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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-22 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.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1).
As of Claim 1: Liu teaches a device (¶0056 and camera) comprising: an Ethernet connector configured to provide power and data (¶0056 Ethernet); a camera port configured to provide power and data to a camera module (¶0056-0057); an audio port configured to provide power and data to at least one audio input/output module (¶0056-0057).
Liu does not explicitly teaches a processor configured to detect a physical connection of the camera module to the camera port and, in response to the physical connection, determine one or more camera parameters for the camera module attached to the camera port, wherein the one or more camera parameters include a type of the camera module attached to the camera port.
Henry is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Henry teaches a processor configured to detect a physical connection of the camera module to the camera port and, in response to the physical connection, determine one or more camera parameters for the camera module attached to the camera port, wherein the one or more camera parameters include a type of the camera module attached to the camera port (¶¶0018-0019,0023 and note that Device connector 212 generally represents any type or form of physical connection between two devices. In one embodiment, device connector 212 may include a port and/or a cable that connects to a port. Device connector 212 may include a locking connector (e.g., a port-cable connection that locks securely into place such that it is less likely to be accidentally dislodged). For example, device connector 212 may include a Lightning connector.).
In view of the motivations such as enabling the mobile phone to more efficiently process and/or transmit high-quality video (e.g. high-definition and/or high-resolution video) thereby further improving image quality one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As of Claim 2: Liu in view of Henry further teaches a display screen (Liu a display 410).
As of Claim 3: Liu in view of Henry further teaches the display screen is configured to display at least one of: camera information for a camera module coupled to the camera port (Henry ¶0034), a data rate of data communicated from the device by way of the Ethernet connector, a data rate of data communicated from the device by way of the camera module coupled to the camera port, information related to audio captured by a microphone coupled to the audio port, or information related to audio commuted to a speaker by way of the audio port (Henry ¶¶0026,0030) .
As of Claim 4: Liu in view of Henry further teaches the camera port is operable to power a camera module over a distance of 10 meters ((Henry ¶¶0026,0030).
Claims 5-7, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1), and further in view of Hiramatsu et al (US 20140152837 A1; hereafter Hiramatsu).
As of Claim 5: Hiramatsu is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Hiramatsu teaches a video monitoring system capable of confirming the ports to which the video cables of the monitoring cameras are connected, and capable of confirming the connection destinations of the video cables by only looking at the physical tags attached to both ends of the video cables at the installation even on the IP-adapted network that would have prompted a predictable variation of Liu in view of IKI by applying Hiramatsu’s known principal of the camera port comprises a plurality of pins, and each pair of four pairs of pins comprise a MIPI data bus (¶¶0018-0023, The ports 4-1-4-3 of the Ethernet switch 3 are an input interface that accepts the connection of the video cables 2-1-2-3 of the monitoring cameras 1-1-1-3, and a port 4-4 is an input interface that accepts a video cable 8 of the video monitoring device 7.).
In view of the motivations such as enabling and confirming the ports to which the video cables of the monitoring cameras are connected with ease. Accordingly, it is suitable for an application to a video monitoring system that receives the shooting information (video and/or audio data) distributed from the monitoring cameras and that executes video display or video recording of the monitoring areas in accordance with the shooting information thereby further improving flexibility in imaging and skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu in view of Henry.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As of Claim 6: Liu in view of Henry in view of Hiramatsu further teaches a second camera port (Hiramatsu ¶0052 port 4-2).
As of Claim 7: Liu in view of Henry in view of Hiramatsu further teaches a second, third, and fourth camera port (Hiramatsu ¶¶0044-30052 port 4-(1-4)).
As of Claim 9: Liu in view of Henry in view of Hiramatsu further teaches the processor is further configured to change operational modes based on the determined one or more camera parameters of the camera module attached to the camera port (Liu ¶¶0055,0056 and note that loading the audio/video information onto a power line so as to transmit the audio/video information to a control device that controls the camera device. The PLC camera adaptation module 12 is also used for demodulating a modulated signal of a control signal transmitted by the control device through the power line, and using the control signal obtained by the demodulation to control camera parameters of the camera module 11, such as the camera angle, the focal length, the light sensitivity, and the produced media type, etc., wherein the media type can be video, image, audio, or composite audio/video.).
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1), and further in view of ARORA et al. (US 20210321043 A1; hereafter ARORA).
As of Claim 8: ARORA is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced ARORA teaches an environment 100 for analyzing the scene and switching between at least one macro and at least one non-macro sensing mode for capturing macro and non-macro media in real-time that would have prompted a predictable variation of Liu in view of IKI by applying ARORA’s known principal of the one or more camera parameters further include a manufacturer of the camera module (ARORA ¶¶0037, 0056 and note that the manufacturer provided information of the electronic device 102 may include at least one of, but is not limited to, a model of the electronic device 102, a year of manufacture of the electronic device 102, a lifespan of the electronic device 102, an operating system being used by the electronic device 102, a current version of the operating system being used by the electronic device 102, etc. ).
In view of the motivations such as switching between at least one macro and at least one non-macro sensing mode for capturing macro and non-macro media in real-time thereby further improving flexibility in imaging and skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu in view of IKI.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 10&11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1), in view of Hiramatsu et al (US 20140152837 A1; hereafter Hiramatsu) and further in view of ARORA et al. (US 20210321043 A1; hereafter ARORA).
As of Claim 10: ARORA is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced ARORA teaches an environment 100 for analyzing the scene and switching between at least one macro and at least one non-macro sensing mode for capturing macro and non-macro media in real-time that would have prompted a predictable variation of Liu in view of Henry by applying ARORA’s known principal of changing operational modes based on the determined one or more camera parameters of the camera module attached to the camera port comprises: based on the determined one or more camera parameters and using mapping data that maps each of a plurality of operational modes of the device to a corresponding respective set of one or more camera parameters (¶¶0076-0080 and note that as illustrated in FIG. 8, the captured scene is sent as input to each of the analysis modules and based on the analyzed parameters, the output is sent to the processor 108. In FIG. 8 the captured scene is sent to focus data-based scene analyzer 202, analysis is performed by focus parameters such as relative lens position, auto focus state, de-focus state, and the light condition.), selecting an operational mode that the mapping data maps to the determined one or more camera parameters; and performing an action in accordance with the selected operational mode (¶¶0100-0103, camera having multiple mode operating capability. Embodiments herein utilize focus data from non-macro camera (or any camera with autofocus module) as an input to the intelligent sensor block to decide optimal camera in real-time. Therefore, by performing the switch, embodiments herein achieve a higher accuracy with high consistency to capture various scenes at different light conditions. Also, identifying an operation mode of the media acquisition unit among a macro sensing mode and a non-macro sensing mode based on at least one of focus data or blur data of the at least one frame.).
In view of the motivations such as switching between at least one macro and at least one non-macro sensing mode for capturing macro and non-macro media in real-time thereby further improving flexibility in imaging and skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu in view of IKI .
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As of Claim 11: Liu in view of Henry in view of ARORA further teaches each operational mode of the plurality of operational modes comprises a mode in which the device operates in accordance with a respective profile, the respective profile defining one or more of: a motion detection zone, a person identification zone, or a vehicle detection zone (ARORA ¶¶0044-0047 and note that Face-detection based scene analysis includes detecting the presence of faces present in the captured scene. Based on determining that at least one face is present in the scene, switching to the macro sensing mode is avoided. The sensing mode may remain in the non-macro sensing mode based on detecting the presence of faces in the captured scene.).
the camera port.
Claims 12-16, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1), and further in view of Powell et al. (US 20170053411 A1; hereafter Powell).
As of Claim 12:Powell is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Powell teaches simultaneously acquiring the two or more images facilitates mitigating motion blur, which in turn facilitates providing video rate DFD that would have prompted a predictable variation of Liu in view of Henry by applying Jameson’s known principal of the processor is further configured to determine one or more audio device parameters for an audio input/output module attached to the audio port, wherein the one or more audio device parameters include a type of an audio input/output module attached to the audio port (¶¶0077-0081 and note that the video processing pipeline outputs data to an A/V (audio/video) port 944 for transmission to a television or other display).
In view of the motivations such as the audio processing unit and an audio codec form a corresponding audio processing pipeline with high fidelity and stereo processing thereby further improving quality of sound and one who is ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu in view of Henry .
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As of Claim 13: Liu in view of Henry in view of Powell further teaches the one or more audio device parameters further include a manufacturer of the audio input/output module (¶0081 of Powell and note that the audio processing unit 923 and an audio codec 948 form a corresponding audio processing pipeline with high fidelity and stereo processing. Audio data is stored in memory 922 and accessed by the audio processing unit 923 and the audio input/output unit 948 that form a corresponding audio processing pipeline with high fidelity stereo and multichannel audio processing. ).
As of Claim 14: Liu in view of Henry in view of Powell further teaches the processor is further configured to change operational modes based on the determined one or more audio device parameters of the audio input/output module attached to the audio port (Liu ¶¶0055,0056 and note that loading the audio/video information onto a power line so as to transmit the audio/video information to a control device that controls the camera device. The PLC camera adaptation module 12 is also used for demodulating a modulated signal of a control signal transmitted by the control device through the power line, and using the control signal obtained by the demodulation to control camera parameters of the camera module 11, such as the camera angle, the focal length, the light sensitivity, and the produced media type, etc., wherein the media type can be video, image, audio, or composite audio/video.).
As of Claim 15: Liu in view of Henry in view of Powell further teaches changing operational modes based on the determined one or more audio device parameters of the audio input/output module comprises: based on the determined one or more audio device parameters and using mapping data that maps each of a plurality of operational modes of the device to a corresponding respective set of one or more audio device parameters (Liu ¶¶0055,0056 and note that loading the audio/video information onto a power line so as to transmit the audio/video information to a control device that controls the camera device. The PLC camera adaptation module 12 is also used for demodulating a modulated signal of a control signal transmitted by the control device through the power line, and using the control signal obtained by the demodulation to control camera parameters of the camera module 11, such as the camera angle, the focal length, the light sensitivity, and the produced media type, etc., wherein the media type can be video, image, audio, or composite audio/video.), selecting an operational mode that the mapping data maps to the determined one or more audio device parameters; and performing an action in accordance with the selected operational mode (¶¶0081,0083 of Powell).
As of Claim 16: Liu in view of Henry in view of Powell further teaches each operational mode of the plurality of operational modes comprises a mode in which the device operates in accordance with a respective profile, the respective profile defining one or more of:enabling or disabling a speaker and/or microphone of the audio module, adjusting beamforming capabilities of a speaker and/or microphone microphone (¶0081 of Powell and note that the audio processing unit 923 and an audio codec 948 form a corresponding audio processing pipeline with high fidelity and stereo processing. Audio data is stored in memory 922 and accessed by the audio processing unit 923 and the audio input/output unit 948 that form a corresponding audio processing pipeline with high fidelity stereo and multichannel audio processing. When a concurrent platform services application wants audio, audio processing may be scheduled asynchronously to the gaming application due to time sensitivity. The audio processing pipeline outputs data to the A/V port 944 for reproduction by an external audio user or device having audio capabilities.), adjusting an output volume of a speaker, adjusting a gain of microphone, adjusting array capabilities of a speaker and/or microphone (¶0069 of Powell teaches a microphone 834 and a speaker 852).
As of Claim 19: Liu in view of Henry in view of Powell further teaches the audio port is configured to provide audio signals to a speaker and receive audio signals from a microphone (¶¶0069, 0081 of Powell).
Claims 17 &18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1), and further in view of SUN et al. (US 20120290742 A1; hereafter SUN).
As of Claim 17: SUN is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced SUN teaches a portable electronic device having a multifunctional audio port that would have prompted a predictable variation of Liu in view of Henry by applying SUN’s known principal of the camera port is a hot swap camera port including a camera bus and a power line (¶¶0017,0018 and note that a hot swap controller 371).
In view of the motivations such as the audio port 10 and the power management unit 37 can be protected against high current damage thereby further improving flexibility in the portable electronic device and one who is ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu in view of Henry.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As of Claim 18: Liu in view of Henry in view of SUN further teaches the audio port is a hot swap audio port including a camera bus and a power line (SUN ¶¶0017,0018).
Claims 20&21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu) in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1), and further in view of MAIER et al. (US 20230024087 A1; hereafter MAIER).
As of Claim 20:MAIER is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced MAIER teaches integrate speakers that generate high quality sound into electronic devices, particularly in compact devices such as portable electronic devices that would have prompted a predictable variation of Liu in view of Henry by applying MAIER’s known principal of a through-wall mount configured to facilitate mounting of the device to a wall, wherein the through-wall mount comprises (i) a device- holding portion configured to be disposed within the wall and house at least a portion of the device within the wall such that the device is accessible and visible from an exterior surface of the wall (¶¶0027,0032) and (ii) a support portion configured to attach to an interior of the wall (¶¶0027,0032 and note that a portion of electronic device 100 in which an audio component is mounted. In the example of FIG. 2, electronic device 100 includes speaker 200 (also referred to herein as a speaker module or speaker component). Speaker 200 includes housing 202 mounted adjacent at least one opening 108 in housing 106 of the electronic device 100. Housing 202 (e.g., a speaker housing of the speaker module) may be formed form one or more materials such as plastic and/or metal. As shown, speaker 200 may include a front volume 208 and a back volume 212 that are separated by a structure 210. The structure 210 may include a diaphragm 214 that is actuatable to generate sound, and a structure 216 (e.g., an interior wall to which the diaphragm 214 is mounted), that at least partially separates the front volume 208 and the back volume 212.).
In view of the motivations such as better protection from damage and more space on the floor thereby further improving quality of sound and one who is ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Liu.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
As of Claim 21: Liu in view of Henry in view of MAIER further teaches the through-wall mount is configured to facilitate mounting of the device to the wall such that an exterior surface of the device is substantially flush with the exterior surface of the wall (MAIER ¶¶0027,0032).
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HOLZ (US 20140192259 A1) in view of Liu et al. (US 20090237512 A1; hereafter Liu), and further in view of Henry (US 20230120242 A1).
As of Claim 22: HOLZ teaches in FIG. 4 a method comprising: determining, by a processor (¶¶0033-0034) coupled to a device, changing, by the processor, operational modes based on the determined one or more camera parameters for the camera module attached to the camera port; determining by the processor (¶¶0040-0047), one or more audio device parameters for the audio input/output module attached to the audio port, wherein the device includes the audio port configured to provide power and data to the audio input/output module (¶¶0040-0047 and note that initially, the control system 106 operates the cameras in a low-power mode (step 402), such as a standby or sleep mode where motion capture does not take place at all or a slow image-acquisition mode (e.g., with image-acquisition rates of five frames per second or less); and changing, by the processor, operational modes based on the determined one or more audio device parameters of the audio input/output module attached to the audio port (¶¶0040-0047 and note that as long as no audio signals are detected by the contact microphone, the system continues to operate in low-power mode and the contact microphone continues to be monitored. Once an audio signal is detected (step 406), the cameras (and associated image-processing functionality of the control and image-processing system 106) are switched into a high-frame-rate, high-power mode).
Liu is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Liu teaches a camera module and a power line communication (PLC) camera adaptation module, captures and provides audio/video information that would have prompted a predictable variation of HOLZ by applying Liu’s known principal of one or more camera parameters for a camera module attached to a camera port, wherein the device includes the camera port configured to provide power and data to the camera module (¶¶0018-0023, The ports 4-1-4-3 of the Ethernet switch 3 are an input interface that accepts the connection of the video cables 2-1-2-3 of the monitoring cameras 1-1-1-3, and a port 4-4 is an input interface that accepts a video cable 8 of the video monitoring device 7.).
In view of the motivations such as provides a camera device, a camera system including the camera device, and a camera control method for using the camera system to control the camera device, so that a dedicated signal line is not needed for connecting the camera device and the control device, and the camera device may be remotely controlled, thus providing convenience to the user thereby further improving flexibility in imaging and skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of HOLZ.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Henry is a similar or analogous system to the claimed invention as evidenced Henry teaches a camera module and a power line communication (PLC) camera adaptation module, captures and provides audio/video information that would have prompted a predictable variation of HOLZ by applying Henry’s known principal of detecting a physical connection of an audio input/output module to an audio port;in response to the physical connection (¶¶0018-0019,0023 and note that Device connector 212 generally represents any type or form of physical connection between two devices. In one embodiment, device connector 212 may include a port and/or a cable that connects to a port. Device connector 212 may include a locking connector (e.g., a port-cable connection that locks securely into place such that it is less likely to be accidentally dislodged). For example, device connector 212 may include a Lightning connector.).
In view of the motivations such as enabling the mobile phone to more efficiently process and/or transmit high-quality video (e.g. high-definition and/or high-resolution video) thereby further improving image quality one of ordinary skill in the art would have implemented the claimed variation of the prior art system of Holz.
Therefore, the claimed invention would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
Contacts
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MEKONNEN D DAGNEW whose telephone number is (571)270-5092. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00AM-5:00PM M-Th.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Lin Ye can be reached on 571-272-7372. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MEKONNEN D DAGNEW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638
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