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 .
This non-final office action is responsive to Applicants' response filed on 08/17/26. Claims 1, 3-20 are presented for examination and are pending for the reasons indicated herein below.
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 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/17/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) 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 § 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 19-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cho et al. (US 20170212540 A1)
Regarding claim 1. Cho teaches a power rail generation system [fig 4] comprising:
a first power rail generator [310] configured to: generate a first power rail voltage [Vout] for a first gate driver [312], the first gate driver being configured to drive a switching operation [function of 313] of a first power switch of a first switching converter [i.e. LDO]; and regulate [function of 313] the first power rail voltage to have a substantially constant first voltage difference from a first local voltage [VDD] during operation of the first switching converter; and
a code generator [320] configured to: generate a digital code [I_SPT]; and provide the digital code to the first power rail generator [Vin to 312]; wherein the first power rail generator is configured to generate the first power rail voltage using the digital code [The Vout generated is configured to dynamically be influence by the output characteristics of the item 323 circuit which produces the controlled period setting, output of 312. Thus, having the rail voltage setting based on the output of 323].
Regarding claim 19. Cho teaches an apparatus [fig 4] comprising:
a plurality of switching converters [313]; and a power rail generation system [M_LP1] comprising
a plurality of power rail generators [each M_LP1], wherein: each of the switching converters comprises one of the plurality of power rail generators [5];
and each of the power rail generators is configured to: generate a power rail voltage [power in Vout] for a gate driver [i.e. through 301] of the switching converter that the power rail generator is part of, the gate driver being configured to drive a switching operation [function of 312] of a power switch [i.e. switch of 313] of the switching converter;
and regulate the power rail voltage to have a substantially constant voltage difference from a local voltage [VDD] during operation of the switching converter [function of 313];
and the code generator [320] is configured to: generate a digital code [I_SPT]; and provide the digital code to each of the power rail generators [output of 312 to each 313], wherein each of the power rail generators is configured to generate the power rail voltage using the digital code [The Vout generated is configured to dynamically be influence by the output characteristics of the item 323 circuit which produces the controlled period setting, output of 312. Thus, having the rail voltage setting based on the output of 323].
Regarding method claim 20, note that under MPEP 2112.02, the principles of inherency, if a prior art device, in its normal and usual operation, would necessarily perform the method claimed, then the method claimed will be considered to be anticipated by the prior art device. When the prior art device is the same as a device described in the specification for carrying out the claimed method, it can be assumed the device "inherently performs the claimed process. In re King, 801 F.2d 1324, 231 USPQ 136 (Fed Cir. 1986). Therefore the previous rejections based on the apparatus will not be repeated.
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 of this title, 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 3-4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cho et al. (US 20170212540 A1) in view of Lenz et al. (US 20090322407 A1)
Regarding claim 3. Cho teaches the power rail generation system of claim 2, However, Cho does not explicitly mention wherein the code generator comprises a bit counter configured to generate the digital code.
Lenz teaches wherein the code generator comprises a bit counter configured to generate the digital code [see fig 6, 33]. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the features of Lenz in order to reduce jitter or propagation delays and provide a stable switching frequency.
Regarding claim 4. Cho as modified teaches the power rail generation system of claim 3, wherein the bit counter is configured to receive a first clock signal and a digital supply voltage [see fig 6, 33, supply 5 volts and CLK].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-18 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, and if the claim objections stated above were overcome.
Examiner Note
The examiner cites particular columns and lines numbers in the references as applied to the claims above for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Bryan Perez whose telephone number is (571)272-8837. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon.-Fri. (7:30 – 5:00).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Crystal Hammond, can be reached on (571) 270-1682. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BRYAN R PEREZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2838
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