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 office action is in response to applicant’s amendment dated 5/22/2024, claims 1-26 were cancelled and claims 27-46 were newly introduced. Accordingly claims 27-46 are currently pending in the application.
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)(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) 27-28, 36-43 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wilberding et al. (US 20200374148 A1) hereinafter Wilberding.
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
Regarding claim 27, Wilberding teaches A playback device (“Each of the playback devices 110 is configured to receive audio signals or data from one or more media sources (e.g., one or more remote servers, one or more local devices) and play back the received audio signals or data as sound” in ¶[0098]) comprising: radio circuitry comprising a first radio and a second radio (“In some embodiments, the digital I/O 111b includes one or more wireless communication links comprising, for example, a radio frequency (RF), infrared, WiFi, Bluetooth, or another suitable communication protocol.” in ¶[0112]); at least one antenna coupled to the radio circuitry (“The wireless interface 112e (e.g., a suitable interface comprising one or more antennae) can be configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more other devices” in ¶[0120]); at least one processor (“for example, one or more digital-to-analog converters (DAC), audio preprocessing components, audio enhancement components, a digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other suitable audio processing components, modules, circuits, etc.” in ¶[0121]); at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium; and program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor (“In some aspects, for example, the processors 112a execute instructions stored on the memory 112b to perform audio processing operations to produce the output audio signals” in ¶[0121]) such that the playback device is configured to connect, using the first radio, to a first wireless network (“The network interface 112d is configured to facilitate a transmission of data between the playback device 110a and one or more other devices on a data network such as, for example, the links 103 and/or the network 104 (FIG. 1B)” in ¶[0119]); receive an instruction to form a bonded group (“while in the home theater mode, receiving, via an 802.11-compatible network interface from the second playback device, data representing instructions to transition to a swap mode” in ¶[0522]), wherein the bonded group comprises the playback device and a satellite playback device (“based on receiving the data representing the instructions to enter the swap mode with the second playback device, transitioning from the home theater mode to the swap mode with the second playback device,” in ¶[0522]); identify one or more parameters for a second wireless network over which to communicate with the satellite playback device (“sending, via the 802.11-compatible network interface to the master playback device, data representing instructions to enter a swap mode” in ¶[0516]); establish, using the second radio, the second wireless network in accordance with the identified one or more parameters for the second wireless network; and after the satellite playback device has connected to the second wireless network, (i) receive audio content, and (ii) communicate at least a portion of the audio content to the satellite playback device over the second wireless network (“wherein transitioning from the home theater mode to the swap mode comprises: transitioning the 802.11-compatible network interface from operating as a node in a mesh network to operating as an access point that forms a first wireless local area network (LAN) in a first wireless frequency band; sending, via the 802.11-compatible network interface to the second playback device, data representing (i) a service set identifier (SSID) of the first wireless LAN and (ii) credentials for the first wireless LAN; after connecting to the first wireless LAN formed by the first playback device, forming a second synchrony group that includes the first playback device and the second playback device; receiving, via an 802.11-compatible network interface to the second playback device, data representing (i) playback timing information for the second synchrony group and (ii) the audio, wherein the second playback device plays back the audio; and after joining the second synchrony group, playing back the audio in synchrony with the first playback device, wherein the first playback device mutes playback of the audio while the second playback device plays back the audio” in ¶[0522]).
Regarding claim 28, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 27, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to identify the one or more parameters for the second wireless network comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to: identify the one or more parameters for the second wireless network based on at least one of: one or more parameters for the first wireless network or one or more capabilities of the satellite playback device (“wherein transitioning from the home theater mode to the swap mode comprises: transitioning the 802.11-compatible network interface from operating as a node in a mesh network to operating as an access point that forms a first wireless local area network (LAN) in a first wireless frequency band; sending, via the 802.11-compatible network interface to the second playback device, data representing (i) a service set identifier (SSID) of the first wireless LAN and (ii) credentials for the first wireless LAN” in ¶[0522]).
Regarding claim 36, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 27, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the first wireless network includes a WIFI Access Point (AP) (“transitioning the 802.11-compatible network interface from operating as a node in a mesh network to operating as an access point that forms a first wireless local area network (LAN) in a first wireless frequency band; sending, via the 802.11-compatible network interface to the second playback device” in ¶[0522]).
Regarding claim 37, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 27, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the WIFI AP is a first WIFI AP, and the playback device further comprises a second WIFI AP configured to perform as a mesh router (“To facilitate adding headphones 710a to the bonded zone, the soundbar-type playback device 110h transitions its 802.11-compatible network interface from operating as a node in a mesh network to operating as an access point. The access point forms a first wireless local area network (LAN) in a first wireless frequency band (e.g., the 5 Ghz band). The soundbar-type playback device 110h then sends, via the 802.11-compatible network interface to the first wearable playback device, data representing a service set identifier (SSID) of the first wireless LAN and credentials for the first wireless LAN, which allows the headphones 710a to connect to the first wireless LAN” in ¶[0284]).
Regarding claim 38, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 27, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the identified one or more parameters include one or more of an operating band, a wireless channel, a wireless channel width, a signal modulation scheme, and a communication protocol; and the operating band is one of a 2.4 GHz band, a first region of a 5 GHz band, a second region of the 5 GHz band, or a 6 GHz band (“To facilitate adding headphones 710a to the bonded zone, the soundbar-type playback device 110h transitions its 802.11-compatible network interface from operating as a node in a mesh network to operating as an access point. The access point forms a first wireless local area network (LAN) in a first wireless frequency band (e.g., the 5 Ghz band). The soundbar-type playback device 110h then sends, via the 802.11-compatible network interface to the first wearable playback device, data representing a service set identifier (SSID) of the first wireless LAN and credentials for the first wireless LAN, which allows the headphones 710a to connect to the first wireless LAN.” in ¶[0284] and “the headphones 710b effectively becomes a satellite of the soundbar-type playback device 110h. As such, the soundbar-type playback device 110h “parks” the satellite playback devices 110j, 110k, and 110i on a second wireless LAN in a second wireless frequency band (e.g., the 2.4 Ghz band) because the satellite playback devices 110j, 110k, and 110i will not be playing back audio.” in ¶[0285]).
Regarding claim 39, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 27, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to simultaneously communicate with a first of the satellite playback devices in a 2.4 GHz band and a second of the satellite playback devices in a 5 GHz or 6 GHz band (“while in the swap mode, the headphones 710b effectively becomes a satellite of the soundbar-type playback device 110h. As such, the soundbar-type playback device 110h “parks” the satellite playback devices 110j, 110k, and 110i on a second wireless LAN in a second wireless frequency band (e.g., the 2.4 Ghz band) because the satellite playback devices 110j, 110k, and 110i will not be playing back audio. Parking the satellites on the second LAN allows the satellites to remain contactable (e.g., to eventually re-form the bonded zone when transitioning back to the home theater mode) and to receive updates on the state of the media playback system 100 (e.g., state variable events). The soundbar-type playback device 110h may form this second wireless LAN using its 802.11-compatible network interface” in ¶[0285] and “To facilitate adding headphones 710a to the bonded zone, the soundbar-type playback device 110h transitions its 802.11-compatible network interface from operating as a node in a mesh network to operating as an access point. The access point forms a first wireless local area network (LAN) in a first wireless frequency band (e.g., the 5 Ghz band)” in ¶[0284]).
Regarding claim 40, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 27, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to, after the satellite playback device has connected to the second wireless network, (i) while receiving an audio stream comprising multi-channel audio content, communicate at least one first channel of the multi-channel audio content to the satellite playback device over the second wireless network, and (ii) render at least one second channel of the multi-channel audio content in synchrony with rendering of the at least one first channel by the satellite playback device (“At 1288a, the soundbar-type playback device 110h streams the HT audio stream to the headphones 710a for playback. In connection with the headphones 710a receiving the stream and playing back the audio, the soundbar-type playback device 110h mutes to complete the swap. When muted, the soundbar-type playback device 110h may continue to process audio data for playback synchronously with the headphones 710a. The HT audio stream may include data representing playback timing information for the bonded zone and the audio.” in ¶[0287]).
Regarding claim 41, claim is rejected for being the device comprising at least the same elements and performing at least the same functions performed by the device of rejected claim 27 (see rejection of claim 27 above).
Regarding claim 42, Wilberding teaches the device of claim 41, Wilberding further teaches the device further comprising wherein the first device is a user device or a video playback device (130a in Fig. 1H).
Regarding claim 43, claim is rejected for being the method comprising at least the same elements and performing at least the same functions performed by the device of rejected claim 27 (see rejection of claim 27 above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 29-35, 44-46 are 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AMMAR T HAMID whose telephone number is (571)272-1953. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5, Eastern time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vivian Chin can be reached at (571) 272-7848. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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AMMAR T. HAMID
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2695
/AMMAR T HAMID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695