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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statement filed on 05/14/2024 have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 forms).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Deen et al. [US 2022/0037313 A1 (as submitted in IDS 05/14/2024); hereinafter “Deen”].
Regarding claim 1, Deen teaches a controller configured to control operation of a confinement apparatus comprising one or more radio frequency rails (RF rails) and a plurality of control electrodes (control electrodes), the controller comprising a processing element, at least one non-transitory computer-readable memory storing computer- executable instructions and a voltage signal sequence library, the computer-executable instructions configured to, when executed by the processing element, cause the controller to at least (figure 1A, 1B, 2 – 0046-0047, 0080):
identify a manipulatable object transport operation to be performed (manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086);
obtain a set of voltage signal sequences corresponding to the manipulatable object transport operation to be performed from the voltage signal sequence library (sequences of DC voltages are applied - 0046); and
cause one or more voltage sources to apply respective voltage signal sequences of the set of voltage signal sequences corresponding to the manipulatable object transport operation to respective control electrodes (DC electrodes are controlled by - 0046, 0047) of the plurality of control electrodes via respective filters (low-pass filter - 0053, 0073), (switched capacitor filter, filter banks - 0057, 0063, 0066, 0073, 0080), wherein the set of voltage signal sequences is determined based at least in part on respective filter responses of the respective filters (controller to operate a manipulation source - 0089).
Regarding claim 2, Deen teaches each voltage signal sequence of the set of voltage signal sequences is a time-ordered sequence of voltage signals with each voltage signal corresponding to a time step of a plurality of time steps of the manipulatable object transport operation (sequences of voltages applies – 0033, 0046, 0047) (applying DC voltage sequences – 0050, 0057).
Regarding claim 3, Deen teaches the voltage signals for each time step of the plurality of time steps of the set of voltage signal sequences are determined synchronously (sequences of voltages applies – 0033, 0046, 0047) (applying DC voltage sequences – 0050, 0057).
Regarding claim 4, Deen teaches the computer-executable instructions are further configured to, when executed by the processing element, cause the controller to at least cause an applied voltage signal to transition smoothly between an ith voltage signal of the voltage signal sequence corresponding to an ith time step of the plurality of time steps to an i+lth voltage signal of the voltage signal sequence corresponding to an i+1th time step of the plurality of time steps (sequences of voltages applies – 0033, 0046, 0047) (applying DC voltage sequences – 0050, 0057).
Regarding claim 5, Deen teaches the set of voltage signal sequences is configured to cause one or more manipulatable objects to be transported from one or more respective starting locations of the manipulatable object transport operation to one or more respective destination locations of the manipulatable object transport operation with respective transport profiles having at least first and second derivatives that are equal to zero at the one or more respective starting locations and at the one or more respective destination locations (via manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086, 0089).
Regarding claim 6, Deen teaches the respective transport profiles are each a sigmoidal function (switch function - 0059) (control logic function – 0075).
Regarding claim 7, Deen teaches the respective filters are low pass filters (low-pass filter - 0053, 0073).
Regarding claim 8, Deen teaches at least one of the respective filter responses is empirically determined (switched capacitor filter, filter banks - 0057, 0063, 0066, 0073, 0080).
Regarding claim 9, Deen teaches the set of voltage signal sequences is determined based at least in part on apparatus and transportation considerations (sequences of DC voltages are applied … to perform various transportation functions – 0046, 0047, 0050).
Regarding claim 10, Deen teaches the set of voltage signal sequences is configured to cause one or more manipulatable objects to be transported from one or more respective starting locations of the manipulatable object transport operation to one or more respective destination locations of the manipulatable object transport operation with the one or more manipulatable objects being in respective motional states of a same energy at both the one or more respective starting location and the one or more respective destination location (via manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086, 0089).
Regarding claim 11, Deen teaches a computer-executable method for determining a set of voltage signal sequences corresponding to a manipulatable object transport operation to be performed within a confinement region defined by a confinement apparatus comprising one or more radio frequency rails (RF rails) and a plurality of control electrodes (control electrodes) (figure 1A, 1B, 2 – 0046-0047, 0080), the method comprising:
obtaining filter response representations for one or more filters configured to filter respective voltage signals being applied to respective control electrodes of the plurality of control electrodes (figure 1A, 1B, 2 – 0046-0047, 0080);
obtaining an apparatus and transport consideration representation, wherein the apparatus and transport consideration representation at least encodes a relative physical layout of the plurality of control electrodes (figure 1A, 1B, 2 – 0046-0047, 0080); and
based at least in part on the filter response representations and the apparatus and transport consideration representation, synchronously determining a set of voltage signal sequences corresponding to transport of one or more manipulatable objects (manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086) from one or more respective starting locations of the confinement apparatus to one or more respective destination locations of the confinement apparatus over a period of time (sequences of DC voltages are applied - 0046), wherein each voltage signal sequence of the set of voltage signal sequences is a time-ordered sequence of voltage signals to be applied to a respective control electrode (DC electrodes are controlled by - 0046, 0047) of the plurality of control electrodes via a respective filter (low-pass filter - 0053, 0073), (switched capacitor filter, filter banks - 0057, 0063, 0066, 0073, 0080) of the one or more filters over a plurality of time steps of the period of time (controller to operate a manipulation source - 0089).
Regarding claim 12, Deen teaches causing the set of voltage sequences to be stored to a voltage signal sequence library accessible to a controller configured to control operation of the confinement apparatus (memory storage – 0088, databases - 0096, 0097).
Regarding claim 13, Deen teaches the set of voltage signal sequences is configured to cause the one or more manipulatable objects to be transported from the one or more respective starting locations to the one or more respective destination locations with respective transport profiles having at least first and second derivatives that are equal to zero at the one or more starting locations and at the one or more destination locations (via manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086, 0089).
Regarding claim 14, Deen teaches the respective transport profiles are each a sigmoidal function (switch function - 0059) (control logic function – 0075).
Regarding claim 15, Deen teaches the one or more filters comprise low pass filters (low-pass filter - 0053, 0073).
Regarding claim 16, Deen teaches at least one of the filter response representations is determined by empirically measuring a filter response of the respective filter and transforming the filter response into a filter response representation (switched capacitor filter, filter banks - 0057, 0063, 0066, 0073, 0080).
Regarding claim 17, Deen teaches the filter response representation causes a linking of an i+1th time step of the plurality of time steps to an ith time step of the plurality of time steps (sequences of voltages applies – 0033, 0046, 0047) (applying DC voltage sequences – 0050, 0057).
Regarding claim 18, Deen teaches the set of voltage signal sequences is configured to cause the one or more manipulatable objects to be transported from the one or more respective starting locations of the manipulatable object transport operation to the one or more respective destination locations of the manipulatable object transport operation with the one or more manipulatable objects being in a respective motional state of a same energy at both the one or more respective starting locations and the one or more respective destination locations (via manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086, 0089).
Regarding claim 19, Deen teaches obtaining lower and upper bound representations (below, above threshold – 0059, 0076), wherein the lower and upper bound representations and the apparatus and transport consideration representation constrain an available solution space within which the set of voltage signal sequences is determined (sequences of DC voltages are applied … to perform various transportation functions – 0046, 0047, 0050).
Regarding claim 20, Deen teaches an apparatus comprising a processing element and at least one non-transitory computer- readable memory storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions configured to (non-volatile storage - 0095, 0096), when executed by the processing element, cause the apparatus to at least:
obtain filter response representations for one or more filters configured to filter respective voltage signals being applied to respective control electrodes of a plurality of control electrodes (figure 1A, 1B, 2 – 0046-0047, 0080);
obtain an apparatus and transport consideration representation, wherein the apparatus and transport consideration representation at least encodes a relative physical layout of the plurality of control electrodes (figure 1A, 1B, 2 – 0046-0047, 0080); and
based at least in part on the filter response representations and the apparatus and transport consideration representation, synchronously determine a set of voltage signal sequences corresponding to transport of one or more manipulatable objects (manipulation sources – 0051, 0053, 0086) from one or more respective starting locations of a confinement apparatus comprising the plurality of control electrodes to one or more respective destination locations of the confinement apparatus over a period of time (sequences of DC voltages are applied - 0046), wherein each voltage signal sequence of the set of voltage signal sequences is a time-ordered sequence of voltage signals to be applied to a respective control electrode (DC electrodes are controlled by - 0046, 0047) of the plurality of control electrodes via a respective filter (low-pass filter - 0053, 0073), (switched capacitor filter, filter banks - 0057, 0063, 0066, 0073, 0080) of the one or more filters over a plurality of time steps of the period of time (controller to operate a manipulation source - 0089).
Relevant Prior Art / Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ascarrunz et al. (US Patent Number 11,025,228 A1) discloses a dynamic noise shaping filter used in an Ion Trap Apparatus;
Furtner (US Patent Application Publication 2023/0325698 A1) discloses a multi-dimensional electrode controller for quantum computing;
Williams, JR. et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0211128 A1) discloses an ion guide for generating a radio frequency (RF) field to radially confine ions to an ion beam along a guide axis.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICKY GO whose telephone number is (571)270-3340. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Arleen M. Vazquez can be reached on (571) 272-2619. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICKY GO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857