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 .
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/14/2024 was in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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(s) 1-20 is/are 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
In claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11-13, 15-16, 18-20, the phrase “especially” is indefinite insofar as the examiner is unclear as to whether the limitation following such term is being positively claimed. For purpose of examination, the examiner will interpret the limitation as - -
A broad range or limitation together with a narrow range or limitation that falls within the broad range or limitation (in the same claim) may be considered indefinite if the resulting claim does not clearly set forth the metes and bounds of the patent protection desired. See MPEP § 2173.05(c). In the present instance, claims 6, 13, and 20 recites the broad recitation “for mapping the corresponding DUT channels to the multiple measurement channels”, and the claim also recites “preferably at certain acquisition times” which is the narrower statement of the range/limitation. The claim(s) are considered indefinite because there is a question or doubt as to whether the feature introduced by such narrower language is (a) merely exemplary of the remainder of the claim, and therefore not required, or (b) a required feature of the claims.
Claims 2-7, 9-14, and 16-20 are rejected based on their dependency on claims 1, 8 and 15.
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 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.
(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) 1-4, 6-11, 13-18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Cohn (US 20060031031 A1).
With regards to claim 1. Cohn disclose(s):
A measurement device (fig 2a) for performing measurements with respect to a device under test, DUT, said measurement device comprising:
multiple measurement channels (210 in fig. 2a; paragraph [0014]) for measuring an input signal having a repetitive nature in at least one sub-band of at least one DUT channel (CK in fig. 2a; the sub-band being the frequency band where said clock signal is located),
wherein the multiple measurement channels are configured to have phase and time coherence between the multiple measurement channels ([0019]),
wherein the measurement device is configured to perform simultaneous acquisitions with the aid of the multiple measurement channels such that the corresponding sequence of the simultaneous acquisitions comprises the at least one repetitive sub-band in one of the multiple measurement channels (see e.g. paragraph [0018]-[0019]: see e.g. "probe channels d, e and f are now mapped to analog channels A 1, A2 and A3 respectively (with A4 still being mapped to the trigger or Clock)"),
wherein at least one further one of the multiple measurement channels propagates in frequency (see section 4.1 in the present opinion) and/or switches DUT channels, especially to extend the corresponding bandwidth and/or number of measurable DUT channels ([0016]; A 1-A4 and a-CK in fig. 2a), and
wherein the measurement device is configured to align the simultaneous acquisitions in time and/or phase using the at least one repetitive sub-band and/or a repetitive sub-band that is common between the simultaneous acquisitions (the clock signal is being used to align the measurement data: see [0020]; 308, 312 in fig. 3).
With regards to claim 2. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 1,
wherein the measurement device is configured to perform an inter-channel synchronization, especially with respect to the multiple measurement channels [0016],
and/or wherein the measurement device is configured to perform an inter-acquisition synchronization, especially with respect to the simultaneous and/or subsequent acquisitions.
With regards to claim 3. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 1,
wherein the simultaneous acquisitions comprise or are simultaneous In-phase/Quadrature, I/Q, data acquisitions, and/or wherein the repetitive nature comprises or is a periodic nature [0018].
With regards to claim 4. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 1,
wherein the measurement device is configured to cross-correlate and/or average and/or combine the simultaneous acquisitions [0029, 0018], especially over correspondingly subsequent acquisitions.
With regards to claim 6. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 1,
wherein the measurement device is connectable and/or connected to a splitting and/or switching matrix, especially for mapping the corresponding DUT channels to the multiple measurement channels (see 212n connected to 214 in fig 2a), preferably at certain acquisition times.
With regards to claim 7. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 6,
wherein the measurement device comprises the splitting and/or switching matrix, and/or wherein the measurement device is configured to perform a de-embedding of the splitting and/or switching matrix [0016].
With regards to claim 8. Cohn disclose(s):
A measurement device for performing measurements with respect to a device under test, DUT, said measurement device comprising (fig. 2a):
multiple measurement channels (210 in fig. 2a; paragraph [0014]) for measuring an input signal having a repetitive nature in at least one sub-band (CK in fig. 2a; the sub-band being the frequency band where said clock signal is located),
wherein the multiple measurement channels are configured to have phase and time coherence between the multiple measurement channels ([0019]),
wherein the measurement device is configured to perform simultaneous acquisitions with the aid of the multiple measurement channels such that the corresponding sequence of the simultaneous acquisitions comprises the at least one repetitive sub-band in one of the multiple measurement channels (see [0018]-[0019]: see e.g. "probe channels d, e and f are now mapped to analog channels A 1, A2 and A3 respectively (with A4 still being mapped to the trigger or Clock)"),
wherein at least one further one of the multiple measurement channels propagates in frequency (see e.g. paragraph [0016]; A 1-A4 and a-CK in fig. 2a), especially to extend the corresponding bandwidth,
and wherein the measurement device is configured to align the simultaneous acquisitions in time (the clock signal is being used to align the measurement data: see paragraph [0020]; 308, 312 in fig. 3) and/or phase using the at least one repetitive sub-band and/or a repetitive sub-band that is common between the simultaneous acquisitions.
With regards to claim 9. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 8,
wherein the measurement device is configured to perform an inter-channel synchronization, especially with respect to the multiple measurement channels,
and/or wherein the measurement device is configured to perform an inter-acquisition synchronization, especially with respect to the simultaneous and/or subsequent acquisitions (the lock signal is being used to align the measurement data: see paragraph [0020]; 308, 312 in fig. 3).
With regards to claim 10. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 8,
wherein the simultaneous acquisitions comprise or are simultaneous In-phase/Quadrature, I/Q, data acquisitions, and/or wherein the repetitive nature comprises or is a periodic nature [0018].
With regards to claim 11. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 8,
wherein the measurement device is configured to cross-correlate and/or average and/or combine the simultaneous acquisitions [0029, 0018], especially over correspondingly subsequent acquisitions.
With regards to claim 13. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 8,
wherein the measurement device is connectable and/or connected to a splitting and/or switching matrix, especially for mapping the corresponding DUT channels to the multiple measurement channels (see 212n connected to 214 in fig 2a), preferably at certain acquisition times.
With regards to claim 14. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 13,
wherein the measurement device comprises the splitting and/or switching matrix,
and/or wherein the measurement device is configured to perform a de-embedding of the splitting and/or switching matrix [0016].
With regards to claim 15. Cohn disclose(s):
A measurement device (fig. 2a) for performing measurements with respect to a device under test, DUT, said measurement device comprising:
multiple measurement channels (210 in fig. 2a; paragraph [0014]) for measuring an input signal having a repetitive nature in at least one sub-band (CK in fig. 2a; the sub-band being the frequency band where said clock signal is located),
wherein the multiple measurement channels are configured to have phase and time coherence between the multiple measurement channels ([0019]),
wherein the measurement device is configured to perform simultaneous acquisitions with the aid of the multiple measurement channels such that the corresponding sequence of the simultaneous acquisitions comprises the at least one repetitive sub-band in one of the multiple measurement channels (see [0018]-[0019]: see e.g. "probe channels d, e and f are now mapped to analog channels A 1, A2 and A3 respectively (with A4 still being mapped to the trigger or Clock)"),
wherein at least one further one of the multiple measurement channels propagates in at least one DUT channel (see e.g. paragraph [0016]; A 1-A4 and a-CK in fig. 2a), especially to extend the corresponding number of measurable DUT channels,
and wherein the measurement device is configured to align the simultaneous acquisitions in time and/or phase using the at least one repetitive sub-band and/or a repetitive sub-band that is common between the simultaneous acquisitions (the clock signal is being used to align the measurement data: see paragraph [0020]; 308, 312 in fig. 3).
With regards to claim 16. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 15,
wherein the measurement device is configured to perform an inter-channel synchronization, especially with respect to the multiple measurement channels [0016],
and/or wherein the measurement device is configured to perform an inter-acquisition synchronization, especially with respect to the simultaneous and/or subsequent acquisitions.
With regards to claim 17. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 15,
wherein the simultaneous acquisitions comprise or are simultaneous In-phase/Quadrature, I/Q, data acquisitions, and/or wherein the repetitive nature comprises or is a periodic nature [0018].
With regards to claim 18. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 15,
wherein the measurement device is configured to cross-correlate and/or average and/or combine the simultaneous acquisitions [0029, 0018], especially over correspondingly subsequent acquisitions.
With regards to claim 20. Cohn disclose(s):
The measurement device according to claim 15,
wherein the measurement device is connectable and/or connected to a splitting and/or switching matrix, especially for mapping the corresponding DUT channels to the multiple measurement channels (see 212n connected to 214 in fig 2a), preferably at certain acquisition times.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lin (US 20200081050 A1) discloses:
A measurement device (fig 9) for performing measurements with respect to a device under test, DUT (408; fig 7; [0034]), said measurement device comprising:
multiple measurement channels for measuring an input signal having a repetitive nature in at least one sub-band of at least one DUT channel (“N probe array”; fig 9), wherein at least one further one of the multiple measurement channels propagates in frequency and/or switches DUT channels (906a), especially to extend the corresponding bandwidth and/or number of measurable DUT channels,
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Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RENAN LUQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-1044. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM.
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/RENAN LUQUE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896