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 § 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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yamashita (US 2010/0117638 A1)
As to claim 1, Yamashita discloses in Figs. 4A-4C, an integrated circuit (IC) written on a substrate that includes a substrate surface (semiconductor substrate, para. [0031]; FIG. 4B showing substrate layers), the IC comprising: a magnetic concentrator (magnetic substance 22, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
a Hall sensor (21a-21d) that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator (22) (, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
a primary coil that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator (horizontal coil 23 as planar spiral overlapping concentrator 22, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
and a secondary coil that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator and the primary coil, and that surrounds the Hall sensor (vertical loop coils 24a-24d overlapping concentrator 22 and coil 23, surrounding Hall elements 21a-21d, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 2, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein the primary coil overlaps the Hall sensor or the secondary coil does not overlap the Hall sensor (primary coil 23 overlaps Hall elements 21a-21d, para. [0031]; FIG. 4B).
As to claim 3, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein the magnetic concentrator has an octagonal, elliptical, rectangular, or circular shape (circular/disk-shaped concentrator 22, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A; octagon/rectangular variants, para. [0024]).
As to claim 4, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary coils respectively have rectangular shapes (primary coil 23 as octagon/rectangular, para. [0039]; secondary coils 24a-24d as rectangular, para. [0025]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 5, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein the IC includes at least one linear array of Hall sensors (Hall elements 21a-21d in linear array along edges, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 6, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 5, wherein a shape of the linear array of Hall sensors conforms to a shape of an edge of the magnetic concentrator (array of Hall elements 21a-21d conforms to edge of concentrator 22, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 7, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein the secondary coil surrounds at least a portion of an edge of the magnetic concentrator and at least a portion of a side of the primary coil (secondary coils 24a-24d surround edge portions of concentrator 22 and sides of primary coil 23, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 8, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein a first dimension of the magnetic concentrator is longer than a first dimension of the primary coil (concentrator 22 diameter 310 μm > primary coil 23 span 120-20 μm, para. [0039]; FIG. 4A); and wherein a second dimension of the magnetic concentrator is longer than a second dimension of the primary coil (same as above, para. [0039]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 9, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 1, wherein the primary coil has multiple sides, and the magnetic concentrator at least partially overlaps each of the sides of the primary coil (primary coil 23 as octagon with multiple sides, overlapped by concentrator 22, para. [0039]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B).
As to claim 10, Yamashita discloses in Figs. A-C, an integrated circuit (IC) written on a substrate that includes a substrate surface (semiconductor substrate, para. [0031]; FIG. 4B), the IC comprising: a magnetic concentrator (magnetic substance 22, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
a Hall sensor (21a-21d) that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator (22) (para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
a primary coil (23) that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator (22), the primary coil located at a distance from the Hall sensor in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface so that a response curve of the Hall sensor responsive to a distance between the primary coil and the magnetic concentrator balances a response curve of the Hall sensor responsive to a distance between the primary coil and the Hall sensor (primary coil 23 at perpendicular distance between Hall elements 21a-21d and concentrator 22, balancing response curves via distance/thickness, para. [0032], [0035]; FIG. 4B, FIGS. 9-10);
and a secondary coil (24a-24d) that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator and the primary coil, and that surrounds the Hall sensor (para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 11, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 10, wherein the magnetic concentrator (22) has a long axis and a short axis perpendicular to its long axis, and the primary coil has a long axis aligned with the long axis of the magnetic concentrator and a short axis aligned with the short axis of the magnetic concentrator (concentrator 22 with long/short axes aligned via X/Y placement, primary coil 23 aligned, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 12, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 11, wherein the magnetic concentrator has a long edge aligned with its long axis, and the Hall sensor overlaps the long edge of the magnetic concentrator (Hall elements 21a-21d overlap long edges along axes, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 13, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 11, wherein an inner distance of the primary coil in a direction of its long axis and an inner distance of the primary coil in a direction of its short axis are such that a correlation coefficient corresponding to misalignment of the magnetic concentrator in a direction of its short axis equals a correlation coefficient corresponding to a distance between the Hall sensor and the magnetic concentrator (inner distances of primary coil 23 balance misalignment/distance correlations, para. [0032], [0039]; FIGS. 13-14).
As to claim 14, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 10, wherein a thickness of the magnetic concentrator in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface is such that a correlation coefficient corresponding to the thickness of the magnetic concentrator equals a correlation coefficient corresponding to a distance between the Hall sensor and the magnetic concentrator (thickness of concentrator 22 balances distance correlations, para. [0032]; FIGS. 9-10).
As to claim 15, Yamashita discloses the IC of claim 10, wherein the primary coil overlaps the Hall sensor or the secondary coil does not overlap the Hall sensor (primary coil 23 overlaps Hall elements 21a-21d, para. [0031]; FIG. 4B).
As to claim 16, Yamashita discloses in Figs. 4A-4C, a system comprising: a high-current conductor** (conductor generating current/field, para. [0002]); and an integrated circuit (IC) written on a substrate that includes a substrate surface (semiconductor substrate, para. [0031]; FIG. 4B), the IC including: a magnetic concentrator (magnetic substance 22, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B); a Hall sensor that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator (Hall elements 21a-21d, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
a primary coil (23) that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator (primary coil 23, para. [0031]; FIG. 4A, FIG. 4B);
and a secondary coil (24a-24d) that at least partially overlaps the magnetic concentrator and the primary coil, and that surrounds the Hall sensor (para. [0031]; FIG. 4A).
As to claim 17, Yamashita discloses the system of claim 16, further comprising an electromagnetic shield that surrounds the high-current conductor and the IC on three sides** (protective layer 5 surrounding IC, para. [0003]; FIG. 1).
As to claim 18, Yamashita discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the high-current conductor is a busbar or cable (busbar/cable implied for current detection, para. [0002]).
As to claim 19, Yamashita discloses the system of claim 16, wherein the IC is a first IC, the system further comprising: a second IC; a printed circuit board (PCB), the first IC and the second IC coupled to the PCB, the first IC overlapping a first edge of the high-current conductor, and the second IC overlapping a second edge of the high-current conductor (multiple sensor units as ICs on circuit, overlapping edges, para. [0031]; FIG. 1, FIG. 4A).
As to claim 20, Yamashita discloses in Figs.4A-4B the system of claim 16, wherein the primary coil overlaps the Hall sensor or the secondary coil does not overlap the Hall sensor (primary coil 23 overlaps Hall elements 21a-21d, para. [0031]; FIG. 4B).
Conclusion
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/TUNG X NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858 12/23/2025