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 .
Prior arts cited in this office action:
Schweitzer, III et al. (US 20030200038 A1, hereafter “Schweitzer”)
Rieser et al. (US 20010034223 A1, hereinafter “Rieser”)
Lee et al. (US 6546063 B1, hereinafter “Lee”)
Harthcock et al. (US 5809397 A, hereinafter “Harthcock”)
Ueno et al. (US 6486922 B1, hereinafter “Ueno”)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/14/2025 with regard the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks: Applicant argues that Schweitzer sampling frequency fs is not a timestamp.
Examiner’s Response; examiner disagrees with applicant assertion above. Since Schweitzer teaches using a GPS as an absolute time reference and a time synch to generate the appropriate time for sampling the incoming analog signal and generate a digital signal. As a result, the signal fs of Schweitzer can be interpreted as time stamp in view of applicant disclosure and previous arguments. The fs is derived from a reference clock and sample the data at fixed interval. In other words, knowing the start time the exact time of each sample can be known unless there is a deviation in the sampling signal which can be readjusted based on the external clock. As pointed out by Harthcock, it should also be understood that an "offset signal" in the context of the present invention can mean inter alia the advancement of a clock reference, the adjustment of a time mark relative to a time clock reference, or the adjustment of an embedded time reference in data within a signal (Harthcock col. 2 lines 37-45). In other words, starting from the time stamp receive by from the GPS and offset that time stamp with each cycle and the time stamp can help determine the time of the converting in knowing the time stamp and the corresponding frequency offset. In case wherein there is one data bit as claimed the time stamp can be the only time and would directly represent the time of converting the analog signal to digital. And if there are more bits the would be offset, based on the frequency (time mark) accordingly relatively to the initial time stamp. Such as the time is fs+t1 fs+t2, fs+t3 etc. where t1, t2, t3 would represent each trigger or clock pulse. Furthermore, the time stamp can be used for generating the clock for the conversion which is the time of conversion.
applicant’s Arguments/Remarks: the office’s assertion(1) about use of the time stamp is incorrect.
Examiner’s Response: examiner disagrees with applicant assertion above that the assertion of the time stamp is incorrect since Harthcock was cited to show the absolute time reference such as atomic clock or cesium clock or GPS clock can be used to generate timing information such as sampling clock, time stamps or time marks which can be for the time of converting the analog signal to digital. Furthermore, the time of converting analog signal to one digital bit can be taking as the time of sampling each analog bit. The time marks (time of day) are embedded in the C-NET data stream. In other words, when a frame contains 1 data bit the time for the 1-bit conversion or sampling is encoded in the data frame.
In this case Harthcock was cited to show that a time stamp can be encoded in the data and be used to generate appropriate clock signal to sample and convert the received signal from analog to digital. Indeed, Harthcock teaches the time stamp associated with the signal can be received and used to generate a clock that is then used to sample the analog signal in the analog to digital converter to generate the digital signal. Harthcock teaches “a C-NET protocol has time marks that are embedded in the C-NET data stream. The C-NET stream consists of equal sized frames. The point in time that goes with each time mark is marked by a frame boundary and the time of day that goes with each time mark is encoded in the data stream in the frame(s) following the time mark frame boundary. Thus, as described above with respect to FLEX, a system could be devised using GPS and the embedded timing information in C-NET to determine an offset signal to synchronize a messaging system”... “It should also be understood that an "offset signal" in the context of the present invention can mean inter alia the adjustment of a time clock reference itself, the adjustment of a time mark relative to a time clock reference, or the adjustment of an embedded time reference in data within a signal (Harthcock col. 3 lines 13-45, col. 5 lines 31-45). As one can see using time mark (time stamp) based on GPS that is embedded into the signal and used to generate appropriate clock timing to allow for conversion of the analog signal to a digital signal stream in order to minimize timing error is a known technique in the art and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art). Furthermore, Harthcock was cited to show that timing information can be incorporated in the signal transmitted in order to adjust the local clock such that clock synchronization can be performed and that absolute reference time stamp can be a GPS clock time stamp. Applicant tries to give a narrow interpretation of the reference or the combination of the cited references that suits him best. For example, in the case where the data or the frame or the signal contains 1 bit the time stamp would correspond to that 1 bit. Furthermore, the claim recites at least 1 data bit. In other words, the limitation is met when considering the case of 1 bit conversion, encoding and/or transmission.
Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks: Schweitzer’s fs is not a times stamp and that Schweitzer define the fs as the system sampling frequency fs.
Examiner’s Response; examiner disagrees with applicant assertion above. Applicant discloses a time stamp that is associated with the converting of the analog signal to digital. And clearly taught by Schweitzer the absolute reference signal (time stamp) is associated with the converting of the analog signal received to digital signal. The GPS provides time mark (or starting point) each time the signal should be sampled. And in the case where there is only one bit the time stamp received is the time that is associated with the converting of that analog signal to the one bit digital. Furthermore, in figure 2 of applicant invention and corresponding paragraph one can see that the analog and time to digital converter uses a clock that clocks the latches and the delay lock loop 270. In other words, a clock is used to convert the analog signal to digital in the analog and time to digital converter. Applicant seems to argue that the figure 2 generates and encode the time stamp with the digital signal. However, in the claim itself the time stamp is being received and used to adjust the clock for converting the analog signal to the digital signal. As a result, provides an association of the received time stamp to the converting of the analog signal to digital. An again, as cited in the previous office action Ueno shows that how time stamp can be used to generate a clock that would help in recovering the data bit stream received and/or transmitted.
Applicant’s arguments/Remarks: Schweitzer’s f, is NOT a time stamp and changing it into a time stamp would render Schweitzer inoperable and that Schweitzer in combination with the other asserted references do not teach the claimed,
Examiner’s Response: examiner disagrees with applicant assertion above. As disclose above. Schweitzer teaches using an absolute reference time such as a GPS to generate a clock to be used in analog to digital converter for converting the received signal into digital signal. The time stamp associated with the signal can be received and used to generate a clock that is then used to sample the analog signal in the analog to digital converter to generate the digital signal. also, Harthcock teaches “a C-NET protocol has time marks that are embedded in the C-NET data stream. The C-NET stream consists of equal sized frames. The point in time that goes with each time mark is marked by a frame boundary and the time of day that goes with each time mark is encoded in the data stream in the frame(s) following the time mark frame boundary. Thus, as described above with respect to FLEX, a system could be devised using GPS and the embedded timing information in C-NET to determine an offset signal to synchronize a messaging system”... “It should also be understood that an "offset signal" in the context of the present invention can mean inter alia the adjustment of a time clock reference itself, the adjustment of a time mark relative to a time clock reference, or the adjustment of an embedded time reference in data within a signal (Harthcock col. 3 lines 13-45, col. 5 lines 31-45). As one can see using time mark (time stamp) based on GPS that is embedded into the signal and used to generate appropriate clock timing to allow for conversion of the analog signal to a digital signal stream in order to minimize timing error is a known technique in the art and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art).
Furthermore, Ueno teaches that a bit stream and be generated and a time stamp multiplexed into a bit stream which allow for generation of clock (Ueno col. 2 lines 8-65). In order words embedding a time stamp in to a digital bit stream is a well-known technique that is used to perform clock generation and/or synchronization which can help avoiding sending and extra signal stream containing the clock information.
Examiner maintain that the combination of the cited prior arts in rejecting the invention as claimed is proper and would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. Because Harthcock teaches timing information can be incorporated in the signal transmitted in order to adjust the local clock such that clock synchronization can be performed and that an adjustment of the time stamp or time mark relative to a time clock reference or the adjust a time clock mark with each offset or cycle (Harthcock col. 3 lines 37-45, col. 5 lines 31- lines 55, col. 7 line 35-col. 8 line 10). And Ueno teaches a time stamp is multiplex with digital bit such that at the receiver the time stamp is extracted and use to produce a clock that is used by the receiver (Ueno col. 2 lines 8-25, col. 5 lines 11-33).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Schweitzer, Hathcock and Ueno as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to encode or multiplex the digital data stream with corresponding time stamps, in order to avoid sending two separate signal streams and improve bandwidth efficiency while still providing timing information to help the improving the decoding process by transmitting the time stamp with the data stream.
Applicant is reminded that “A person of ordinary skill in the art is also a person of ordinary creativity, not an automaton.”KSR, 550 U.S. at 421, 82 USPQ2d at 1397. “[I]n many cases a person of ordinary skill will be able to fit the teachings of multiple patents together like pieces of a puzzle.”Id. at 420, 82 USPQ2d at 1397. Office personnel may also take into account “the inferences and creative steps that a person of ordinary skill in the art would employ.”Id. at 418, 82 USPQ2d at 1396. In this case, using a time stamp to obtain sampling frequency such that a plurality of time stamps is generated by adding or stacking a fix amount to the starting time stamp. In other words, a pulse clock is added at regular interval for using in converting analog signal to digital signal and vice versa
As a result, examiner maintains that the combination of the cited references teaches or suggests all of applicant invention as claimed. Claims 2-3, 7-10, 12-13, 17-19 depends at least on either claim 1 or 11 and are therefore not allowable for the same reasons given above.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schweitzer, III et al. (US 20030200038 A1, hereafter “Schweitzer”) in view of Harthcock et al. (US 5809397 A, hereinafter “Harthcock”) and in view of Ueno et al. (US 6486922 B1, hereinafter “Ueno”).
Regarding claims 1, 11 and 20:
Schweitzer teaches a method for converting an analog channel input to a digital data (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], figs. 1 and 2, where Schweitzer teaches a method and system for converting an analog signal into a digital signal) comprising:
receiving the analog channel input for conversion to the digital data, the digital data having at least one bit (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], [0035], figs. 1-2 and 4, where Schweitzer teaches receiving an analog signal from channel (12) and a time stamp (fs) from time synch (28) or (20) that is driven by a local clock or GPS receiver);
receiving a defined absolute reference time stamps (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], [0035], figs. 1-2 and 4, where Schweitzer teaches receiving an analog signal from channel (12) and a time stamp (fs) from time synch (28) or (20) that is driven by a local clock or GPS receiver which provides a series of time considered the absolute time stamp); and
converting the analog channel input to the digital data (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], [0035]);
wherein the defined absolute reference time stamp represents an absolute reference time associated with the converting the analog channel input to the digital data (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], figs. 1 and 2, Where Schweitzer teaches converting the analog signal to digital data using the associated time stamp (fs).
wherein the defined absolute reference time stamp is used to decrease an error associated with the digital data (Schweitzer [0015], [0021], [0035], where Schweitzer teaches using the absolute time reference to synchronize the clock with the sampling/or the converting of the analog signal to the digital signal, in other words to reduce error in the converting from analog to digital such that the obtained digital signal has reduce error).
Schweitzer fails to explicitly teach wherein associating a defined absolute reference time stamp from the series of defined absolute reference time stamps with the converting the analog channel input to the digital data, wherein the defined absolute reference time stamp represents an absolute reference time of converting the analog channel input to the digital data; selecting one defined absolute reference time stamp from the series of defined absolute reference time stamps to be a selected defined absolute reference time stamp.
However, Schweitzer teaches associating one of the appropriate times from a plurality of time stamps (fs) to sample the analog signal in order to convert it to digital signal and absolute time reference is used to provide timing (measurement phasor values) for the analog to digital convert, in this each fs or trigger is considered the absolute reference time stamp. The host computer 116 will parse the received data from several different devices communicating with it in the network, according to the time stamp and the sample number in each data packet. (Schweitzer [0002], [0015], [0021], [0024], [0032]-[0035], figs. 1-4). Furthermore, Harthcock teaches a method and apparatus for system synchronization in messaging system wherein using time division or alternatively it can further rely on an absolute time reference, such as an atomic clock or cesium clock, but preferably a GPS time stamp from a GPS receiver 27 is used to generate the timing information. Harthcock further teaches the time stamp associated with the signal can be received and used to generate a clock that is then used to sample the analog signal in the analog to digital converter to generate the digital signal. Harthcock teaches “a C-NET protocol has time marks that are embedded in the C-NET data stream. The C-NET stream consists of equal sized frames. The point in time that goes with each time mark is marked by a frame boundary and the time of day that goes with each time mark is encoded in the data stream in the frame(s) following the time mark frame boundary. (Harthcock col. 2 line 56- col. 3 line 45, col. 5 lines 31- lines 55, col. 7 line 35-col. 8 line 10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to arrive at the invention as claimed, by associating a time stamp among a plurality of time stamps from a GPS device as the absolute time stamp to use in performing analog to digital conversion such that error can be corrected.
Schweitzer in view of Hathcock teaches all the limitations of this claim except wherein the define absolute time stamp is encoded along with the digital data.
However, Ueno teaches a digital transport stream obtained by multiplexing a digital video bit stream being frame-coded or field-coded, and a time stamp signal, comprising: de-multiplexing means for extracting the digital video bit stream and the time stamp signal from the digital transport stream; first clock reproducing means for reproducing a first clock signal from the time stamp signal (Ueno col. 2 lines 8-25, col. 5 lines 11-33).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Schweitzer, Hathcock and Ueno as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to encode the digital data stream with corresponding time stamps, in order to avoid sending two separate signal streams while allowing good signal stream decoding by transmitting the time stamp with the data stream.
Claims 2-3 and 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schweitzer, III et al. (US 20030200038 A1, hereafter “Schweitzer”) in view of Harthcock et al. (US 5809397 A, hereinafter “Harthcock”) in view of Ueno et al. (US 6486922 B1, hereinafter “Ueno”) and in view of Lee et al. (US 6546063 B1, hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding claims 2 and 12:
Schweitzer in view of Hathcock and in view of Ueno teaches all the limitation of this claim except wherein a comparator receives the analog channel input for converting the analog channel input to the digital data.
However, Lee teaches a data receiver equalization technique wherein incoming data pulse is received using comparators, for example comparator 201 and 202 (Lee col. 4 lines 39-63, figs. 1 and 2).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Schweitzer, Harthcock and Lee as a whole, would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to use a comparator in the system of Schweitzer for receiving the local analog input channel signal, in order to start receive signal when the incoming signal is at an amplitude greater than the noise floor and or allow for amplification of the difference to allow a better signal level that would facilitate further processing
Regarding claims 3 and 13:
Schweitzer in view of Harthcock, in view of Ueno and in view of Lee teaches wherein the comparator produces a comparator output received by a clock input of a positive edge-detecting flip flop and a clock input of a negative edge-detecting flip flop (Lee col. 4 lines 39-63, figs. 1 and 2).
Claims 7-10 and 17-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Schweitzer, III et al. (US 20030200038 A1, hereafter “Schweitzer”) in view of Harthcock et al. (US 5809397 A, hereinafter “Harthcock”) in view of Ueno et al. (US 6486922 B1, hereinafter “Ueno”) and in view of Rieser et al. (US 20010034223 A1, hereinafter “Rieser”).
Regarding claims 7 and 17:
Schweitzer in view of Harthcock and in view of Ueno teaches all the limitations of this claim except wherein a counter is used to generate the defined absolute reference time stamp.
However, Rieser teaches a method and system for providing location dependent and personal identification information to a public safety answering point where a global positioning system (GPS) receiver and a local clock, whose outputs are synchronized using a phase lock loop, together with a counter may be used to generate a binary time stamp (Rieser [0068], [0251], fig. 6).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Schweitzer, Harthcock and Rieser as a whole it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the effective filing date of the application to use a counter to generate the time stamps since Rieser shows that accurate time stamp can be generated using counter.
Regarding claims 8 and 18:
Schweitzer in view of Harthcock, in view of Ueno and in view of Rieser teaches wherein a cesium oscillator is used to generate the defined absolute reference time stamp (Riser [0322]).
Regarding claims 9 and 19:
Schweitzer in view of Harthcock in view of Ueno and in view of Rieser teaches wherein the series of the defined absolute reference time stamp is transmitted wirelessly (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], figs. 1-3; Rieser [0068], [0251], fig. 6).
Regarding claim 10:
Schweitzer in view of Harthcock in view of Ueno and in view of Rieser teaches wherein the series of the defined absolute reference time stamp is transmitted via a wired connection (Schweitzer [0013]-[0016], [0034], figs. 2-5; Rieser [0068], [0251], fig. 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6, 14-16 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.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEDNEL CADEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7843. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00.
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/WEDNEL CADEAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 January 13, 2026