cartesian (X/Y) format. These formats represent the
`
`same data and are both used by antenna engineers. Ex. 1024, ¶¶ 36-37.
`
`
`
`4
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`B. Overview of the admitted prior art of the ‘582 Patent
`
`The ‘582 Patent describes conventional “pairs of symmetrical sub-sector
`
`beams” as shown in the polar plot of Figure 1. Id., 3:66-67 and Fig. 1.
`
`
`
`The ‘582 Patent states: “Heretofore, antenna beam patterns have
`
`consistently been symmetrical, such as in FIG. 1 . . . Such a coverage pattern
`
`creates very large overlap regions between pairs of sub-sector beams (e.g. 130,
`
`
`
`5
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`131), and between a sub-sector beam from two adjacent sectors, e.g. 131, 110 (at
`
`113).” Id., 4:61-67 (emp. added).
`
`According to the ‘582 Patent, if such symmetrical beam patterns were
`
`adjusted in order to ensure substantially similar handover treatment from the sub-
`
`sectors defined by the new antenna to adjacent unmodified sectors and vice versa,
`
`“the new beams would introduce excessive overlap as between themselves. On the
`
`other hand, adjusting the beam patterns for the new sub-sectors so that the
`
`handover between sub-sectors is manageable could result in coverage holes within
`
`existing sectors.” Id., 5:1-9
`
`The ‘582 Patent then compares “FIG. 2 [reproduced below], which shows 3
`
`mirror-imaged pairs (210, 211), (220, 221), (230, 231) of asymmetrical sub-sector
`
`beams to replace a traditional 3 sector configuration with a 6 sub-sector
`
`configuration. . .” Id., 5:10-14 (emp. added).
`
`
`
`
`
`6
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`The ‘582 Patent states that “the use of asymmetrical beams ensures
`
`handover region reduction by means of low overlap 212 of adjacent pairs of sub-
`
`sector beams 210, 211 and between sub-sector beam 211 of a first pair and a sub-
`
`sector beam 220, of a second pair, shown at 223.” Id., 5:13-18 (emp. added). The
`
`‘582 Patent further states: “In both FIGS. 5 and 6, it may be seen that the
`
`introduction of asymmetrical beams allows close approximation of the coverage
`
`area of the conventional sector antenna being replaced, with small side lobes and
`
`minimal overlap.” Id., 5:61-64 (emp. added).
`
`
`
`
`
`When challenged independent claims 1, 13, and 20 are compared to the prior
`
`art discussed in the ‘582 Patent, it is apparent that the only difference is the
`
`independent claims require asymmetrical sub-sector beams that reduce the
`
`handover regions by means of low overlap between adjacent pairs of sub-sector
`
`beams and between the beams of a sub-sector while allowing close approximation
`
`
`
`7
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`of the critical coverage area of the sector antenna being replaced. Regarding
`
`alleged inventiveness, in order to gain allowance, the patentee amended the
`
`independent claims and asserted during prosecution:
`
`By using asymmetric beams, the overlapping areas between sub-
`sectors can be reduced so that the area not including the overlapped
`areas will be substantially equivalent to the coverage area of the
`replaced sector. . . Claims 1, 10 and 30 have been amended to recite
`“wherein said at least one asymmetrical sub-sector coverage area
`reduces overlap with said neighbouring sub-sector coverage area
`thereof while maintaining the critical coverage area of the replaced
`antenna.”
`Ex. 1011, at 42-43 (emp. original). The Applicants and Examiner agreed
`
`that the amendment to Claims 1, 10 and 30 to recite the “wherein” limitation
`
`“would overcome the prior art of record.” Id., at 43; Ex. 1024, ¶ 110.
`
`In response, the Examiner issued a Notice of Allowability stating:
`
`The prior arts Gilhousen, D1, Newman, Smith, and a thorough search
`discloses various aspects and features of applicant’s claimed invention
`but fail to explicitly or implicitly teach or disclose wherein said at
`least one asymmetrical sub-sector coverage area reduces overlap
`with said neighboring sub-sector coverage area comparing to overlap
`of the replaced antennae while maintaining the critical coverage
`area of the replaced antenna.
`Id., at 21 (emp. added).
`
`
`
`8
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`Notwithstanding the eventual allowance of the ‘582 Patent, replacing sector
`
`antennas with sub-sector antennas having asymmetrical beams having reduced
`
`overlaps compared to the overlaps of the replaced sector antenna while maintaining
`
`the critical coverage area of the replaced antenna was already well-known in the
`
`prior art as described herein. Moreover, this prior art was not before the Examiner
`
`during examination of the ‘582 Patent. Ex. 1024, ¶ 112.
`
`C. Overview of Patent Owner’s Assertions Regarding Asymmetry
`
`On January 2, 2014, Patent Owner filed an amended suit in India against a
`
`subsidiary of Petitioner, Andrew, Inc. (“Andrew”), in the High Court of Delhi at
`
`New Delhi (“Indian Suit”) alleging that Andrew infringes Indian Patent No.
`
`240893 (“Indian Patent”). Ex. 1012, Indian Plaint and Ex. 1013, Indian Patent No.
`
`240893. The Indian Patent is a counterpart patent to the ‘582 Patent.3
`
`
`
`In the Indian Suit, Patent Owner accuses Andrew’s HBXX-3817TB-VTM
`
`antenna (“Andrew Antenna”) of allegedly infringing the Indian Patent. 4 Ex. 1012,
`
`¶¶ 21-22. As in the ‘582 Patent, the claims of the Indian Patent require that the
`
`
`3 The Indian Patent and the ‘582 Patent claim priority to the same patent
`
`application, have identical specifications, and two nearly identical independent
`
`claims (1and 13) except that corresponding claims of the Indian Patent (1 and 10)
`
`do not include the “wherein” clause in the independent claims of the ‘582 Patent.
`
`4 Andrew and Petitioner deny that the Andrew Antenna infringes the Indian Patent.
`
`
`
`9
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`beams of the replacement split-sector antenna include at least one “asymmetric
`
`beam.” Id., ¶ 22; Ex. 1013, claims 1 and 10. Patent Owner further asserted that it
`
`has an antenna product covered by the Indian Patent, the TenXc W65. Ex. 1012,
`
`¶ 22. According to Patent Owner, visual observation of radiation patterns of the
`
`TenXc W65 antenna and the Andrew Antenna show that the antennas allegedly
`
`have “asymmetric beam patterns.” Id. Patent Owner stated that it further
`
`established the alleged asymmetry “by deducting the asymmetricity of the beams
`
`of [Andrew’s] products based on the beam pattern depicted in the figures [of the
`
`TenXc W65 and Andrew Antenna], below (id.):
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`“Following is a table which establishes clearly that the beams emitted by
`
`Defendant’s product are asymmetric for various levels of attenuation” (id.):
`
`
`
`10
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`
`
`D. Overview of Yea and the Metawave Website
`
`At least as early as 2001, Metawave Communications Corp. (“Metawave”)
`
`began publishing extensively on its SpotLight 2000 smart antenna system.5 This is
`
`the system described in J. Yea, “Smart Antennas for Multiple Sectorization in
`
`CDMA Cell Sites,” RF Design, at 28-38 (April 2001) (“Yea”) (Ex. 1016) and the
`
`Metawave Website as it existed in 2001 (Ex. 1015, at 1-45), which included pages
`
`publishing (1) a “Case Study”; (2) a “Seminar”; (3) a “Technology Brief”; (4)
`
`“Key Features”; and (5) a “Sitesculptor” description. These pages are collectively
`
`
`5 In Yea and the Metawave Website, references to the SpotLight 2000 smart
`
`antenna system appear variously as “SpotLight”, SpotLightTM, and SpotLight®.
`
`For ease of reference, all reference to the system herein are to “SpotLight.”
`
`
`
`11
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`referred to herein as the “Metawave Website.”6
`
`
`
`Yea and the Metawave Website disclose the identical problem and solution
`
`of the ‘582 Patent. Yea expressly discloses increasing subscriber capacity in a
`
`sectorized cellular communications wireless network by replacing one or more
`
`sector antennas with a split-sector antenna that generates a plurality of
`
`asymmetrical sub-sector coverage areas that reduce overlap with neighboring sub-
`
`sector coverage areas compared to overlap of the replaced antenna while closely
`
`approximating the critical coverage area of the replaced antenna, as discussed in
`
`the following paragraphs. Ex. 1024, ¶ 114.
`
`The author of the Yea reference was a senior RF network engineer at
`
`Metawave. Ex. 1016, at 17. Yea discloses results of a field trial of the SpotLight
`
`2000 system. Id., at 5 (under “Case Study” section) and at Figs. 4 and 8 showing
`
`radiation patterns from the tested SpotLight 2000 system. Id., at 9, 15. Yea
`
`discloses that there was a need in the cellular communications network industry to
`
`provide increased subscriber capacity. Ex. 1016, at 3. Yea discloses that
`
`“increasing the number of sectors in a CDMA cell is a good way to increase
`
`capacity. [But] [a]s the number of sectors increases, the total area of the softer
`
`6 Ex. 1015 contains a Declaration from the Internet Archive for the Metawave
`
`Website. Laird Technologies, Inc. v. Graftech International Holdings, Inc.,
`
`IPR2014-00023, Paper 1 (Petition), at 16, 35-36 (Oct. 24, 2013).
`
`
`
`12
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`handoff zones between sectors increases, which in turn increases the ‘handoff
`
`overhead’ of the cell.” Id. Yea further discloses that increasing the sectorization
`
`of a cell also increases interference and is expensive. Id. Yea discloses that
`
`Metawave’s SpotLight 2000 system solved these problems by replacing three
`
`sector antennas with three split-sector antennas to provide six-sectors. Id., at 28,
`
`30. Yea further discloses that “[s]mart antenna systems make six-sector a practical
`
`proposition. They do so in three principal ways: by reducing handoff overhead, by
`
`easing the implementation burden and by facilitating successful optimization.” Id.,
`
`at 3, 5. Ex. 1024, ¶ 116.
`
`Yea further discloses that the field test “site was originally configured in
`
`three-sector using conventional antennas and a Nortel Networks CDMA Metro
`
`Cell base station . . . . Subsequently, a smart antenna system was installed . . .
`
`[and] the site was taken to six-sector. Before and after ERP plots of the two
`
`configurations are shown in Figure 4.” Id., at 30. ERP is a standard acronym for
`
`Effective Radiated Power. Ex. 1024, ¶ 117.
`
`Figure 4 of Yea shows the before and after polar ERP plots of the antenna
`
`patterns of the conventional three-sector configuration (left) and the SpotLight
`
`2000 six-sector configuration that replaced the three-sector antennas (right) (id., ¶
`
`118):
`
`
`
`13
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`
`Yea discloses that after replacement of the conventional three-sector
`
`antennas with the SpotLight 2000 split-sector antennas, there was a “significant
`
`increase in cell capacity [that] can be attributed to the control of handoff overhead.
`
`Figure 8 compares Ec/I0 polar plots for the baseline three-sector configuration with
`
`conventional antennas and the smart antenna six-sector configuration. [Ec/I0 is the
`
`signal to interference ratio]. The size of the inter-sector softer handoff regions –
`
`and thus the amount of handoff overhead – is indicated by the darker shaded
`
`areas.” Ex. 1016, at 9; Ex. 1024, ¶ 120.
`
`
`
`As is readily seen from Figs. 4 and 8, the split-sector antennas (right side of
`
`Figs. 4 and 8) had a coverage area that closely approximated the coverage area of
`
`the replaced three-sector antennas (left side of Figs. 4 and 8) but with reduced
`
`
`
`14
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`overlap of beams between neighboring sub-sector coverage areas (darker shaded
`
`areas of Fig. 8). Ex. 1016, at 9-15. Yea discloses that “[t]he main purpose of the
`
`six-sector deployment was to provide increased site capacity. Metawave’s smart
`
`antenna system delivered on that promise.” Id., at 9; Ex. 1024, ¶ 121.
`
`Mr. Collins also measured Figs. 4 and 8 of Yea which further confirmed that
`
`the six beams of the split-sector antennas of the SpotLight 2000 system are
`
`asymmetrical, with Fig. 4 having 5° - 12° of asymmetry per beam and Fig. 8 having
`
`2° - 9° asymmetry per beam. Ex. 1017; Ex. 1024, ¶ 122.
`
`Mr. Collins also overlaid the radiation patterns of the split-sector antennas
`
`from the right-side of Figs. 4 and 8 onto the radiation patterns of the replaced 3-
`
`sector antennas from the left-side of Figs. 4 and 8, which are shown below with the
`
`overlay of the radiation patterns from Fig. 4 on the left, and the overlay of the
`
`radiation patterns from Fig. 8 on the right (Ex. 1024, ¶ 124):
`
`
`
`300°
`
`285°
`
`270°
`
`255°
`
`240°
`
`345°
`
`0°
`
`15°
`
`330°
`
`315°
`
`30°
`
`45°
`
`345°
`
`0°
`
`15°
`
`330°
`
`315°
`
`30°
`
`45°
`
`60°
`
`75°
`
`90°
`
`105°
`
`120°
`
`300°
`
`285°
`
`270°
`
`255°
`
`240°
`
`60°
`
`75°
`
`90°
`
`105°
`
`120°
`
`225°
`
`210°
`
`195°
`
`180°
`
`165°
`
`135°
`Slide 5: Radiation patterns
`of replaced sectors and
`150°
`pairs of sub‐sectors
`
`225°
`
`210°
`
`195°
`
`180°
`
`165°
`
`135°
`Slide 10: Superposition of
`right hand and left hand
`plots of Yea Fig 8.
`
`150°
`
`
`
`
`
`15
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`The overlaid images from Yea show that the six-sector radiation patterns are
`
`asymmetrical with reduced overlap of beams between neighboring sub-sector
`
`coverage areas comparing to the overlap of the replaced antennas while
`
`maintaining the critical coverage area of the replaced antennas. Ex. 1024, ¶ 125;
`
`Ex. 1014, Slides 5 and 10.
`
`The Case Study page of the Metawave Website discloses that the field trial
`
`of the SpotLight 2000 six-sector configuration increased capacity and that “the
`
`operator was able to maintain the baseline 3-sector coverage footprint.” Ex. 1015,
`
`at 13; Ex. 1024, ¶ 126.
`
`The Seminar page of the Metawave Website also discloses: “Three
`
`multibeam panel antennas [of the SpotLight 2000] replace the conventional
`
`antennas on the tower, and rack-mounted equipment interfaces with your new or
`
`existing base station equipment through standard RF input/output ports . . . .
`
`SpotLight 2000 allows the user to craft custom antenna patterns based on 12
`
`narrow beams produced by the three panel antennas . . . .” Ex. 1015, at 33. As
`
`shown in the Seminar, the coverage of the SpotLight 2000’s twelve 30º narrow
`
`beams can be sculpted by adjusting the per-beam gain and the per-beam phase of
`
`each antenna, and to optimize softer handoff regions (id., at 39, 42; Ex. 1024, ¶
`
`128):
`
`
`
`16
`
`
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`
`
`The Technology Brief teaches that “SpotLight 2000’s Sector Synthesis
`
`technology allows precise and flexible customization of CDMA antenna radiation
`
`patterns . . . . SpotLight 2000’s software-controlled multibeam antennas display
`
`much sharper sector rolloff than do conventional antennas . . . Additionally, Sector
`
`Synthesis gives the operator the ability to reposition handoff zones from high-to
`
`low traffic areas, further reducing handoff overhead.” Ex. 1015, at 16. The
`
`Technology Brief discloses an “ERP plot of a SpotLight 2000 antenna pattern
`
`shows ability to retract or extend coverage footprint” (id.; Ex. 1024, ¶¶ 130-132):
`
`
`The Key Features page of the Metawave Website discloses: “The SpotLight
`
`2000 smart antenna system . . . fill[s] in coverage gaps and improve[es] call quality
`
`. . . . [The SpotLight 2000] reduce[s] antenna count and tower loading with
`
`SpotLight’s three-panel antenna.” Ex. 1015, at 20. The multi-beam planar array
`
`
`
`17
`
`
`
`Petition for Inter Partes Review of U.S. Patent No. 8,311,582
`
`
`antenna panels of the system are shown (Ex. 1024, ¶ 133):
`
`
`
`
`The Sitesculptor page discloses: “You can increase the capacity of a CDMA
`
`cell site by using SpotLight 2000 to create custom antenna patterns that balance
`
`sector traffic loads and minimize handoff overhead . . . . Select a pre-defined
`
`sector