DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Numbering
A series of singular dependent claims is permissible in which a dependent claim refers to a preceding claim which, in turn, refers to another preceding claim.
A claim which depends from a dependent claim should not be separated by any claim which does not also depend from said dependent claim. It should be kept in mind that a dependent claim may refer to any preceding independent claim. In general, applicant's sequence will not be changed. See MPEP § 608.01(n).
Claim Objections
As to claim 19, line 1, the phrase “computer redable medium” appears to be a typo that is intended to read “computer readable medium.” Appropriate correction is required.
As to claim 3, lines 2-3, the term “in-formation” may be intended to read “information.”
As to claim 5, lines 3-4, the term “in-formation” may be intended to read “information.”
As to claim 12, lines 4-5, the term “in-formation” may be intended to read “information.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sengoku, U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2018/0027174 A1, in view of Miyamoto et al., (hereafter referred to as “Miyamoto”), WO 2022/075081 A1 (with reference made to its machine translation).
As to claim 1, Sengoku discloses a transmission apparatus (Fig. 3; ¶ [0040], in particular “A transmitter 314 in the image sensor 312 may be adapted or configured to encode data for transmission over the high-speed data link 322”) comprising:
a controller configured to perform operations (¶ [0038], “The image sensor 208 may include a controller 214 that may be configured by the application processor 202. The controller 214 may control certain aspects of the operation of the image sensor 208”) comprising:
generating frame data corresponding to output data generated by a sensor (¶ [0061], in particular “According to certain aspects disclosed herein, an image sensor may be configured to embed configuration update information as parameters, code words or other signals in metadata transmitted with image frames”);
generating a plurality of packets based on the frame data (¶¶ [0055] and [0056]), each of the packets including one of a plurality of lines of image data in the frame data (¶ [0055], in particular “Each row of pixels (line) may be encoded in a packet”; ¶ [0056], in particular “Multiple image data packets 804, 806, 808 may be sent (here, N data lines)”); and
transmitting the packets (¶¶ [0055] and [0056]).
Sengoku is silent on the frame data being generated according to a frame format that includes at least one of first security information or first functional safety information.
However, Miyamoto discloses the frame data being generated according to a frame format that includes at least one of first security information (Pg. 4 of the machine translation, in particular “MIPI A-PHY has an asymmetric data link layer (asymmetric upper layer) with a point-to-point topology, making it possible to share the same physical wiring with high-speed data transmission, control data, and power, as well as cameras and sensors. It serves as the foundation for an end-to-end system designed to simplify display integration, while also incorporating functional safety and security”; Pg. 61 of the machine translation, in particular “The extended packet footers ePF1 and ePF0 may have security features defined. That is, the image sensor 1211 may include a security calculation unit (for example, a encryption calculation unit, a decryption calculation unit, a hash value calculation unit, a message authentication code calculation unit, and a digital signature calculation unit). Then, the result of the security operation (for example, hash value, message authentication code, digital signature) may be stored in the extended packet footer ePF”) or first functional safety information (Pg. 4 of the machine translation, in particular “MIPI A-PHY has an asymmetric data link layer (asymmetric upper layer) with a point-to-point topology, making it possible to share the same physical wiring with high-speed data transmission, control data, and power, as well as cameras and sensors. It serves as the foundation for an end-to-end system designed to simplify display integration, while also incorporating functional safety and security”; Pg. 62 of the machine translation, in particular “That is, the image sensor 1211 includes an integrity calculation unit (for example, the first protection unit = security calculation unit, the second protection unit = CRC calculation unit), and the integrity calculation value (for example, the first protection unit) is the result of calculating the integrity. 1 protection data, 2nd protection data) may be stored in the extended packet footer. It should be noted that CRC can be used for functional safety and its integrity can be used to prevent undetected hardware failures. On the other hand, the integrity of security features can be used to detect intentional interference or attacks. That is, the security calculation unit calculates the integrity calculation value based on the cryptography, and the CRC calculation unit calculates the integrity calculation value not based on the encryption”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claim 17, the claim is rejected for reasons similar to those given for claim 1 above. Namely, the method claim is directed to the same operations that were addressed for claim 1 above.
Furthermore, Sengoku discloses a method (¶ [0026]).
As to claim 19, the claim is rejected for reasons similar to those given for claim 1 above. Namely, the claim is directed to the same operations that were addressed for claim 1 above.
Furthermore, Sengoku discloses a non-transitory computer redable medium storing program code (¶ [0076]), the program code being executable by a processor to perform operations (¶ [0076]).
As to claim 2, Sengoku is silent on wherein the frame format includes the first security information, the first functional safety information, a second security information and a second functional safety information.
However, Miyamoto discloses wherein the frame format includes the first security information (Pg. 4 of the machine translation, in particular “MIPI A-PHY has an asymmetric data link layer (asymmetric upper layer) with a point-to-point topology, making it possible to share the same physical wiring with high-speed data transmission, control data, and power, as well as cameras and sensors. It serves as the foundation for an end-to-end system designed to simplify display integration, while also incorporating functional safety and security”; Pg. 61 of the machine translation, in particular “The extended packet footers ePF1 and ePF0 may have security features defined. That is, the image sensor 1211 may include a security calculation unit (for example, a encryption calculation unit, a decryption calculation unit, a hash value calculation unit, a message authentication code calculation unit, and a digital signature calculation unit). Then, the result of the security operation (for example, hash value, message authentication code, digital signature) may be stored in the extended packet footer ePF”), the first functional safety information (Pg. 4 of the machine translation, in particular “MIPI A-PHY has an asymmetric data link layer (asymmetric upper layer) with a point-to-point topology, making it possible to share the same physical wiring with high-speed data transmission, control data, and power, as well as cameras and sensors. It serves as the foundation for an end-to-end system designed to simplify display integration, while also incorporating functional safety and security”; Pg. 62 of the machine translation, in particular “That is, the image sensor 1211 includes an integrity calculation unit (for example, the first protection unit = security calculation unit, the second protection unit = CRC calculation unit), and the integrity calculation value (for example, the first protection unit) is the result of calculating the integrity. 1 protection data, 2nd protection data) may be stored in the extended packet footer. It should be noted that CRC can be used for functional safety and its integrity can be used to prevent undetected hardware failures. On the other hand, the integrity of security features can be used to detect intentional interference or attacks. That is, the security calculation unit calculates the integrity calculation value based on the cryptography, and the CRC calculation unit calculates the integrity calculation value not based on the encryption”), a second security information (Pg. 61 of the machine translation, in particular “The extended packet footers ePF1 and ePF0 may have security features defined. That is, the image sensor 1211 may include a security calculation unit (for example, a encryption calculation unit, a decryption calculation unit, a hash value calculation unit, a message authentication code calculation unit, and a digital signature calculation unit). Then, the result of the security operation (for example, hash value, message authentication code, digital signature) may be stored in the extended packet footer ePF”) and a second functional safety information (Pg. 100 of the machine translation, in particular “When the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 1512 is within the operation guarantee range, the temperature detection unit 1512 may send a peculiar message indicating that it is normal, or may not send the peculiar message. You may do it. Further, instead of the abnormal message or the normal message, the detected temperature value itself may be transmitted as a peculiar message. Further, a plurality of temperature detection units 1512 may be provided for functional safety, and a peculiar message indicating an abnormality may be transmitted when each detection result is out of the range of each threshold value. In that case, even if an abnormality occurs in a part of the temperature detection unit 1512, it can be dealt with.”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claims 18 and 20, the claims are rejected for reasons similar to those given for claim 2 above.
As to claim 3, Sengoku is silent on wherein the first security information includes at least one of security error in- formation of register communication, detection information of an attack on the sensor, or information for analysis of a security error, and the second security information includes at least one of Initialization Vector information or Message Authentication Code.
However, Miyamoto discloses wherein the first security information includes at least one of security error in-formation of register communication, detection information of an attack on the sensor, or information for analysis of a security error (Pg. 44 of the machine translation, in particular “As shown in FIG. 65, the CCI-FS processing unit 901 is provided with a CCI-FS switch, a register, and the like in the upper layer, and a CCI processing unit is provided in the lower layer. The CCI-FS processing unit 901 includes a CCI-FS transmission unit 911 and a CCI-FS reception unit 912. Various register setting value information is supplied from the register 902 to the CCI-FS processing unit 901, and an error notification is supplied from the CCI-FS processing unit 901 to the register 902”), and the second security information includes at least one of Initialization Vector information or Message Authentication Code (Pg. 71 of the machine translation, in particular “For example, if the image sensor 1211 computes a MAC value such as the Galois Message Authentication Code (GMAC) value of a message with the same session key and the same initialization vector value”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claim 4, Sengoku is silent on wherein the first functional safety information includes at least one of functional safety error information of register communication, failure information inside the sensor, detection information of irregular operation of the sensor or information for analysis of functional safety error, and the second functional safety information includes Cyclic Redundancy Check value.
However, Miyamoto discloses wherein the first functional safety information includes at least one of functional safety error information of register communication, failure information inside the sensor, detection information of irregular operation of the sensor or information for analysis of functional safety error (Pg. 100 of the machine translation, in particular “When the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 1512 is within the operation guarantee range, the temperature detection unit 1512 may send a peculiar message indicating that it is normal, or may not send the peculiar message. You may do it. Further, instead of the abnormal message or the normal message, the detected temperature value itself may be transmitted as a peculiar message. Further, a plurality of temperature detection units 1512 may be provided for functional safety, and a peculiar message indicating an abnormality may be transmitted when each detection result is out of the range of each threshold value. In that case, even if an abnormality occurs in a part of the temperature detection unit 1512, it can be dealt with.”), and the second functional safety information includes Cyclic Redundancy Check value (Pg. 62 of the machine translation, in particular “That is, the image sensor 1211 includes an integrity calculation unit (for example, the first protection unit = security calculation unit, the second protection unit = CRC calculation unit), and the integrity calculation value (for example, the first protection unit) is the result of calculating the integrity. 1 protection data, 2nd protection data) may be stored in the extended packet footer. It should be noted that CRC can be used for functional safety and its integrity can be used to prevent undetected hardware failures. On the other hand, the integrity of security features can be used to detect intentional interference or attacks. That is, the security calculation unit calculates the integrity calculation value based on the cryptography, and the CRC calculation unit calculates the integrity calculation value not based on the encryption”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claim 5, Sengoku discloses wherein the frame format includes the first security information and the first functional safety information in a header, and the second security in- formation and the second functional safety information in a footer.
However, Miyamoto discloses wherein the frame format includes the first security information and the first functional safety information in a header, and the second security in-formation and the second functional safety information in a footer (Pg. 61 of the machine translation, in particular “The image sensor 1211 stores the message count value counted by the message counter 1308 in the extended packet header or the extended packet footer in order to ensure functional safety (for example, detecting missing messages and taking appropriate measures).”; Pg. 62, in particular “In the extended packet footer, for example, the packet data is used as a verified packet, or the extended packet header and packet data are used as a verified packet, and either a hash (particularly cryptographic hash) value, a message authentication code, or a digital signature is used. Security information may be stored. In that case, it is possible to make it more resistant to malicious tampering from an attacker. The CRC of the cyclic redundancy check, which is a kind of error detection code, may be stored in the extended packet footer "ePF1" or "ePF1 and ePF0"”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claim 6, Sengoku is silent on wherein the frame format includes the first functional safety information in a first header line and the first security information in a second header line next to the first header line.
However, Miyamoto discloses wherein the frame format includes the first functional safety information in a first header line and the first security information in a second header line next to the first header line (Fig. 36; Pg. 28 of the machine translation, in particular “The outline of the extended packet header ePH and the extended packet footer ePF will be described with reference to FIG. 36. As shown in FIG. 36, the CCI-FSE2E packet is composed of the extended packet header ePH, the packet data, and the extended packet footer ePF, and the packet length is Length = Byte Count × Data Byte width. The extended packet header ePH uses fields such as extended VC, extended DT, and Message Counter. The length of the extended packet header ePH can be changed by the field value (epFEN field) of the extended packet header ePH. Packet data is composed of, for example, PL data (Data 0 to Data PL-1), and its length is Length = Packet Length (PL) × Data Byte Width. In the case of a read command, data is not stored in the packet data when security is off, and 1-byte dummy data is stored when security is on. In the case of write access, the packet data stores the write data for the payload data. In the case of read access, the packet data stores read data for the payload data. When Clock Stretch (Control Code Indicator = 1 of ePH0) is used, a 1-byte data payload indicating the type of control is attached to the packet data. The length of the extended packet footer ePF1 can be changed by the field setting value (epFEN field) of the extended packet header ePH. In addition, security-related information can be added. The extended packet footer ePF0 is a field setting value of the extended packet header ePH, and CRC-32 calculated from the packet data can be added.”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claims 7-10, the claims are rejected for reason similar to those given for claim 6 above.
As to claim 11, Sengoku is silent on wherein each of the packets has a packet header including a first flag indicating that the first and second security information is present and a second flag indicating that the first and second functional safety information is present.
However, Miyamoto discloses wherein each of the packets has a packet header including a first flag indicating that the first and second security information is present and a second flag indicating that the first and second functional safety information is present (Pg. 5 of the machine translation, in particular “For example, the extended packet header is composed of setting information such as an SROI identification flag, an extended VC (VirtualChannel), an extended DataType, an OePH selection flag, and an OePF selection flag, as shown in the figure”; Pg. 6 of the machine translation, in particular “Also, since the optional extended packet header and optional extended packet footer have a large number of bits, a flag called OePHF is prepared, and if this flag is 1, OePH / OePF information is transmitted next”).
It 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 to modify the teachings of Sengoku in the aforementioned manner as taught by Miyamoto in order to increase the security and functional safety of the invention of Sengoku.
As to claim 12, the claim is rejected for reasons similar to those given for claim 11 above.
As to claims 13 and 14, the claims are rejected for reasons similar to those given for claim 2 above.
As to claims 15 and 16, the claims are rejected for reasons similar to those given for claim 1 above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the Notice of References Cited (PTO-892).
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/Brian Whipple/
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2447
3/20/26
Prosecution Insights