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 Amendment
This action is responsive to amendments/remarks received 03/12/2026. Claim 1 amended. Claims 1-10 remain pending.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonne (US Patent No. 11034286 B2), in view of Mark Sauerwald ("FPD-Link III – doing more with less", 2014, Texas Instruments, Analog Applications Journal Automotive, 10-14 (Year: 2014); hereinafter referred to as “Sauerwald”) and further in view of Soe (US Patent No. 20170320453).
In re claim 1, Bonne teaches A lamp system comprising:
an optical output unit configured to output light (SEE FIG 3A, Active Headlamp 324 and Col 6, lines 7-9: “FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of various components and modules of an active headlamp system 400 such as described with respect to active headlamp 324 of FIG. 3A.”);
a power supply unit configured to supply power to the optical output unit (SEE FIG 3A, Vehicle Power 302);
a control unit (SEE FIG 3A, microcontroller connected to active headlamp 324)
wherein the control unit includes:
a first communication unit in communication with the optical output unit (Col 5, lines 3-8: “In one embodiment, a SPI Interface loads an image buffer in CMOS. Image frames can be full frame, differential or partial. Other microcontroller 322 features can include control interface monitors of CMOS status, including die temperature, as well as logic LDO output.”)
a graphics processing unit configured to generate the first signal (Cols 4-6, lines 64-67 and 1-10: “The microcontroller 322 can translate vehicle input based on or including data from the sensor module 306. The translated vehicle input can include a video signal that is transferable to an image buffer in the active headlamp module 324. In addition, the microcontroller 322 can load default image frames and test for open/short pixels during startup. In one embodiment, a SPI Interface loads an image buffer in CMOS. Image frames can be full frame, differential or partial… In addition to providing image frame data…”).
Bonne fails to teach configured to generate and simultaneously transmit, to the optical output unit via a single data communication path, (1) a first signal including an image signal to be output from the optical output unit and (2) a second signal including a direct current (DC) control signal for controlling the power supply unit to selectively supply the power to the optical output unit,
via the single data communication path;
a controller configured to generate the second signal, and
wherein the optical output unit is communicatively coupled between the control unit and the power supply unit and includes [a second communication unit configured to receive], from the first communication unit of the control unit (Abstract: “An electrical system for a vehicle is provided. The electrical system includes a control unit configured to control operation of one or more vehicle systems. The electrical system also includes a multiplexed data bus communicatively coupled to the control unit, and configured to carry multiplexed signals to and from the control unit. The electrical system also includes a relay control box. The relay control box has one or more relays, and a controller. The controller is communicatively coupled to the multiplexed data bus, and is configured to decode the multiplexed control signals from the control unit to generate one or more decoded signals, and operate the one or more relays according to the decoded signal. A method of retrofitting a motor vehicle relay control box assembly is also provided.”) via the single data communication path, the first and second signals, and transmit, to the power supply unit, the second signal received from the control unit.
However, Sauerwald teaches configured to generate and simultaneously transmit, to the optical output unit via a single data communication path, (1) a first signal including an image signal to be output from the optical output unit and (2) a second signal including a direct current (DC) control signal for controlling the power supply unit to selectively supply the power to the optical output unit (Power over Coax, paras [0001]-[0003]: “The key to using the same cable for power and communications is to think of what is going on in the frequency domain. The video forward channel and the bidirectional control channel on FPD-Link III are able to share the same cable because they occupy different spaces in the frequency domain.” “For power over coax (POC), a circuit is required that will split the input signal into two branches (Figure 2). One branch carries DC power for the POC circuit, and the second branch carries the signals without DC power. To do this, an element is placed in the signal-path branch that passes both the back channel and the forward channel, but blocks the DC. A simple capacitor works for this. The 0.1-µF capacitor has very low impedance from the start of the 1-MHz back-channel band through the 700-MHz upper limit. It is readily available and inexpensive. Parasitic inductance for a 0.1-µF, 0603 capacitor is on the order of 1 nH, so it does not really come into play within the band of interest. The capacitors are a good choice to separate the AC signals from the DC power.” “The other branch, one that passes the DC but doesn’t interfere with the AC signal, is a bit harder. Since the data channels are being passed over a controlled impedance transmission line, the impedance of the low-pass circuit must be large over the band of the forward channel.”),
via the single data communication path (SEE FIG. 1, DS90UH925Q Serializer provides single data communication path and FIG. 2);
a controller configured to generate the second signal (SEE FIG. 1, DS90UH925Q Serializer), and
[a second communication unit configured to receive] via the single data communication path, the first and second signals, and transmit, to the power supply unit, the second signal received from the control unit (SEE MAPPING ABOVE, and Power over Coax, paras [0004]-[0005]: “For the power circuit to not interfere with the data path, the impedance of this circuit must be greater than about 20 times the characteristic cable impedance. So for a 50-W coax line, the impedance should be greater than 1 kW from 1 MHz up to 700 MHz. An ideal inductor would work for this application. Unfortunately, ideal inductors are much harder to find than ideal capacitors. To have over 1-kW impedance at the 1-MHz lower band of the back channel, a 100-µH inductor is required. But a typical 100-µH inductor has a parasitic capacitance, which drops its impedance below 1 kW at frequencies above 70 MHz. Thus, it would interfere with the forward channel.” and para [0007]: “One way to use a smaller inductor is to reduce the current requirement of the circuit. This can be done by increasing the voltage that is being carried by the coax cable. If the camera requires 1.5 W, and power over the coax is a voltage of 5 V, then the current required is 300 mA. The 100-µH inductor that was chosen is probably about the smallest physical size that could be tolerated (it is 7 mm x 7 mm x 4 mm in size). However, if a 12-V supply is used, then only 125 mA is required. An inductor that supports this lower current occupies about one-fourth of the physical space of one that will support the 300 mA.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Bonne to incorporate the teachings of Sauerwald to provide configured to generate and simultaneously transmit, to the optical output unit via a single data communication path, (1) a first signal including an image signal to be output from the optical output unit and (2) a second signal including a direct current (DC) control signal for controlling the power supply unit to selectively supply the power to the optical output unit, via the single data communication path; a controller configured to generate the second signal, and [a second communication unit configured to receive] via the single data communication path, the first and second signals, and transmit, to the power supply unit, the second signal received from the control unit with the Adaptive Headlamp System For Vehicles of Bonne. Doing so enables using the same cable for power and communications, thus minimizing the system cost through using inexpensive cable to do more, as recognized by Sauerwald (Power over Coax, para [0001], and Conclusion, para [0001]).
The combination fails to teach wherein the optical output unit is communicatively coupled between the control unit and the power supply unit and includes [a second communication unit configured to receive], from the first communication unit of the control unit.
However, Soe teaches wherein the optical output unit is communicatively coupled between the control unit and the power supply unit and includes [a second communication unit configured to receive], from the first communication unit of the control unit (Abstract: “An electrical system for a vehicle is provided. The electrical system includes a control unit configured to control operation of one or more vehicle systems. The electrical system also includes a multiplexed data bus communicatively coupled to the control unit, and configured to carry multiplexed signals to and from the control unit. The electrical system also includes a relay control box. The relay control box has one or more relays, and a controller. The controller is communicatively coupled to the multiplexed data bus, and is configured to decode the multiplexed control signals from the control unit to generate one or more decoded signals, and operate the one or more relays according to the decoded signal. A method of retrofitting a motor vehicle relay control box assembly is also provided.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Bonne and Sauerwald to further incorporate the teachings of Soe to provide wherein the optical output unit is communicatively coupled between the control unit and the power supply unit and includes [a second communication unit configured to receive], from the first communication unit of the control unit with the Adaptive Headlamp System For Vehicles of Bonne as modified by Sauerwald. Doing so enables decoding a multiplexed control signal from the control unit to generate one or more decoded signals, and operate the one or more relays according to the decoded signal, as recognized by Soe (Abstract).
In re claim 2, Bonne, Sauerwald and Soe teach all of the limitations of claim 1 stated above where Bonne further teaches wherein the optical output unit includes:
a light source unit (SEE FIG 4, Pixel Module 430) configured to output the light (Col 6, lines 21-24: “In operation, pixels in the images are used to define response of corresponding LED pixels in the pixel module 430, with intensity and spatial modulation of LED pixels being based on the image(s).”); and
a light source drive unit (SEE FIG 4, PWM Module 418) and drive the light source unit based on the received first signal (Col 6, lines 30-34: “In conjunction with a pulse width modulation module 418, each pixel in the pixel module can be operated to emit light in a pattern and with an intensity at least partially dependent on the image held in the image frame buffer 414.”).
The combination fails to teach configured to receive, from the second communication unit, the first signal received from the control unit via the single communication line.
However, Sauerwald teaches configured to receive, from the second communication unit, the first signal received from the control unit via the single communication line (SEE mapping above.).
In re claim 3, Bonne, Sauerwald and Soe each all of the limitations of claim 2 stated above where Sauerwald further teaches wherein the single communication line includes a coaxial line connected between the first communication unit and the second communication unit (SEE FIGs 1 AND 2 and FPD-Link III – doing more with less, para [0001]: “Flat panel display link III, better known as FPD-Link III, is an interface used in many automotive applications to transport video from point to point. This interface enables the transport of high-definition digital video, as well as a bidirectional control channel, over a low-cost cable, either twisted pair or coax.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Bonne, Sauerwald and Soe to further incorporate the teachings of Sauerwald to provide wherein the single communication line includes a coaxial line connected between the first communication unit and the second communication unit with the Adaptive Headlamp System For Vehicles of Bonne as modified by Sauerwald and Soe. Doing so enables enables the transport of high-definition digital video, as well as a bidirectional control channel, over a low-cost cable, either twisted pair or coax, as recognized by Sauerwald (FPD-Link III – doing more with less, para [0001]).
In re claim 4, Bonne, Sauerwald and Soe teach all of the limitations of claim 3 stated above where Sauerwald further teaches wherein:
the first communication unit includes (1) a serializer configured to convert the first signal transmitted from the graphics processing unit into serial data and transmit the serial data (SEE FIG. 1, DS90UH925Q Serializer connected to transmit to the DS90UH926Q Deserializer), and (2) a signal transmission circuit configured to transmit the second signal generated by the controller to the second communication unit (SEE MAPPING discussed above between serializer and deserializer and FIG. 2 Block diagram showing the power-over-coax topology), and
the second communication unit includes (1) a de-serializer configured to de-serialize the serial data received from the first communication unit to the first signal (SEE FIG. 1, DS90UH925Q Serializer connected to transmit to the DS90UH926Q Deserializer), and (2) a signal reception circuit configured to receive the second signal from the first communication unit and transmit the received second signal to the power supply unit (SEE MAPPING discussed above between serializer and deserializer and FIG. 2 Block diagram showing the power-over-coax topology).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bonne (US Patent No. 11034286 B2), in view of Mark Sauerwald ("FPD-Link III – doing more with less", 2014, Texas Instruments, Analog Applications Journal Automotive, 10-14 (Year: 2014); hereinafter referred to as “Sauerwald”) and further in view of Soe (US Patent No. 20170320453), Texas Instruments Inc 1 ("DS90UH925Q-Q1 720p 24-bit Color FPD-Link III Serializer with HDCP", 2014, Texas Instruments, Data Sheet, 1-49 (Year: 2014); hereinafter referred to as “TI 1 Serializer”) and Texas Instruments Inc 2 ("DS90UH926Q-Q1 720p, 24-Bit Color FPD-Link III Deserializer With HDCP", 2017, Texas Instruments, Data Sheet, 1-50 (Year: 2017); hereinafter referred to as “TI 2 Deserializer”).
In re claim 5, Bonne, Saurewald and Soe teach all of the limitations of claim 4 stated above where Saurewald further teaches and
the first signal includes the image signal in a high frequency band and a communication control signal in a low frequency band (Power over coax, para [0001]: “The key to using the same cable for power and communications is to think of what is going on in the frequency domain. The video forward channel and the bidirectional control channel on FPD-Link III are able to share the same cable because they occupy different spaces in the frequency domain. Using the DS90UB913A-Q1 and DS90UB914A-Q1 as an example, the control channel occupies the space from about 1 MHz to about 5 MHz. The video channel occupies a space from about 70 MHz to about 700 MHz. The addition of power to the same cable must be accomplished without interfering with either of these two bands.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Bonne, Sauerwald and Soe to further incorporate the teachings of Sauerwald to provide the first signal includes the image signal in a high frequency band and a communication control signal in a low frequency band with the Adaptive Headlamp System For Vehicles of Bonne as modified by Sauerwald and Soe. Doing so enables using the same cable because video forward channel and the bidirectional control channel on FPD-Link III occupy different spaces in the frequency domain, as recognized by Sauerwald (Power over coax, para [0001]).
The combination fails to teach the serializer includes an encoder configured to convert the first signal transmitted from the graphics processing unit into the serial data,
the de-serializer includes a decoder configured to de-serialize the serial data transmitted from the serializer through the coaxial line.
However, TI 1 Serializer teaches the serializer includes an encoder configured to convert the first signal transmitted from the graphics processing unit into the serial data (Section 7 Detailed Description, 7.1 Overview: “The DS90UH925Q-Q1 serializer transmits a 35-bit symbol over a single serial FPD-Link III pair operating up to 2.975 Gbps line rate. The serial stream contains an embedded clock, video control signals and DC-balanced video data and audio data which enhance signal quality to support AC coupling. The DS90UH925Q-Q1 serializes video and audio data then applies encryption through a High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) Cipher and transmits out through the FPD-Link III interface. Audio encryption is supported. The serializer also includes the HDCP cipher. On board non-volatile memory stores the HDCP keys. All key exchange is conducted over the FPD-Link III bidirectional control interface.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Bonne, Sauerwald and Soe to further incorporate the teachings of TI 1 Serializer to provide the serializer includes an encoder configured to convert the first signal transmitted from the graphics processing unit into the serial data with the Adaptive Headlamp System For Vehicles of Bonne as modified by Sauerwald and Soe. Doing so enables applying encryption through a High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) Cipher and transmits out through the FPD-Link III interface, as recognized by TI 1 Serializer (Section 7 Detailed Description, 7.1 Overview).
The combination fails to teach the de-serializer includes a decoder configured to de-serialize the serial data transmitted from the serializer through the coaxial line.
However, TI 2 Deserializer teaches the de-serializer includes a decoder configured to de-serialize the serial data transmitted from the serializer through the coaxial line (Section 7 Detailed Description, 7.1 Overview: “The deserializer also synchronizes to the serializer regardless of the data pattern, delivering true automatic plug and lock performance. It can lock to the incoming serial stream without the need of special training patterns or sync characters. The deserializer recovers the clock and data by extracting the embedded clock information, validating then deserializing the incoming data stream. It also applies decryption through a High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) Cipher to this video and audio data stream following reception of the data from the FPD-Link III decoder.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combination of Bonne, Sauerwald, Soe and TI 1 Serializer to further incorporate the teachings of TI 2 Deserializer to provide the de-serializer includes a decoder configured to de-serialize the serial data transmitted from the serializer through the coaxial line with the Adaptive Headlamp System For Vehicles of Bonne as modified by Sauerwald, Soe and TI 1 Serializer. Doing so enables applying decryption through a High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) Cipher to this video and audio data stream following reception of the data from the FPD-Link III decoder, as recognized by TI 2 Deserializer (Section 7 Detailed Description, 7.1 Overview).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-10 are allowed. Previously indicated allowable claims 6 and 10 have been amended to be presented in independent form by incorporating the subject matter of the base claim 1 and the intervening claims 2-5, thus making claims 6-10 allowable.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed 03/12/2026 with respect to the independent claims have been fully considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection as necessitated by amendment.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES EDWARD MUNION whose telephone number is (571)270-0437. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00.
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/JAMES E MUNION/Examiner, Art Unit 2688 05/21/2026
/STEVEN LIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2688
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