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 based on the communications filed August 8, 2024. Claims 1 – 13, 17, and 19 are currently pending and considered below.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application filed in People's Republic of China on September 26, 2023. It is noted, however, that applicant has not filed a certified copy of the CN202311256515.3 application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on August 8, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 6, line 2 should recite “receiving, by a second primary audio playing device”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1 – 5 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "an audio sharing device" in line 11. However, claim 1 previously introduced “an audio sharing device” in line 3. Therefore, it is unclear if “audio sharing device” in line 11 is referring back to line 3 or introducing a second audio sharing device.
Independent claim 1 recites the limitation “and snooping for and playing at least one audio packet sent on the desired wireless communication channel by an audio sharing device.” However, the claim recites “a first primary audio playing device of a first set of audio playing devices,” “a second primary audio playing device of a second set of audio playing devices,” and “an audio sharing device.“ It is therefore unclear which device is performing the snooping.
Claims 2 – 5 and 19 are rejected due to dependency.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 6, 9, 12, 17, and 19 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (US 2021/0068127 A1), hereinafter Wang.
Claim 1: Wang discloses a method for audio sharing, the method comprising:
establishing, by a first primary audio playing device of a first set of audio playing devices, a wireless connection with an audio sharing device (see at least, “In an embodiment, the first transceiver 110, 210 communicatively coupled with the first speaker 101, 201 establishes 505 wireless links including the first wireless link 130, 230 with the data source 103, 203,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039]);
broadcasting, by the first primary audio playing device, a snoop enable message, the snoop enable message including information indicating a desired wireless communication channel (see at least, “The first transceiver 110, 210 generates 510 a set of parameters including but not limited to device address, Bluetooth address, hopping frequency, data transmission rates, codec format, bitpool value, sample rate, wireless transmission profile information, native clock value, logical transport address, clock offset value and link key value, etc. The first transceiver 110, 210 sends 515 the set of parameters to the second transceiver 120, 220 which is communicatively coupled to the second speaker 102, 202,” Wang [0055], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]);
receiving, by the first primary audio playing device, a snoop consent event message sent on the desired wireless communication channel from a second primary audio playing device of a second set of audio playing devices (see at least, “If second transceiver 120, 220 has received data from data source 103, 203, the second transceiver 120, 220 sends 620 the first acknowledgment information to first transceiver 110, 210 via the second wireless link 150, 250,” [0056], “the first transceiver 110, 210 determines 525 if it has received the first acknowledgment information 114 from the second transceiver 120, 220,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]); and
snooping for and playing at least one audio packet sent on the desired wireless communication channel by an audio sharing device (see at least, “The second transceiver 120, 220 sniffs 610 data from data source 103, 203 on the first wireless link 130, 230 via the enabled wireless link 140, 240. The second transceiver 120, 220 determines 615 if it has obtained data from data source 103, 203 via sniffing,” [0056], “The second transceiver 120, 220 sniffs 610 data from data source 103, 203 on the first wireless link 130, 230 via the enabled wireless link 140, 240. The second transceiver 120, 220 determines 615 if it has obtained data from data source 103, 203 via sniffing,” [0056], “Bluetooth piconet PICONET2, where the data source 203 as the SRC is the master (M), the first speaker 201 as SNK-1 is a slave (S) of PICONET2, and the second speaker 202 as SNK-2 is another slave (S) of PICONET2,” Wang [0047], Wang FIG. 2).
Claim 4: Wang discloses the method for audio sharing of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the first primary audio playing device, a first acknowledgement message from the second primary audio playing device on the desired wireless communication channel, the first acknowledgement message indicating that the audio packet has been correctly received (see at least, “If second transceiver 120, 220 has received data from data source 103, 203, the second transceiver 120, 220 sends 620 the first acknowledgment information to first transceiver 110, 210 via the second wireless link 150, 250,” [0056], “the first transceiver 110, 210 determines 525 if it has received the first acknowledgment information 114 from the second transceiver 120, 220,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]).
Claim 6: Wang discloses a method for audio sharing, the method comprising: receiving, by a second primary audio playing device of a second set of audio playing devices, a snoop enable message (see at least, “In an embodiment, the second transceiver 120, 220 communicatively coupled to the second speaker 102, 202 receives 605 a set of parameters including but not limited to device address, Bluetooth address, hopping frequency, data transmission rates, codec format, bitpool value, sample rate, wireless transmission
profile information, native clock value, logical transport address, clock offset value and link key value, etc.,” Wang [0056], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039]) broadcast by a first primary audio playing device of a first set of audio playing devices (see at least, “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039]), the first primary audio playing device having a wireless connection with an audio sharing device (see at least, “In an embodiment, the first transceiver 110, 210 communicatively coupled with the first speaker 101, 201 establishes 505 wireless links including the first wireless link 130, 230 with the data source 103, 203,” Wang [0055]), the snoop enable message including information regarding a desired wireless communication channel (see at least, “The first transceiver 110,210 generates 510 a set of parameters including but not limited to device address, Bluetooth address, hopping frequency, data transmission rates, codec format, bitpool value, sample rate, wireless transmission profile information, native clock value, logical transport address, clock offset value and link key value, etc. The first transceiver 110, 210 sends 515 the set of parameters to the second transceiver 120, 220 which is communicatively coupled to the second speaker 102, 202,” Wang [0055], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]); sending, by the second primary audio playing device, a snoop consent event message to the first primary audio playing device on the desired wireless communication channel (see at least, “If second transceiver 120, 220 has received data from data source 103, 203, the second transceiver 120, 220 sends 620 the first acknowledgment information to first transceiver 110, 210 via the second wireless link 150, 250,” [0056], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]); and snooping for, by the second primary audio playing device, and playing at least one audio packet sent by the audio sharing device on the desired wireless communication channel (see at least, “The second transceiver 120, 220 sniffs 610 data from data source 103, 203 on the first wireless link 130, 230 via the enabled wireless link 140, 240. The second transceiver 120, 220 determines 615 if it has obtained data from data source 103, 203 via sniffing,” [0056], “The second transceiver 120, 220 sniffs 610 data from data source 103, 203 on the first wireless link 130, 230 via the enabled wireless link 140, 240. The second transceiver 120, 220 determines 615 if it has obtained data from data source 103, 203 via sniffing,” [0056], “Bluetooth piconet PICONET2, where the data source 203 as the SRC is the master (M), the first speaker 201 as SNK-1 is a slave (S) of PICONET2, and the second speaker 202 as SNK-2 is another slave (S) of PICONET2,” Wang [0047], Wang FIG. 2).
Claim 9: Wang discloses a first primary audio playing device of a first set of audio playing devices, the first primary audio playing device comprising: processing circuitry configured to, establish a wireless connection with an audio sharing device (see at least, “In an embodiment, the first transceiver 110, 210 communicatively coupled with the first speaker 101, 201 establishes 505 wireless links including the first wireless link 130, 230 with the data source 103, 203,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039]); broadcast a snoop enable message including information regarding a desired wireless communication channel (see at least, “The first transceiver 110,210 generates 510 a set of parameters including but not limited to device address, Bluetooth address, hopping frequency, data transmission rates, codec format, bitpool value, sample rate, wireless transmission profile information, native clock value, logical transport address, clock offset value and link key value, etc. The first transceiver 110, 210 sends 515 the set of parameters to the second transceiver 120, 220 which is communicatively coupled to the second speaker 102, 202,” Wang [0055], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]); receive a snoop consent event message sent on the desired wireless communication channel by a second primary audio playing device of a second set of audio playing devices (see at least, “If second transceiver 120, 220 has received data from data source 103, 203, the second transceiver 120, 220 sends 620 the first acknowledgment information to first transceiver 110, 210 via the second wireless link 150, 250,” [0056], “the first transceiver 110, 210 determines 525 if it has received the first acknowledgment information 114 from the second transceiver 120, 220,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]); and snoop for (see at least, “The first transceiver 110, 210 determines 520 if it has received data from data source 103,203,” Wang [0055]) and play at least one audio packet sent on the desired wireless communication channel by the audio sharing device (see at least, “After the first transceiver 110, 210 sends 530 the second acknowledgment information 112 to data source 103, 203, the first transceiver 110, 210 sends 535 data to its local buffer to playback,” Wang [0055], “Bluetooth piconet PICONET2, where the data source 203 as the SRC is the master (M), the first speaker 201 as SNK-1 is a slave (S) of PICONET2, and the second speaker 202 as SNK-2 is another slave (S) of PICONET2,” Wang [0047], Wang FIG. 2).
Claim 12: Wang discloses the first primary audio playing device of claim 9, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: receive a first acknowledgement message from the second primary audio device on the desired wireless communication channel, the first acknowledgement message indicating that the audio packet has been correctly received (see at least, “If second transceiver 120, 220 has received data from data source 103, 203, the second transceiver 120, 220 sends 620 the first acknowledgment information to first transceiver 110, 210 via the second wireless link 150, 250,” [0056], “the first transceiver 110, 210 determines 525 if it has received the first acknowledgment information 114 from the second transceiver 120, 220,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]).
Claim 17: Wang discloses a system for audio sharing comprising the first primary audio playing device of claim 9 (see at least, “FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless speaker system implemented according to a more specific embodiment using BluetoothAudio Distribution Profile (A2DP) for wireless communication,” Wang [0028], Wang FIG. 2).
Claim 19: Wang discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, which when executed by processing circuitry, causes the processing circuitry to perform the method of claim 1 (see at least, “FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 900, such as the first speaker 101, 201 or the second speaker 102, 202 according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions 804 from a machine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein,” Wang [0067]).
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) 2, 3, 7, 10, and 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Jorgovanovic et al. (US 2022/0174392 A1), hereinafter Jorgovanovic.
Claim 2: Wang discloses the method for audio sharing of claim 1, but does not disclose further comprising: receiving, by the first primary audio playing device, an audio start message from the audio sharing device, the audio start message including information regarding the desired wireless communication channel, before the first primary audio playing device broadcasts the snoop enable message. However, Jorgovanovic discloses in regards to a similar method of sharing audio from a source device receiving, by the first primary audio playing device, an audio start message from the audio sharing device (see at least, S302, Jorgovanovic FIG. 3), the audio start message including information regarding the desired wireless communication channel (see at least, Receive Line Data 304, Jorgovanovic FIG.3), before the first primary audio playing device broadcasts the snoop enable message (see at least, Sync Setting 306, Sync Setting 312, Sync Setting 314, Sync Settings 318, FIG. 3), “According to the process, a signal S302 (e.g., the link data 126) is transmitted from the source device 122 to the first wireless earbud 112 (e.g., via the first communication channel 124), and the first wireless earbud 112 receives the link data at 304 and syncs settings at 306 (e.g., using link data 218 to configure channel-switch settings 220). The first wireless earbud 112 transmits a signal S308 to the second wireless earbud 114 and a signal S310 to the third wireless earbud 118. Each of the second wireless earbud 114 and the third wireless earbud 118 may sync settings with the first wireless earbud 112 and the source device 122 at 312 and 314, respectively.,” Jorgovanovic [0043]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned features of Jorgovanovic in the invention of Wang thereby allowing for the advantage of all of devices to communicate on the first communication channel as established by the source device (see at least, “In parallel, at 404, 406, and 408, the second wireless earbud 114, the third wireless earbud 118, and the fourth wireless earbud 120 are all set to passively receive (e.g., by listening or sniffing) data transmitted from the source device 122 on the first communication channel 124,” Jorgovanovic [0048]).
Claim 3: Wang discloses the method for audio sharing of claim 1, but does not disclose wherein the broadcasting the snoop enable message further includes: periodically broadcasting, by the first primary audio playing device, the snoop enable message. However, Jorgovanovic discloses in regards to a similar method of sharing audio from a source device periodically broadcasting, by the first primary audio playing device, the snoop enable message (see at least, “The channel-switch settings 220 may include timing sequences, schemes, or intervals that are used by the first wireless earbud 112 to switch from one communication channel to a different communication channel. For example, the first wireless earbud 112 may use the channel-switch settings 220 to determine when to switch from a first
communication channel 124 with the source device 122 to a different communication channel 130, 154, or 160 with one of the wireless earbuds 114, 118, or 120. One example of a channel-switch setting 220 is a periodic programmed interval every n slots, where n may be configured (e.g., every 36 slots). As used in this disclosure, a "slot" includes a discrete time duration (e.g., 625 microseconds), and a "programmed interval" includes a set of one or more discrete time durations having a quantity of discrete time durations. The quantity may be specified, programmed, controlled, etc. using the channel-switch settings. Under this type of example channel-switch setting 220, the first wireless earbud
112 may switch from the first communication channel 124 to another one of the communication channels 130, 142, or 144, at the beginning of each interval or when a previous interval lapses. A periodic programmed interval may be timed independently of source-device transmissions, such
that each interval of n slots is counted or starts regardless of what transmissions are currently being sent by the source device. In other instances, the periodic programmed interval may be based on when a source device begins transmitting data e.g., n slots after the source device starts transmitting
audio data). Another example channel-switch setting 220 includes a partial-slot channel switch, in which case the first wireless earbud may listen on the first communication channel 124 at the beginning of a slot, and once no packets are received from the source device 122, may switch to a different communication channel in the middle of the slot (e.g., half-slot),” Jorgovanovic [0032]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned features of Jorgovanovic in the invention of Wang thereby allowing for the advantage of all of the devices to communicate on the first communication channel as established by the source device (see at least, “In parallel, at 404, 406, and 408, the second wireless earbud 114, the third wireless earbud 118, and the fourth wireless earbud 120 are all set to passively receive (e.g., by listening or sniffing) data transmitted from the source device 122 on the first communication channel 124,” Jorgovanovic [0048]) with synchronization (see at least, “For example, at 438, the first wireless earbud 112 detects an occurrence (e.g., start or end) of a programmed interval, such as a T_poll or an n-slot interval (e.g., 36-slot interval), where n is defined in the channel-switch settings 220,” Jorgovanovic [0059], “As previously indicated, the channel-switch settings may be synced with the first wireless earbud 112, such that both the first wireless earbud 112 and the third wireless earbud 118 are detecting the same n-slot interval (e.g., T_poll dictating when to switch communication channels),” Jorgovanovic [0059]).
Claim 7: Wang discloses the method for audio sharing of claim 6, further comprising: sending, by the second primary audio playing device, a first acknowledgement message to the first primary audio playing device on the desired wireless communication channel, the first acknowledgement message indicating that the audio packet has been correctly received by the second primary audio playing device (see at least, “If second transceiver 120, 220 has received data from data source 103, 203, the second transceiver 120, 220 sends 620 the first acknowledgment information to first transceiver 110, 210 via the second wireless link 150, 250,” [0056], “the first transceiver 110, 210 determines 525 if it has received the first acknowledgment information 114 from the second transceiver 120, 220,” Wang [0055], “The first and second speakers may include but not limited to loudspeakers which receive audio signals using radio frequency waves rather than audio cables, such as earpiece, earbuds, earphones, headset, headphones, smart speakers, or devices that include speakers, such as mobile phones, laptops, etc.,” Wang [0039], “The ACK LINK may operate on the same channel as PICONET1 or PICONET2,” Wang [0045]) but does not disclose receiving, by the second primary audio playing device, a second acknowledgement message from a second secondary audio playing device of the second set of audio playing devices on the desired wireless communication channel, the second acknowledgement message indicating that the audio packet has been correctly received by the second secondary audio playing device. However, Jorgovanovic discloses in regards to a similar method of sharing audio from a source device receiving, by the second primary audio playing device, a second acknowledgement message from a second secondary audio playing device of the second set of audio playing devices on the desired wireless communication channel, the second acknowledgement message indicating that the audio packet has been correctly received by the second secondary audio playing device (see at least, “For example, the fourth wireless earbud 120 may identify the sequence number of the last fully received
packet of audio data (e.g., last fully received packet received via passive receiving on the first communication channel 124),” Jorgovanovic [0057], “Once received by the fourth wireless earbud 120, the fourth wireless earbud 120 may transmit an ACK or other message indicating to the third wireless earbud 118 that the fourth wireless earbud 120 received the audio packets,” Jorgovanovic [0058]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned features of Jorgovanovic in the invention of Wang thereby allowing for the advantage of all of the devices to communicate on the first communication channel as established by the source device (see at least, “In parallel, at 404, 406, and 408, the second wireless earbud 114, the third wireless earbud 118, and the fourth wireless earbud 120 are all set to passively receive (e.g., by listening or sniffing) data transmitted from the source device 122 on the first communication channel 124,” Jorgovanovic [0048]) with the ability to acknowledge receipt of audio packets.
Claim 10 and 11 are substantially similar in scope to claims 2 and 3, respectively, and therefore are rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 5 and 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang in view of Cheong et al. (US 2020/0288292 A1), hereinafter Cheong.
Claim 5: Wang discloses the method for audio sharing of claim 4, but does not disclose further comprising: sending, by the first primary audio playing device, an audio packet retransmission indication message to the audio sharing device if the first acknowledgement message is not received. However, Cheong discloses in regards to transmitting response messages in a similar Bluetooth environment and further discloses sending, by the first primary audio playing device, an audio packet retransmission indication message to the audio sharing device if the first acknowledgement message is not received (see at least, “Because the user device 201 establishes a single link (e.g., the first link 205) with a single device (e.g., the first device 202-1), the user device 201 may determine whether the data packet is to be retransmitted based on the type of the response message first received without considering all the response messages respectively transmitted from the first and second devices 202-1 and 202-2. In this
case, even if the first device 202-1 transmits a response message indicating NACK at the second timing, the user device 201 may transmit a next data packet in response to a response message indicating ACK transmitted from the second device 202-2 at the first timing and the first device 202-1 may lose the opportunity to receive the same data packet again,” Cheong [0093]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the aforementioned features of Cheong in the invention of Wang thereby allowing for the advantage of retransmission so that the first device does not “lose the opportunity to receive the same data packet again,” Cheong [0093].
Claim 13 is substantially similar in scope to claim 12 and therefore is rejected for the same reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cook et al. (US 2012/0058727 A1) where “Once the primary and secondary wireless links 107 and 109 are established, the loudspeaker 103 sends one or more communication parameters 201 to the loudspeaker 105 via the secondary wireless link 109 in order to enable the loudspeaker 105 to receive packets transmitted by the audio source 101. The loudspeaker 105 configures its transceiver 106 to receive communications from the audio source 101 in accordance with the communication parameters 201, and establishes a unidirectional wireless communication path 203 from the audio source 101 to the loudspeaker 105. The communication path 203 enables the loudspeaker 105 to snoop, listen or otherwise eavesdrop communications on the secondary wireless link 109 via the wireless path 203. As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the wireless communications from the audio source 101 are typically onmi-directional so that the loudspeakers 103 and 105 both receive wireless energy transmissions from the audio source 101. As shown, the transceiver 106 is configured to snoop the secondary wireless link 109 (via path 203) to receive audio information from the audio source 101, such as the packet 111,” [0024], FIG. 2.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH SAUNDERS whose telephone number is (571)270-1063. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 4 p.m., EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carolyn R Edwards can be reached at (571)270-7136. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JOSEPH SAUNDERS JR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692