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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The recitation of “wherein the measurement circuitry is operative to control a timing of a refresh of the power converter circuitry so as to avoid conflict with a measurement operation” is indefinite because the metes and bounds of the phrase “avoid conflict with the measurement operation” are unclear. The specification, which discusses the limitation in par. [0008], does not adequately discuss what conflict would potentially exist between a power operation and the measurement operation. Simply stated, Examiner is unclear from the specification and the wording of the claim language as to what the conflict is and between which operations. Claims 2-25 and 29 are also rejected under 35 USC § 112 due to their dependency on Claim 1.
Claim 22 recites the limitation " configured to output a supply voltage to circuitry external to the IC ", in which the limitation “the IC” appears to have no antecedent basis as no mentions of an IC occur in Claims 1 and 20, from which Claim 22 depends. Thus, there is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner notes that Claim 19 discusses an IC, but that Claim 22 does not depend from this claim. Therefore, for the purposes of further examination, the limitation, “the IC” will interpreted as “an IC”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 5-6, 8-9, 14, 20-21, 23-25, and 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hirahara USPG Pub. No.: US 2009/0129128.
Regarding Claim 1, Hirahara teaches a measurement system (seen in figures 3A and 3B) comprising:
power converter circuitry (see [0042] and figures 3A, 4A, and 4B illustrating a DC-DC converter 30); and
measurement circuitry (see [0042] and figure 3B teaching measurement circuitry 36, 38, and 40), wherein the measurement circuitry is operative to control a timing of a refresh of the power converter circuitry so as to avoid conflict with a measurement operation (see [0042] and figure 3B which teaches that when a voltage of comparator 42 is greater than a reference voltage, indicating an abnormality at E3, circuit 64 is triggered, which is a one-shot, or monostable circuit, that generates a pulse of a fixed time to the DC-DC converter circuitry).
Regarding Claim 2, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 1, wherein the power converter circuitry comprises a power converter controller configured to: compare an output voltage of the power converter circuitry to a first predefined threshold (discussed in [0042]); and responsive to a determination that the output voltage is below the first predefined threshold, output a refresh request signal to the measurement circuitry (see figure 3B in which restarting circuit 40 accomplishes the claimed limitation).
Regarding Claim 3, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 2, wherein the measurement circuitry comprises a measurement circuitry controller configured to: receive the refresh request signal from the power converter controller (see figures 3A-4B and [0042]); determine if a measurement operation is in progress (discussed in [0042]-[0043]); and responsive to a determination that no measurement operation is in progress, output a refresh granted signal to the power converter controller (discussed in [0042]-[0043]).
Regarding Claim 5, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 2, wherein the power converter controller is further configured to: compare the output voltage of the power converter circuitry to a further predefined threshold (see [0042]); and responsive to a determination that the output voltage is below the further predefined threshold, indicate to the measurement circuitry that an error has occurred (discussed in [0042] as the comparator of the measurement circuitry 50 serves this purpose).
Regarding Claim 6, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 5, wherein the measurement circuitry controller is configured to, responsive to the indication from the power converter controller that an error has occurred, output a refresh granted signal to the power converter controller (see figure 3B and [0042] in which a refresh granted signal is sent when the comparator detects overvoltage against a reference voltage).
Regarding Claim 8, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 1, wherein the measurement circuitry comprises a measurement circuitry controller configured to output a force refresh signal to the power converter circuitry (discussed in [0042] and see figures 3A-3B).
Regarding Claim 9, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 8, wherein the measurement circuitry controller is configured to output the force refresh signal prior to causing the measurement circuitry to perform a measurement operation (discussed in [0042] and see figures 3A-3B; under the broadest reasonable interpretation this limitation is disclosed by the teachings of Hirahara as successive measurements and signals occur).
Regarding Claim 14, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 8, wherein the measurement circuitry controller is further configured to wait for a predetermined period of time after outputting the force refresh signal before causing the measurement circuitry to perform the measurement operation (discussed in [0042]-[0043]).
Regarding Claim 20, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 1, wherein the power converter circuitry is configured to receive a power supply from a battery (see [0041]).
Regarding Claim 21, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 20, wherein the measurement circuitry is configured to receive a power supply from the battery (see [0041]).
Regarding Claim 23, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 20, wherein the power converter circuitry is configured to output a supply voltage to the measurement circuitry (see figures 1-4B as well as [0041]-[0043]).
Regarding Claim 24, Hirahara teaches a host device comprising the measurement system of claim 1 (discussed in [0041]-[0043]).
Regarding Claim 25, Hirahara teaches the host of claim 24, wherein the host device comprises a wearable monitoring device, an implantable monitoring device, a blood glucose monitor, a blood pressure monitor, an ECG monitor, a smart garment, a laptop, notebook, netbook or tablet computer, a gaming device, a games console, a controller for a games console, a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) device, a mobile telephone, a portable audio player, a portable device, an accessory device for use with a wearable monitoring device, an implantable monitoring device, a blood glucose monitor, a blood pressure monitor, an ECG monitor, a smart garment, a laptop, notebook, netbook or tablet computer, a gaming device, a games console a VR or AR device, a mobile telephone, a portable audio player or other portable device (see [0006], which discusses that the type of host device being taught is transportable, and therefore qualifies as an other portable device).
Regarding Claim 29, Hirahara teaches the measurement circuitry for the measurement system of claim 1, the measurement circuitry comprising a measurement circuitry controller configured to output a force refresh signal prior to causing the measurement circuitry to perform a measurement operation (discussed in [0041]-[0043]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirahara USPG Pub. No.: US 2009/0129128 in view of Ishibashi et al. USPG Pub. No.: US 2022/0255415.
Regarding Claim 15, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 1, wherein the power converter circuitry comprises DC-DC converter circuitry comprising: a monostable circuit configured to control an off-time of the first switch but is silent in explicitly disclosing wherein the power converter circuitry (see Claim 1 above which discusses the teaching of this limitation). But the reference is silent in disclosing DC-DC converter circuitry comprising: an inductor; a first switch for controlling current through the inductor; and a monostable circuit configured to control an off-time of the first switch.
However, Ishibashi teaches wherein the power converter circuitry comprises DC-DC converter circuitry (see figures 1 and 6, as well as [0047], teaching the power conversion circuitry 100) comprising: an inductor (figure 1, 2); a first switch (see figure 1, switch S1, which in combination with S2-S4 controls how the current is gated and supplied, regulating current flow through inductor 2) for controlling current through the inductor (see figure 1, switch S1, which in combination with S2-S4 controls how the current is gated and supplied, regulating current flow through inductor 2); and a monostable circuit configured to control an off-time of the first switch. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Hirahara with those of Ishibashi in order to implement accurate detection to prevent power loss (as discussed in Ishibashi [0079]).
Claim(s) 18-19 and 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirahara USPG Pub. No.: US 2009/0129128 in view of Harshey et al. US Patent No.: US 10,720,838.
Regarding Claim 18, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 1, but is silent in teaching wherein the power converter circuitry comprises switching boost converter circuitry. However, Harshey teaches wherein the power converter circuitry comprises switching boost converter circuitry (see Harshey col.3,ln.52 – col.4,ln.8, which discloses the use of switching boost convert circuitry). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Hirahara with those of Harshey because switching boost converter circuitry is beneficial for creating force-burst pulse modes in order to force a signal (discussed in Harshey col.3,ln.52 – col.4,ln.8).
Regarding Claim 19, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 1, but is silent in teaching wherein the power converter circuitry and the measurement circuitry are integrated in a single integrated circuit (IC). However, Harshey teaches wherein the power converter circuitry and the measurement circuitry are integrated in a single integrated circuit (IC) (see Harshey figure 1A, IC 102 discussed in col.4,lns.9-31, which also states that electronic components can be on-board the circuit). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Hirahara with those of Harshey because the use of an IC is beneficial in that an IC is programmable with non-volatile data storage used to execute instructions, is modular such that it can be integrated into larger arrays of circuits, and is easily modified (as described in Harshey figure 1A, IC 102 discussed in col.4,lns.9-44).
Regarding Claim 22, Hirahara teaches the measurement system of claim 20, but is silent in teaching wherein the power converter circuitry is configured to output a supply voltage to circuitry external to the IC. However, Harshey teaches wherein the power converter circuitry is configured to output a supply voltage to circuitry external to the IC (see Harshey figure 1A, IC 102 discussed in col.4,lns.9-31, which also states that electronic components can be on-board the circuit; the IC of Harshey, in modifying Hirahara, would have an input voltage meeting the claimed language). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have modified the teachings of Hirahara with those of Harshey because the use of an IC is beneficial in that an IC is programmable with non-volatile data storage used to execute instructions, is modular such that it can be integrated into larger arrays of circuits, and is easily modified (as described in Harshey figure 1A, IC 102 discussed in col.4,lns.9-44).
Claim(s) 26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ishibashi et al. USPG Pub. No.: US 2022/0255415 in view of Hirahara USPG Pub. No.: US 2009/0129128.
Regarding Claim 26, Ishibashi teaches power converter circuitry configured to receive an input voltage and output an output voltage (see figures 1 and 6, as well as [0047], teaching the power conversion circuitry 100), the power converter circuitry comprising:
an inductor (figure 1, 2);
a first switch for controlling a current through the inductor (see figure 1, switch S1, which in combination with S2-S4 controls how the current is gated and supplied, regulating current flow through inductor 2);
a capacitor (figure 1, capacitor 3).
Although Ishibiashi teaches a means for controlling an off-time of the first switch, the reference is silent in explicitly teaching such a means in the form of a monostable circuit configured to control an off-time of the first switch. However, Hirahara teaches a monostable circuit configured to control an off-time of the first switch (see Hirahara [0042] and figure 3B which teaches that when a voltage of comparator 42 is greater than a reference voltage, indicating an abnormality at E3, circuit 64 is triggered, which is a one-shot, or monostable circuit, that generates a pulse of a fixed time to the DC-DC converter circuitry). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Ishibashi with those of Hirahara in order to output a one-time reset signal with a specific duration (as discussed in Hirahara [0046]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 7, 10-13, 16-17, and 28 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.
RE Claim 4, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest “wherein the power converter controller is configured to, responsive to the refresh granted signal, control a switch of the power converter circuitry to cause the output voltage of the power converter circuitry to increase to a level equal to or greater than the first predefined threshold,” in combination with the other claim limitations. Claim 7 depends from base Claim 4, and therefore this claim is also allowed.
RE Claim 10, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest “in response to the control a switch of the power converter circuitry to cause the output voltage of the power converter circuitry to increase to a level equal to or greater than a second predefined threshold,” in combination with the other claim limitations. Claims 11-13 depend from base Claim 10, and therefore these claims are also allowed.
RE Claim 16, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest “the inductor and the first switch are coupled in series between a positive power supply voltage rail of the DC-DC converter and a reference voltage supply rail of the DC-DC converter; the second switch is coupled between a terminal of the inductor and an output node of the DC-DC converter; and the first capacitor is coupled between the output node and the reference voltage supply rail,” in combination with the other claim limitations.
RE Claim 17, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest “an inverter having an input coupled to a first terminal of the second capacitor and an output coupled to a control terminal of the first switch, wherein the inverter is coupled to receive an inverter supply voltage, and wherein the inverter is operative to switch a state of a signal at its output when a magnitude of a voltage across the second capacitor reaches half of a magnitude of the inverter supply voltage,” in combination with the other claim limitations.
RE Claim 28, the prior art of record does not disclose or suggest “compare an output voltage of the power converter circuitry to a first predefined threshold; responsive to a determination that the output voltage is below the first predefined threshold, output a refresh request signal; and responsive to receiving a refresh granted signal, control a switch of the power converter circuitry to cause an output voltage of the power converter circuitry to increase to a level equal to or greater than a first predefined threshold,” in combination with the other claim limitations.
Conclusion
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/MICHAEL A HARRISON/Examiner, Art Unit 2852