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 .
Response to Amendment
In the reply filed 3/9/26, Applicant requested an interview if the reply did not place the application in condition for allowance. However, Examiner could not find an attorney of record listed for the application and notes it is not permitted to discuss the file wrapper with someone not listed as an attorney of record.
Correction to Prior Indication of Allowable Subject Matter
The previous office action dated 1/6/2026 incorrectly stated the reasons for indicating allowable subject matter for claim 15, and should have instead referenced claim 16. Additionally, the reasons for indicating allowable subject matter for claim 9, incorrectly listed claim 8 and omitted subject matter from claim 9. The corrected reasons for allowance are provided below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/9/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues there is no disclosure in Archibald that the decay status indicator is determined in the alleged active state. Examiner respectfully disagrees as TD3, shown in Figure 4, occurs during the active state when the power stage is operated as a boost converter to reverse the current (see Figure 4 IIN) back to the power source. Applicant states there is no disclosure in Archibald for “wherein said power stage records said set of bits when said power stage is in said active state in response to said first signal being drive to said first state, wherein said power stage transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on a first path after said first signal is driven to said second state from said first state”. The power stage responds to the status requests after the transition to the inactive state (paragraph 35). The rejection of claim 1 has been maintained below.
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) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Archibald (US 2023/0179099) in view of Slepchenkov (US 2021/0316637).
With respect to claim 1, Archibald discloses a multi-phase switching converter (Fig. 2 30) comprising: a power stage (Fig. 2 Power Stage 1) to record at least one parameter (Fig. 5 62) representing internal health information in the form of a memory (Fig. 6 126); and a phase controller (Fig. 2 42) to control a plurality of power stages (Fig. 2 31) including said power stage to cause said plurality of power stages to together generate a regulated power supply (Fig. 2 VOUT), said phase controller driving a first signal (Fig. 5 52) to a first state (Fig. 4 active from start of TD1 to end of TD3) and then a second state (Fig. 4 inactive after TD3) to cause said power stage to be in an active state and an inactive state respectively, wherein said power stage records said set of bits when said power stage is in said active state (Fig. 5 61) in response to said first signal being driven to said first state, wherein said power stage transmits said at least one bit (paragraphs 33-34, reports the decays status indicator as part of reporting requirement) to said phase controller on a first path (paragraphs 33-34, the communication channel on which the status is reported is not specified) after (Fig. 5 66) said first signal is driven to said second state from said first state (Fig. 4 Status reported after TD3). Archibald discloses recording and transmitting at least one parameter representing internal health information, but does not require recording and transmitting in the form of a set of a plurality of bits.
Slepchenkov discloses transmitting status information from a power stage (Fig. 1A 108-1) on a path (Fig. 1A 106-1) to a phase controller (Fig. 1A 102) wherein the status information represents internal health information (paragraph 80-82). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement a power stage to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits, and wherein said power stage transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on a first path after said first signal is driven to said second state from said first state, in order to enhance the control and the reporting of the status of the power stage.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-7, 9-14 and 16-20 are allowed. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
With respect to claim 2, the prior art does not disclose or suggest, primarily, a power stage to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits; wherein said power stage transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on a first path after said first signal is driven to said first state, and, wherein said power stage comprises: a high-side switch and a low-side switch to respectively drive an inductor in a first interval and a second interval periodically based on a control signal received from said phase controller, wherein a magnitude of current flowing through said inductor is determined by ON durations of said high-side switch and said low-side switch as set by said control signal, wherein said power stage measures said magnitude and transmits information representing said magnitude on said first path when in said active state.
With respect to claim 9, the prior art does not disclose or suggest, primarily,
a power stage comprising: a high-side switch and a low-side switch to respectively drive an inductor in a first interval and a second interval periodically based on a control signal received from a phase controller, wherein a magnitude of inductor-current flowing through said inductor is determined by ON durations of said high-side switch and said low-side switch as set by said control signal, and a fault communication block to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits, wherein said fault communication block transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on a first path after said first signal is driven to said first state, and a current-sense block to measure said magnitude of said inductor-current, said current sense-sense block to transmit information representing said magnitude on said first path when said power stage is in said active state.
With respect to claim 16, the prior art does not disclose or suggest, primarily, wherein said power stage is designed to record parameters representing internal health information in the form of a set of bits, and an input interface to receive said set of bits on a first path when said power stage transmits said set of bits to said phase controller on said first path after said first signal is driven to said first state, wherein said power stage completes entering a shutdown mode after completion of transmission of said set of bits in response to said first signal being driven to said first state, wherein said power stage transmits said set of bits according to a protocol, wherein said protocol comprises: driving said first path to a first voltage level to signal a logic 1 for a bit; driving said first path to a second voltage level to signal a logic 0 for a bit; and driving said first path to a third voltage level to signal a boundary between a consecutive pair of bits.
The aforementioned limitations in combination with all remaining limitations of the respective claims are believed to render the aforementioned indicated claim and any dependent claims thereof patentable over the art of record.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 HARRY RAYMOND BEHM whose telephone number is (571)272-8929. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8-5 EST.
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/HARRY R BEHM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2838