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 .
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because in Figure 2, the label “DIGITAL EXAMPLES” should be replaced with –SAMPLES-- or --DIGITAL SAMPLES-- consistent with paragraph 19. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In paragraph 17, on line 8, delete “112”, and insert --122--.
In paragraph 29, on line 2, delete “133”, and insert --533--.
In paragraph 30, on line 7, delete “512”, and insert --522--.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claim 9 is objected to because of the following informalities: On line 3 of claim 9, delete “transmitting”, and insert --transmit--. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Per step 1 of the Subject Matter Eligibility Test (See MPEP 2106), claim 1 is directed to an apparatus, which is a product and falls within a statutory category (See MPEP 2106.03).
Per step 2A, prong 1, claim 1 recites the processing circuit configured to provide a third signal as a Fourier transform representation of at least a part of the samples at the processing output based on states of the frequency bin width input and the frequency bin index input. Providing the Fourier transform is a mathematical operation which falls into the mathematical concepts grouping (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2), subsection I).
The additional elements are an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit having an input and an output, the ADC circuit configured to sample a first signal at the input at a sampling frequency and provide a second signal representing samples of the first signal at the output; and a processing circuit having a processing input, a frequency bin width input, a frequency bin index input, and a processing output, the processing input coupled to the output of the ADC circuit.
Per step 2A, prong 2, The abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application. The claim recitation of the ADC and its connection to the processing circuit amounts to instructions to implement the abstract idea on a generic computer (See MPEP 2106.05(f)). The recitation of the ADC along with the processing circuit and its inputs is also no more than a general link to the technological environment of signal processing (See MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Per step 2B, claim 2 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception for the same reason.
Claims 2-7 depend from claim 1 and recite further details of the abstract idea. Claims 2-7 do not recite any additional elements. Since there are no recited additional elements, claims 2-7 are not integrated into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Per step 1 of the Subject Matter Eligibility Test (See MPEP 2106), claim 15 is directed to a method, which is a process and falls within a statutory category (See MPEP 2106.03).
Per step 2A, prong 1, claim 15 recites sampling a first signal at a sampling frequency; providing a second signal representing samples of the first signal; providing a third signal as a Fourier transform representation of a part of the samples based on states of a frequency bin width input and a frequency bin index input, wherein the at least the part of the samples is a first part of the samples; receiving a first frequency bin width signal indicating a first frequency bin width; receiving a second frequency bin width signal indicating a second frequency bin width; receiving a first frequency bin index signal indicating a first frequency bin index; receiving a second frequency bin index signal indicating a second frequency bin index; determining a frequency bin index offset based on the first frequency bin width signal, the first frequency bin index signal, and a second part of the samples; determining a corrected frequency bin index based on the second frequency bin index and the frequency bin index offset; and providing the third signal as the Fourier transform representation of the first part of the samples at a frequency bin having the corrected frequency bin index and the second frequency bin width. The recited claim limitations describe mathematical operations that provide a Fourier transform of a signal based on a corrected frequency bin index and a second frequency bin width. The claim limitations fall into the mathematical concepts grouping (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2), subsection I).
Claim 15 does not recite any additional elements.
Per step 2A, prong 2, The abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application because claim 15 does not recite any additional elements.
Per step 2B, claim 15 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because claim 15 does not recite any additional elements.
Claims 16-20 depend from claim 15 and recite further details of the abstract idea. Claims 16-20 do not recite any additional elements. Since there are no recited additional elements, claims 16-20 are not integrated into a practical application and does not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
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)(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 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent Application Publication 2022/0268838 to Sestok, IV et al. (Sestok).
Claim 1
With regard to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit having an input and an output, the ADC circuit configured to sample a first signal at the input at a sampling frequency and provide a second signal representing samples of the first signal at the output; Sestok teaches ADCs to sample a sense signal and generate sense signal samples (Fig. 1, ADCs 144; par. 25, 27).
With regard to a processing circuit having a processing input, a frequency bin width input, a frequency bin index input, and a processing output, the processing input coupled to the output of the ADC circuit, and the processing circuit configured to provide a third signal as a Fourier transform representation of at least a part of the samples at the processing output based on states of the frequency bin width input and the frequency bin index input; Sestok teaches a measurement circuit that receives the sense signal samples and performs a DFT based on sampling parameters that include a target frequency and a DFT block size (Fig. 1, measurement circuit 104, parameter estimator 112; pars. 26, 27).
Claim 8
With regard to an excitation device having a first device under test (DUT) terminal; Sestok teaches a driver circuit that is connected to a DUT (Fig. 1, driver circuit 130, DUT 122; par. 24).
With regard to a sensing device having a second DUT terminal; Sestok teaches a sense circuit (Fig. sense circuit 140, DUT 122; par. 24).
With regard to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit having an input and an output, the input of the ADC circuit coupled to the second DUT terminal, the ADC circuit configured to sample a first signal at the input of the ADC circuit at a sampling frequency and provide a second signal representing samples of the first signal at the output of the ADC circuit; Sestok teaches ADCs to sample a sense signal and generate sense signal samples (Fig. 1, ADCs 144; par. 25, 27).
With regard to a processing circuit having a processing input, a frequency bin width input, a frequency bin index input, and a processing output, the processing input coupled to the output of the ADC circuit, and the processing circuit configured to provide a third signal as a Fourier transform representation of at least a part of the samples at the processing output based on a frequency bin width signal at the frequency bin width input and a frequency bin index signal at the frequency bin width input; Sestok teaches a measurement circuit that receives the sense signal samples and performs a DFT based on sampling parameters that include a target frequency and a DFT block size (Fig. 1, measurement circuit 104, parameter estimator 112; pars. 26, 27).
With regard to a controller coupled to the excitation device and to the sensing device, the controller configured to: set a frequency of the excitation device; Sestok teaches a control circuit that includes a harmonic minimizer that sets sampling parameters (Fig. 1, control circuit 106, harmonic minimizer 110; pars. 24, 27; Fig. 14, block 1404, pars. 84, 85).
With regard to cause the excitation device to provide an excitation signal at the frequency at the first DUT terminal; Sestok teaches a driver circuit that is connected to a DUT (Fig. 1, driver circuit 130, DUT 122; par. 24).
With regard to transmit the frequency bin width signal and the frequency bin index signal to the sensing device, the frequency bin index signal being based on the frequency; Sestok teaches sampling control parameters that include a period for the excitation signals and a DFT block size (pars. 84, 85).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 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 and to correct any minor informalities.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Application Publication 2025/0130263 to Tipton et al. teaches a signal processing circuit.
US Patent Application Publication 2024/0063829 to Daram teaches FFT measurement using a wideband digital receiver.
US Patent Application Publication 2020/0382170 to Lang et al. teaches phase measurement and calibration using frequency bins.
US Patent Application Publication 2020/0359146 teaches impulse response measurement.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANUEL L BARBEE whose telephone number is (571)272-2212. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-5:30..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shelby A Turner can be reached at 571-272-6334. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANUEL L BARBEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857
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