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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1, 9-10 and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Han (CN114697844).
Regarding claim 1, Han teaches An amplifier circuit for a microphone, comprising: a first transistor (Han figure 3, amplifier 1 with first transistor M1), having a gate serving as an input terminal of the amplifier circuit (Han figure 3, M1 has a gate connected to Vin), a source serving as an output terminal of the amplifier circuit (Han figure 3, Vout), and a drain connected to ground (Han figure 3, GND); a first constant current source (Han figure 3, constant current source IB), having an input terminal connected to a power supply (Han figure 3, constant current source IB connected to power supply voltage VDD) and an output terminal connected to the source of the first transistor (Han figure 3, constant current source IB, Vout and source of transistor M1 are connected); and a source follower (Han figure 3, ¶0060 Bias network module 2 includes a first bias network circuit 21, with BRI, Han teaches the rest of the limitations which define source follower in this claim and therefore teaches “a source follower”), including at least a second transistor (Han figure 3, transistors MP1 and MN1) having a drain connected to the power supply, a gate connected to the source of the first transistor, and a source connected to the drain of the first transistor (Han figure 3, with BRI, transistors MP1 and MN1 each comprise a Drain, Source and Gate that are electrically connected to the other electrical components in figure 3, such as components of amplifier 1).
Regarding claims 9 and 18, Han teaches wherein the first transistor is a PMOS transistor (Han figure 4 ¶0054, “The first transistor M1 is a PMOS transistor”), the second transistor is an NMOS transistor (Han figure 4 ¶0061, “first NMOS transistor MN1”).
Regarding claim 10, Han teaches A microphone circuit, comprising: an amplifier circuit including: a first transistor (Han figure 3, amplifier 1 with first transistor M1), having a gate serving as an input terminal of the amplifier circuit (Han figure 3, M1 has a gate connected to Vin), a source serving as an output terminal of the amplifier circuit (Han figure 3, Vout), and a drain connected to ground (Han figure 3, GND); a first constant current source (Han figure 3, constant current source IB), having an input terminal connected to a power supply (Han figure 3, constant current source IB connected to power supply voltage VDD) and an output terminal connected to the source of the first transistor (Han figure 3, constant current source IB, Vout and source of transistor M1 are connected); and a source follower (Han figure 3, ¶0060 Bias network module 2 includes a first bias network circuit 21, with BRI, Han teaches the rest of the limitations which define source follower in this claim and therefore teaches “a source follower”), including at least a second transistor (Han figure 3, transistors MP1 and MN1), having a drain connected to the power supply, a gate connected to the source of the first transistor, and a source connected to the drain of the first transistor (Han figure 3, with BRI, transistors MP1 and MN1 each comprise a Drain, Source and Gate that are electrically connected to the other electrical components in figure 3, such as components of amplifier 1); and a microphone (Han figure 5, microphone capacitor 3), having a first end connected to a microphone bias power supply (Han figure 5, microphone capacitor 3 connected to microphone bias voltage Vcp) and a second end connected to the input terminal of the amplifier circuit (Han figure 5, microphone capacitor 3 connected to AMP 1).
Regarding claim 19, Han teaches An electronic device, comprising the amplifier circuit for the microphone according to claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1).
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) 2-4, and 11-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han (CN114697844) in view of Brooks (US 2002/0032893).
Regarding claims 2 and 11, Han does not explicitly teach wherein the source follower further includes: a second constant current source, having an input terminal connected to the power supply, and an output terminal connected to the drain of the second transistor.
Brooks teaches wherein the source follower further includes: a second constant current source, having an input terminal connected to the power supply, and an output terminal connected to the drain of the second transistor (Brooks figure 3-4, current sources 310 and 312) .
Therefore, 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 known technique of Brooks to improve the known amplifier circuit of Han to achieve the predictable result of increased output impedance (Brooks ¶0027).
Regarding claims 3 and 12, Han in view of Brooks teaches wherein the amplifier circuit further includes: a third transistor, having a gate connected to the drain of the second transistor, a source connected to the power supply, and a drain connected to the source of the first transistor (Han figure 4, Gate of transistor MNn connected to drain of MPn with BRI).
Regarding claims 4 and 13, Han in view of Brooks wherein the third transistor is a P-channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistor (Han ¶0062, “PMOS transistor MP1”).
Claim(s) 5 and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han (CN114697844) in view of Enjalbert (US 2010/0246858).
Regarding claims 5 and 14, Han does not explicitly teach wherein the amplifier circuit further includes a bias branch circuit, configured to provide a bias current sink to the first transistor and the second transistor.
Enjalbert teaches wherein the amplifier circuit further includes a bias branch circuit, configured to provide a bias current sink to the first transistor and the second transistor (Enjalbert figure 3, current sink 440 connected to M1-M4).
Therefore, 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 known technique of Enjalbert to improve the known amplifier circuit of to achieve the predictable result of a more stable current control.
Claim(s) 8 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han (CN114697844) in view of Enjalbert (US 2010/0246858) in further view of Brooks (US 2002/0032893).
Regarding claims 8 and 17, Han in view of Enjalbert does not explicitly teach wherein the bias branch circuit includes a fourth constant current source, having one terminal connected to the drain of the first transistor, and another terminal connected to the ground.
Brooks teaches a fourth constant current source, having one terminal connected to the drain of the first transistor, and another terminal connected to the ground (Brooks figure 3-4, current sources 310 and 312).
Therefore, 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 known technique of Brooks to improve the known amplifier circuit of Han in view of Enjalbert to achieve the predictable result of increased output impedance (Brooks ¶0027).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7, 15-16 are 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 because the closest prior art either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed limitation of “wherein the bias branch circuit includes: a bias transistor, having a drain connected to the drain of the first transistor, a gate and a source; a resistor, having a first end connected to the source of the bias transistor, and a second end connected to the ground; a third constant current source, having an input terminal connected to the power supply and an output terminal connected to the gate of the bias transistor; and a fourth transistor, having a gate connected to the source of the bias transistor, a drain connected to the gate of the bias transistor M0 and a source connected to the ground” in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by the applicant.
Conclusion
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/NORMAN YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693