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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a) because they fail to show subject matter of claim 10 especially the capacitor between input and output of the amplifier as described in the specification. Any structural detail that is essential for a proper understanding of the disclosed invention should be shown in the drawing. MPEP § 608.02(d). Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-16 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Limitation “when the light source is turned on by an integration of an output signal of the photodiode” is unclear. It is unclear if light source is triggered by the signal in photodiode after first phase or it just means that light source is outputted ant the end of the integration period of the photodiode.
Claims 10 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 10 requires capacitor between input and output of the amplifier, It is unclear whether that capacitor can be the inherent structure of the amplifier which includes capacitors.
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 and claims bellow are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 US 20160079447 A1 in view of D2 US 20230018095 A1.
Regarding claim 1 D1 teaches
1. (Currently Amended) An optical proximity sensor, comprising:
- a photodiode;(fig. 1 (11))
- a light source configured to emit light; (fig. 1 (50))
- a measurement circuit coupled to the photodiode(21, 31), the measurement circuit configured to measure light received by the photodiode in a first phase when the light source is turned off and in a second phase when the light source is turned on and [0006,0030]
configured to determine the difference between the light measured in the first and second phases, wherein a time of integration in the first phase is longer than a time of integration in the second phase(fig. 2a).
but does not teach while D2 teaches
when the light source is turned off and in a second phase when the light source is turned on by an integration of an output signal of the photodiode [0006, 0060, 0112]
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D2 in order to switch on ranging when for example human is present in the environment and tracking of human is requird.
2. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 1, wherein the first phase comprises at least a first sub-phase and a second sub-phase performed consecutively. (Fig. 2a)
3. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 2, wherein the measurement circuit comprises
an integrator(21) coupled to the photodiode,
a sum and hold circuit31() coupled downstream the integrator(21)(fig. 1) and
a capacitor arrangement(35) disposed between the integrator and the sum and hold circuit,
wherein the capacitor arrangement comprises
Although D1 does not teach
at least a first and a second capacitor
wherein selectively one of the first and second capacitors is operatively connected between an output of the integrator and an input of the sum and hold circuit during the first phase and a parallel connection of the first and second capacitors is operatively connected between the output of the integrator and the input of the sum and hold circuit during the second phase.
Using plurality capacitors is operatively connected between an output of the integrator and an input of the sum and hold circuit during the first phase and a parallel connection of the first and second capacitors is operatively connected between the output of the integrator and the input of the sum and hold circuit during the second phase
Is just matter of obvious modification in order to provide system which has larger capacitance and hance accumulate more charge. Or instead of one large capacitor one can use multiple small capacitors.
Although D1 does not teach
4. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 3, wherein the first capacitor is operatively connected between the output of the integrator and the input of the sum and hold circuit during the first sub-phase and the second capacitor (CS2) is operatively connected between the output of the integrator and the input of the sum and hold circuit during the second sub-phase .
8. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 3,
wherein the capacitor arrangement comprises at least four capacitors disposed between the output of the integrator and the input of the sum and hold circuit , wherein the first phase comprises at least four sub-phases performed consecutively and a single one of the at least four capacitors is associated to one of the at least four sub-phases and a parallel connection of the at least four capacitors is associated to the second phase .
9. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 8, wherein the each one of the at least four capacitors has the same capacitance. (design choice instead of one large capacitor one can use plurality parallel capacitors then the total capacitance will be sum of all capacitances and as we have two measurements one can use two sets of parallel connected capacitors for two different measurements )
D1 explicitly teaches that 35 is a storage capacitor and hence using two storage capacitors 35 for two different measurements or if number of measurements more that 4 is the obvious modification. And using multiple capacitors instead of one to accumulate full charge of the single measurement is obvious design choice and can be considered replacing single large capacitor with multiple small capacitors connected in parallel .
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 in order to store two different measurements in two different storages which can comprise of multiple capacitors.
10. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 3,
wherein the sum and hold circuit comprises an amplifier connected downstream the capacitor arrangement [0023], at least one capacitor connected between an input and an output of the amplifier and a switch connected parallel to the capacitor, (fig. 1 amplifier 32 35 is downstream capacitor , capacitor between input and output is just within the structure of the amplifier. )
the sum and hold circuit configured to generate an output signal representing the difference between the charge stored in the capacitors of the capacitor arrangement at the end of the first phase and the charge stored in the capacitors of the capacitor arrangement at the end of the second phase . [0058]
D1 does not explicitly teach at least one capacitor connected between an input and an output of the amplifier and a switch connected parallel to the capacitor but one of ordinary skills in the art would recognize that electrical Amplifier include capacitors in the structure.
11. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 3, wherein the integrator is configured to generate an output signal at the output of the integrator comprising a useful signal portion and a noise portion, wherein the capacitor arrangement is configured to average the noise portions provided by the integrator during the first and second sub-phases(fig. 2A ambient light only and led+ ambient light)
12. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 3, further comprising an analog-to-digital converter (40) disposed downstream the sum and hold circuit to generate a digital code representative of the difference of light received during the first and the second phases ( D1 fig. 1)
13. (Currently Amended) The optical proximity sensor of claim 1, the measurement circuitcomprising: - an integrator configured to generate a first signal representing the amount of light received by the photodiode during the first phase and to generate a second signal representing the amount of light received by the photodiode during the second phase ,(fig. 2A)
Although D1 does not teach the measurement circuit configured to normalize the first signal by the ratio of the lengths of the first phase and the second phase; and - a sum and hold circuit configured to generate the difference between the normalized first signal and the second signal.
D1 explicitly teaches that ambient light only regime correspond to noise and light + ambient light correspond to signal to noise. It is clear that if Periods TA and Tb are not equal to each other the noise level in TB will be higher than TA with direct proportionality as TB/TA and hence normalization to that quantity before subtraction is common sense in order to equalize the background levels.
14. (Currently AmendedOriginal) The optical proximity sensor of claim 13, wherein the integrator comprises an integration capacitor connected between an input and an output of the integrator, wherein the capacitance of the integration capacitor is increased by the by the ratio of the lengths of the first phase and the second phase. (D1 fig. 1 24 variable capacitor)
Claim(s) 15, 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 US 20160079447 A1 in view of D2 US 20230018095 A1 further in view of D3 US 20090181719 A1.
Regarding claims 15, 16 D1 teaches
- the optical proximity sensor(100)according to claim l(fig. 1 )
But does not teach while D3 teaches
15. (Currently Amended) A mobile communication device, comprising: -a display;[0011]
16. (Currently Amended) The mobile communication device of claim 15, wherein the brightness of the display is controlled in dependence on the level of proximity(D)determined by the optical proximity sensor.[0011]
It will be obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to modify teachings taught by D1 with teachings by D3 in order to notify user apparatus is ready state[0048]
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7 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.
It is not obvious why two switches around capacitor are required.
Conclusion
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/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
Prosecution Insights