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 .
Priority
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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.
Claims 1, 5-7, 9, 13-15, 17, 21-22, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerlhagen et al. (US 2008/0291891 A1), hereinafter, Jerlhagen, in view of Georgi et al. (Patent No: US 2019/0335261 A1), hereinafter, Georgi.
Regarding Claim 1 Jerlhagen teaches,
A wireless multi-channel audio system (WMAS), -Fig. 1; Paragraph [0002] (Fig. 1 shows two sink devices (multi-channel) communicating with a source device wirelessly. The sync devices can be audio devices. [0002] recites, “The present invention relates to the synchronization of sink devices that receive data, such as audio and/or video data, wirelessly streamed by a source device.”)
comprising a base station and a wireless audio device: the base station including: a master clock source; -Fig. 1, 2, 8 (Source device 102 in Fig. 1, 2 can be the base station; sink devices 104 a, b of Fig. 1, 2 can be wireless audio device; master piconet clock generator 814 in Fig. 8 is the master clock source)
a framer operative to generate base station frames containing audio data and related audio clock timing derived from said master clock source; -Fig. 7, 8; Paragraph [0045, 009, 0041] (The framer operative is the RF communication module (Fig. 8 (804)), generation of packet (frame) happens as shown in Fig.7 which may contain any kind of data, e.g., audio data, and clock timing derived from master clock (master piconet clock timestamp 706). [0045] recites, “RF communication module 804 may generate communication packet 702 by modulating data 704 and master piconet clock timestamp 706 on a carrier signal. Master piconet clock timestamp 706 is a selected value of master clock signal 816 prior to transmitting communication packet 702 from source device 800. [0041] recites, “FIG. 7 shows communication packet 702 including data 704 and a master piconet clock timestamp 706. Data 704 may be any type of data, including audio data or video data.”)
a transmitter operative to transmit said frames over said WMAS; -Fig. 8 (antenna 806); Paragraph [0045] ([0045] recites, “…Communication packet 702 is transmitted by antenna 806 in communication signal 818”)
the wireless audio device including: a receiver operative to receive frames from said base station over said WMAS; -Fig. 9; Paragraph [0046] ([0046] recites, “FIG. 9 shows sink device 900, which is an example of a sink device 104 shown in FIG. 1, and which is configured to receive communication signal 818 according to step 602 of flowchart 600. Furthermore, sink device 900 is configured to synchronize a local clock signal with master clock signal 816 of source device 800 of FIG. 8.” As shown in Fig. 9, the wireless audio device (sink device 104), receives frames from the base station (source device, communication signal 818) through receiver operative (antenna 902, RF communication module 914).)
a frame synchronization circuit operative to generate audio data and a related timing signal from said received frames; -Paragraph [0047, 0049] ([0047] recites, “BLUETOOTH communication module 108 receives communication signal 818 from antenna 902, which includes communication packet 702. BLUETOOTH communication module 108 extracts communication packet 702 from communication signal 818. BLUETOOTH communication module 108 outputs a data signal 928 and a slave clock signal 930. Slave clock signal 930 is a local BLUETOOTH piconet clock signal for BLUETOOTH communication module 108.” BLUETOOTH communication module 108 serves as the synchronization circuit.)
and a clock generator circuit operative to input a local clock signal generated by said frame synchronization circuit to generate therefrom a plurality of clocks, including an audio clock, derived from the timing signal to synchronize the wireless audio device to base station frames and to enable thereby communications according to a previously determined schedule with the base station -Paragraph [0049] ([0049] recites, “RF communication module 914 recovers communication packet 702, which includes data 704 and master piconet clock timestamp 706. Master piconet clock timestamp 706 is stored in storage 912. As shown in the example of FIG. 9, baseband processing module 916 includes a DSP 918, a frequency hopping module 920, and local piconet clock generator 922. Local piconet clock generator 922 generates slave clock signal 930. Local piconet clock generator 922 is synchronized with master piconet clock generator 814 of source device 800 by a synchronization packet previously transmitted by source device 800 to sink device 900, as described above with reference to synchronization packet 210 shown in FIG. 4. Slave clock signal 930 is received by frequency hopping module 920. Frequency hopping module 920 determines a pseudo-random hopping sequence of RF channels for RF communication module 914, in a synchronized fashion with frequency hopping module 812 of source device 800.”)
wherein during operation: (i) clocks in said WMAS synchronized to and derived from said master clock source in said base station -Paragraph [0049] ([0049] recites, “Local piconet clock generator 922 generates slave clock signal 930. Local piconet clock generator 922 is synchronized with master piconet clock generator 814 of source device 800 by a synchronization packet previously transmitted by source device 800 to sink device 900, as described above with reference to synchronization packet 210 shown in FIG. 4.”)
Although implicit, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
and (ii) the communications with the previously determined schedule, enable a reduction of latency to less than or equal to four milliseconds, wherein the latency is a time interval between reception of an audio event at a microphone and outputting an audio signal from the base station corresponding to the audio event.
However, in an analogous invention Georgi teaches,
and (ii) the communications with the previously determined schedule, enable a reduction of latency to less than or equal to four milliseconds, wherein the latency is a time interval between reception of an audio event at a microphone and outputting an audio signal from the base station corresponding to the audio event. -Paragraph [0007] ([0007] recites, “The TDMA frame length is so short as a latency of <4 ms is required for professional audio transmission, for example in the case of wireless microphone systems.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “the communications with the previously determined schedule, enable a reduction of latency to less than or equal to four milliseconds, wherein the latency is a time interval between reception of an audio event at a microphone and outputting an audio signal from the base station corresponding to the audio event” of Georgi. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless microphone and/or in-ear monitoring system [0006].
Regarding Claim 5, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said wireless audio device is included in a microphone system.
However, in an analogous invention, Georgi teaches,
The system according to claim 1 , wherein said wireless audio device is included in a microphone system. -Paragraph [0006] ([0006] recites, “the present invention is to provide an improved wireless microphone and/or in-ear monitoring system. In particular the invention seeks to provide a system which arranges microphone and in-ear links operated in parallel relationship in a time multiplex configuration and operates in a comparatively wide channel bandwidth. All devices used in the system are to be capable of transmitting and receiving data.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “wireless audio device is included in a microphone system.” of Giorgi. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless microphone and/or in-ear monitoring system [0006].
Regarding Claim 6, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Jerlhagen further teaches,
The system according to claim 1, the wireless audio device further including: an expander and related expander buffer; an RF modem and related RX packet buffer operative, to output compressed packets directly written from the RX packet buffer to the expander buffer; and a digital-to-analog DAC converter operative to input audio samples from the expander buffer to output an analog audio signal, utilizing the audio clock. -Fig. 9; Paragraph [0051-0052] (Fig. 9 shows the receiver architecture with RF modem (RF communication module 914). [0051] recites, “Furthermore, depending on the implementation of output element 906, which receives output signal 924, codec 904 may perform a digital-to-analog conversion (e.g., may include a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)), to convert the decoded data to analog form. “ [0052] recites, “ For example, processing module 920 may include digital logic, a processor, a microcontroller, a DSP, and/or other processing elements. In FIG. 9, processing module 910 includes latency calculator 502. In an embodiment, latency calculator 502 is configured to perform step 608. As shown in FIG. 9, latency calculator 502 receives master piconet clock timestamp 706 and receives slave clock signal 930. Furthermore, latency calculator 502 may store and/or receive an indication of one or more delays for data passing through sink device 900 to output element 906. For example, latency calculator 502 may store or receive an indication of a delay of data received on data signal 928 passing through codec 904 (e.g., a FIFO delay). In another example, latency calculator 502 may store or receive an indication of a delay of data passing through baseband processing module 916 (e.g., a buffer delay, a delay of DSP 918, etc.).” It would have been considered as straightforward implementation for the person skilled in the art to use DSP unit for expanding compressed data such that the buffer would have a size appropriate to the size of received data, without the involvement of an inventive step.)
Claim 7 is not a feature rather implementation detail. It is easily understandable to an ordinary person with the skill in the art that RX packet buffer size can be chosen as per design objective and can be chosen as integral number of expander buffer size. This claim does not involve any inventive step.
Regarding Claim 9, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Jerlhagen further teaches,
The system according to claim 1, wherein the previously determined schedule includes uplink and the downlink communications over a same channel. -Fig. 5; Paragraph [0029] (Fig. 5 shows bi-directional (uplink and downlink) communication between source device and sink device. [0029] recites, “For example, first and second communication channels 110a and 110b may each include RF communication signals transmitted in a unicast (point-to-point; uni- or bi-directional) channel manner between source device 102 and a respective, designated one of first and second sink devices 104a and 104b. “)
Regarding Claim 14, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Jerlhagen further teaches,
The system according to claim 1, wherein the frame synchronization circuit includes at least one of: a packet detector circuit, a correlator circuit, a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit, a delay-locked loop (DLL) circuit, and frequency locked loop (FLL) circuit. -Paragraph [0062] ([0062] recites, “For example, in an embodiment, codec clock generator 908 may include a variable phase lock loop (PLL). Codec clock rate adjustment signal 940 may be received as an input reference signal by the variable PLL to speed up or slow down the oscillation rate of the PLL to vary the rate of codec clock signal 938.”)
Claim 15 is the method claim corresponding to the system claim 1. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 1 above which is rejected. Claim 15 is rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Claim 17 is the method claim corresponding to the system claim 9. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 9 above which is rejected. Claim 17 is rejected under the same rational as claim 9.
Claim 21 is the method claim corresponding to the system claim 14. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 14 above which is rejected. Claim 21 is rejected under the same rational as claim 14.
Claim 22 is essentially same as Claim 1 except the wireless audio device is specific and the added limitation is it should include a microphone system or in an in-ear monitor. All other limitations are same. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 1 above which is rejected. Claim 22 is rejected under the same rational as Claim 1.
Although implicit, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
A wireless audio device included in a microphone system or in an in-ear monitor.
However, in an analogous invention, Georgi teaches,
A wireless audio device included in a microphone system or in an in-ear monitor. -Paragraph [0006] ([0006] recites, “the present invention is to provide an improved wireless microphone and/or in-ear monitoring system. In particular the invention seeks to provide a system which arranges microphone and in-ear links operated in parallel relationship in a time multiplex configuration and operates in a comparatively wide channel bandwidth. All devices used in the system are to be capable of transmitting and receiving data.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “wireless audio device included in a microphone system or in an in-ear monitor” of Giorgi. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve wireless microphone and/or in-ear monitoring system [0006].
Claim 24 is essentially same as claim 9. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 9 above which is rejected. Claim 24 is rejected under the same rational as claim 9.
Claims 2, 16, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerlhagen in view of Georgi and further in view of YU et al. (Patent No: US 2011/0110470 A1), hereinafter, YU.
Regarding Claim 2, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of claim 1.
Jerlhagen further teaches,
The system according to claim 1, wherein in the wireless audio device, the frame synchronization circuit is operative to generate audio data and related timing RF communication module 914 recovers communication packet 702, which includes data 704 and master piconet clock timestamp 706. Master piconet clock timestamp 706 is stored in storage 912. As shown in the example of FIG. 9”)
Although implicit, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
detected PHY frame boundary timing via signal correlation associated with the received frames.
However, in an analogous invention, YU teaches,
detected PHY frame boundary timing via signal correlation associated with the received frames. -Paragraph [0014] ([0014] recites, “ According to one aspect, the invention provides a method of WLAN frame detection in a received signal, wherein the frame comprises first and second training sequences and the method comprises auto-correlating the signal with a delayed version of itself to establish a first frame boundary estimate based on behaviour of the autocorrelation result due to the inclusion of the first training sequence in the frame…”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “detected PHY frame boundary timing via signal correlation associated with the received frames.” of YU. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the reliability of detection [0033].
Claim 16 is the method claim corresponding to the system claim 2. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 2 above which is rejected. Claim 16 is rejected under the same rational as claim 2.
Claim 23 is essentially same as claim 2. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 2 above which is rejected. Claim 23 is rejected under the same rational as claim 2.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerlhagen in view of Georgi and further in view of Ramaswamy et al. (Patent No: US 2004/0162078 A1), hereinafter, Ramaswamy.
Regarding Claim 3, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of claim 1.
Claim 3 is the very basic blocks for audio transmission/reception and it is very well known to any ordinary person with the skill in the art that these are the basic components and there might be many more other components with the transceiver/processor for audio signals. This is not a new feature at all. Although implicit, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention (very well known basic blocks),
The system according to claim 1, the wireless audio device further including: an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) for converting an input audio signal to digital domain utilizing the audio clock; a synchronization buffer operative to receive digital output of said ADC; a compressor and related compressor buffer operative to receive output of said synchronization buffer; a first RF modem including a transmitter and related TX packet buffer operative to receive output of said compressor; wherein compressed packets are directly written from the compressor buffer to a TX packet buffer for transmission to the base station.
However, Ramaswamy teaches,
The system according to claim 1, the wireless audio device further including: an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) for converting an input audio signal to digital domain utilizing the audio clock; a synchronization buffer operative to receive digital output of said ADC; a compressor and related compressor buffer operative to receive output of said synchronization buffer; a first RF modem including a transmitter and related TX packet buffer operative to receive output of said compressor; wherein compressed packets are directly written from the compressor buffer to a TX packet buffer for transmission to the base station. -Fig. 1, 2; Paragraph [0021, 0026-0028] ([0021] recites, “Audio signals are applied via a terminal 11 to a digital audio compressor (DAC)12. The digital audio compressor 12 processes the audio signals into digital signals as will be subsequently illustrated and the output thereof is applied to a further input of the transport multiplexer 40. From the terminal 11 the audio signals are also applied to a second digital audio compressor 13. The compressed data signals exiting the compressor 13 are applied to a delay circuit 14 and from there to a fourth input of the transport multiplexer 40.” [0026-0028] recites,” In FIG. 2 the received signal is demodulated by reversing the processes that were applied in the transmitter. That is, the incoming VSB signals are received, downconverted, filtered and then detected. The segment sync and the frame sync are then recovered. This is accomplished by the mixer 100, the local oscillator 101, the low pass filter 102, the analog-to-digital converter 103, the mixer 104 and the carrier recovery circuit 106 as well as the interpolator 107 and the symbol timing recovery circuit 108…..The segment sync signal aids in the receiver clock recovery
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “detected PHY frame boundary timing via signal correlation associated with the received frames.” of YU. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve the reliability of detection [0033].
Regarding Claim 4, Jerlhagen, Georgi and Ramaswamy teach the limitations of Claim3.
Claim 4 is not a feature, but implementation choice. Tx packet buffer size is generally way larger than compressor buffer size and making it multiple of compressor buffer size is a design choice and not inventive. Ramaswamy teaches, [0011] “The audio fade duration, for example, can be supported for a larger time period than that supported for the video. In this case, this will cause the delay buffer to be larger for the audio channel …”
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerlhagen in view of Georgi and further in view of Hartnett (Patent No: US 6754295 B1), hereinafter, Hartnett.
Regarding Claim 8, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, and well known to an ordinary person with the skill in the art, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
The system according to claim 1, wherein said master clock source includes a local oscillator in said base station or a clock signal from an audio mixing console to a digital interface in said base station.
However, Hartnett teaches,
The system according to claim 1, wherein said master clock source includes a local oscillator in said base station or a clock signal from an audio mixing console to a digital interface in said base station. -col. 2; line 24-26 (recites, “According to one feature, the encoding master clock generator generates an encoding master clock signal from the encoding local oscillator…”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “master clock source includes a local oscillator in said base station.” of Hartnett. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order for improved clock generation.
Claims 12, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerlhagen in view of Georgi and further in view of Zhang et al. (Patent No: US 2019/0089760 A1), hereinafter, Zhang.
Regarding Claim 12, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, and well known to an ordinary person with the skill in the art, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
The system according to claim 1, further comprising, in the wireless audio device, a synchronization circuit operative to provide digital feedforward synchronization or analog feedback synchronization of an audio clock to frame synchronization clock timing.
However, in an analogous invention, Zhang teaches,
The system according to claim 1, further comprising, in the wireless audio device, a synchronization circuit operative to provide digital feedforward synchronization or analog feedback synchronization of an audio clock to frame synchronization clock timing. -Paragraph [0233] ([0233] recites, “local_t0 and remote_t0 can be calibrated later using the synchronization timestamps in the FEEDFORWARD message. The streamer calculates these synchronization timestamps based on the round trip time and the timestamp in the FEEDBACK message.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “ a synchronization circuit operative to provide digital feedforward synchronization or analog feedback synchronization of an audio clock to frame synchronization clock timing.” of Zhang. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to improve streaming performance with multiple different streaming devices [0039].
Claim 19 is the method claim corresponding to the system claim 12. The applicant’s attention is directed towards claim 12 above which is rejected. Claim 19 is rejected under the same rational as claim 12.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jerlhagen in view of Georgi and further in view of Stezskal et al. (Patent No: US 2023/0292135 A1), hereinafter, Stezskal.
Regarding Claim 13, Jerlhagen and Georgi teach the limitations of Claim 1.
Although implicit, Jerlhagen does not explicitly mention,
The system according to claim 1, wherein clocks include further at least one of: an analog-to digital converter (ADC) clock, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) clock, a transmitter (TX) clock, a receiver (RX) clock, and a radio frequency (RF) clock.
However, in an analogous invention, Stezskal teaches,
The system according to claim 1, wherein clocks include further at least one of: an analog-to digital converter (ADC) clock, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) clock, a transmitter (TX) clock, a receiver (RX) clock, and a radio frequency (RF) clock. -Fig. 4; Paragraph [0127] ([0127] recites, “The first IF signal is then frequency mixed 308 again with a fixed frequency signal from a LO/ADC clock (CLK) 309, the fixed frequency signal having a frequency of about 3,072 MHz, to form a second IF signal having a frequency of about 417 MHz. The second IF signal is then amplified 310 and provided to the ADC 311 for analog-to-digital conversion”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the “Synchronization Of A Split Audio, Video, Or Other Data Stream With Separate Sinks” proposed by Jerlhagen to include the concept of “clocks include further at least one of: an analog-to digital converter (ADC) clock.” of Stezskal. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order for improved frequency planning for wideband receivers [0127].
Conclusion
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/AHMED SAIFUDDIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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