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 .
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 (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.
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)(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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim et al (US 20250193619 A1).
With respect to claim 1, Kim discloses an audio rendering system for a vehicle, the audio rendering system comprising:
one or more vehicle speakers (fig.7 #252) configured to produce sounds (Par.[0112] audio output module #252 may include at least one speaker);
a vehicle microphone (fig.7 #211) configured to capture one or more sounds (Par.[0090] audio input module #211 may include at least one microphone); and
a vehicle processor (fig.7 #270,370,470) configured to store vehicle data including one or more of vehicle location (Par.[0167]), vehicle event data (Par.[0388-0392] sound object context information or “vehicle event data” may be extracted from attribute information and feature data of the captured sound objects), vehicle mode (Par.[0022]), and microphone data and configured to:
determine optimal audio settings for the vehicle based on one or more of the vehicle location, the vehicle event data, and the microphone data, the optimal audio settings comprising object-based audio coding that enables individualized control of sound objects including spatialization and dynamic adjustment of each sound object based on contextual and user-specific factors (Par.[0009] microphone data captured by an outdoor microphone may be provided to a sound object extraction module (#810) configured to extract audio objects from the microphone data; optimal audio settings are determined via sound object renderer (#820; Par.[0287]) based on the captured microphone data that enables individualized control of spatialization (Par.[0293] “spatial effect”) and dynamic adjustment (Par.[0288] auto volume module may normalize a magnitude of each sound object which is a dynamic adjustment) and further based on contextual factors (Par.[0023] “sound object context information”) and user-specific factors (Par.[0083-0088] input unit #200 provides an interface for entering user-specific factors from a user); and
apply determined optimal audio settings to one or more of the vehicle speakers (Par.[0378] augmented audio objects are provided to each speaker of the vehicle as an optimized output sound).
With respect to claim 2, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 1, wherein the vehicle processor is configured to adjust one or more of vehicle mode or vehicle audio settings based on the determined optimal audio settings (Par.[0378] augmented audio objects are an adjustment in vehicle audio settings).
With respect to claim 3, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 2, wherein the vehicle processor is configured to adjust the vehicle audio settings by applying personalized and adaptive audio content and volume (Par.[0019]), individually controlling the one or more of the vehicle speakers for playback to create precise imaging for object audio using meta-data, adjusting gain for noise compliance, turning on or off commentary in a selected language, and/or adjusting the volume of crowd noise.
With respect to claim 4, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 1, wherein the optimal audio settings are based on mood information of an occupant of the vehicle (Par.[0084-0099] an input unit #210 may be provided for user control of the system, wherein a user’s mood may reflect information input into unit #210).
With respect to claim 5, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 1, wherein the optimal audio settings are determined using one or more of a contextual multi-armed bandit (MAB), epsilon-Greedy, Upper Confidence Bound (UCB), meta-learning, Regularized Linear Bandit, or meta-learning Linear UCB learning strategies (Par.[0264-0265]).
With respect to claim 6, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 1, wherein the vehicle location includes one or more of Global Positioning System (GPS) location (Par.[0167]), route information, or places-of-interest in a vicinity of the vehicle.
With respect to claim 7, Kim discloses a vehicle incorporating the audio rendering system of Claim 1 (see fig.1).
With respect to claim 8, Kim discloses an audio rendering system for a vehicle, the audio rendering system comprising:
a vehicle microphone (fig.7 #211) configured to capture one or more sounds (Par.[0090] audio input module #211 may include at least one microphone); and
a vehicle processor (fig.7 #270,370,470) configured to store vehicle data including one or more of vehicle location (Par.[0167]), vehicle event data (Par.[0388-0392] sound object context information or “vehicle event data” may be extracted from attribute information and feature data of the captured sound objects), and microphone data and configured to:
determine if noise-reducing action is required by applying object-based audio coding to the microphone data to identify and separate individual sound objects based on the vehicle location and the microphone data (Par.[0009] microphone data captured by an outdoor microphone may be provided to a sound object extraction module (#810) configured to extract audio objects from the microphone data; wherein an object based coding is applied via sound object renderer (#820; Par.[0287]); furthermore sound augmentation scenario management module #840 may determine if a noise-reducing action “active noise canceller operation” is requested to be applied to captured sound objects, Par.[0395-0398]);
determine an optimal vehicle mode based on the vehicle event data and the vehicle location; and activate the optimal vehicle mode of the vehicle (Par.[0412-0426] sound object information may be generated based on optimal vehicle modes i.e. (IVI output, POI guidance voice, intermediate level volume IVI output, background music, and intermediate level volume); wherein the modes may be based on a location of the vehicle and context information of the sound object (vehicle event data)).
With respect to claim 9, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 8, wherein the microphone data includes any sound captured by the vehicle microphone (Par.[0009] microphone data captured by an outdoor microphone may be provided to a sound object extraction module (#810) configured to extract audio objects from the microphone data).
With respect to claim 10, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 8, wherein the optimal vehicle mode is determined using one or more of a contextual multi-armed bandit (MAB), epsilon-Greedy, Upper Confidence Bound (UCB), meta-learning, Regularized Linear Bandit, or meta-learning Linear UCB learning strategies (Par.[0264-0265]).
With respect to claim 11, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 8, wherein the vehicle location includes one or more of GPS location (Par.[0167]), route information, or places-of-interest in a vicinity of the vehicle.
With respect to claim 12, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 8, wherein the vehicle processor is configured to use third-party information to determine if the noise-reducing action is required (Par.[0161] communication apparatus #400 may communicate with a third party external device, such as another vehicle, mobile terminal or server)
With respect to claim 13, Kim discloses a vehicle incorporating the audio rendering system of Claim 8 (see fig.1).
With respect to claim 14, Kim discloses an audio rendering system for a vehicle, the audio rendering system comprising:
a vehicle microphone (fig.7 #211) configured to capture one or more sounds (Par.[0090] audio input module #211 may include at least one microphone); and
a vehicle processor (fig.7 #270,370,470) configured to store vehicle data including one or more of vehicle location (Par.[0167]), vehicle event data (Par.[0388-0392] sound object context information or “vehicle event data” may be extracted from attribute information and feature data of the captured sound objects), and microphone data, the vehicle processor configured to:
determine if a noise-reducing action should be implemented based on one or more of the vehicle location and the microphone data (Par.[0009] microphone data captured by an outdoor microphone may be provided to a sound object extraction module (#810) configured to extract audio objects from the microphone data; wherein an object based coding is applied via sound object renderer (#820; Par.[0287]); furthermore sound augmentation scenario management module #840 may determine if a noise-reducing action “active noise canceller operation” is requested to be applied to captured sound objects, Par.[0395-0398]);
reduce a noise level within the vehicle by applying object-based audio coding to individually adjust one or more sound objects based on the microphone data and the vehicle event data (Par.[0397-0398] specific sound objects, such as drill noise, may be reduced); and
return the noise level back to the original noise level once the vehicle processor determines that the noise-reducing action should no longer be implemented based on one or more of the vehicle location and the microphone data (Par.[0424] sound control device may transfer information about sound objects only in a short distance relative to a real object or POI, therefore a noise-reducing action would only be performed in locations of the vehicle relevant to a captured noise source, such as a drill).
With respect to claim 15, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 14, wherein the noise-reducing action includes adjusting one or more of vehicle mode or vehicle audio settings (Par.[0378] augmented audio objects are an adjustment in vehicle audio settings).
With respect to claim 16, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 14, wherein the microphone data includes any sound captured by the vehicle microphone (Par.[0009] microphone data captured by an outdoor microphone may be provided to a sound object extraction module (#810) configured to extract audio objects from the microphone data).
With respect to claim 17, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 14, wherein the vehicle processor is configured to determine if a noise-reducing action should be implemented using one or more of acontextual multi-armed bandit (MAB), epsilon-Greedy, Upper Confidence Bound (UCB), meta- learning, Regularized Linear Bandit, or meta-learning Linear UCB learning strategies (Par.[0264-0265]).
With respect to claim 18, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 14, wherein the vehicle location includes one or more of GPS location (Par.[0167]), route information, or places-of-interest in a vicinity of the vehicle.
With respect to claim 19, Kim discloses the audio rendering system of Claim 14, wherein the vehicle event data includes one or more of user settings, vehicle settings, and passenger information (Par.[0084-0099] an input unit #210 may be provided for user control of the system, i.e. user settings).
With respect to claim 20, Kim discloses a vehicle incorporating the audio rendering system of claim Claim 14 (see fig.1).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 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.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON R KURR whose telephone number is (571)270-5981. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-5.
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, Vivian Chin can be reached at (571-272-7848. 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.
JASON R. KURR
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2695
/JASON R KURR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695
Prosecution Insights