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 with respect to the claims 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 § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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, 3-4, 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kumada (US 20100123924) in view of Chen (US 20140153623).
As to claim 1, Kumada discloses a communication device, performing serial communication using an asynchronous serial communication and comprising:
a receiving unit (fig. 4, input block 212), configured to receive a received data (par. 89 “data sent from the remote communicating party”) comprising an order of a start part (fig. 3B, “startbit”) including a 1-bit low data output interval (par. 86 “low level pulse”), a data part (“databit”) started with a rising (fig. 3b) and a stop part (“stopbit”);
a measuring unit (timer 230), configured to measure a pulse width of the low data output interval (par. 285 “measured time T12”) and a pulse width of the high data output interval in the data part (par. 293 “measured time T23”); and
a transmitting unit (output block 211, transmission speed block 213), configured to transmit a low transmission data at a baud rate (fig. 14, s313) based on the pulse width of the low data output interval (par. 331).
Kumada does not disclose a transmitting unit configured to transmit a high transmission data at a baud rate based on the pulse width of the high data output interval (instead discloses s303 or s304 for speed switching time or speed correcting time). In the same field of art (data transferring), Chen discloses a device for auto baud rate detection includes an edge trigger, a counter, at least one register and a central processing unit. The edge trigger detects whether a potential of a transmitted signal is raising or falling (abstract). In one embodiment, Chen further discloses the device measures the pulse width of high data output interval (par. 42, “a low level to a high level”) and transmit a high transmission data at a baud rate based on the pulse width of the high data output interval (fig. 3 s108, “obtain baud rate”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kumada and Chen, by configuring the transmitting unit to transmit a high transmission data at a baud rate based on the pulse width of the high data output interval. The motivation is to improve the reliability of the system (par. 6 “misreading of the transmitted signals”).
As to claim 3, Kumada/Chen discloses the communication device of Claim 1, wherein the transmission data comprises an order of a 1-bit start part, a data part and a stop part (Kumada, fig. 3).
As to claim 4, Kumada/Chen discloses the communication device of Claim 1, wherein
the data part of the received data is configured to start with a 1-bit high data output interval (Kumada, fig. 3, the first bit of 8-bit “databit”),
the measuring unit is configured to measure the pulse width of the low data output interval and a pulse width of the high data output interval (par. 285, 293).
a reading unit (speed calculation block 241) to read the received data at a baud rate based on the pulse width of the low data output interval and the pulse width of the high data output interval measured by a measuring unit (par. 285, 293).
As to claim 6, all the same elements of claim 1 are listed, but in a method form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally to claim 6.
As to claim 7, all the same elements of claim 1 are listed, with further comprising another communication device that communicates with the communication device (fig. 1-2 master 10, 110). Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally to claim 7.
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.
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/D.P/ Examiner, Art Unit 2184
/HENRY TSAI/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184