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
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.
Claims 1-4 & 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tong et al, US Patent 10629226 B1.
Re Claim 1, Tong et al discloses an electronic device comprising: a plurality of microphones including a first microphone (col. 12, lines 43-46: array of microphones pick up plurality of acoustic signals); a speaker (fig. 1: 100; col. 4, lines 1-4: headphone inherently includes a speaker); one or more processors (abstract: processor); and a storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (col. 3, lines 37-44: storage; col. 7, lines 40-55: storage), enable the one or more processors to: obtain a plurality of voice signals via the plurality of microphones (col. 12, lines 43-46: array of microphones pick up plurality of acoustic signals; col. 13, lines 55-61: plurality of microphones picks up plurality of acoustic signals), identify a designated call word, by performing speech recognition on a first voice signal obtained from the first microphone, from among the plurality of voice signals according to a passage of time in obtaining the plurality of voice signals, obtain a second time point, wherein the second time point precedes an utterance time corresponding to the designated call word, based on a first time point, wherein the first time point corresponds to the designated call word being identified completely (col. 7, lines 40-55: time interval before the keyword is interpreted as the second time stamp while time after the keyword is interpreted as the first time stamp; wherein the system seeks to improve the performance of key detection and/or speech recognition by obtaining acoustic signals (col. 12, lines 43-46: plurality of acoustic signals picked up by the microphone array) acquired both before (second time stamp) and after (first time stamp) the time point when the speech of the user is detected (detected speech of the user includes keyword) as emphasized in col. 7, line 56 through col. 8, line 6), and perform speech recognition on one portion, obtained starting after the second time point, from among the plurality of voice signals (col. 7, lines 40-55: time interval before the keyword is interpreted as the second time stamp while time after the keyword is interpreted as the first time stamp; wherein the system seeks to improve the performance of key detection and/or speech recognition by obtaining acoustic signals (col. 12, lines 43-46: plurality of acoustic signals picked up by the microphone array) acquired both before (second time stamp) and after (first time stamp) the time point when the speech of the user is detected (detected speech of the user includes keyword) as emphasized in col. 7, line 56 through col. 8, line 6).
Re Claim 2, Tong et al discloses the device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to: track a location of a user associated with the plurality of voice signals by using a phase difference between the plurality of voice signals based on the performing of speech recognition on the one portion (col. 13, lines 51-61: beamforming module, wherein beamformers include phase difference calculations to optimize transmission or reception of signals at a particular location); and identify a second voice signal, wherein the second voice signal is obtained by enhancing a target voice corresponding to an utterance of the user, from the plurality of voice signals obtained by performing beamforming toward the location of the user by using the plurality of microphones (col. 7, lines 40-55: time interval before the keyword is interpreted as the second time stamp while time after the keyword is interpreted as the first time stamp; wherein the system seeks to improve the performance of key detection and/or speech recognition by obtaining acoustic signals (col. 12, lines 43-46: plurality of acoustic signals picked up by the microphone array) acquired both before (second time stamp) and after (first time stamp) the time point when the speech of the user is detected (detected speech of the user includes keyword) as emphasized in col. 7, line 56 through col. 8, line 6).
Re Claim 3, Tong et al discloses the device of claim 2, wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to: identify a noise signal included in the second voice signal based on the identifying of the second voice signal (col. 12, lines 20-26: noise reduction, where identified noise is reduced; col. 14, line 59 through col. 15, line 2); and reduce amplitude of the noise signal (col. 12, lines 20-26: noise reduction, where identified noise is reduced; col. 14, line 59 through col. 15, line 2).
Re Claim 4, Tong et al discloses the device of claim 2, wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to: identify a target voice signal indicating the target voice based on the identifying of the second voice signal (col. 12, lines 20-26: noise reduction, where identified noise is reduced and invariably increases the amplitude of the target voice signal; col. 14, line 59 through col. 15, line 2); increase amplitude of the target voice signal included in the second voice signal (col. 12, lines 20-26: noise reduction, where identified noise is reduced and invariably increases the amplitude of the target voice signal; col. 14, line 59 through col. 15, line 2); and perform speech recognition by using the second voice signal with the increased amplitude of the target voice signal (col. 12, lines 20-26: noise reduction, where identified noise is reduced and invariably increases the amplitude of the target voice signal; col. 14, line 59 through col. 15, line 2).
Claim 11 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 1.
Claim 12 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 2.
Claim 13 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 3.
Claim 14 has been analyzed and rejected according to claim 4.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-10, 15-20 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 for claim 5: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to: reduce amplitude of a reference signal in each of the plurality of voice signals including the reference signal output from the speaker; and track the location of the user by using the phase difference between the plurality of voice signals with the reduced amplitude of the reference signal.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 2 and ultimately claim 1.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claim 6: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to: identify a reference signal indicating designated text, and identify a noise signal distinguished from the reference signal within the first voice signal; reduce amplitude of one of or both of the reference signal and the noise signal; and identify the designated call word by using the first voice signal with the reduced amplitude of one of or both of the reference signal and the noise signal.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 1.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claims 7-9: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to bypass speech recognition on other voice signals distinguished from the first voice signal among the plurality of voice signals while performing speech recognition on the first voice signal obtained from the first microphone.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 1.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claim 10: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Wherein the instructions further enable the one or more processors to: identify the first microphone among the plurality of microphones based on a distance from a user associated with the plurality of voice signals; and obtain the first voice signal by using the first microphone.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 1.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claim 15: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Wherein the tracking of the location of the user comprises: reducing amplitude of a reference signal in each of the plurality of voice signals including the reference signal output from a speaker; and tracking the location of the user by using the phase difference between the plurality of voice signals with the reduced amplitude of the reference signal.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 12 and ultimately claim 11.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claim 16: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Wherein the identifying of the designated call word comprises: identifying a reference signal indicating designated text within the first voice signal; identifying a noise signal distinguished from the reference signal within the first voice signal; reducing amplitude of one of or both of the reference signal and the noise signal; and identifying the designated call word using the first voice signal with the reduced amplitude of one of or both of the reference signal and the noise signal.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 11.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claims 17-19: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Further comprising bypassing speech recognition on other voice signals distinguished from the first voice signal among the plurality of voice signals while performing speech recognition on the first voice signal obtained from the first microphone.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 11.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter for claim 20: The prior art does not teach or moderately suggest the following limitations:
Further comprising: identifying the first microphone among the plurality of microphones based on a distance from a user associated with the plurality of voice signals; and obtaining the first voice signal using the first microphone.
Limitations such as these may be useful in combination with other limitations of claim 11.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEORGE C MONIKANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1190. The examiner can normally be reached Mon. - Fri., 9AM-5PM, ALT. Fridays off.
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/GEORGE C MONIKANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692 07/10/2026
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