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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
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Claims 1-2 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 17 of Patent 12075210. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because: claim 1 of the instant application is a broader variation of claim 17 of Patent 12075210.
Claims 15 and 18-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 17 of Patent 12075210 in view of Hong (US 2018/0005623). Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because: Claim 17 of Patent 12075210 teaches all of claim 15 except for compare phase and level data for a signal generated by the pressure microphone with phase and level data for the signal generated by the directional microphone to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones.
Hong teaches the processor is further configured to compare phase and level data for a signal generated by the pressure microphone with phase and level data for the signal generated by the directional microphone (Hong ¶0029, “processing part 300 determines the direction of a sound source using the difference in phase and sound level between sound signals going into two or more microphones 200L and 200R placed apart from one another”) to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones (Hong ¶0031, “it is possible to determine the location or direction of the sound source based on a position angle A (azimuth) between an extension line C1 of a midpoint C perpendicular to extension line of the microphone 1 and the microphone 2 and an extension line C2 of the sound source (b) and the midpoint C. The sound source (a) corresponds to an angle of 0°, the sound source (b) is set to be in the location or direction corresponding to an angle of 45°, and the sound source (c) is set to be in the location or direction corresponding to an angle of −45°”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Hong to improve the known system of Patent 12075210 to achieve the predictable result of accurate directional audio reproduction.
Dependent claims 2-4, 6-7, 9-14, 18-20 are also rejected because they are obvious variants of the patented claims :
Dependent claim 2 is taught by claim 17 of Patent 12075210.
Dependent claims 3-4, 6-7, 9-11 are taught by claim 17 of Patent 12075210 in view of Chen (US 2009/0111507).
Dependent claims 12-14 are taught by claim 17 of Patent 12075210 in view of Huseynov (US 2017/0089800).
Dependent claims 18-20 are taught by claim 17 of Patent 12075210 in view of Hong (US 2018/0005623).
Patent 12075210
Instant Application 18/792983
1. A system comprising: a plurality of microphones co-located with one another, each microphone of the plurality of microphones being configured to generate a signal representative of sound incident upon the plurality of microphones; and a processor configured to determine data indicative of a location of a source of the sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound; wherein the plurality of microphones comprise a directional microphone configured to generate a signal representative of a directional component of the sound, the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range; wherein the processor is further configured to determine a ratio of direct sound energy and diffuse sound energy (DDR) for the incident sound as a function of the signals representative of the incident sound, and to determine a direction of arrival (DOA) for the incident sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound, and to determine the location of the source of the incident sound based on the determined DDR and the determined DOA.
16. The system of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of microphones further comprise a pressure microphone; and the processor is further configured to compare a signal generated by the pressure microphone with the signal generated by the directional microphone to determine the distance.
17. The system of claim 16, wherein: the processor is further configured to generate relative phase data, relative amplitude data, or both relative phase and relative amplitude data for the signal generated by the pressure microphone and the signal generated by the directional acoustic sensor element; and the processor is further configured to implement a classifier to which the relative phase data, the relative amplitude data, or both the relative phase and amplitude data is provided to determine the distance.
1. A system comprising: a plurality of microphones co-located with one another, each microphone of the plurality of microphones being configured to generate a signal representative of sound incident upon the plurality of microphones; and a processor configured to determine data indicative of a location of a source of the sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound; wherein: the plurality of microphones comprise a pressure microphone; the plurality of microphones comprise a directional microphone configured to generate a signal representative of a directional component of the sound, the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range; the processor is further configured to compare a signal generated by the pressure microphone with the signal generated by the directional microphone to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones.
15. A system comprising: a plurality of microphones co-located with one another, each microphone of the plurality of microphones being configured to generate a signal representative of sound incident upon the plurality of microphones; and a processor configured to determine data indicative of a location of a source of the sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound; wherein: the plurality of microphones comprise a pressure microphone; the plurality of microphones comprise a directional microphone configured to generate a signal representative of a directional component of the sound, the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range; the processor is further configured to compare phase and level data for a signal generated by the pressure microphone with phase and level data for the signal generated by the directional microphone to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones.
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.
Claim(s) 1, and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huseynov (US 2017/0089800) in view of Fidi (US 4817168).
Regarding claim 1, Huseynov teaches A system comprising: a plurality of microphones co-located with one another (Huseynov figure 1 and ¶0023-0024, multiple microphone arrays), each microphone of the plurality of microphones being configured to generate a signal representative of sound incident upon the plurality of microphones (Huseynov figure 1 and ¶0023-0024, microphone arrays); and a processor (Huseynov ¶0023, “processed by a processor”) configured to determine data indicative of a location of a source of the sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound (Huseynov ¶0031, “incident angle of arrival of incident energy”); wherein: the plurality of microphones comprise a pressure microphone (Huseynov ¶0001, “Ultrasonic gas leak detectors measure the sound pressure waves generated by turbulent flow when gas escapes from higher pressures to the ambient atmosphere”. With BRI, all microphone senses sound pressure which can be considered a pressure microphone); the plurality of microphones comprise a directional microphone configured to generate a signal representative of a directional component of the sound (Huseynov figure 3 and ¶0038), the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range (Huseynov figure 1 and ¶0023-0024, multiple microphone arrays. With BRI, the diaphragm of a microphone is a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis); the processor is further configured to compare a signal generated by the pressure microphone with the signal generated by the directional microphone to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones (Huseynov figure 9A and ¶0055-0056), however does not explicitly teach the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range.
Fidi teaches the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis (Fidi figure 1, Col 3 lines 62-68, diaphragm 1) over an entire audible frequency range (Fidi figure 1, Col 4 lines 11-20, “in the directional microphone according to the invention, the transmission factor is improved in the entire range of the audible frequencies because the frequency response of the microphone is raised by several dB in the low and middle frequencies in which the microphone operates as a pressure pickup and, thus, is adjusted to the level of the increase of the presence of a pressure gradient pickup which is otherwise present at high frequencies”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Fidi to improve the known system of Huseynov to achieve the predictable result of reproducing sound in a wide frequency band.
Regarding claim 12, Huseynov in view of Fidi teaches wherein the plurality of microphones are disposed relative to one another such that the sound is effectively coincident upon each microphone of the plurality of microphones (Huseynov ¶0023, “microphone array area on the circuit board will typically not exceed 10 square cm”).
Regarding claim 13, Huseynov in view of Fidi teaches wherein adjacent microphones of the plurality of microphones are spaced apart from one another less than an order of centimeters (Huseynov ¶0021, “The microphones are preferably spaced from adjacent microphones in the array by a spacing distance no larger than 5 mm”).
Regarding claim 14, Huseynov in view of Fidi teaches wherein adjacent microphones of the plurality of microphones are spaced apart from one another by less than 1 cm (Huseynov ¶0021, “The microphones are preferably spaced from adjacent microphones in the array by a spacing distance no larger than 5 mm”).
Claim(s) 2, 15, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huseynov (US 2017/0089800) in view of Fidi (US 4817168) in further view of Hong (US 2018/0005623).
Regarding claim 2, Huseynov in view of Fidi does not explicitly teach generate relative phase data, relative amplitude data, or both relative phase and relative amplitude data for the signal generated by the pressure microphone and the signal generated by the directional microphone.
Hong teaches generate relative phase data, relative amplitude data, or both relative phase and relative amplitude data for the signal generated by the pressure microphone and the signal generated by the directional microphone (Hong ¶0029, “processing part 300 determines the direction of a sound source using the difference in phase and sound level between sound signals going into two or more microphones 200L and 200R placed apart from one another”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Hong to improve the known system of Huseynov in view of Fidi to achieve the predictable result of accurate directional audio reproduction.
Regarding claim 15, Huseynov teaches A system comprising: a plurality of microphones co-located with one another (Huseynov figure 1 and ¶0023-0024, multiple microphone arrays), each microphone of the plurality of microphones being configured to generate a signal representative of sound incident upon the plurality of microphones (Huseynov figure 1 and ¶0023-0024, microphone arrays); and a processor (Huseynov ¶0023, “processed by a processor”) configured to determine data indicative of a location of a source of the sound based on the signals representative of the incident sound (Huseynov ¶0031, “incident angle of arrival of incident energy”); wherein: the plurality of microphones comprise a pressure microphone (Huseynov ¶0001, “Ultrasonic gas leak detectors measure the sound pressure waves generated by turbulent flow when gas escapes from higher pressures to the ambient atmosphere”. With BRI, all microphone senses sound pressure which can be considered a pressure microphone); the plurality of microphones comprise a directional microphone configured to generate a signal representative of a directional component of the sound (Huseynov figure 3 and ¶0038), the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range (Huseynov figure 1 and ¶0023-0024, multiple microphone arrays. With BRI, the diaphragm of a microphone is a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis), however does not explicitly teach the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis over an entire audible frequency range, the processor is further configured to compare phase and level data for a signal generated by the pressure microphone with phase and level data for the signal generated by the directional microphone to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones.
Fidi teaches the directional microphone comprising a structure movably responsive to sound along a single axis (Fidi figure 1, Col 3 lines 62-68, diaphragm 1) over an entire audible frequency range (Fidi figure 1, Col 4 lines 11-20, “in the directional microphone according to the invention, the transmission factor is improved in the entire range of the audible frequencies because the frequency response of the microphone is raised by several dB in the low and middle frequencies in which the microphone operates as a pressure pickup and, thus, is adjusted to the level of the increase of the presence of a pressure gradient pickup which is otherwise present at high frequencies”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Fidi to improve the known system of Huseynov to achieve the predictable result of reproducing sound in a wide frequency band.
Hong teaches the processor is further configured to compare phase and level data for a signal generated by the pressure microphone with phase and level data for the signal generated by the directional microphone (Hong ¶0029, “processing part 300 determines the direction of a sound source using the difference in phase and sound level between sound signals going into two or more microphones 200L and 200R placed apart from one another”) to determine a distance between the source of the sound and the plurality of microphones (Hong ¶0031, “it is possible to determine the location or direction of the sound source based on a position angle A (azimuth) between an extension line C1 of a midpoint C perpendicular to extension line of the microphone 1 and the microphone 2 and an extension line C2 of the sound source (b) and the midpoint C. The sound source (a) corresponds to an angle of 0°, the sound source (b) is set to be in the location or direction corresponding to an angle of 45°, and the sound source (c) is set to be in the location or direction corresponding to an angle of −45°”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Hong to improve the known system of Huseynov in view of Fidi to achieve the predictable result of accurate directional audio reproduction.
Regarding claim 18, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong teaches wherein the plurality of microphones are disposed relative to one another such that the sound is effectively coincident upon each microphone of the plurality of microphones (Huseynov ¶0023, “microphone array area on the circuit board will typically not exceed 10 square cm”).
Regarding claim 19, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong teaches wherein adjacent microphones of the plurality of microphones are spaced apart from one another less than an order of centimeters (Huseynov ¶0021, “The microphones are preferably spaced from adjacent microphones in the array by a spacing distance no larger than 5 mm”).
Regarding claim 20, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong teaches wherein adjacent microphones of the plurality of microphones are spaced apart from one another by less than 1 cm (Huseynov ¶0021, “The microphones are preferably spaced from adjacent microphones in the array by a spacing distance no larger than 5 mm”).
Claim(s) 3-4, 6-7, and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huseynov (US 2017/0089800) in view of Fidi (US 4817168) in further view of Hong (US 2018/0005623) in further view of Chen (US 2009/0111507).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong teaches wherein the processor is further configured to use the relative phase and the relative amplitude data to determine a distance, however does not explicitly teach determining a sound source type for the source of the sound based on the distance.
Chen teaches classifying a sound source based on the distance (Chen ¶0164, “Sound waves impinging upon a microphone array can be classified according to a distance, r, these sound waves traveled in relation to the characteristic dimension L and the wavelength of the sound B. In particular, if r is greater than 2 L.sup.2/.lamda., then the sound source is classified as a far-field source and the curvature of the wavefronts of the sound waves impinging upon the microphone array can be neglected. If r is not greater than 2 L.sup.2/.lamda., then the sound source is classified as a near-field source and the curvature of the wavefronts can not be neglected”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Chen to improve the known system of Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong to achieve the predictable result of improved intelligibility of desired sound sources (Chen ¶0009).
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong in further view of Chen teaches wherein the processor is further configured to implement a classifier (Chen ¶0164, “Sound waves impinging upon a microphone array can be classified according to a distance, r, these sound waves traveled in relation to the characteristic dimension L and the wavelength of the sound B. In particular, if r is greater than 2 L.sup.2/.lamda., then the sound source is classified as a far-field source and the curvature of the wavefronts of the sound waves impinging upon the microphone array can be neglected. If r is not greater than 2 L.sup.2/.lamda., then the sound source is classified as a near-field source and the curvature of the wavefronts can not be neglected”) to which the relative phase data, the relative amplitude data, or both the relative phase and amplitude data is provided to determine the distance (Hong ¶0029, “processing part 300 determines the direction of a sound source using the difference in phase and sound level between sound signals going into two or more microphones 200L and 200R placed apart from one another”).
Regarding claim 6, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong in further view of Chen teaches wherein the classifier is configured to generate a separate value for the distance for each frequency band (Chen ¶ 0164, wavelength depends on frequency, and note “each frequency band” can be one frequency band).
Regarding claim 7, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong in further view of Chen teaches wherein the processor is further configured to interpolate between adjacent classes of the classifier to determine the distance (Chen ¶ 0164, the comparison to determine if the sound source is near-field or far-field).
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huseynov (US 2017/0089800) in view of Fidi (US 4817168) in further view of Hong (US 2018/0005623) in further view of Chen (US 2009/0111507) in further view of Zakarauskas hereinafter as Zaka (US 8428945).
Regarding claim 5, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong in further view of Chen does not explicitly teach wherein the classifier is configured to generate an average for the distance over multiple frequency bands.
Zaka teaches wherein the classifier is configured to generate an average for the distance over multiple frequency bands (Zaka claims 8 and 17).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Zaka to improve the known system of Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Hong in further view of Chen to achieve the predictable result of reduced training time for classification (Zaka Col 1 lines 45-60).
Claim(s) 9-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huseynov (US 2017/0089800) in view of Fidi (US 4817168) in further view of Chen (US 2009/0111507).
Regarding claim 9, Huseynov in view of Fidi does not explicitly teach wherein the processor is further configured to transform the signal generated by the pressure microphone and the signal generated by the directional microphone using a time-frequency transform.
Chen teaches wherein the processor is further configured to transform the signal generated by the pressure microphone and the signal generated by the directional microphone using a time-frequency transform (Chen ¶0122).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the known technique of Chen to improve the known system of Huseynov in view of Fidi to achieve the predictable result of improved intelligibility of desired sound sources (Chen ¶0009).
Regarding claim 10, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Chen teaches wherein the processor is further configured to compute a phase difference and a level difference for each frequency band of data generated by the time-frequency transform (Chen ¶ 0164, wavelength depends on frequency, and note “each frequency band” can be one frequency band).
Regarding claim 11, Huseynov in view of Fidi in further view of Chen teach wherein the processor is further configured to compare the phase difference and the level difference with expected values for given distances and each frequency band from the plurality of microphones (Chen ¶ 0164, wavelength depends on frequency, and note “each frequency band” can be one frequency band).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 is 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 because the closest prior art either alone or in combination, fail to anticipate or render obvious, the claimed limitation of “wherein the processor is further configured to implement a regression procedure to which the relative phase data, the relative amplitude data, or both the relative phase and amplitude data is provided to determine the distance” in combination with all other limitations in the claim(s) as defined by the applicant.
Conclusion
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/NORMAN YU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693