Detailed Action
Summary
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 .
1.This office action is in response to the amendment filed on February 17, 2026.
2. Claims 1-20 are amended and has been pending.
3. Claim objections and rejections are withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1,4,8-9,12-13,16-17 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) (a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou “20220109368”.
In re to claim 1, Zhou discloses an apparatus (Figs. 3-10 a trans-inductance voltage regulator TLVR) , comprising: a control circuit (controller 140) configurable to set timing of pulsed signals (see Figs. 3, 5A-B) for different phases of a multi-phase power converter ( power converter phase 121-122…12N) responsive to a current signal ( control signals S11, S21, . . . , SN1 ) and a transient detection circuit (controller 140 and current monitor 240 and current flow controller 145, see prag. 0081, 0045,0049 and 0051) configurable to detect a transient at an output of the multi-phase power converter (the current monitor 240 monitors a magnitude of the current 135 or magnitude of the output current from output voltage 133) and adjust the current signal responsive detecting the transient (in response to detecting an over current condition of supplying current to a load, the controller prevents or reduces a flow of current through a series circuit path of multiple windings to decouple or disconnect the multiple windings and corresponding multiple power converter phases from each other, thereby reducing supplied current and transient response, see prag.0051. Examiner noted that or reduces a flow of current is equivalent to adjust the current) .
In re to claim 4, Zhou discloses (Figs. 3-10) he apparatus power controller (140) wherein the control circuit (140) is configurable to adjust an AC portion and a DC portion of the current signal (controller prevents or reduces a flow of current through a series circuit path of multiple windings to decouple or disconnect the multiple windings and corresponding multiple power converter phases from each other, thereby reducing supplied current and transient response, see prag.0051. Examiner noted that reduces is equivalent to adjusting based on typically needs to be converted into an appropriate form (such as desired AC voltage, DC voltage, etc.) see parag. 0004).
In re to claim 8, Zhou discloses (Figs. 3-10) , comprising: a set of programmable registers defining at least an entry threshold and an exit threshold for detecting the transient (see prag.0082, 0085, 0092.It is understood in the art the entry threshold and an exit threshold are set by the programmable registers)
In re to claim 9, Zhou discloses a method (Figs. 3-10 a trans-inductance voltage regulator TLVR and method ), comprising: determining, by a control circuit (controller 140), a timing of pulsed signals (see Figs. 3, 5A-B) that activate phases of a coupled inductor voltage regulator (see Figs. 3, 5 and 7) responsive to a current signal ( control signals S11, S21, . . . , SN1 )
Detecting (current monitor 240) , by in the a transient detection circuit (controller 140 , current monitor 240 and current flow controller 145, see prag. 0081, 0045,0049 and 0051), a transient at the output of the coupled inductor voltage regulator (the current monitor 240 monitors a magnitude of the current 135 or magnitude of the output current from output voltage 133) and adjusting by the transient detection circuit, the current signal responsive to detecting the transient (in response to detecting an over current condition of supplying current to a load, the controller prevents or reduces a flow of current through a series circuit path of multiple windings to decouple or disconnect the multiple windings and corresponding multiple power converter phases from each other, thereby reducing supplied current and transient response, see prag.0051. Examiner noted that or reduces a flow of current is equivalent to adjust the current) .
In re to claim 12, Zhou discloses (Figs. 3-10) wherein the adjustment of the current signal (see parag. 0010, 0045, 0053 ) includes adjust an AC portion and a DC portion of the current signal (controller prevents or reduces a flow of current through a series circuit path of multiple windings to decouple or disconnect the multiple windings and corresponding multiple power converter phases from each other, thereby reducing supplied current and transient response, see prag.0051. Examiner noted that reduces is equivalent to adjusting based on typically needs to be converted into an appropriate form (such as desired AC voltage, DC voltage, etc.) see parag. 0004).
In re to claim 13, Zhou discloses (Figs. 3-10) further comprising: determining, by the transient detection circuit, operating parameters of a coupled inductor voltage regulator based at least on an inductance of the a compensation inductor (Lc) and a voltage across the compensation inductor (the current monitor 240, the controller 140 monitors a magnitude of current 135 through the series circuit path 160 connecting the multiple windings 221-1, 222-1, . . . , 22N−1; ); and determining, by the transient detection circuit (240) , state of the phases based at least on a quantity of the phases present and a state of activation of the phases (phase 12-122 and 12N) and adjusting, by the transient detection circuit, the current signal based on the state of the phases (in response to detecting an over current condition of supplying current to a load, the controller prevents or reduces a flow of current through a series circuit path of multiple windings to decouple or disconnect the multiple windings and corresponding multiple power converter phases from each other, thereby reducing supplied current and transient response, see prag.0051).
In re to claim 16, Zhou discloses (Figs. 3-10) providing by transient detection circuit (240) : a set of programmable registers defining at least an entry threshold and an exit threshold for detecting the transient (see prag.0082, 0085, 0092.It is understood in the art the entry threshold and an exit threshold are set by the programmable registers. )
In re to claim 17, Zhou discloses an apparatus (Figs. 3-10 a trans-inductance voltage regulator TLVR and method ),, comprising: one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media (see fig.9 and parg. 0022) ; program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media, the program instructions executable by a processing system to direct the processing system to at least (computer system 900) : determine a projected current through a compensation inductor ( inductor Lc ) of a coupled inductor voltage regulator (a trans-inductance voltage regulator TLVR based on a state of phases of the coupled inductor voltage regulator converter phase 121-122…12N) and operating parameters of the coupled inductor voltage regulator (see prag.0053) ; detect a transient in a current demand and responsive to detecting the transient (the current monitor 240 monitors a magnitude of the current 135 or magnitude of the output current from output voltage 133) , adjust a timing of pulsed signals (see Figs. 3, 5A-B) based on the projected current through the compensation inductor (in response to detecting an over current condition of supplying current to a load, the controller prevents or reduces a flow of current through a series circuit path of multiple windings to decouple or disconnect the multiple windings and corresponding multiple power converter phases from each other, thereby reducing supplied current and transient response, see prag.0051. Examiner noted that or reduces a flow of current is equivalent to adjust the current) .
In re to claim 19, Zhou discloses (Figs. 3-10) comprising further instructions executable by the processing system to direct the processing system to at least: determine the operating parameters of the coupled inductor voltage regulator based at least on an inductance of the compensation inductor and a voltage across the compensation inductor (see Fig. 9 and Parg.0108-0114) ;and determine the state of the phases based at least on a quantity of the phases present and a state of activation of the phases (phase 12—12N) ;_and adjusting the timing (see Figs. 3, 5A-B) based on the state of the phases (see 0010,0045,,0053).
Allowable Subject Matter
5. Claims 2-7,10-11,14-15 18 and 20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 2 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “the apparatus further comprises a current emulator circuit configurable to provide a signal responsive to a state of the phases and operating parameters of the coupled inductor voltage regulator, the signal representing a projected current through a compensation inductor of the coupled inductor voltage regulator; the transient detection circuit is configurable to detect the transient responsive to detecting a change in phase-to-phase overlap of the pulsed signals, and adjust the current signal by combining the current signal with the signal responsive to detecting that the overlap exceeds a first threshold, and not to combine the current signal with the signal responsive to detecting that the overlap drops below a second threshold after exceeding the first threshold. ”
Claim 7 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “ wherein the control circuit is configurable to set the timing of the pulse signals responsive to difference between a current demand for and a scaled version of the a projected current through a compensation inductor of the multi-phase power converter. ”
Claim 10 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the method including the limitation of “ a signal responsive to a state of the phases and operating parameters of the coupled inductor voltage regulator, the signal representing a projected current through a compensation inductor of the coupled inductor voltage regulator adjusting by the transient detection circuit, the current signal by combining the current signal with the signal responsive to detecting an overlap of the pulsed signals increases above a first threshold; and stopping by the transient detection circuit, the adjustment of the current signal responsive to detecting that the overlap decreases a second threshold after exceeding the first threshold. ”
Claim 11 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “a signal responsive to a state of the phases and operating parameters of the coupled inductor voltage regulator, the signal representing a projected current through a compensation inductor of the coupled inductor voltage regulator: adjusting, by the transient detection circuit, the current signal by combining the current signal with the signal responsive to detecting an overlap of the pulsed signals falls below a first threshold; and stopping, by the transient detection circuit, the adjustment of the current signal responsive to detecting that the overlap increases above a second threshold after falling below the first threshold. ”
Claim 14 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “determining scaled combined rates of change of projected currents supplied by each phase based at least in part on the operating parameters of the coupled inductor voltage regulator and a projected current through the a compensation inductor of the coupled inductor voltage regulator. ”
Claim 15 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “setting the timing of the pulse signals responsive to a difference between a current demand and a scaled version of a projected current through a compensation inductor of the coupled inductor voltage regulator.”
Claim 18 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “ enable the adjustment of the timing responsive to the a variability in phase-to-phase overlap indicating an increase in the overlap exceeding a first threshold or a decrease in the overlap falling below a second threshold; and disable the adjustment of the timing responsive to the variability in the overlap indicating a decrease below a third threshold after exceeding the first threshold or an increase above a fourth threshold after falling below the second threshold. ”
Claim 20 is objected because the prior art in the record fails to disclose or suggest the apparatus including the limitation of “ the adjustment of the timing is based on a difference between reported a current demand and a scaled version of the projected current through the compensation inductor. ”
Claims 3-6 dependent on claim 2 , thus are also allowed because of their dependency.
Conclusion
6. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 SISAY G TIKU whose telephone number is (571)272-6898. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-6:00PM.
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/SISAY G TIKU/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838