DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Specification
2. Applicant is reminded of the proper language and format for an abstract of the disclosure.
The abstract should be in narrative form and generally limited to a single paragraph on a separate sheet within the range of 50 to 150 words in length. The abstract should describe the disclosure sufficiently to assist readers in deciding whether there is a need for consulting the full patent text for details.
The language should be clear and concise and should not repeat information given in the title. It should avoid using phrases which can be implied, such as, “The disclosure concerns,” “The disclosure defined by this invention,” “The disclosure describes,” etc. In addition, the form and legal phraseology often used in patent claims, such as “means” and “said,” should be avoided.
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because it is verbatim the same verbiage as claim 1. A corrected abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Drawings
3. The drawings are objected to because the drawings, figures 1, 2, 4, and 5, and specifications lack numbering for the elements. The same labels are utilized in the different figures without distinction for teachings of different embodiments. Examiner suggests adding numbers for the elements in the figures and adding the corresponding numbers to the specification for ease of understanding the intended functionality. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
4. Claims 1 – 15 are objected to because of the following informalities: the Examiner suggests rewriting the claims to start with “A” so correction for claim 1 would reflect from “Device” to “A device”. The Examiner invites the Applicant to a phone conversation to further discuss the claim verbiage and what is necessitated as claimed.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claims 1, 2, and 4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lu et al. (US Publication Number 2007/0293266, hereinafter “Lu”).
7. As per claim 1, Lu teaches a device (device 103, figure 10), especially input device, comprising a sensor (image sensor interface, paragraph 45), wherein the device comprises a first communication unit (sensor 43, figure 9, and sensor 43, figure 10) and a second communication unit (multimedia modules 92, figure 9 and 41, figure 10) that are adapted for synchronous communication (synchronous data transfer, paragraph 45) according to a clock signal (clock signals 97/99, figure 9) generated by the first communication unit (sensor module 93 operates system clock signal 99 according to commands sent by the multimedia module 92, paraph 45) or by the second communication unit (operates according to generated by first communication unit, paragraph 45), wherein the first communication unit is adapted to send digital data (sensor raw data bus PXD 98, figure 9) to the second communication unit (multimedia 92, figure 9, and 41, figure 10), wherein the digital data (sensor raw data bus PXD 98, figure 9) comprises data generated by the sensor (image sensor interface communicates image data between a multimedia module 92 and an image sensor module 93, paragraph 45) or processed data derived from data generated by the sensor (interpreted as generated by sensor), wherein the first communication unit (sensor module 93, figure 9, image sensor module 43, figure 10) is adapted to be used as a controlling unit during the transmission of the digital data during a first operation mode of the communication units (sensor module 93, operates the sensor system clock signal SENCLK 99 according to commands sent by the multimedia module 92, paragraph 45, the multimedia module 92 needs the sensor pixel clock PXCLK 97 to download a large amount of sensor raw data synchronously, Examiner notes that the claims only recite one “first” mode which is interpreted as mode in which the prior art functions as there is not additional mode in the claims), wherein the second communication unit (multimedia module, 92, figure 9, and 41, figure 10) is adapted to be used as a controlled unit during the transmission of the digital data during the first operation mode of the communication units (multimedia module needs the sensor pixel clock to download a large amount of sensor raw data, paragraph 45), and wherein the controlling unit generates the clock signal (97/99, figure 9) for the controlled unit. (92, figure 9)
8. As per claim 2, Lu teaches a device, wherein the device comprises a processor (52/62, processor, figures 5/6) that configures the first communication unit (configuration to the sensor module 53, figure 5) and wherein the processor is programmed such that the first communication unit is used as the controlling unit during the transmission of the digital data (digital data control between 52 and 53, figure 5, paragraph 37), preferably during a first operation mode of the device (first operation mode is the primary function of the prior art and its mode, paragraphs 36 – 38), and/or wherein the device comprises a processor that configures the second communication unit and wherein the processor that configures the second communication unit is programmed such that the second communication unit is used as the controlled unit during the transmission of the digital data (data handling along the buses 46 and 47, figure 5 and figure 10 for the configuration control, paragraph 46), preferably during the first operation mode of the device.
9. As per claim 4, Lu teaches a device, wherein the first communication unit comprises a first port adapted to output a clock signal (PXCLK 97, figure 9) used for synchronizing the communication between the first communication unit and the second communication unit (paragraphs 13 and 45 used for synchronous data handling) and wherein the second communication unit comprises a first port electrical connected to the first port of the first communication unit and adapted to receive a clock signal (97, figure 9 is interfaced through the ports of the first and second communication units), and/or wherein the first communication unit comprises one or at least one data port adapted to output a data signal used for transmitting the digital data from the first communication unit to the second communication unit and wherein the second communication unit comprises one or at least one data port adapted to receive the output signal (PXD raw data bus is connected to the port of the first communication unit and the second communication unit along 98 between 92 and 93, figure 9, paragraph 45).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
10. 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.
11. Claims 3, and 5 – 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu in view of Bartscherer et al. (US Publication Number 2021/0149441, hereinafter “Bartscherer”).
12. As per claim 3, Lu does not appear to explicitly disclose an optical input device.
However, Bartscherer discloses a device, wherein the device is an optical input device (paragraphs 925, optical mouse) for detecting input of a user based on movement of the input device (user interaction with mouse, paragraph 658) relative to a surface (mouse rests on a surface as is well known in the art, paragraph 658), comprising a case (mouse is in a shell/case, paragraph 925), an optical unit (optical unit is the light on the bottom of the mouse, paragraph 925) that comprises the sensor and an electrical unit (electrical function unit of the mouse which receives power, paragraph 925), wherein the optical unit comprises a radiation source (light or IR is a radiation source which is well known in a mouse, paragraph 925) and the sensor arranged within the case or on the case (the mouse has a sensor to detect movement, paragraph 658), wherein preferably the elements of the optical unit are arranged such that radiation emitted by the radiation sensor is directed to a surface on which the case is moved by the user and such that radiation that is reflected by the surface is received by the radiation sensor (the function of an optical IR mouse detects movement with respect to the light reflected on the surface and the analysis therein, paragraph 658), wherein the electrical unit comprises the first communication unit and the second communication unit arranged within the case, wherein preferably the digital data comprises data generated by the radiation sensor or processed data derived from data generated by the radiation sensor (mouse movement generates data for the system and Examiner notes that the functionality claimed therein is notoriously well known in the art with respect to optical mouse function and relies upon the additional cited art for completeness therein, paragraph 658).
Lu and Bartscherer are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor of sensor data handling.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Lu and Bartscherer before him or her, to modify the device connectivity of Lu to include the flexibility of Bartscherer because it would enhance robustness of the system.
One of ordinary skill would be motivated to make such modification in order to enhance efficiency in a sensor system (paragraph 81). Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Bartscherer with Lu to obtain the invention as specified in the instant claims.
13. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 5, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein a shift register (shift register handling, paragraph 934) based communication is used for the communication between the first communication unit and the second communication unit (interfaces for communication , paragraph 114), and/or wherein data transmission is performed without transmitting an address of the first communication unit and/or without transmitting an address of the second communication unit (plurality of or statements where claim necessitates one), wherein preferably the communication uses SPI or SSI (SPI, paragraph 114).
14. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 6, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the first communication unit and the second communication unit are part of a serial communication bus, wherein the first communication unit has a first address and the second communication unit has a second address, and wherein the first communication unit uses the second address to address the second communication unit, and wherein preferably the bus is an I2C bus or an I3C bus (I2C/I3C wire connection for communication, paragraph 114).
15. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 7, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the device comprises at least one of: a first direct memory access unit (DMA module, paragraph 129) that transfers data from the sensor or from a first memory unit to the first communication unit (DMA functionality, paragraph 130), or a second direct memory access unit that transfers data from the second communication unit to a second memory unit or to another unit used to transfer the digital data received via the second communication unit.
16. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claims 8 and 9, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the first communication unit is comprised in a first electrical unit, wherein the second communication unit is comprised in a second electrical unit, wherein a first control port of the first electrical unit is adapted to receive a signal that indicates whether the first communication unit is the controlling unit (port mapping for data communication, paragraph 111) and/or whether the second communication unit is the controlling unit, wherein a second control port of the second electrical unit is adapted to send a signal that indicates whether the first communication unit is the controlling unit and/or whether the second communication unit is the controlling unit, and wherein the first control port and the second control port are electrically connected to each other (signal transmission for controlling the communication process as the transmit port, paragraph 114).
17. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 10, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the sensor is a radiation sensor (SE), wherein the device is adapted such that the digital data is data generated by the radiation sensor or by an analog digital converter that is adapted to convert analog output date of sensor to digital data, whereby preferably the device is adapted such that for each picture element of the radiation sensor corresponding data is transmitted (camera having radiation sensor as light capture to generate and image and digital processing to convert from light to an image as seen in digital cameras, paragraphs 188 – 195).
18. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 11, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the device comprises a first electrical unit that comprises at least one first integrated chip and a second electrical unit that comprises at least one second integrated chip (integrated chip, paragraph 934).
19. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 12, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the device is an optical input device, wherein the optical input device comprises at least one of, at least several or all of the following elements: - at least one button, e.g. left mouse button and right mouse button and optional middle button, or - at least one rotatable wheel, and wherein preferably the sensor has less than 10000, less than 2500 or less than 1025 pixels (paragraphs 618 and 658, optical mouse has plurality of buttons and scroll wheel and the optical portion is within the range of pixels).
20. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 13, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the device comprises a processing unit that is adapted to realize a third communication unit, preferably a communication unit that transmits data via a wire, preferably according to the USB standard (paragraph 111).
21. Lu modified by the teachings of Bartscherer as seen in claim 3 above, as per claim 14, Bartscherer teaches a device, wherein the device comprises a processing unit that is adapted to realize a third communication unit, preferably a communication unit that transmits data wireless, preferably according to Bluetooth (Bluetooth, paragraph 927).
Allowable Subject Matter
22. Claim 15 is allowed.
Conclusion
23. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Xie teaches the internal workings of an optical mouse which expresses all the details of the radiation sensor and manner in which it functions. Delamont/Foster/Schindler/Whitmire/Zhang has teachings of input device handling.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AURANGZEB HASSAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8625. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM to 3 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Henry Tsai can be reached at 571-272-4176. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
AH
/HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184