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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1.114 was filed in this application on 20 April 2026 after a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but before the filing of a Notice of Appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit or the commencement of a civil action. The request, however, lacks the fee required by 37 CFR 1.17(e) and/or the submission required by 37 CFR 1.114. Accordingly, the RCE is improper and any time period running was not tolled by the filing of the improper request.
Response to Arguments
Applicant has amended independent claims 1 and 14, which changes the scope of the claims. Applicant has further amended claims 2-3, 8-10, 12, and 15-20.
Applicant's arguments filed 20 April 2026 have been fully considered. Applicant’s arguments with respect to Zhang have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument, as necessitated by amendment.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al (US 20210242771 A1) modified by Zilio et al (US 20200373832 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Chen teaches an electronic device comprising: a battery; (¶0021 “FIG. 1 illustrates… example environment 100, an example computing device 102 includes a battery 104, a load 106, and a power system 108”)
at least one processor; (¶0023 “computing device 102 may be implemented as any suitable computing or electronic device”)
and a charging circuit, (¶0031 “FIG. 2 illustrates an example power system 108, which includes the DC-to-DC power converter 118”)
wherein the charging circuit comprises a three-level converter (¶0027 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 can operate as a three-level buck converter 134”)
and a [balancing] circuit, wherein the three-level converter has one end connected to at least one external device via a first electrical path, (¶0031 “[FIG 2] third power path 114-3 includes a power adaptor 206, which can be physically connected to a power source 110-2 or an external load 112-2”)
and a remaining end connected to the battery via a second electrical path, is configured to perform a buck mode or a boost mode, (¶0027 “During the forward-charging operational mode 130-1, the DC-to-DC power converter 118 can operate as a three-level buck converter 134 to transfer power from the power source 110 to the battery 104 or the load 106”, ¶0028 “During the reverse-charging operational mode 132, the DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as a two-level boost converter 136 to transfer power from the battery 104 to the external load 112”)
and comprises: a switching circuit including multiple switching elements and a flying capacitor, (¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can isolate the power paths 114-1 to 114-N from the battery 104 to prevent leakage current from flowing from the battery 104 to the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”, ¶0026 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 also includes at least one flying capacitor 124 and at least one inductor 126, as further described with respect to FIG. 3”)
and a filter circuit including an inductor and a capacitor, (FIG 3 filter formed between Inductor 126 and capacitor 322 connected via battery node 308; ¶0039 “inductor 126 of the DC-to-DC power converter 118 is connected between the second node 304 and the battery node 308”, ¶0041 “ The DC-to-DC power converter 118 also includes a first capacitor 320 and a second capacitor 322… The second capacitor (C.sub.2) 322 is coupled between the battery node 308 and the ground 310”)
wherein a first external electronic device configured to provide power to the electronic device and a second external electronic device configured to receive power from the electronic device are connected to the charging circuit, one via a wired charging path and the other via a wireless charging path, (¶0031 “[FIG 2] second power path 114-2 includes a wireless power transmitter 204, which can be electromagnetically coupled to an external load 112-1, such as a wireless receiver of another device. The third power path 114-3 includes a power adaptor 206, which can be physically connected to a power source 110-2 or an external load 112-2”)
wherein the charging circuit is configured to establish: a first charging path in which at least partial power received from the first external electronic device is provided to the second external electronic device, and remaining partial power is provided to the battery, (FIG 2 power received from external load 112-2 functioning as power source 110-2 into switching circuit 116 which distributes power to both external load 112-1 and battery 104, ¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can enable individual power paths 114-1 to 114-N to be connected to the DC-to-DC power converter 118 and provide isolation between the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”)
and a second charging path in which power of the battery is transferred to the second external electronic device to supplement a difference between power demanded by the second external electronic device and power supplied by the first external electronic device, (FIG 2 switching circuit 116 which distributes power to both external load 112-2 and battery 104, ¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can enable individual power paths 114-1 to 114-N to be connected to the DC-to-DC power converter 118 and provide isolation between the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”)
and wherein the [balancing] circuit is configured to adjust a voltage of the flying capacitor, (¶0052 “control circuit 120 adjusts the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 across the flying capacitor 124 so that the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is within a threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”)
and comprises: a [balancing] control circuit configured to: identify a voltage of the flying capacitor and a reference voltage corresponding to an input voltage received from the first external electronic device,
identify a [balancing] state by comparing the reference voltage with the voltage of the flying capacitor, (¶0057 “At 508, the comparator 408 determines whether the absolute value of a difference between the voltage (V.sub.1) 326 and the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is less than the reference voltage (V.sub.R1) 416”)
based on the [balancing] state, select a mode from a buck mode corresponding to the first charging path or a boost mode corresponding to the second charging path, (¶0053 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 transitions from the soft-start state to the steady state responsive to the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 being within the threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”, ¶0055 “ FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram 500 illustrating an example process of the control circuit 120. At 502, the control circuit 120 enables the reverse-charging operational mode 132 (of FIG. 1). This causes the DC-to-DC power converter 118 to transition from one of the forward-charging operational modes 130-1 or 130-2 to the reverse-charging operational mode 132”)
generate an output signal corresponding to the selected mode, (¶0027 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 implements a multi-mode DC-to-DC power converter and can thus operate according to at least one forward-charging operational mode 130-1 or 130-2 and a reverse-charging operational mode 132”)
and a switching control circuit configured to control switching of the multiple switching elements, based on the generated output signal of the balancing control circuit. (¶0053 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 transitions from the soft-start state to the steady state responsive to the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 being within the threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”, ¶0072 “FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process 800 for operating a multi-mode DC-to-DC power converter”)
The electronic device as taught by Chen discloses a steady-state, which corresponds to a stable state where the voltages, currents, and internal states reach a balanced state. However, Chen does not explicitly disclose a balancing control circuit which enters a balancing state.
Zilio teaches [wherein the] balancing [circuit is configured to adjust a voltage of the flying capacitor], (¶0012 “controller 110 is configured to perform CMC and flying capacitor balance using a flying capacitor balancing loop 110A”)
[and comprises: a] balancing [control circuit configured to: identify a voltage of the flying capacitor and a reference voltage corresponding to an input voltage received from the first external electronic device]. (¶0013 “feedback region detector 120 is configured to detect a change in a feedback region of the MLHFC converter 10 by monitoring a property of a flying capacitor voltage V.sub.Cfly of the MLHFC converter 10, and a property of a control signal S.sub.Cfly of the control system 100”, ¶0016 “controller adjuster 130 are therefore configured to operate independently of parameters of the MLHFC converter 10, wherein the parameters may comprise a load current, an input voltage, an output voltage, a switching frequency, and/or an inductance”)
Therefor it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to modify the electronic device as taught by Chen wherein the balancing circuit is configured to adjust a voltage of the flying capacitor, and comprises: a balancing control circuit configured to: identify a voltage of the flying capacitor and a reference voltage corresponding to an input voltage received from the first external electronic device as taught by Zilio. Chen ¶0052 discloses “control circuit 120 adjusts the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 across the flying capacitor 124 so that the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is within a threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”, Chen further describes the comparison of the threshold voltage to the voltage across the flying capacitor in ¶0057 “At 508, the comparator 408 determines whether the absolute value of a difference between the voltage (V.sub.1) 326 and the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is less than the reference voltage (V.sub.R1) 416”. The comparator 408 of the electronic device as taught by Chen functions similarly to the flying capacitor balancing loop 110A as taught by Zilio. It would be obvious to try inserting Zilio’s flying capacitor balancing loop 110A into the control circuit 120 as taught by Chen. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve stability, reliability, and performance of the multi-level converter.
Similarly for claim 14 as applied to a charging circuit (Chen ¶0021 “FIG. 1 illustrates… example environment 100, an example computing device 102 includes a battery 104, a load 106, and a power system 108”).
Regarding claim 2, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 1. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the balancing control circuit is further configured to control switching between the buck mode and the boost mode in the wired and wireless charging path of the electronic device, (Chen ¶0027 “multi-mode DC-to-DC power converter selectively operates as a three-level buck converter according to a first forward-charging operational mode or as a two-level boost converter according to a reverse-charging operational mode”, Chen ¶0024 “One of the power paths 114-1 to 114-N can include a wireless power transmitter or a wireless power receiver to support wireless charging. Additionally or alternatively, another one of the power paths 114-1 to 114-N can include a power adaptor to support wired charging”)
wherein the buck mode comprises a mode of decreasing an input voltage and outputting the decreased input voltage, (Chen ¶0034 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as the three-level buck converter 134 or the divide-by-two charge pump 138 based on the mode-control signal 210”, definition of a buck converter is to decrease the input voltage)
and wherein the boost mode comprises a mode of increasing an input voltage and outputting the increased input voltage. ( Chen¶0034 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as the two-level boost converter 136 based on the mode-control signal 210”, definition of a boost converter is to increase the input voltage)
Similarly for claim 15 as applied to a charging circuit, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the charging circuit of claim 14.
Regarding claim 3, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 2. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the balancing control circuit (Zilio ¶0012 “controller 110 is configured to perform CMC and flying capacitor balance using a flying capacitor balancing loop 110A”)
is further configured to: when the balancing state corresponds to a targeted balancing state, generate a control signal for maintaining the buck mode or the boost mode currently set for the three-level converter, (Chen ¶0034 “ DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as the three-level buck converter 134 or the divide-by-two charge pump 138 based on the mode-control signal 210… DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as the two-level boost converter 136 based on the mode-control signal 210”)
and when the [balancing] state does not correspond to the targeted [balancing] state, generate a control signal for switching the three-level converter from the currently set mode to an opposite mode, (Chen ¶0033 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates according to one of the forward-charging operational modes 130-1 or 130-2 or the reverse-charging operational mode 132 based on the mode-control signal 210”)
and wherein the control signal for switching to the second path opposite mode is a reverse signal of the control signal for maintaining the first path currently set mode. (Chen ¶0034 “During the reverse-charging operational mode 132, the power system 108 transfers power from the battery 104 to one of the external loads 112-1 or 112-2”)
Regarding claim 4, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 1. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the switching control circuit comprises a reversing circuit configured to reverse a control direction of the balancing circuit. (Chen ¶0033 “control circuit 120 generates at least one power-path control signal 208 and at least one mode-control signal 210… DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates according to one of the forward-charging operational modes 130-1 or 130-2 or the reverse-charging operational mode 132 based on the mode-control signal 210”)
Regarding claim 5, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 4. The electronic device as taught by Chen modified by Zilio, as detailed by Chen ¶0032 “switching circuit 116 is coupled between the power paths 114-1 to 114-3 and the DC-to-DC power converter 118, and can be implemented using one or more switches or a multiplexer”, which indicates the presence of at least one multiplexer.
Chen as modified by Zilio does not explicitly disclose wherein the reversing circuit comprises two multiplexers configured to control a control direction of the balancing circuit to be reversed.
Zilio further teaches wherein the reversing circuit comprises two multiplexers configured to control a control direction of the balancing circuit to be reversed. (¶0015 “controller adjuster 130 comprises an inverter 132 and a multiplexer 134 as an example configuration, and inverses the sign of the flying capacitor balancing by the multiplexer selecting, in response to a select signal from the feedback region detector 120”)
Therefor it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to further modify the electronic device as taught by Chen modified by Zilio wherein the reversing circuit comprises two multiplexers configured to control a control direction of the balancing circuit to be reversed as taught by Zilio. The modification would be obvious because one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to improve stability, reliability, and performance of the multi-level converter by improving switching speeds.
Regarding claim 6, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 5. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the balancing control circuit comprises a toggle circuit configured to control operations of the two multiplexers. (Chen ¶0030 “ the control circuit 120 generates bias voltages, which can establish different switch states, control a mode of the DC-to-DC power converter 118, and control a configuration of the switching circuit 116”)
Multiplexers are logic circuits which act as multi-position switches, selecting 1 output from multiple inputs. Applicant specification ¶0162 describes the multiplexers as "the reversing circuit 720 may include two multiplexers (e.g., a first multiplexer Mux1 and a second multiplexer Mux2)", similarly Chen as modified by Zilio comprises Zilio’s flying capacitor balancing loop 110A, which is incorporated into Chen’s control circuit 120.
Regarding claim 7, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 6. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the balancing control circuit is further configured to, when a designated condition is not satisfied by a control direction of the balancing circuit, change a control direction of the switching control circuit via the toggle circuit. (Chen ¶0057 “[FIG 5] If the condition is false, the soft-start circuit 404 is enabled and adjusts the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 at 510. The process cycles between 508 and 510 until the comparator 408 determines that the condition at 508 is true”)
Regarding claim 8, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 7. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the reversing circuit is further configured to: when an output of the toggle circuit is high (H), control the switching control circuit to select a balancing control direction of the flying capacitor in the buck mode corresponding to the first charging path, (Chen ¶0060 “T1, an enable reverse-charging signal 602 transitions from a low voltage to a high voltage. The high voltage causes the DC-to-DC power converter 118 to operate according to the reverse-charging operational mode 132”)
and when an output of the toggle circuit is low (L), control the switching control circuit to select a balancing control direction of the flying capacitor in the boost mode corresponding to the second charging path. (¶0061 “[FIG 5] comparator 408 determines that the condition at 508 of FIG. 5 is false and generates the enable steady-state signal 418 to have a low voltage”)
Regarding claim 9. Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 6. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein, for the balancing control circuit, configuration of an initial operation mode related to an output of the toggle circuit is determined by the at least one processor, (Chen ¶0023 “computing device 102 may be implemented as any suitable computing or electronic device”)
and wherein the balancing control circuit is further configured to generate a corresponding control signal to forcibly switch the initial operation mode (Chen ¶0055 “[FIG 5] At 502, the control circuit 120 enables the reverse-charging operational mode 132 (of FIG. 1). This causes the DC-to-DC power converter 118 to transition from one of the forward-charging operational modes 130-1 or 130-2 to the reverse-charging operational mode 132”)
when voltage of the flying capacitor becomes greater or smaller than a half voltage of an input voltage by a the reference voltage by a predetermined threshold due to adjustment based on the initial operation mode. (Chen ¶0046 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as the divide-by-two charge pump 138 (of FIG. 1). In particular, the switches 122-1 to 122-4 operate in such a way as to cause the voltage (V.sub.B) 334 (e.g., the output voltage) at the battery node 308 to be equal to half the voltage (V.sub.1) 326 (e.g., the input voltage)”)
Regarding claim 10, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 1. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the charging circuit is further configured to, in a the wired and wireless complex operation condition charging path of the electronic device, regardless of the designated mode for voltage adjusting of the flying capacitor, automatically select a balancing control direction, based on the balancing state. (Chen ¶0055 “FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram 500 illustrating an example process of the control circuit 120”, see below for further detail)
The balancing control direction is determined in the flow diagram of Chen FIG 5, particularly during step 508 where the voltage across the flying capacitor is compared to an input voltage. As a result of the comparison in step 508 the control circuit 120 either remains in reverse-charging operational mode 132 or enters forward-charging operational mode.
Regarding claim 11, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 10. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the balancing control circuit is further configured to determine a state of a currently configured balancing control direction of the balancing circuit by using a range of the flying capacitor without sensing of an inductor current of the three-level converter. (Chen ¶0057 “[FIG 5] At 508, the comparator 408 determines whether the absolute value of a difference between the voltage (V.sub.1) 326 and the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is less than the reference voltage (V.sub.R1) 416. If the condition is false, the soft-start circuit 404 is enabled and adjusts the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 at 510. The process cycles between 508 and 510 until the comparator 408 determines that the condition at 508 is true”)
Chen FIG 5 depicts the decision for changing between forward charging and backward charging, which is determined on the voltage across the flying capacitor without measuring the current of an inductor.
Regarding claim 12, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 1. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, when the electronic device performs a charging function with at least one the first external electronic device and the second external electronic device, (Chen ¶0031 “[FIG 2] second power path 114-2 includes a wireless power transmitter 204, which can be electromagnetically coupled to an external load 112-1, such as a wireless receiver of another device. The third power path 114-3 includes a power adaptor 206, which can be physically connected to a power source 110-2 or an external load 112-2”)
configure an initial operation mode to be the buck mode or the designated boost mode corresponding to the charging function with respect to an output of the balancing control circuit. (Chen ¶0027 “During the forward-charging operational mode 130-1, the DC-to-DC power converter 118 can operate as a three-level buck converter 134 to transfer power from the power source 110 to the battery 104 or the load 106”, Chen ¶0028 “During the reverse-charging operational mode 132, the DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as a two-level boost converter 136 to transfer power from the battery 104 to the external load 112”)
Regarding claim 13, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 1. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the switching control circuit is further configured to selectively turn on at least some of the multiple switching elements so as to control charging or discharging of the flying capacitor. (Chen ¶0035 “[FIG 3] DC-to-DC power converter 118 includes the switches 122-1 to 122-4 (e.g., S equals four in this example), the flying capacitor (C.sub.Fly) 124, the inductor 126, and the bypass switch 128”)
Regarding claim 16, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the electronic device of claim 4. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches a method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: connecting a first external electronic device configured to provide power to the electronic device and a second external electronic device configured to receive power from the electronic device to a charging circuit of the electronic device, one via a wired charging path and the other via a wireless charging path, (Chen ¶0031 “[FIG 2] second power path 114-2 includes a wireless power transmitter 204, which can be electromagnetically coupled to an external load 112-1, such as a wireless receiver of another device. The third power path 114-3 includes a power adaptor 206, which can be physically connected to a power source 110-2 or an external load 112-2”)
the charging circuit comprising a three-level converter including a switching circuit having multiple switching elements and a flying capacitor; (Chen ¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can isolate the power paths 114-1 to 114-N from the battery 104 to prevent leakage current from flowing from the battery 104 to the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”, Chen ¶0026 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 also includes at least one flying capacitor 124 and at least one inductor 126, as further described with respect to FIG. 3”)
identifying a voltage of the flying capacitor and a reference voltage corresponding to an input voltage received from the first external electronic device; (Chen ¶0052 “control circuit 120 adjusts the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 across the flying capacitor 124 so that the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is within a threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”)
identifying a balancing state by comparing the reference voltage with the voltage of the flying capacitor; (Zilio ¶0013 “feedback region detector 120 is configured to detect a change in a feedback region of the MLHFC converter 10 by monitoring a property of a flying capacitor voltage V.sub.Cfly of the MLHFC converter 10, and a property of a control signal S.sub.Cfly of the control system 100”, Zilio ¶0016 “controller adjuster 130 are therefore configured to operate independently of parameters of the MLHFC converter 10, wherein the parameters may comprise a load current, an input voltage, an output voltage, a switching frequency, and/or an inductance”)
generating, selecting, based on the balancing state and a designated mode from among the buck mode and the boost mode, a mode from a buck mode corresponding to the first charging path or a boost mode corresponding to the second charging path; (Chen ¶0053 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 transitions from the soft-start state to the steady state responsive to the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 being within the threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”, Chen ¶0055 “ FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram 500 illustrating an example process of the control circuit 120. At 502, the control circuit 120 enables the reverse-charging operational mode 132 (of FIG. 1). This causes the DC-to-DC power converter 118 to transition from one of the forward-charging operational modes 130-1 or 130-2 to the reverse-charging operational mode 132”)
generating an output signal for controlling the switch control circuit corresponding to the selected mode; (Chen ¶0027 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 implements a multi-mode DC-to-DC power converter and can thus operate according to at least one forward-charging operational mode 130-1 or 130-2 and a reverse-charging operational mode 132”)
and performing controlling switching for the multiple switching elements, based on the generated output signal, wherein the first charging path provides at least partial power received from the first external electronic device to the second external electronic device and remaining partial power to a battery, (Chen ¶0053 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 transitions from the soft-start state to the steady state responsive to the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 being within the threshold voltage from the voltage (V.sub.1) 326”, ¶0072 “FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example process 800 for operating a multi-mode DC-to-DC power converter”)
and wherein the second charging path provides power of the battery to the second external electronic device to supplement a difference between power demanded by the second external electronic device and power supplied by the first external electronic device. (Chen FIG 2 switching circuit 116 which distributes power to both external load 112-2 and battery 104, Chen ¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can enable individual power paths 114-1 to 114-N to be connected to the DC-to-DC power converter 118 and provide isolation between the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”)
Regarding claim 17, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the method of claim 16. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches wherein the a targeted balancing state is identified based on a voltage of the flying capacitor being maintained at a half voltage of an input the reference voltage. (Chen ¶0046 “DC-to-DC power converter 118 operates as the divide-by-two charge pump 138 (of FIG. 1). In particular, the switches 122-1 to 122-4 operate in such a way as to cause the voltage (V.sub.B) 334 (e.g., the output voltage) at the battery node 308 to be equal to half the voltage (V.sub.1) 326 (e.g., the input voltage)”)
Regarding claim 18, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the method of claim 16. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches further comprising: detecting the a complex operation condition based on detecting a connection to the first external electronic device while performing a wireless charging function with the second external electronic device. (Chen ¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can enable individual power paths 114-1 to 114-N to be connected to the DC-to-DC power converter 118 and provide isolation between the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”)
Chen provides the structure to isolate the individual power paths to a wired power path 114-a and a wireless power path 114-2, which can independently operate. This allows for the switching circuit 116 to detect a first external device while wirelessly charging a second external device.
Regarding claim 19, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the method of claim 16. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches further comprising: detecting the a complex operation condition based on detecting a connection to and performing a wireless charging function (Chen ¶0024 “One of the power paths 114-1 to 114-N can include a wireless power transmitter or a wireless power receiver to support wireless charging”)
with a the second external electronic device during connection to the first external electronic device. (Chen ¶0025 “switching circuit 116 can enable individual power paths 114-1 to 114-N to be connected to the DC-to-DC power converter 118 and provide isolation between the power paths 114-1 to 114-N”)
Chen provides the structure to isolate the individual power paths to a wired power path 114-a and a wireless power path 114-2, which can independently operate. This allows for the switching circuit 116 to detect a first external device while wirelessly charging a second external device.
Regarding claim 20, Chen as modified by Zilio teaches the method of claim 16. Chen as modified by Zilio further teaches further comprising: identifying wherein the balancing state is performed identified without sensing an inductor current of the three-level converter. (Chen ¶0057 “[FIG 5] At 508, the comparator 408 determines whether the absolute value of a difference between the voltage (V.sub.1) 326 and the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 is less than the reference voltage (V.sub.R1) 416. If the condition is false, the soft-start circuit 404 is enabled and adjusts the voltage (V.sub.C) 328 at 510. The process cycles between 508 and 510 until the comparator 408 determines that the condition at 508 is true”)
Chen FIG 5 depicts the decision for changing between forward charging and backward charging, which is determined on the voltage across the flying capacitor without measuring the current of an inductor.
Prior Art Not Relied Upon
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure can be found in the attached PTO-892 Notice of References Cited by Examiner attached to this correspondence.
Bonnano et al (US 20200195133 A1) discloses a multi-level voltage converter having a first switching circuit including a flying capacitor coupled in parallel with switches coupled in series.
Jing et al (US 20210067033 A1) discloses an apparatus for sensing the voltage across a flying capacitor in a switched-mode power supply circuit which has a boost mode and a buck mode.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LISA M KOTOWSKI whose telephone number is (571)270-3771. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8a-5p.
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/LISA KOTOWSKI/Examiner, Art Unit 2859
/JULIAN D HUFFMAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2859
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