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 filing dated 7/3/2024, claims 1-9 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)(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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Katzer et al. (US 20100158263 A1) hereinafter Katzer.
Regarding claim 1, Katzer teaches a sound system for outputting, as a notification sound (“In some arrangements, the functionality of the audio processing device 104 may be incorporated into audio equipment such as an amplifier or the like (e.g., a radio, a CD player, a DVD player, a digital audio player, a hands-free phone system, a navigation system, a vehicle infotainment system, etc.)” in ¶[0024]), a sound that is output from a sound source to a user seated on a first seat among a plurality of seats situated in an interior (“Referring to FIG. 2, a portion of the passenger cabin of the automobile 100 illustrates zones that are desired to be acoustically isolated from each other. In this particular example, four zones 200, 202, 204, 206 are monitored by the reproduction system 102 and each zone is centered on one unique seat of the automobile” in ¶[0026]), the sound system comprising: a loudspeaker situated at a position closest to the user seated on the first seat among users seated on the seats (“the signal may be conditioned (e.g., gain applied) by the audio output stage 618 for transfer of the audio content to one or more speakers (e.g., speakers 106(a)-(f))” in ¶[0050]); a gain adjuster configured to adjust a level of the sound output (614 in Fig. 6) from the sound source at a gain that is set, and output the sound to the loudspeaker as the notification sound (“In this particular implementation, an amplifier stage 614 is provided the gain values from the gain setter 612 and applies the gains to the in-zone signal in the frequency domain” in ¶[0050]); a processor configured to (“instructions may be executed by a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) associated with the audio processing device” in ¶[0051]) set the gain in the gain adjuster in accordance with a program readably stored in a memory (“Such instructions may be stored in a storage device (e.g., hard drive, CD-ROM, etc.) and provide to the processor (or multiple processors) for execution” in ¶[0051]), wherein a first transfer function that is a transfer function of the notification sound from the loudspeaker to the user seated on the first seat (“the amount of signal present in each of the other zones 202, 204 and 206 that spills over into the zone 200 is estimated. To produce such an estimation, one or more signal processing techniques may be implemented, such as determining transfer functions between each pair of zones (e.g., S parameters S.sub.12, S.sub.21, etc.)” in ¶[0036]), and a second transfer function that is a transfer function of the notification sound from the loudspeaker to a user seated on a second seat different from the first seat among the plurality of seats are previously set in the processor (“a transfer function may be determined between zone 200 and zone 202, between zone 200 and zone 204, and between zone 200 and zone 206” in ¶[0036]); and a microphone configured to collect noise in the interior (“Noise levels collected by one or more microphones (e.g., in-dash 108)” in ¶[0037]), wherein the processor estimates a magnitude of noise at each seat based on the noise collected by the microphone (“The level of the desired signal (e.g., an in-zone selected signal represented by frequency response 402) may be increased (e.g., a gain applied) to correspondingly raise its level at an appropriate frequency (e.g., frequency f.sub.2)” in ¶[0032]), calculates the gain for the notification sound that makes the notification sound larger than the noise at a position of the user seated on the first seat and makes the notification sound smaller than the noise at a position of the user seated on the second seat (“the gain setter 612 determines the appropriate gain(s) to apply to the in-zone signal such that the masking threshold of the selected in-zone signal exceeds the interference signals (e.g., spillover signals from other zones, noise, etc.). In general, the gain setter 612 compares the masking threshold (from the in-zone signal) to the interference signals (on a Bark band basis) to determine if signal adjustment(s) are warranted” in ¶[0044]) based on the magnitude of the noise estimated (“compares the masking threshold (from the in-zone signal) to the interference signals (on a Bark band basis) to determine if signal adjustment(s) are warranted” in ¶[0044] and “an interference estimator 706 may estimate noise levels present at one or more locations (e.g., a zone, external to the passenger cabin, etc.) for adjusting one or more masking thresholds to reduce noise effects” in ¶[0037]), and the first transfer function (“an interference estimator 700 may include an inter-zone transfer function processor 702 that provides an estimate of the amount of audible spillover between zones” in ¶[0037]) and the second transfer function (“a transfer function may be determined between zone 200 and zone 202, between zone 200 and zone 204, and between zone 200 and zone 206. Once the transfer functions are known, the signals selected for presentation in each of the interfering zones (zones 202, 204, and 206)” in ¶[0036]), and sets the gain in the gain adjuster (“The level of the desired signal (e.g., an in-zone selected signal represented by frequency response 402) may be increased (e.g., a gain applied) to correspondingly raise its level at an appropriate frequency (e.g., frequency f.sub.2), where an interfering signal has energy” in ¶[0032] and 612 in Fig. 6).
Regarding claim 4, Katzer teaches the system of claim 1, Katzer further teaches the system further comprising wherein the interior is an interior of an automobile (See Fig. 1).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6-9 are allowed over prior art of record.
Most relevant prior art of record is Katzer et al. (US 20100158263 A1) hereinafter Katzer.
Regarding claim 3, Katzer teaches A sound system for outputting, as a notification sound (“In some arrangements, the functionality of the audio processing device 104 may be incorporated into audio equipment such as an amplifier or the like (e.g., a radio, a CD player, a DVD player, a digital audio player, a hands-free phone system, a navigation system, a vehicle infotainment system, etc.)” in ¶[0024]), a sound that is output from a sound source to a user seated on a first seat among a plurality of seats situated in an interior of an automobile (“Referring to FIG. 2, a portion of the passenger cabin of the automobile 100 illustrates zones that are desired to be acoustically isolated from each other. In this particular example, four zones 200, 202, 204, 206 are monitored by the reproduction system 102 and each zone is centered on one unique seat of the automobile” in ¶[0026] and Fig. 1), the sound system comprising: a loudspeaker situated at a position closest to the user seated on the first seat among users seated on the seats (“the signal may be conditioned (e.g., gain applied) by the audio output stage 618 for transfer of the audio content to one or more speakers (e.g., speakers 106(a)-(f))” in ¶[0050]); a gain adjuster configured to adjust a level of the sound output (614 in Fig. 6) from the sound source at a gain that is set, and output the sound to the loudspeaker as the notification sound (“In this particular implementation, an amplifier stage 614 is provided the gain values from the gain setter 612 and applies the gains to the in-zone signal in the frequency domain” in ¶[0050]); a processor configured to (“instructions may be executed by a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) associated with the audio processing device” in ¶[0051]) set the gain in the gain adjuster in accordance with a program readably stored in a memory (“Such instructions may be stored in a storage device (e.g., hard drive, CD-ROM, etc.) and provide to the processor (or multiple processors) for execution” in ¶[0051]), wherein a first transfer function that is a transfer function of the notification sound from the loudspeaker to the user seated on the first seat (“the amount of signal present in each of the other zones 202, 204 and 206 that spills over into the zone 200 is estimated. To produce such an estimation, one or more signal processing techniques may be implemented, such as determining transfer functions between each pair of zones (e.g., S parameters S.sub.12, S.sub.21, etc.)” in ¶[0036]), and a second transfer function that is a transfer function of the notification sound from the loudspeaker to a user seated on a second seat that is different from the first seat among the plurality of seats are previously set in the processor (“a transfer function may be determined between zone 200 and zone 202, between zone 200 and zone 204, and between zone 200 and zone 206” in ¶[0036]); and a microphone configured to collect noise in the interior of the automobile (“Noise levels collected by one or more microphones (e.g., in-dash 108)” in ¶[0037]), wherein the processor estimates a magnitude of noise at each seat based on the noise collected by the microphone (“The level of the desired signal (e.g., an in-zone selected signal represented by frequency response 402) may be increased (e.g., a gain applied) to correspondingly raise its level at an appropriate frequency (e.g., frequency f.sub.2)” in ¶[0032]), Katzer does not specifically disclose the system further comprising calculates the gain to be set in the gain adjuster so as to satisfy to an extent possible -0.41PN + 34.71 < PXA/PN< -0.71PN + 57.03, and PTA/PN< -0.41PN + 34.71 where PN represents an estimated power of the noise at each seat, PXA represents a power of a signal obtained by convolving the first transfer function in a signal obtained by the gain adjuster adjusting the level of the sound output from the sound source at the gain that is set, and PTA represents a power of a signal obtained by convolving the second transfer function in a signal obtained by the gain adjuster adjusting the level of the sound output from the sound source at the gain that is set.
The following is the reason for allowance of claim 3:
Katzer alone or in combination with any other prior art of record does not specifically disclose, suggest nor render obvious the limitations wherein the system further comprises calculates the gain to be set in the gain adjuster so as to satisfy to an extent possible -0.41PN + 34.71 < PXA/PN< -0.71PN + 57.03, and PTA/PN< -0.41PN + 34.71 where PN represents an estimated power of the noise at each seat, PXA represents a power of a signal obtained by convolving the first transfer function in a signal obtained by the gain adjuster adjusting the level of the sound output from the sound source at the gain that is set, and PTA represents a power of a signal obtained by convolving the second transfer function in a signal obtained by the gain adjuster adjusting the level of the sound output from the sound source at the gain that is set, therefore the claim is allowed for the limitations above in combination with all the other limitations of the claim.
Regarding claims 6-9, claims are allowed for their dependency on allowed claim 3.
Claims 2, 5 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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AMMAR T. HAMID
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2695
/AMMAR T HAMID/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2695