Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . See 35 U.S.C. § 100 (note).
Art Rejections
Anticipation
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 11–14, 16, 17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 2021/0231488 (published 29 July 2021) (“Pang”).
Claim 11 is drawn to “at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed medium and the Pang reference.
Claim 11
The Pang Reference
“11. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by at least one processor such that a system is configured to:
The Pang reference similarly describes a system that performs a method for adapting virtual 3D audio to a real room. Pang at Abs., ¶¶ 2, 85, 86, FIG.1. The Pang reference similarly describes the system as including a device 100 embodied as a computer with processing circuitry 110 that includes one or more processors and non-volatile (i.e., non-transitory) memory (i.e., computer-readable medium) carrying code that is executed by the processors to carry out Pang’s described method. Id. at ¶ 86, FIG.1.
“play back first audio via first audio transducers of a playback device that is located at a first location in an acoustic environment;
Pang’s device causes playback of an acoustic signal 101 corresponding to the claimed first audio. Id. at ¶¶ 87, 92, 113, FIGs.1, 3. One of ordinary skill would have understood that acoustic signal 101 is played by a set of speaker transducers in a first location of an acoustic environment. See id.
“capture, via one or more microphones of a microphone-equipped device while the microphone-equipped device is in the acoustic environment, second audio representing playback of the first audio in the acoustic environment;
Pang further uses microphones to record, or capture, 102 acoustic signal 101 to generate a recorded acoustic signal 103 corresponding to the claimed second audio. Id.
“determine target data from the captured second audio, the target data comprising a target room parameters;
Similarly, Pang describes estimating 104 room acoustic parameters, including a frequency-dependent reverberation time in a low-frequency range based on recorded acoustic signal 103 and a mixing time (i.e., a boundary between late and early reflections). Id. at ¶¶ 88, 92, 100–102, FIGs.3, 7, 8.
“determine an early reflections model representing reflections of the sound in the acoustic environment before a particular mixing time;
Pang determines 2102 an early reflection model before an estimated mixing time. Id. at ¶¶ 116–117, FIG.21.
“generate, from the target room parameters, a late reverberation model representing reverberation of the sound in the acoustic environment after the particular mixing time;
Pang similarly generates a late reverberation model after a mixing time based on the estimated mixing time and reverberation time. Id. at ¶¶ 103–106, 116–117, FIGs.9, 21.
“synthesize a set of binaural rendering filters comprising a direct sound model, the determined early reflections model, and the determined late reverberation model, the direct sound model based on reference head-related impulse response data;
Pang generates a synthesized BRIR 910 by combining direct sound HRTFs 1700, early reflections 2103 and synthesized late reverberation 909. Id. at ¶¶ 116–117, FIGs.21, 22.
“configure a binaural renderer with the synthesized set of binaural rendering filters;
“render, via the configured binaural renderer, third audio from audio input signals,
“wherein the rendered third audio is configured to simulate playback from virtual sources within the acoustic environment when played back via the headphone device,
“wherein the virtual sources include a first virtual source at the first location and one or more second virtual sources at respective second location; and
“cause the headphone device to play back the rendered third audio via the second audio transducers to simulate playback from the virtual sources.”
Pang describes reproducing immersive 3D audio with headphones, where a synthesized BRIR localizes audio sources to simulate both room acoustics via reverb and the relative position between the audio source and the user’s head via HRTF. Id. at ¶¶ 2–4, 14–18. One of ordinary skill would have understood from the nature of BRIR being an impulse response intended to be applied to an input audio signal that reproducing audio in Pang’s system and method includes configuring a renderer with the synthesized BRIR 910 and applying the BRIR 910 to input audio and playing back the BRIR-filtered audio via headphones and simulating playback of a virtual sound source in an acoustic environment. See id. One of ordinary skill would have also understood that any number of sources may be simulated either simultaneously or at different points in time. See id. at ¶ 116 (describing the reproduction of plural sources).
Table 1
For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 12 depends on claim 11, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target data comprises a target late reverberation time, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to generate the late reverberation model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“shape a noise sequence to match the target late reverberation time.”
Pang similarly describes estimating reverberation time. Pang at ¶¶ 93–95, FIGs.4, 5. Pang further describes shaping a dual-channel white Gaussian noise in order to match the reverberation time. Id. at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 13 depends on claim 12, and further requires the following:
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to shape the noise sequence comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“filter the noise sequence into subbands;
“multiple the subbands with respective decaying exponentials having subband mixing time gains to yield the target reverbertion time;
“and re-combine the subbands.”
Pang similarly filters 902 a white Gaussian noise sequence into subbands, multiplies 904 each subband by a decaying exponential according to frequency-dependent reverberation times and recombines 906 the subbands. Pang at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 14 depends on claim 13, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target data comprises a target mixing-time energy level, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to shape the noise sequence comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“determine the decaying exponentials based on the target mixing-time energy level and the target late reverberation time.”
Similarly, Pang determines a scaling factor A, or target mixing-time energy level, that depends on source-listener distance. Pang at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. Pang then determines the decaying exponential function
h
(
f
)
for each subband based on scaling factor A and frequency-dependent reverberation times. Id. For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 15 depends on claim 11, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target data comprises a target late reverberation time, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to generate the late reverberation model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to: render the late reverberation model with a parametric reverberator that is tuned to generate late reverberation with the target late reverberation time.”
Similarly, Pang determines several parameters, including a scaling factor A and frequency-dependent reverberation times to parametrically generate late reverberation. Pang at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 17 depends on claim 11, and further requires the following:
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to determine the early reflections model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“adapt, based on the target room parameters, reference binaural rendering impulse response filters to an early reflections model representing reflections of the sound in the acoustic environment before a particular mixing time.”
Similarly, Pang describes adapting an existing set of reference BRIR filters based on a mixing time parameter. Pang at ¶ 115, FIGs.19, 20. For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Claim 20 is drawn to “a method.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed method and the Pang reference.
Claim 20
The Pang Reference
“20. A method comprising:
The Pang reference similarly describes a system that performs a method for adapting virtual 3D audio to a real room. Pang at Abs., ¶¶ 2, 85, 86, FIG.1.
“playing back first audio via first audio transducers of a playback device that is located at a first location in an acoustic environment;
Pang’s device causes playback of an acoustic signal 101 corresponding to the claimed first audio. Id. at ¶¶ 87, 92, 113, FIGs.1, 3. One of ordinary skill would have understood that acoustic signal 101 is played by a set of speaker transducers in a first location of an acoustic environment. See id.
“capturing, via one or more microphones of a microphone-equipped device while the microphone-equipped device is in the acoustic environment, second audio representing playback of the first audio in the acoustic environment;
Pang further uses microphones to record, or capture, 102 acoustic signal 101 to generate a recorded acoustic signal 103 corresponding to the claimed second audio. Id. at ¶ 87, FIG.1.
“determining target data from the captured second audio, the target data comprising a target room parameters;
Similarly, Pang describes estimating 104 room acoustic parameters, including a frequency-dependent reverberation time in a low-frequency range based on recorded acoustic signal 103 and a mixing time (i.e., a boundary between late and early reflections). Id. at ¶¶ 88, 92, 100–102, FIGs.3, 7, 8.
“determining an early reflections model representing reflections of the sound in the acoustic environment before a particular mixing time;
Pang determines 2102 an early reflection model before an estimated mixing time. Id. at ¶¶ 116–117, FIG.21.
“generating, from the target room parameters, a late reverberation model representing reverberation of the sound in the acoustic environment after the particular mixing time;
Pang similarly generates a late reverberation model after a mixing time based on the estimated mixing time and reverberation time. Id. at ¶¶ 103–106, 116–117, FIGs.9, 21.
“synthesizing a set of binaural rendering filters comprising a direct sound model, the determined early reflections model, and the determined late reverberation model, the direct sound model based on reference head-related impulse response data;
Pang generates a synthesized BRIR 910 by combining direct sound HRTFs 1700, early reflections 2103 and synthesized late reverberation 909. Id. at ¶¶ 116–117, FIGs.21, 22.
“configuring a binaural renderer with the synthesized set of binaural rendering filters;
“rendering, via the configured binaural renderer, third audio from audio input signals,
“wherein the rendered third audio is configured to simulate playback from virtual sources within the acoustic environment when played back via the headphone device,
“wherein the virtual sources include a first virtual source at the first location and one or more second virtual sources at respective second location; and
“causing the headphone device to play back the rendered third audio via the second audio transducers to simulate playback from the virtual sources.”
Pang describes reproducing immersive 3D audio with headphones, where a synthesized BRIR localizes audio sources to simulate both room acoustics via reverb and the relative position between the audio source and the user’s head via HRTF. Id. at ¶¶ 2–4, 14–18. One of ordinary skill would have understood from the nature of BRIR being an impulse response intended to be applied to an input audio signal that reproducing audio in Pang’s system and method includes configuring a renderer with the synthesized BRIR 910 and applying the BRIR 910 to input audio and playing back the BRIR-filtered audio via headphones and simulating playback of a virtual sound source in an acoustic environment. See id. One of ordinary skill would have also understood that any number of sources may be simulated either simultaneously or at different points in time. See id. at ¶ 116 (describing the reproduction of plural sources).
Table 2
For the foregoing reasons, the Pang reference anticipates all limitations of the claim.
Obviousness
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 1–5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Pang and US Patent Application Publication 2021/0398545 (published 23 December 2021) (“Johnson”).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pang, Johnson and WO 2023/213501 A1 (effectively filed 03 May 2022) (“Eronen”).
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pang, Johnson and US Patent Application Publication 2020/0322727 (published 08 October 2020) (“Smyth”).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pang and US Patent Application Publication 2018/0091920 (published 29 March 2018) (“Family”).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pang and Eronen.
Claims 18 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pang and Smyth.
Claim 1 is drawn to “a system.” The following table illustrates the correspondence between the claimed system and the Pang reference.
Claim 1
The Pang Reference
“1. A system comprising:
The Pang reference similarly describes a system that performs a method for adapting virtual 3D audio to a real room. Pang at Abs., ¶¶ 2, 85, 86, FIG.1.
“a network interface;
“at least one processor;
and “at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
The Pang reference similarly describes the system as including a device 100 embodied as a computer with processing circuitry 110 that includes one or more processors and non-volatile (i.e., non-transitory) memory (i.e., computer-readable medium) carrying code that is executed by the processors to carry out Pang’s described method. Id. at ¶ 86, FIG.1.
The Pang reference does not describe the claimed network interface in connection with device 100. However, network interfaces are ubiquitous features of computers and worthy of Official notice. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill to have simply used a computer including a network interface to implement Pang’s computer device.
“play back first audio via first audio transducers of a playback device that is located at a first location in an acoustic environment;
Pang’s device causes playback of an acoustic signal 101 corresponding to the claimed first audio. Id. at ¶¶ 87, 92, 113, FIGs.1, 3. One of ordinary skill would have understood that acoustic signal 101 is played by a set of speaker transducers in a first location of an acoustic environment. See id.
“capture, via one or more microphones of a microphone-equipped device while the microphone-equipped device is in the acoustic environment, second audio representing playback of the first audio in the acoustic environment;
Pang further uses microphones to record, or capture, 102 acoustic signal 101 to generate a recorded acoustic signal 103 corresponding to the claimed second audio. Id. at ¶ 87, FIG.1.
“determine target data from the captured second audio, the target data comprising a target room parameters;
Similarly, Pang describes estimating 104 room acoustic parameters, including a frequency-dependent reverberation time in a low-frequency range based on recorded acoustic signal 103 and a mixing time (i.e., a boundary between late and early reflections). Id. at ¶¶ 88, 92, 100–102, FIGs.3, 7, 8.
“determine an early reflections model representing reflections of the sound in the acoustic environment before a particular mixing time;
Pang determines 2102 an early reflection model before an estimated mixing time. Id. at ¶¶ 116–117, FIG.21.
“generate, from the target room parameters, a late reverberation model representing reverberation of the sound in the acoustic environment after the particular mixing time;
Pang similarly generates a late reverberation model after a mixing time based on the estimated mixing time and reverberation time. Id. at ¶¶ 103–106, 116–117, FIGs.9, 21.
“synthesize a set of binaural rendering filters comprising a direct sound model, the determined early reflections model, and the determined late reverberation model, the direct sound model based on reference head-related impulse response data;
Pang generates a synthesized BRIR 910 by combining direct sound HRTFs 1700, early reflections 2103 and synthesized late reverberation 909. Id. at ¶¶ 116–117, FIGs.21, 22.
“configure a binaural renderer with the synthesized set of binaural rendering filters;
“render, via the configured binaural renderer, third audio from audio input signals,
“wherein the rendered third audio is configured to simulate playback from virtual sources within the acoustic environment when played back via the headphone device,
“wherein the virtual sources include a first virtual source at the first location and one or more second virtual sources at respective second location; and
“cause the headphone device to play back the rendered third audio via the second audio transducers to simulate playback from the virtual sources.”
Pang describes reproducing immersive 3D audio with headphones, where a synthesized BRIR localizes audio sources to simulate both room acoustics via reverb and the relative position between the audio source and the user’s head via HRTF. Id. at ¶¶ 2–4, 14–18. One of ordinary skill would have understood from the nature of BRIR being an impulse response intended to be applied to an input audio signal that reproducing audio in Pang’s system and method includes configuring a renderer with the synthesized BRIR 910 and applying the BRIR 910 to input audio and playing back the BRIR-filtered audio via headphones and simulating playback of a virtual sound source in an acoustic environment. See id. One of ordinary skill would have also understood that any number of sources may be simulated either simultaneously or at different points in time. See id. at ¶ 116 (describing the reproduction of plural sources).
Table 3
The table above shows that the Pang reference describes a system that corresponds very closely to the claimed system. The Pang reference does not anticipate the claimed system, however, since Pang does not describe the inclusion of a network interface in its computer device. Pang’s system includes a smartphone or tablet. Pang at ¶¶ 2, 92, 112, 113. It is well-known to include network interfaces in smartphones and tablets, including ones intended for audio processing, so they can communicate with other devices in a network. Johnson at ¶¶ 64, 67, FIG.11 (depicting a typical smartphone 150 capable of processing audio (like Pang’s smartphone) with a network interface 164). It would have been obvious to embody Pang’s smartphone and tablets with a network interface, like Johnson’s network interface 164 so those devices may carry out their typical functions of communicating with remote devices over a network. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Johnson references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 2 depends on claim 1, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target data comprises a target late reverberation time, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to generate the late reverberation model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“shape a noise sequence to match the target late reverberation time.”
Pang similarly describes estimating reverberation time. Pang at ¶¶ 93–95, FIGs.4, 5. Pang further describes shaping a dual-channel white Gaussian noise in order to match the reverberation time. Id. at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Johnson references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 3 depends on claim 2, and further requires the following:
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to shape the noise sequence comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“filter the noise sequence into subbands;
“multiply the subbands with respective decaying exponentials having subband mixing time gains to yield the target reverberation time; and
“re-combine the subbands.”
Pang similarly filters 902 a white Gaussian noise sequence into subbands, multiplies 904 each subband by a decaying exponential according to frequency-dependent reverberation times and recombines 906 the subbands. Pang at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Johnson references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 4 depends on claim 1, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target data comprises a target mixing-time energy level, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to shape the noise sequence comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“determine the decaying exponentials based on the target mixing-time energy level and the target late reverberation time.”
Similarly, Pang determines a scaling factor A, or target mixing-time energy level, that depends on source-listener distance. Pang at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. Pang then determines the decaying exponential function
h
(
f
)
for each subband based on scaling factor A and frequency-dependent reverberation times. Id. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Johnson references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 5 depends on claim 1, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target data comprises a target late reverberation time, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to generate the late reverberation model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“render the late reverberation model with a parametric reverberator that is tuned to generate late reverberation with the target late reverberation time.”
Similarly, Pang determines several parameters, including a scaling factor A and frequency-dependent reverberation times to parametrically generate late reverberation. Pang at ¶¶ 103–106, FIG.9. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Johnson references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 6 depends on claim 5, and further requires the following:
“wherein the parametric reverberator comprises a feedback delay network, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to render the late reverberation model with the parametric reverberator comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“tune biquad cascade filters of the feedback delay network to correspond to the target late reverberation time.”
The Pang reference generates synthetic late reverberations through noise shaping. The Eronen reference teaches and suggests an alternative based on a feedback delay network and tuned biquad cascade filters to provide reverb with a specific reverb time. See Eronen at pp. 18–22, FIGs.1, 14. This teaching would have reasonably suggested modifying Pang’s system to use Eronen’s reverb generation technique as an alternative mechanism for generating late reverberations. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang, the Johnson and the Eronen references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 7 depends on claim 1, and further requires the following:
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to determine the early reflections model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“adapt, based on the target room parameters, reference binaural rendering impulse response filters to an early reflections model representing reflections of the sound in the acoustic environment before a particular mixing time.”
Similarly, Pang describes adapting an existing set of reference BRIR filters based on a mixing time parameter. Pang at ¶ 115, FIGs.19, 20. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Johnson references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 8 depends on claim 7, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target room parameters comprise target early decay time, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to adapt the reference binaural rendering impulse response filters to the early reflections model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“modify the reference binaural rendering impulse response filters by a gain envelope that converts a reference early decay time to the target early decay time.”
Claim 9 depends on claim 8, and further requires the following:
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to determine the target data from the captured second audio comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“estimate the target early decay time from energy delay curves in respective subbands of the room impulse response.”
Claims 8 and 9 are treated together. The Pang reference describes two techniques for generating early reverb. The first is to use adapt a reference BRIR by extracting only direct and early reflections while eliminating late reflections. The second is to parametrically simulate early reflections using an image-source or raytracing technique. Pang does not describe modifying a reference BRIR by a gain envelope to convert the reference’s early decay time to a target early decay time.
The Smyth reference applying decay envelope analysis to adapt a non-optimal reference PRIR based on an equalized BRIR so that the PRIR includes optimal reverberation frequency response and time decay characteristics. Smyth at ¶ 79. In particular, the reverberant portion of the PRIR is extracted and compared to the reverberant portion of the BRIR. Id. at ¶¶ 81–82, FIG.11. The equalized BRIR is an energy delay curve that acts as an estimate of a target early decay time for different subbands. See id. at ¶¶ 79, 81. The comparison yields a set of weights, or a gain envelope, to adjust the reverberant portion of the PRIR. Id. at ¶¶ 81–82, FIG.11. This would have reasonably suggested similarly adapting Pang’s reference BRIR by applying a derived gain envelope to optimize the time decay characteristics of the reference BRIR. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Smyth references makes obvious all limitations of the claims.
Claim 10 depends on claim 7, and further requires the following:
“wherein the at least one non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“select the reference binaural rendering impulse response filters to match the acoustic environment from among a plurality of filters representing different acoustic environments.”
The Pang reference describes the adaptation of a reference BRIR, but does not describe any technique for choosing, or selecting, the reference BRIR. The Family reference teaches that when reproducing content, the environment changes dynamically and also includes numerous types of sources that would benefit from the use of varying BRIRs. Family at ¶¶ 2–3. To address this concern, Family teaches and selecting BRIRs for content by analyzing the metadata of the content to determine the type of environment associated with the content (e.g., is the content dominated by ambient sounds indicating an open environment or speech indicating a smaller or dryer environment?) and similarly analyzing numerous features of the BRIRs (e.g., room size, perceived size, DRR, etc.). Id. at ¶¶ 3, 16–20. This would have reasonably suggested modifying Pang’s system to choose a reference BRIR by similarly analyzing a plurality of BRIRs and comparing the BRIRs to content types to match the selected BRIR to the environment reflected by the content. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang, the Johnson and the Family references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 16 depends on claim 15, and further requires the following:
“wherein the parametric reverberator comprises a feedback delay network, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to render the late reverberation model with the parametric reverberator comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“tune biquad cascade filters of the feedback delay network to correspond to the target late reverberation time.”
The Pang reference generates synthetic late reverberations through noise shaping. The Eronen reference teaches and suggests an alternative based on a feedback delay network and tuned biquad cascade filters to provide reverb with a specific reverb time. See Eronen at pp. 18–22, FIGs.1, 14. This teaching would have reasonably suggested modifying Pang’s system to use Eronen’s reverb generation technique as an alternative mechanism for generating late reverberations. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Eronen references makes obvious all limitations of the claim.
Claim 18 depends on claim 17, and further requires the following:
“wherein the target room parameters comprise target early decay time, and
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to adapt the reference binaural rendering impulse response filters to the early reflections model comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“modify the reference binaural rendering impulse response filters by a gain envelope that converts a reference early decay time to the target early decay time.”
Claim 19 depends on claim 18, and further requires the following:
“wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to determine the target data from the captured second audio comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the system is configured to:
“estimate the target early decay time from energy delay curves in respective subbands of the room impulse response.”
Claims 18 and 19 are treated together. The Pang reference describes two techniques for generating early reverb. The first is to use adapt a reference BRIR by extracting only direct and early reflections while eliminating late reflections. The second is to parametrically simulate early reflections using an image-source or raytracing technique. Pang does not describe modifying a reference BRIR by a gain envelope to convert the reference’s early decay time to a target early decay time.
The Smyth reference applying decay envelope analysis to adapt a non-optimal reference PRIR based on an equalized BRIR so that the PRIR includes optimal reverberation frequency response and time decay characteristics. Smyth at ¶ 79. In particular, the reverberant portion of the PRIR is extracted and compared to the reverberant portion of the BRIR. Id. at ¶¶ 81–82, FIG.11. The equalized BRIR is an energy delay curve that acts as an estimate of a target early decay time for different subbands. See id. at ¶¶ 79, 81. The comparison yields a set of weights, or a gain envelope, to adjust the reverberant portion of the PRIR. Id. at ¶¶ 81–82, FIG.11. This would have reasonably suggested similarly adapting Pang’s reference BRIR by applying a derived gain envelope to optimize the time decay characteristics of the reference BRIR. For the foregoing reasons, the combination of the Pang and the Smyth references makes obvious all limitations of the claims.
Summary
Claims 1–20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103 as being unpatentable over the cited prior art. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Response to Applicant’s Arguments
Applicant’s Reply (22 December 2025) includes comments pertaining to the rejections presented in the previous Non-Final Office action (24 September 2025) and repeated herein.
Regarding claim 11, Applicant comments that Pang does not anticipate the claim. (Reply at 11). In particular, Pang purportedly does not describe
“rendering, via [a] configured binaural renderer, third audio from audio input signals, wherein the rendered third audio is configured to simulate playback from virtual sources within the acoustic environment when played back via the headphone device, wherein the virtual sources include a first virtual source at the first location.”
Applicant comments that Pang does not disclose this limitation because Pang does not teach or suggest virtually positioning a source in any particular location. (Id.) Applicant further comments that the rejection appears to overcome this deficiency by resorting to some type of common sense rejection. (Id. at 11–12.)
The rejection of claim 11 neither acknowledges any shortcoming in the disclosure of the Pang reference nor does it set rely on any sort of common sense rejection, whether based in § 102 or § 103. The rejection is based on Pang’s clear teachings on positioning the virtual sound sources in any combination of numbers and positions. It is a case where a disclosed genus necessarily anticipates all conceivable species. See MPEP § 2131.02. Pang’s described ability to position any number of sound sources any where in space around a user allows one of ordinary skill to immediately envision from Pang all combinations of sources in all combinations of positions, including the claimed position of a first sound source at the location of a set of speakers used to characterize an acoustic space.
Applicant comments that Pang does not include a playback device in its environment. (Remarks at 12.) The Pang reference, however, plainly states recording signal 101 with a microphone. Pang at ¶ 87. Signal 101 is further described as being played back. Id. at ¶¶ 92, 113, FIG.3. It is apparent that playing back acoustic signal 101 requires a playback device (i.e., loudspeakers).
Applicant traverses the use of Official notice in the rejection of claim 1. To wit, the rejection of claim 1 takes Official notice of computers including a network interface, for example, to connect over Ethernet or a WiFi link with another computer. Applicant has not made a proper traversal of the taking of Official notice.
Applicant cites a non-precedential Board decision, Ex Parte Wang 2023-003198, to show that identifying a specific claim involving Official notice is sufficient to adequately traverse Official notice. Because the Wang decision is not precedential, it is not controlling in this case. Further, it is not persuasive since it conflicts with the guidance provided in the MPEP § 2144.03(C)—the same section cited in the decision. In particular, MPEP § 2144.03(C) states the following:
“To adequately traverse a finding based on official notice, an applicant must specifically point out the supposed errors in the examiner’s action, which would include stating why the noticed fact is not considered to be common knowledge or well-known in the art. A mere request by the applicant that the examiner provide documentary evidence in support of an officially-noticed fact is not a proper traversal. See 37 CFR 1.111(b). See also Chevenard, 139 F.2d at 713, 60 USPQ at 241. A general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention without any reference to the examiner’s assertion of official notice would be inadequate.”
(emphasis added.) The Board decision cites the above passage selectively, omitting the highlighted portions. The highlighted portions make it clear that merely requesting evidence without an underpinning on how the purported fact is not actually well-known in the art is insufficient to properly traverse a taking of Official notice. Pointing to a particular claim in no way carries that burden. It is certainly more than making a general allegation that the claims define a patentable invention, since it identifies one particular aspect of a rejection that may be in error. But it does not provide any logical underpinning as to why the asserted basis of common knowledge in the art of the noticed fact is factually incorrect. Simply asking for documentary evidence in connection with a specific claim does nothing more than identify a noticed fact without establishing why the noticed fact is not considered to be common knowledge or well-known in the art. Thus, identifying a specific claim involving Official notice is merely a request for documentary evidence.
To properly traverse the taking of Official notice here, Applicant would have to provide evidence or arguments that it is not in fact typical or common to include a network interface in a computer system, such as a smartphone or tablet, described by the Pang reference. Applicant has not made any such showing.
To compact prosecution, the Examiner has cited a reference depicting a typical smartphone 150 capable of processing audio (like Pang’s smartphone) with a network interface 164. Johnson at ¶¶ 64, 67, FIG.11.
For the foregoing reasons, Applicant has not persuasively established any error in the Office action. All the rejections will be maintained.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 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 C.F.R. § 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 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 WALTER F BRINEY III whose telephone number is (571)272-7513. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am-4:30 pm.
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, Carolyn Edwards can be reached at 571-270-7136. 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.
/Walter F Briney III/
Walter F Briney IIIPrimary ExaminerArt Unit 2692
2/20/2026