DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to communications: Preliminary Amendment filed June 7, 2024.
Claims 14-33 are pending in this case. Claims 1-13 have been newly cancelled. Claims 14-33 have been newly added. This action is made Non-Final.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on July 24, 2024 and March 18, 2025 were filed after the filing date of the application on June 7, 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings were received on June 7, 2024. These drawings are accepted.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 (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 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) 14, 15, 23-25, and 31-33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wyatt et al. (US 2014/0184611).
As to claim 24, Wyatt et al. disclose an electronic device (Figure 1, computer system 100, further implementing framelocking system 200), comprising: at least one processor (central processing unit (CPU) 105 and/or graphics processing unit (GPU) 135 of graphics system 130); and at least one memory (at least memory 110 and/or storage 115) coupled to the at least one processor (e.g. coupled to CPU 105 and/or GPU 135 (similar to GPU 204 of Figure 2) via data bus 160, [0036]) and storing programming instructions (e.g. storing applications, data, and computer program noted below) that, when executed by the at least one processor (e.g. when executed by at least CPU 105), cause the electronic device to perform operations ([0035] notes memory 110 stores applications and data for use by the CPU 105, and storage 115 provides non-volatile storage for applications and data, where [0041] further notes a computer program for determining a framelock signal frequency may be stored on the computer-readable medium and then stored in system memory 110 and/or various portions of storage device 115, and when executed by the CPU 105, the computer program may cause the CPU 105 to perform and/or be means for performing the functions required for carrying out the framelock signal frequency determination processes described)(e.g. Figure 3, with the method further described in Figure 10 (and/or Figure 11)) comprising: refreshing a first image (e.g. a first frame M) to a second image (e.g. a second frame M+1) at a first time point (e.g. during cycle 1)(e.g. transition from refreshing a display with frame M to frame M+1), wherein a target component in the second image is different from a target component in the first image (e.g. at least a portion of the second frame M+1 is different from the first frame M, where [0072] and [0073] notes consecutive frames may be similar except for changes in regions of the frames, thus the GPU 204 may generate pixels for the regions that have changed)([0056] notes at the beginning of cycle 1, the SRC to Display signal 308 may be providing or scanning out a frame M to the display device 216, [0057] notes meanwhile, during the beginning of cycle 1, the GPU 204 begins to provide a next frame M+1 through the GPU to SRC signal 304, more specifically, at the beginning of the M+1 region, the GPU 204 begins to generate the frame M+1, and at the end of the M+1 region, the GPU 204 completes the generation of the frame M+1, [0058] notes in cycle 1, the SRC to Display signal 308 may finish the M frame period before the GPU to SRC signal 304 finishes the M+1 processing and/or communication signal, the SRC 208 may begin scanning out the M+1 frame to the display device concurrently with the processing and/or communication of the M+1 frame by the GPU 204, thus SRC to Display signal 308 may first display the M frame followed by the M+1); generating, between the first time point and a second time point (e.g. at the end of cycle 1 into cycle 2), first drawing data of a target component that is to be displayed after refreshing to be performed at a third time point (e.g. generating a third frame M+2 that is to be displayed during cycle 3), and performing image refreshing for at least one time (e.g. performing display refresh with the second frame M+1 during cycle 2 while generating a third frame M+2), wherein a target component in an image obtained after each time of refreshing of the at least one time is the same as the target component in the second image (e.g. the same second frame M+1 being used to refresh the display, which has no change, thus the contents of the frame remains the same)([0059] notes once the GPU 204 completes the generation of the M+1 frame, it may move on to generating and/or communication a next frame M+2, e.g. as GPU to SRC signal 304, however, another framelock signal transition from the SRC 208 to the GPU 204 may halt generating and/or communicating of the M+2 frame, this framelock signal transition may end cycle 1 and begin cycle 2, and because the M+2 frame is not ready for display, or even ready for scan out while the rest of the M+2 frame is provided, the display 216 may continue to display (e.g. refresh) the M+1 frame); and performing image refreshing at the third time point based on the first drawing data (e.g. performing display refresh with the third frame M+2 during cycle 3), wherein the target component in a third image obtained after the refreshing at the third time point is different from the target component in the second image (e.g. at least a portion of the third frame M+2 is different from the second frame M+1, where [0072] and [0073] notes consecutive frames may be similar except for changes in regions of the frames, thus the GPU 204 may generate pixels for the regions that have changed)([0060] notes while the GPU 204 is generating the new frame M+2, the display device 216 finishes a frame period, e.g. cycle 2 into cycle 3, and begins to read or display the new frame M+2).
As noted above, Wyatt et al. disclose generating and updating frames, which may correspond to the claimed “images,” where each frame may encompass regions that may change, further corresponding to the claimed “target component” of images.” Wyatt et al. disclose consecutive frames may be similar except for changes in regions of the frames, thus the GPU may generate pixels for the regions that have changed, and simply use the pixels that have been previously generated for the regions that have not changed ([0072], [0073]). Figures 3 and 10 describes generating entire new frames with regions that have changed, and Figures 8 and 11 describes updating only regions of the frame that has changed. While these frames, or regions thereof, are being generated, the display device may continue to be “refreshed” with a previously generated frame, which is considered to have regions that have not changed, e.g. a same target component. Therefore, it is obvious that the regions of the frames may correlate to the target component of images, which may differ from frame to frame, thus yielding predictable results, without changing the scope of the invention.
Claim 14 is similar in scope to claim 24, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
As to claims 15 and 25, Wyatt et al. disclose the programming instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to perform operations further comprising: before generating, between the first time point and the second time point, the first drawing data of the target component that is to be displayed after the refreshing to be performed at the third time point (e.g. as noted in claim 24): determining, at the first time point, that the target component that is to be displayed after the refreshing to be performed at the third time point is different from the target component in the second image (e.g. determining, during cycle 1, that at least a portion of the third frame M+2 that is to be displayed is different from the second frame M+1); or determining, at the first time point, that the target component that is to be displayed after the refreshing to be performed at the third time point at a preset time interval is different from the target component in the second image (e.g. determining, during cycle 1, that at least a portion of the third frame M+2 that is to be displayed at a present interval is different from the second frame M+1)(e.g. [0072] and [0073] notes consecutive frames may be similar except for changes in regions of the frames, thus the GPU 204 may generate pixels for the regions that have changed, where Figure 9, step 902, [0081] notes receiving a graphics render update, e.g. a cursor movement or blinking text carat, step 904, [0081] notes computing the lines affected by the change, e.g. line updates, step 906, [0082] notes GPU sends command to SRC informing of the update, and step 908, [0082] notes GPU prepares to send the region, where [0054] further notes GPU may only be capable of providing frames at 30Hz, where a display device may be capable of displaying frames at a rate of 120 or 240Hz, thus [0058] notes because the frame rate of the display device 216 may be higher than the frame rate of the GPU 204, the SRC to Display signal 308 may complete frame periods faster than the GPU to SRC signal 304).
As to claim 31, Wyatt et al. disclose the first drawing data is all or some drawing data of the target component to be displayed after the refreshing to be performed at the third time point ([0072] and [0073] notes consecutive frames may be similar except for changes in regions of the frames, thus the GPU 204 may generate pixels for the regions that have changed, where Figure 3 describes performing frame updates (e.g. all of the frame) and Figure 8 further describes only performing partial updates (e.g. some, portions, of the frame)).
As to claims 23 and 32, Wyatt et al. disclose the programming instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the electronic device to perform operations further comprising: after generating, between the first time point and the second time point, the first drawing data of the target component that is to be displayed after the refreshing to be performed at the third time point (e.g. as noted in claim 24), storing the first drawing data in a target storage area (Figure 2, frame buffer 212, where [0052] notes GPU 204 may render frames at a rate slower than the display device 216 is able to display them, and/or the GPU 204 may write frame data into the frame buffer 212 at a rate that is slower than the screen refresh controller 208 can read or send out the frames from the frame buffer 212, where [0047] further notes self-refreshing capabilities may be used and/or an intermediate buffer may be used that may accept pixels at one rate but display them at a different rate, where in some embodiments, two memory buffers may be used, where a first buffer receives a frame while a second buffer is scanned out, and once the processes for each buffer completes, the process for each buffer may be switched, e.g. the first buffer may scan out while the second buffer receives the next frame).
As to claim 33, Wyatt et al. disclose a non-transitory computer readable medium (Figure 1, at least memory 110 and/or storage 115) configured to store instructions (e.g. storing applications, data, and computer program noted below) that, when executed by at least one processor (central processing unit (CPU) 105 and/or graphics processing unit (GPU) 135 of graphics system 130) of an electronic device (computer system 100, further implementing framelocking system 200), cause the electronic device to perform operations (e.g. when executed by at least CPU 105), cause the electronic device to perform operations ([0035] notes memory 110 stores applications and data for use by the CPU 105, and storage 115 provides non-volatile storage for applications and data, where [0041] further notes a computer program for determining a framelock signal frequency may be stored on the computer-readable medium and then stored in system memory 110 and/or various portions of storage device 115, and when executed by the CPU 105, the computer program may cause the CPU 105 to perform and/or be means for performing the functions required for carrying out the framelock signal frequency determination processes described)(e.g. Figure 3, with the method further described in Figure 10 (and/or Figure 11)) comprising the operations as performed by the electronic device of claim 24. Please see the rejection and rationale of claim 24.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 16-22 and 26-30 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding dependent claims 16 and 26, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the limitations of the claims as recited. Dependent claims 17 and 18 are indicated allowable subject matter for depending upon dependent claim 16. Dependent claims 27-30 are indicated allowable subject matter for directly or indirectly depending upon dependent claim 16.
Regarding dependent claim 19, the prior art of record fails to teach or suggest the limitations of the claims as recited. Dependent claims 20-22 are indicated allowable subject matter for directly or indirectly depending upon dependent claim 19.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Chen (US 2015/0370458) disclose a system and method for responding to user input by way of a user interface for an apparatus that employs a display detect user input associated with the display during a static screen condition on the display wherein a static image provided by a source image provider is displayed on the display. In response to detecting the user input, the method and apparatus provide user feedback by incorporating a first type of change to the static image displayed on the display while the source image provider is in a reduced power mode wherein a standby power is available to the source image provider and communicate control information to the source image provider.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACINTA M CRAWFORD whose telephone number is (571)270-1539. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m.
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/JACINTA M CRAWFORD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2617