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 .
Response to Amendments and Arguments
Amendments and arguments filed on 03/24/2026 have been fully considered and are not found to place the application in a condition for allowance.
The applicant asserts that “the Office Action has not shown how the Kwa reference discloses … determining different refresh rates for a display panel (with independently controlled regions) based on context information.” The applicant further asserts the “Office Action has not shown how Kwa describes the recited context information or how different refresh rates for different panel regions are determined based on such context information”. The Office respectfully disagrees. As noted by the applicant, the new limitations were previously rejected based on the previously presented claims 5 and 7. The Office maintains that such limitations were clearly mapped to the teachings of Kwa. For example, the in ¶ 72 (as noted in the previous Office Action regarding now-canceled claim 7) Kwa clearly teaches: “when a user is typing in a document program or some other text-based program or application, the mouse cursor typically disappears. Once the user stop typing, the image on the display is static without the cursor. Once the user activates a mouse, trackpad, etc., the cursor appears and moves based on the input from the user. The TCON can perform PSR and add the cursor to the static image. In another example, a background of game being played by a user may be static on the display but a character in the game is moving through the static background and/or an object in the game is moving through the static background. The TCON can perform PSR and add the character and/or object to the static background”. In other words, based on obtained context information such as gaming or typing in a word processing application, movement of a mouse or cursor, using such a pointer or cursor, or application functionality such as stopping of typing and starting to use a pointer or cursor when using a mouse consequently, the system refreshes a subset of the panel relating to only the portion of the display including the moving object, while the rest of the display is refreshed at a lower rate. Kwa further teaches in ¶ 71 that “This allows some of the column drivers to be off or not active during the frame update and power can be saved. For example, when a frame is updated, only column drivers 118b-1 and 118b-2 may need to be active and the rest of the column drivers do not need to be active and they can be off or not active and power can be saved. This can provide primarily battery life improvement” and Kwa teaches in ¶ 72 that a system is “configured to enable a low power display refresh during a semi-active workload”. In other words, the static portion of the frame is refreshed at a lower rate and the moving portions are refreshed at a higher rate. Accordingly, Kwa is found to teach the limitations of the claims and the arguments are not found persuasive.
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) 1-4, 6, 8 and 10-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kwa et al., US 2021/0118393 A1, hereinafter “Kwa”.
Regarding claim 1, Kwa teaches one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising instructions that when executed by processing circuitry cause the processing circuitry to (¶ 58): access a frame update to be displayed on a display panel of a device (¶ 75, TCON receives a frame update from a display engine of a device 102B) comprising a plurality of independently-controlled panel regions (fig. 4, ¶ 74, panel regions corresponding to moving objects are such plurality of independently controlled panel regions which are the only regions that are updated. Per ¶ 74 “the number of objects that can be used at the same time can be one or more”; furthermore, in fig. 2B, for example, a plurality of panel regions may be defined as panel region 130 where an update is required and any other region where an update is not required); obtain context information comprising one or more of device context information indicating a usage of components of the device, usage context information indicating current user interactions with the device, or application context information indicating application functionality or execution on the device (¶ 72, see such context information such as the type of application, the usage of components such as a mouse, or application context such as stopping of typing and moving a cursor consequently); determine to refresh a first subset of the panel regions at a first refresh rate and to refresh a second subset of the panel regions at a second refresh rate based on the frame update and the context information (fig. 2B, ¶ 67; only the subset 130 is updated; also see ¶ 72 wherein “a low power display refresh during a semi-active workload” is performed wherein static subsets of the panel are refreshed at a low rate and moving image subsets, determined based on context, are refreshed at a higher rate); and cause driver circuitries corresponding to the first subset of the panel regions to refresh at the first refresh rate and the second subset of the panel regions to refresh at the second refresh rate (fig. 2B, ¶ 66-67 and ¶ 72; also see fig. 5 and ¶ 75-76 wherein driving circuitries are determined to refresh only a portion of the display while the system may activate the rest of the columns at a different time, thus achieving two different refresh rates for two different subsets of display regions).
Regarding claim 2, Kwa teaches that the instructions are to control activation of the driver circuitries (fig. 2B, ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 3, Kwa teaches that the instructions are to not refresh other panel regions of the display panel while the first subset of the panel regions and the second subset of the panel regions of the display panel are refreshed (fig. 2B, ¶ 67, only the required portion is updated when an update is required).
Regarding claim 4, Kwa teaches that the instructions are to cause regions of the display panel to self-refresh (¶ 38-39; the portions that are not updated are self-refreshed) based on a blanking period for the region expiring (¶ 46 and ¶ 106 wherein the information regarding the portions that required to be updated is received during a blanking period, after which the partial update is performed and the portions that are not updated are self-refreshed).
Regarding claim 6, Kwa teaches that the instructions are to cause regions of the display panel other than the first subset of the panel regions and the second subset of the panel regions to be power gated based on the context information (fig. 2B, ¶ 67, gate and source drivers are turned off in other areas than area 130, in other words, regions others than 130 are power gated; also see ¶ 72 and 74-76).
Regarding claim 8, Kwa teaches that the instructions are to obtain information from the display panel indicating a number of panel regions in the display panel and transmit frame updates to the display panel based on the information (¶ 74, note that the number of objects corresponds to the number of regions, and per ¶ 76 the address of such objects are obtained which indicates the regions occupied by the objects which constitute the portions to be updated).
Regarding claim 10, Kwa teaches a display (fig. 1, device 102b, ¶ 25) comprising: a panel (fig. 1, display panel 108b) comprising a plurality of independently-controlled panel regions (fig. 4, ¶ 74, panel regions corresponding to moving objects are such plurality of independently-controlled panel regions which are the only regions that are updated. Per ¶ 74 “the number of objects that can be used at the same time can be one or more”; further, in fig. 2B, for example, a plurality of panel regions may be defined as panel region 130 where an update is required and any other region where an update is not required; furthermore, in fig. 1, panel regions 122a and 122b may constitute such panel regions); a plurality of driver circuitries (fig. 2A/B, elements 116a and or 118a, ¶ 24), each driver circuitry to control activation of a respective panel region (¶ 27); and control circuitry coupled to the driver circuitries (¶ 27, TCON 114a), the control circuitry to: receive a frame update from a source (¶ 75, TCON receives a partial frame update from a display engine); obtain context information comprising one or more of device context information indicating a usage of components of the device, usage context information indicating current user interactions with the device, or application context information indicating application functionality or execution on the device (¶ 72, see such context information such as the type of application, the usage of components such as a mouse, or application context such as stopping of typing and moving a cursor consequently); determine to refresh a first subset of the panel regions at a first refresh rate and to refresh a second subset of the panel regions at a second refresh rate based on the frame update and the context information (fig. 2B, ¶ 67; only the subset 130 is updated; also see ¶ 72 wherein “a low power display refresh during a semi-active workload” is performed wherein static subsets of the panel are refreshed at a low rate and moving image subsets, determined based on context, are refreshed at a higher rate); and cause the driver circuitries corresponding to the first subset of the panel regions to refresh at the first refresh rate and the second subset of the panel regions to refresh at the second refresh rate (fig. 2B, ¶ 66-67 and ¶ 72; also see fig. 5 and ¶ 75-76 wherein driving circuitries are determined to refresh only a portion of the display while the system may activate the rest of the columns at a different time, thus achieving two different refresh rates for two different subsets of display regions).
Regarding claim 11, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is to not cause panel regions other than the first subset of the panel regions and the second subset of the panel regions to refresh based on receiving the frame update (fig. 2B, ¶ 67, only the required portions are updated).
Regarding claim 12, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is to cause the panel regions to self-refresh (¶ 38-39; the portions that are not updated are self-refreshed) based on a blanking period for the panel region expiring (¶ 46 and ¶ 106 wherein the information regarding the portions that required to be updated is received during a blanking period, after which the partial update is performed and the portions that are not updated are self-refreshed).
Regarding claim 13, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is further to power gate a portion of the driver circuitries (fig. 2B, ¶ 67, gate and source drivers are turned off in other areas than area 130, in other words, regions others than 130 are power gated).
Regarding claim 14, Kwa teaches that the display further comprises a plurality of frame buffers, each frame buffer corresponding to a respective panel region (fig. 3A, elements 120b and 120c are frame buffers corresponding to respective panel regions 122a and 122b; see ¶ 68).
Regarding claim 15, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is within a timing controller (TCON) of the display (¶ 27).
Regarding claim 16, Kwa teaches a computing device comprising: a graphics source (fig. 1, display engine 110a or 110b, ¶ 38); a display panel (fig. 1, display panel 108a or 108b) coupled to the graphics source (¶ 38), the display panel comprising a plurality of regions independently driven by respective driver circuitries (see fig. 2B, wherein area 130 is driven independently using active driver circuits 116a and 118b, while the portions that are not changed are self-refreshed; see ¶ 45. Also see fig. 3A-B wherein regions 122a and 122b are driven using driver circuitries 112b and 112c independently; see ¶ 69-70); and control circuitry to control the respective driver circuitries for each of the display panel regions (fig. 1, TCON 112b, 112c and or display engine 110b), the control circuitry to: access a frame update (¶ 75, TCON receives a frame update from a display engine); obtain context information comprising one or more of device context information indicating a usage of components of the device, usage context information indicating current user interactions with the device, or application context information indicating application functionality or execution on the device (¶ 72, see such context information such as the type of application, the usage of components such as a mouse, or application context such as stopping of typing and moving a cursor consequently); determine to refresh a first subset of the panel regions at a first refresh rate and to refresh a second subset of the panel regions at a second refresh rate based on the frame update and the context information (fig. 2B, ¶ 67; only the subset 130 is updated; also see ¶ 72 wherein “a low power display refresh during a semi-active workload” is performed wherein static subsets of the panel are refreshed at a low rate and moving image subsets, determined based on context, are refreshed at a higher rate); and control activation of the driver circuitries to refresh display panel regions at the determined refresh rates (fig. 2B, ¶ 66-67 and ¶ 72; also see fig. 5 and ¶ 75-76 wherein driving circuitries are controlled to refresh only a portion of the display while the system may activate the rest of the columns at a different time, thus achieving two different refresh rates for two different subsets of display regions).
Regarding claim 17, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is to not refresh panel regions other than the first subset of the panel regions and the second subset of the panel regions to refresh based on the frame update (fig. 2B, ¶ 67, only the required portions are updated).
Regarding claim 18, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is implemented in the graphics source (¶ 28, the display engine or graphics source transforms is such a control circuitry by transforming the display information; also see ¶ 33).
Regarding claim 19, Kwa teaches that the control circuitry is implemented in a timing controller (TCON) coupled to the display panel (¶ 54).
Regarding claim 20, Kwa teaches that the computing device is a laptop computing device (¶ 55 and ¶91).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwa, in view of Yamamoto et al., US 2002/0140685 A1, hereinafter “Yamamoto”.
Regarding claim 9, Kwa does not specifically teach determining a frame slice to send to the display panel based on the information from the display panel indicating the number of panel regions.
Yamamoto, however, clearly teaches determining a frame slice to send to the display panel based on the information from the display panel indicating the number of panel regions (see number of panel regions, line #0-9, wherein a frame slice is sent for updating the display. For example, in fig. 3, frame slices #1-5 are sent while the others are self-refreshed; see fig. 3, ¶ 51).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Kwa in view of Yamamoto. The references teach partial scanning of a display device and Yamamoto further teaches determining a frame slice to send to the display panel based on the number of panel regions. As such, one would have been motivated to make such a combination in order to activate the drivers only for the required frame slices, thereby accurately driving the updated regions of the display device.
Conclusion
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/SEPEHR AZARI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2621