With 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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 of this title, 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 2, 8-10, 16-18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheen: 20170075645 hereinafter She further in view of Sheen: 20180192215 hereinafter She2.
Regarding claim 1
She teaches:
A computing device (She: Fig 2, 3: such as playback device 200, controller 300) comprising: at least one processor; at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor (She: Fig 2, 3: such as memory storing coded instructions operative of a processor on a playback device, controller therefor, etc.) such that the computing device is configured to:
receive a first user input indicating a command to initiate audio calibration of a playback device (She: ¶ 78, 107, 108; Fig 6, 7: “a user may access a controller interface for the playback device to initiate calibration of the playback device,” such as a calibration interface, such as by instructing a base device, to enter a calibration function);
based on receiving the first user input, present, via a GUI of the computing device, an indication of a controller device-based calibration option that utilizes at least one microphone of the controller, computing device, etc. (She: ¶ 61, 62, 109, 126, 168; Fig 7: She teaches a first and second option in the form of a first option to initiate a calibration procedure wherein the calibration option utilizes the microphone of the controller, computing device etc. device and a second option to defer a calibration option; wherein the calibration when initiated operates in concert with a microphone of the controller device such as that depicted to detect calibration sounds; said calibration sounds emitted by devices of the system; She additionally teaches that a standalone microphone may be connected to a playback device of the system or a controller of the system for performance of the calibration);
receive a second user input indicating a selection of the first calibration option (She: ¶ 61, 62, 109, 126; Fig 7: such as to perform calibration now, albeit based on the controller device microphone); based on the received second user input, cause the playback device to perform one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option (She: ¶ 61, 62, 109, 126; Fig 7: subsequent to initiation the calibration method operates in concert with a microphone of a controller device such as that depicted to detect calibration sounds; said calibration sounds emitted by devices of the system);
after the playback device performs the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option, receive an indication from the playback device that the playback device has completed the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option (She: Fig 28-30: such as the completion messages depicted in the figures); and
present, via the GUI of the computing device, an indication that the playback device has completed the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option (id.).
In a related field of endeavor She2 teaches a system and method for calibrating a playback device (She2: Abstract: ¶ 21, 22); said playback device comprising a microphone (She2: Figure 2: playback device 200 comprising microphone(s) 220) such as in concert with a network device said network device, etc. comprising a microphone (She2: Abstract; Fig 3: network device 300 comprising microphone(s) 310) wherein the system operates to perform alignment of devices in the system using a first calibration option that utilizes at least one microphone of the playback device (She2: Abstract: such as to perform alignment of microphone(s) of the playback device(s) by determination of an operations upon microphone(s) thereof). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to improve the calibration user interface of She by inclusion of a button, command affordance, etc. to designate the first option as discussed by She2 on the She user interface thereby enabling a user thereof to align, calibrate, etc. one or more microphone(s) on one or more playback device(s) as taught by She2 and to include a button, command affordance, etc. to designate the second option to align, calibrate, etc. the speaker output of the playback device(s) and for at least the purpose of calibrating particular speaker output with respect to a plurality of microphones, such as in one or more particular locations, integrated within one or more playback devices, etc. within a space, to thereby improve overall system input or output by generating a more comprehensive room transfer function and to thereby allow the user or system a greater degree of control over the response of the system with respect to the room; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claim 2
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 1, further comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to, prior to presenting the indication of the first calibration option:
determine that the playback device is currently configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option (She: Fig 7: such as by designating a particular button of the user interface dedicated to such a functionality); (She2: ¶ 28, etc.: such as by controlling availability of the microphone calibration algorithm, such as in the form of greying out a button dedicated thereto in the She user interface when the microphone, calibration algorithm, etc. is not available). The claim is considered obvious over She as modified by She2 as addressed in the base claim as it would have been obvious to apply the further teaching of, She and/or She2 to the modified device of She and She2; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claim 8
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 1, wherein the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option comprise:
playing back calibration audio content; while playing back the calibration audio content, recording, via the at least one microphone of the playback device, a portion of the calibration audio content (She: ¶ 158, 165, 181, etc.: system operates to playback and record a calibration signal, as digital audio proceeds by a series of samples each sample is considered a portion of the audio);
based on the recorded portion of the calibration audio content, determining spectral data corresponding to an environment in which the playback device is located (She: ¶ 158, 165, 181, etc.: system analyzes the recorded calibration sounds to determine acoustic characteristics of the environment);
based at least on the spectral data corresponding to the environment, determining calibration data for use by the playback device when playing back audio content (She: ¶ 158, 165, 181, etc.: system analyzes the recorded calibration sounds to generate a calibration profile bearing acoustic characteristics of the environment); and
applying the determined calibration data (She: ¶ 158, 165, 181, etc.: such as to adjust the devices of the system to achieve a desired equalization). The claim is considered obvious over She as modified by She2 as addressed in the base claim as it would have been obvious to apply the further teaching of She and/or She2 to the modified device of She and She2; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claims 9, 17—the claims are considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 1 and are similarly rejected.
Regarding claims 10, 18—the claims are considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 2 and are similarly rejected.
Regarding claims 16—the claim is considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 8 and is similarly rejected.
Claims 3-7, 11-15, 19, 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sheen: 20170075645 hereinafter She further in view of Sheen: 20180192215 hereinafter She2 as applied to claims 1, 2, 8-10, 16-18 supra and further in view of Plagge: 20170243587 hereinafter Pla.
Regarding claim 3
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 2, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to determine that the playback device is currently configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor (please see claim 2 supra).
She in view of She2 strongly suggests but does not explicitly teach a computing device configured to determine that the at least one microphone of the playback device is enabled (She2: ¶ 48: microphones of the system optionally configured to detect sound within a frequency range, a configured microphone is considered available).
In a related field of endeavor Pla teaches a system and method for operating a playback system using voice commands (Pla: Abstract) comprising one or more playback devices comprising microphones (Pla: ¶ 25; Fig 2) the system persists a plurality of state variables, periodically updating same (Pla: ¶ 28) and additionally determines a microphone availability state of the one or more playback devices (Pla: ¶ 89-91, 117). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to improve the configuration system of She in view of She2 by adding the microphone availability determination as taught or suggested by Pla for at least the purpose of determining microphone availability for a particular task; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claim 4
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 3, wherein the playback device is a first playback device, wherein the first playback device is part of a bonded zone comprising the first playback device and a second playback device (She: ¶ 69, 74: system determines state variables for a plurality of playback devices which describe the configurations, groupings, and audio sources associated with each/any playback device in the system; the groupings including bonded groupings ); (She2: ¶ 43, 49: system determines state variables for a plurality of playback devices which describe the configurations, groupings, and audio sources associated with each/any playback device in the system); (Pla: ¶ 28, 34: system determines state variables for a plurality of playback devices which describe the configurations, groupings, and audio sources associated with each/any playback device in the system), and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to determine that the first playback device is currently configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to determine that at least one microphone of the second playback device is enabled (Pla: ¶ 25, 28, 89-91, 117; Fig 2: such as by reading a microphone availability state variable of devices which are bear state variable indicating that they are paired in a bonded zone). The claim is considered obvious over She as modified by She2 as addressed in the base claim as it would have been obvious to apply the further teaching of She and/or She2 to the modified device of She and She2; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claim 5
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 1, further comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to, prior to presenting the indication of the second calibration option:
determine that the at least one microphone of the computing device is operable to capture audio content according to the second calibration option (She2: ¶ 48: such as by determining of a microphone(s) of the system configured to detect sound within a frequency range, a configured microphone is considered available).
She in view of She2 strongly suggests but does not explicitly teach determining that the at least one microphone of the computing device is qualified to capture audio content according to the second calibration option.
In a related field of endeavor Pla teaches a system and method for operating a playback system using voice commands (Pla: Abstract) comprising one or more playback devices comprising microphones (Pla: ¶ 25; Fig 2) the system persists a plurality of state variables, periodically updating same (Pla: ¶ 28) and additionally determines a microphone availability state of the one or more playback devices, that is, a microphone qualifies as a candidate for performing the method by virtue of its operational state (Pla: ¶ 89-91, 117). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to improve the configuration system of She in view of She2 by adding the microphone availability determination as taught or suggested by Pla for at least the purpose of determining microphone availability for a particular task; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claim 6
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 1, further comprising program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to, prior to presenting the indication of the first calibration option:
determine that the playback device is currently not configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option (She: ¶ 51: controller may not present an option to allow initiation of calibration); (She2: ¶ 48, 88, 89, 115, 116: such as in the case when a desired microphone, microphone of a particular playback device, etc. is determined to be unavailable and/or when a particular microphone is unavailable);
She in view of She2 teaches that the system operates to present, via the GUI of the computing device, a set of instructions that direct a user to configure the controller device, microphone thereon to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the second calibration option (She: Fig 7-17: system presents a series of windows to instruct a user in how to optimize performance of the calibration system by optimizing speaker location and microphone accessibility). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to include instructions such as that of She to assist a user in setting up or troubleshooting a microphone by presenting, via the GUI of the computing device, a set of instructions that direct a user to configure the playback device to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option in a manner similar to the presentations of the figures to thereby perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option based thereon for at least the purpose of making the system more user friendly; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
She in view of She2 strongly suggests but does not explicitly teach a computing device configured to determine that the at least one microphone such as of a playback device is unavailable (She2: ¶ 48: microphones of the system optionally configured to detect sound within a frequency range, a configured microphone is considered available).
In a related field of endeavor Pla teaches a system and method for operating a playback system using voice commands (Pla: Abstract) comprising one or more playback devices comprising microphones (Pla: ¶ 25; Fig 2) the system persists a plurality of state variables, periodically updating same (Pla: ¶ 28) and additionally determines a microphone availability state of the one or more playback devices (Pla: ¶ 89-91, 117) including determining that a playback device, microphone thereof, etc. is currently not configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option inform the system thereof, update parameters based thereon (Pla: ¶ 89-91, 115-117: system informs that a particular microphone is unavailable such as by management of state information )
thereafter, determine that the playback device is currently configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option (Pla: ¶ 89-91, 115-117: such when in the performance of period discovery of device states the state information has updated to indicate availability.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to include instructions such as that of She to assist a user in setting up or troubleshooting a microphone determined unavailable by presenting, via the GUI of the computing device, a set of instructions that direct a user to configure the playback device to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option in a manner similar to the presentations of the figures and to thereafter, determine that the playback device is currently configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option based thereon for at least the purpose of making the system more user friendly; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claim 7
She in view of She2 teaches or suggests:
The computing device of claim 6, wherein the set of instructions comprise instructions for enabling the at least one microphone of the controller device and/or playback device, and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to determine that the playback device is currently configured to perform the one or more calibration actions according to the first calibration option comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the computing device is configured to determine that at least one microphone of the playback device is enabled (Pla: ¶ 89-91, 115-117: system maintains state information indicating that a particular microphone is available or unavailable such as by periodic management of the state information). The claim is considered obvious over She as modified by She2 and Pla as addressed in the base claim as it would have been obvious to apply the further teaching of She, She2, and/or Pla to the modified device of She, She2 and Pla; one of ordinary skill in the art would have expected only predictable results therefrom.
Regarding claims 11, 19—the claims are considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 3 and are similarly rejected.
Regarding claims 12, 20—the claims are considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 4 and are similarly rejected.
Regarding claims 13—the claim is considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 5 and is similarly rejected.
Regarding claims 14—the claim is considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 6 and is similarly rejected.
Regarding claims 15—the claim is considered to recite substantially similar subject matter to that of claim 6 and is similarly rejected.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
20140037097 – shows the well established nature of utilizing a plurality of diversely located microphones to improve a room response by a more detailed determination of transfer functions therein.
20230283949 – shows the well-established nature of utilizing a plurality of diversely located microphones to improve a room response by a more detailed determination of transfer functions therein.
20220030373 – shows the well-established nature of utilizing a plurality of diversely located microphones to improve a room response by a more detailed determination of transfer functions therein.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PAUL C MCCORD whose telephone number is (571)270-3701. The examiner can normally be reached 730-630 M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CAROLYN EDWARDS can be reached at (571) 270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PAUL C MCCORD/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692