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 filed recently have been fully considered and the matter regarding “determining in according to seating configuration, that the adjustment of the mapping is to cause disagreement is to cause disagreement between visual contents on display associate with additional seat, and causing adjustment of visual content on display device to cause agreement between visual content and the multiple-channel audio” has been reconsidered and rejected over new ground of rejections.
Similarly, the claim(s) 13-21& 27-30 which disclose of known features in the prior arts have been further analyzed and rejected over prior arts.
In addition, the representative is in agreement with the examiner that the claim(s) 27-30 are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C 112 (f) and the corresponding structures are noted in the specifications.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8-14, 18-23, 26-27, 29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Volkmar et al. (US 10,219,096 B2)
Claim 1. (Original) A method, comprising: obtaining, by a device, information indicating a seating configuration for one or more seats of a vehicle (fig.5 (21/30); col.7 line 20-35); determining, by the device and in accordance with the seating configuration, that there is a change to an orientation of a seat, of the one or more seats, from a front-facing orientation to a rear-facing orientation or from the rear-facing orientation to the front-facing orientation (col.2 line 25-35; col.7 line 20-35); causing, by the device and in accordance with the change to the orientation of the seat, an adjustment of a mapping of audio channels to speakers of the vehicle (col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67); determining, by the device and in accordance with the seating configuration, that the adjustment of the mapping is to cause disagreement between visual content on a display device associated with an additional seat, of the one or more seats, and multiple-channel audio, associated with the visual content, to be output by the speakers; and causing, by the device, an adjustment of the visual content on the display device to cause agreement between the visual content and the multiple-channel audio (col.8 line 25-60).
2. (Original) The method of The method of claim 1, wherein the seating configuration indicates at least one of directional orientations of the one or more seats or occupancy statuses of the one or more seats (col.7 line 25-32; col.8 line 28-40).
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle has a capability of autonomous operation (col.1 line 60-67).
9. (Original) The method of The method of wherein the speakers include at least a left-side speaker of the vehicle and a right-side speaker of the vehicle (fig.5; col.5 line 50-67).
.
10. (Original) The method of claim 1, wherein the information indicating the seating configuration is obtained from one or more sensors associated with the one or more seats of the vehicle (fig.5 (21); col.7 line 20-35).
11. (Original) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving an indication of a designated seat of the vehicle, wherein the adjustment of the mapping of the audio channels to the speakers is responsive to the seat being the designated seat (fig.5 (21); col.7 line 20-35).
12. (Original) The method of claim 1, wherein the adjustment of the mapping of the audio channels to the speakers is only with respect to a subset of speakers associated with the seat (col.3 line 25-55).
13. A controller, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to: obtain information indicating a seating configuration for one or more seats of a vehicle (fig.5 (21/30); col.7 line 20-35); determine, in accordance with the seating configuration, that there is a change to a directional orientation of a seat of the one or more seats (col.7 line 20-35); and cause, in accordance with the change to the directional orientation of the seat, an adjustment of a mapping of audio channels to speakers of the vehicle (col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67/the various audio channel with associated speakers may be adjusted/selected accordingly).
14. The controller of claim 13, wherein the seating configuration indicates at least one of directional orientations of the one or more seats or occupancy statuses of the one or more seats (col.2 line 50-67).
18. The controller of claim 13, wherein the speakers include at least a left-side speaker of the vehicle and a right-side speaker of the vehicle (fig.5; col.5 line 50-67).
19. The controller of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors, to obtain the information indicating the seating configuration, are configured to: obtain the information indicating the seating configuration from one or more sensors associated with the one or more seats of the vehicle (col.7 line 20-35).
20. The controller of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive an indication of a designated seat of the vehicle, wherein the adjustment of the mapping of the audio channels to the speakers is responsive to the seat being the designated seat (col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67).
21. The controller of claim 13, wherein the adjustment of the mapping of the audio channels to the speakers is only with respect to a subset of speakers associated with the seat (col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67/the various audio channel with associated speakers may be adjusted/selected accordingly, while other excluded).
Claim 22, the art disclose of a controller, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to: obtain information indicating a seating configuration for one or more seats of a vehicle (fig.5 (21/30); col.7 line 20-35);determine, in accordance with the seating configuration, that there is a disagreement between visual content on a display device associated with a seat, of the one or more seats, and multiple-channel audio associated with the visual content (col.8 line 35-50); and cause an adjustment of the visual content on the display device to cause agreement between the visual content and the multiple-channel audio (col.8 line 35-50).
23. (Original) The controller of The controller of wherein the seating configuration indicates at least one of directional orientations of the one or more seats or occupancy statuses of the one or more seats (col.7 line 25-32; col.8 line 28-40).
26. (Original) The controller of The controller of wherein the one or more processors, to obtain the information indicating the seating configuration, are configured to: obtain the information indicating the seating configuration from one or more sensors associated with the one or more seats of the vehicle (col.7 line 20-35).
27. An apparatus, comprising: means for obtaining information indicating a seating configuration for one or more seats of a vehicle (fig.5 (21/30); col.7 line 20-35); means for determining, in accordance with the seating configuration, that there is a change to a directional orientation of a seat of the one or more seats (col.2 line 25-35; col.7 line 20-35); and means for causing, in accordance with the change to the directional orientation of the seat, an adjustment of a mapping of audio channels to speakers of the vehicle (col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67/the various audio channel with associated speakers may be adjusted/selected accordingly).
29. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: means for receiving an indication of a designated seat of the vehicle, wherein the adjustment of the mapping of the audio channels to the speakers is responsive to the seat being the designated seat (fig.5 (21); col.7 line 20-35).
30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the adjustment of the mapping of the audio channels to the speakers is only with respect to a subset of speakers associated with the seat (col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67/the various audio channel with associated speakers may be adjusted/selected accordingly, while other excluded).
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) 3-4, 15-16, 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Volkmar et al. (US 10,219,096 B2) and Johnson et al. (US 10,284,951 B2).
3. (Original) The method of claim 1, wherein causing the adjustment of the mapping as mentioned, but Volkmar et al. lacked of additional feature concerning as comprises: causing a left-side audio channel intended for a left-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to a right-side speaker of the vehicle and a right-side audio channel intended for the right-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to the left-side speaker of the vehicle.
However, Johnson disclose of a simpler configuration wherein causing a left-side audio channel intended for a left-side speaker to be mapped to a right-side speaker and a right-side audio channel intended for the right-side speaker to be mapped to the left-side speaker (fig.1-2; col.2 line 40-67). Thus, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have reconfigured the mapping of audio channels with speakers by adding as noted such specific cause a left-side audio channel intended for a left-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to a right-side speaker of the vehicle and a right-side audio channel intended for the right-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to the left-side speaker of the vehicle so as to maintain the user audio impression due to orientation.
15. The controller of claim 13, wherein the processor, to cause the adjustment of the mapping being configured accordingly to various speakers of the vehicle as mentioned therein ((fig.3; col.5 line 1-12 & col.2 line 50-67 & col.3 line 1-20; col.6 line 35-67/audio channels to various speakers in the vehicles may be adapted accordingly).
but the prior art never specify as of the particular processors as configured to: cause a left-side audio channel intended for a left-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to a right-side speaker of the vehicle and a right-side audio channel intended for the right-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to the left-side speaker of the vehicle. However, Johnson disclose of a simpler configuration wherein processor to cause mapping of speaker with channels with orientation including cause a left-side audio channel intended for a left-side speaker to be mapped to a right-side speaker of and a right-side audio channel intended for the right-side speaker to be mapped to the left-side speaker (fig.1-2; col.2 line 40-67). Thus, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have reconfigured the mapping of audio channels with speakers by adding as noted such specific cause a left-side audio channel intended for a left-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to a right-side speaker of the vehicle and a right-side audio channel intended for the right-side speaker of the vehicle to be mapped to the left-side speaker of the vehicle so as to maintain the user audio impression due to orientation.
16. The controller of claim 13, but the art never specify as wherein the one or more processors, to cause the adjustment of the mapping, are configured to: cause adjusting of an order of a content of an audio buffer.
But the art as in johnson et al. disclose of the similar concept related to processors, to cause the adjustment of the mapping, are configured to: cause adjusting of an order of a content of an audio in memory (col.5 line 15-22; col.5 line 25-40). Thus, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have modified the prior art by adding the aspect related to processors, to cause the adjustment of the mapping, are configured to: cause adjusting of an order of a content of an audio in memory so as to maintain the proper acoustic impression related to seat positions.
Although, the art never specify of the audio related to audio buffer, but one of the ordinary skills in the art could have modified the prior art by adding any particular audio including if desired audio buffer for achieving the same result as per engineering preference.
The claim(s) 4 which in substance disclose of the same feature as concept cited in claim(s) 16 has been analyzed and rejected accordingly.
The claim(s) 28 which in substance disclose of the similar feature as in claim (s) 15 has been analyzed and rejected accordingly.
Claim(s) 5, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Volkmar et al. (US 10,219,096 B2) and Lee et al. (US 12,375,852 B2).
5. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the adjustment of the mapping comprises: causing updating of an audio input-output matrix used by an audio hardware (Volk-col.5 line 45-55).
However, Volkmar never specify of the hardware being used is an audio abstraction layer. But the art as in Lee et al. disclose of the similar concept related to a hardware being used is an audio abstraction layer (col.17 line 35-40 & col.18 line 22-30). Thus, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have modified the art by adding such noted hardware being used is an audio abstraction layer for allowing hardware-independence operating system and applications to efficiently manage the operating system.
The claim(s) 17 which in substance disclose of the same feature as in claim(s) 5 has been analyzed and rejected accordingly.
Claim(s) 6, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Volkmar et al. (US 10,219,096 B2) and Jung et al. (US 10,972,854 B2).
Claim 6. (Original) The method of claim 1, wherein causing the adjustment of the visual content to match (col.8 line 40-52), although, the art never specify as wherein causing the adjustment of the visual content comprises: causing flipping of the visual content except for textual content of the visual content.
However, Jung disclose of the specific concept related to causing the adjustment of the visual content comprises: causing flipping of the visual content (col.38 line 5-25). Thus, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have modified the prior art by adding such noted concept related to causing the adjustment of the visual content comprises: causing flipping of the visual content so a to maintain the visual image in relation to user’s rotation.
Although, the prior art never specify of flipping of the visual content except for textual content of the visual content, but one of the ordinary skills in the art could have varied the presenting of image content as desired by implementing such aspect concerning flipping of the visual content except for textual content of the visual content as per engineering preference with same result as to maintain the visual image in relation to user’s rotation.
The claim(s) 24 which in substance disclose of the same feature as in claim(s) 6 has been analyzed and rejected accordingly.
Claim(s) 7, 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Volkmar et al. (US 10,219,096 B2).
7. (Original) The method of claim 1, but the prior art never specify as wherein causing the adjustment of the visual content comprises: performing image segmentation on an image frame of the visual content to identify pixels of the image frame associated with textual content; performing a first operation to mirror-image flip the image frame, the first operation to result in mirror-image flipping of the textual content; performing a second operation to mirror-image flip the pixels associated with the textual content, the second operation to result in one or more empty pixels of the image frame; and performing a third operation to fill the empty pixels with a background color.
However, one of the ordinary skills in the art could have varied the adjustment of the visual image content as noted therein by (col.8 line 25-60/visual content may be adjusted to match the audio) by specifying the performing image segmentation on an image frame of the visual content to identify pixels of the image frame associated with textual content; performing a first operation to mirror-image flip the image frame, the first operation to result in mirror-image flipping of the textual content; performing a second operation to mirror-image flip the pixels associated with the textual content, the second operation to result in one or more empty pixels of the image frame; and performing a third operation to fill the empty pixels with a background color for achieving the same result as to provide the corresponding visual content associated with match audio compoentn.
The claim(s) 25 which in substance disclose of the same feature as in claim(s) 7 has been analyzed and rejected accordingly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DISLER PAUL whose telephone number is (571)270-1187. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-6:00 M-F.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chin, Vivian can be reached at (571) 272-7848. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DISLER PAUL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695