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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on 11/14/2024.
Claims 1-14 are currently pending.
Claims 1-3, 7-14 are rejected.
Claims 1-14 are amended via a preliminary amendment.
Claims 4-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 is objected to for reciting the phrase “capable of,” found in line 17.
This phrase generally refers/relates to claim limitations that can be interpreted as not positively stated and may be considered optional. It is recommended that the phrase "capable of” either be removed from the claims, or replaced with “configured to”.
A similar problem exists in claim 13, lines 2 and 25.
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 1-12 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 “filtering, encoding comprising a step of compression and modulation”. It is not clear which one of the filtering or encoding comprises a step of compression and modulation. Thus, the scope of the subject-matter for which protection is sought is not clearly defined, contrary to the requirements of 35 USC 112.
Therefore, claim 1 is rejected for being vague and indefinite.
Claims 2-12 are also rejected for depending from a rejected base claim.
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, 3, 8-9, 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Joseph Perl (US 5920593 A) in view of Jennifer McDevitt et al (US 12549945 B2).
For Claim 1, Perl discloses a method for discovering a radio communication network and for filtering an audio signal, said method allowing a group communication between a plurality of electronic terminals collocated in a radio zone, each electronic terminal comprising at least one communication interface for transmitting and receiving radio signals (Perl teaches, in Col. 2, lines 55-64, that The mobile telecommunications unit typically comprises a speaker 2 for incoming speech signals, a microphone 3 for outgoing speech signals, a coder/decoder (CODEC) 4, a baseband processor 5), the method comprising:
transmitting a first radio signal by a first electronic terminal (Perl teaches, in FIG. 2, AUDIO IN) including:
acquiring the first audio signal by a microphone (Perl teaches, in Col. 2, lines 55-56, that The mobile telecommunications unit typically comprises a speaker 2 for incoming speech signals, a microphone 3 for outgoing speech signals);
implementing a first control law to implement the following steps when the characteristic data of a voice has been detected in the first audio signal (Perl teaches, in Col. 3, lines 19-22, that If the CODEC compands the speech signal from the microphone 3, the optional .mu.-law-linear converter 20 converts the companded speech signal back to a linear speech signal);
i. filtering, encoding comprising a step of compression and modulation, by a signal processing chain, of said first acquired audio signal, to obtain the first radio signal capable of being transmitted within a radio channel (Perl teaches, in Col. 3, lines 22-25, that The VSELP compressor 22 compresses the speech signal and provides the non-noise portions, as identified by the VOX 23, to the speech channel encoder 24. The speech channel encoder 24 encodes the compressed speech signal. Perl teaches, in Col. 6, lines 1-3, that Modulator 32 produces two modulated signals. The RF/IF module 6 includes digital smoothing low pass filters for smoothing the output of the modulator 32);
ii. transmitting the first radio signal by means of a radio transmitter and via a wireless connection (Perl teaches, in Col. 3, lines 19-22, that The D/A converters 34 of the ASIC 12 typically convert the already modulated signal into an analog one and provide it to the RF/IF module 6. Col. 1, lines 60-62, that a radio frequency/ intermediate frequency (RF/IF) module 6 connected to at least one antenna 7 for transmitting and receiving processed audio signals);
receiving said first radio signal by a plurality of electronic terminals (Perl teaches, in FIG. 2, that The input signal is received using RX_IF_1 and/or RX_IF_2) comprising:
detecting the first radio signal by a radio communication interface of each terminal among the plurality of electronic terminals (Perl teaches, in Col. 3, lines 19-22, that the reception path 16 typically comprises at least one phase sensor 40, a signal selector 42 with its associated timing control unit 43 and an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 44 for providing a digital value for the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) signal.),
calculating a received signal strength value and comparing said calculated received signal strength value with a first threshold (Perl teaches, in Col. 6, lines 35-40, that The energy in each relative signal strength indicator (RSSI) signal over a given period, determined by the timing unit 43, is digitally computed by the RSSI comparator 51);
implementing the following steps when said received signal strength value is greater than said first threshold (Perl teaches, in Col. 6, lines 39-40, that a select signal for the one with the largest energy is provided to a signal selector switch 120):
i. baseband demodulating comprising the first filtered audio signal of said first radio
signal (Perl teaches, in Col. 6, lines 14-22, that Demodulation is performed by the signal demodulators 50 and the phase sensors 40);
ii. decompressing and amplifying, by a second signal processing chain, of said first filtered audio signal (Perl teaches, in Col. 5, lines 10-14, that the new CRC code is compared with the stored CRC code. As defined in the RCR STD-27B standard, if the codes are equivalent, then the segment is provided to the VSELP decompressor 60),
iii. delivering the first decompressed audio signal to an audio output of the terminal (Perl teaches, in FIG. 3, AUDIO OUT).
Perl fails to expressly disclose detecting a characteristic data of a voice in the first audio signal by implementing a first signal processing function; and amplified audio signal to an audio output of each terminal among the plurality of electronic terminals.
However, McDevitt, in the analogous art, discloses detecting a characteristic data of a voice in the first audio signal by implementing a first signal processing function (McDevitt teaches, in Col. 19, lines 30-35, that The microphones 115 convert the received sound into electrical signals to produce microphone data. The voice processing components 124 receive and analyze the microphone data to determine whether a voice input is present in the microphone data); and amplified audio signal to an audio output of each terminal among the plurality of electronic terminals (McDevitt teaches, in Col. 13, lines 1-7, that The electronics 112 is configured to receive audio from an audio source (e.g., the local audio source 150) via the input/output 111, one or more of the computing devices 106a-c via the local network 160 (FIG. 1B)), amplify the received audio, and output the amplified audio for playback via one or more of the transducers 114).
McDevitt further teaches, in Col. 26, lines 38-45, that the media playback system controller application may, whenever it is running, cause the control device 130 to passively (e.g., periodically) scan for available devices over each communication path that the control device 130 is capable of using (e.g., BLE, WiFi, and/or WAC). Advantageously, this may allow for the discovery of the playback device 110 for setup while requiring little or no input by the user. McDevitt further teaches, in Col. 11, lines 39-43, that the NMD-equipped playback device 110e in the environment 101 (FIG. 1A) is in relatively close proximity to the NMD-equipped Living Room playback device 120b, and both devices 110e and 120b may at least sometimes detect the same sound.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl with analyzing the microphone data as taught in McDevitt. The motivation is to determine whether a voice input is present in the microphone data.
For Claim 3, Perl discloses all of the claimed subject matter with the exception that the signal processing function for detecting the characteristic data of a voice is implemented automatically in response to the acquisition of the first audio signal by the microphone.
However, McDevitt, in the analogous art, discloses the signal processing function for detecting the characteristic data of a voice is implemented automatically in response to the acquisition of the first audio signal by the microphone (McDevitt teaches, in Col. 19, lines 30-35, that The microphones 115 convert the received sound into electrical signals to produce microphone data. The voice processing components 124 receive and analyze the microphone data to determine whether a voice input is present in the microphone data).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl with analyzing the microphone data as taught in McDevitt. The motivation is to determine whether a voice input is present in the microphone data.
For Claim 8, Perl discloses a method, wherein transmitting of the first radio signal comprises normalizing sound intensity parameters of the first audio signal as a function of a parameterizable threshold (Perl teaches, in Col. 6, lines 1-3, that Modulator 32 produces two modulated signals. The RF/IF module 6 includes digital smoothing low pass filters for smoothing the output of the modulator 32).
For Claim 9, Perl discloses all of the claimed subject matter with the exception of identifying the first electronic terminal by the receiving terminal, said identifying comprising a comparison of a sequence of parameters of the first radio signal with predefined parameters to allow or not the reception of the first radio signal.
However, McDevitt, in the analogous art, discloses identifying the first electronic terminal by the receiving terminal (McDevitt teaches, in Col. 26, lines 26-30, that a media playback system identifier (e.g., a household identifier or “HHID”), which may be used as a basis to uniquely register the playback device 110 as belonging to the user), said identifying comprising a comparison of a sequence of parameters of the first radio signal with predefined parameters to allow or not the reception of the first radio signal (McDevitt teaches, in Col. 19, lines 9-12, that certain voice processing components 124 may be configured with particular parameters (e.g., gain and/or spectral parameters) that may be modified or otherwise tuned to achieve particular functions).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl with analyzing the microphone data as taught in McDevitt. The motivation is to determine whether a voice input is present in the microphone data.
For Claim 13, please refer to the rejection of Claim 1, above.
Claims 2, 7, 10-12, 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joseph Perl (US 5920593 A) in view of Jennifer McDevitt et al (US 12549945 B2) as applied to claim 1 or 13 above, and further in view of Thomas Lindenbauer et al (US 20110311001 A1).
For Claim 2, Perl & McDevitt disclose all of the claimed subject matter with the exception that the received signal strength value comprises a communication quality indicator, and wherein the calculation of said received signal strength value comprises the calculation of an exponential moving average of strength values of a plurality of first radio signals transmitted by the first terminal.
However, Lindenbauer, in the analogous art, discloses the received signal strength value comprises a communication quality indicator, and wherein the calculation of said received signal strength value comprises the calculation of an exponential moving average of strength values of a plurality of first radio signals transmitted by the first terminal (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0095, that an exponential smoothing of the optionally non-linearly distorted magnitude spectra can be used, as represented in equations (1) with time constant .alpha. for the exponential smoothing. Alternatively, the time-averaging can be formed by a moving average filter).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl & McDevitt with the concealment method taught in Lindenbauer. The motivation is to offer an improvement in the quality of service [Lindenbauer: ¶ 0055].
For Claim 7, Perl & McDevitt disclose all of the claimed subject matter with the exception that the detection of the characteristic data of a voice in the first audio signal comprises the comparison of the first energy level with the voice detection threshold, the characteristic data of a voice being detected when the first energy level is greater than the voice detection threshold.
However, Lindenbauer, in the analogous art, discloses the detection of the characteristic data of a voice in the first audio signal comprises the comparison of the first energy level with the voice detection threshold, the characteristic data of a voice being detected when the first energy level is greater than the voice detection threshold (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0031, that Switching to the other antenna may occur when stipulated criteria or threshold values concerning signal quality are reached. Such a decision may occur as a function of signal intensity (determination of RSSI level) and/or the bit-error rate (BER), whether it is more favorable to switch to the other antenna).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl & McDevitt with the concealment method taught in Lindenbauer. The motivation is to offer an improvement in the quality of service [Lindenbauer: ¶ 0055].
For Claim 10, McDevitt disclose comprises a real-time comparison of a number of transmitters within a radio channel, the first control law being implemented only when said number of transmitters is less than said threshold value (McDevitt teaches, in Col. 26, lines 26-30, deprioritizing playback devices whose beacons have a relatively weaker signal strength), and/or the type and number of playback devices already connected to the user's media playback system).
Perl & McDevitt fail to expressly disclose a threshold value for a radio channel.
However, Lindenbauer, in the analogous art, discloses disclose a threshold value for a radio channel (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0031, that Switching to the other antenna may occur when stipulated criteria or threshold values concerning signal quality are reached. Such a decision may occur as a function of signal intensity (determination of RSSI level) and/or the bit-error rate (BER), whether it is more favorable to switch to the other antenna).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl & McDevitt with the concealment method taught in Lindenbauer. The motivation is to offer an improvement in the quality of service [Lindenbauer: ¶ 0055].
For Claim 11, Perl & McDevitt disclose all of the claimed subject matter with the exception that the reception of the first radio signal comprises the implementation of an algorithm to generate a non-received or degraded portion of said first radio signal from a received portion of said first radio signal.
However, Lindenbauer, in the analogous art, discloses the reception of the first radio signal comprises the implementation of an algorithm to generate a non-received or degraded portion of said first radio signal from a received portion of said first radio signal (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0008, that The concealment signal may be generated and placed on the receiving channel instead of the received audio signal).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl & McDevitt with the concealment method taught in Lindenbauer. The motivation is to offer an improvement in the quality of service [Lindenbauer: ¶ 0055].
For Claim 12, Perl & McDevitt disclose all of the claimed subject matter with the exception of allowing the transmission and reception, by each electronic terminal of datagrams in accordance with a user datagram protocol.
However, Lindenbauer, in the analogous art, discloses allowing the transmission and reception, by each electronic terminal of datagrams in accordance with a user datagram protocol (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0141, that The system is not limited to operation with any particular standards and protocols. For example, standards for Internet and other packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) may be used).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl & McDevitt with the concealment method taught in Lindenbauer. The motivation is to offer an improvement in the quality of service [Lindenbauer: ¶ 0055].
For Claim 14, Perl & McDevitt disclose all of the claimed subject matter with the exception of generation of a radio signal reception authorization control when the calculated received signal strength value (RSSI) is greater than or equal to the first threshold, generation of a radio signal reception blocking control when the calculated received signal strength value (RSSI) is less than the first threshold.
However, Lindenbauer, in the analogous art, discloses generation of a radio signal reception authorization control when the calculated received signal strength value (RSSI) is greater than or equal to the first threshold (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0031, that Switching to the other antenna may occur when stipulated criteria or threshold values concerning signal quality are reached. Such a decision may occur as a function of signal intensity (determination of RSSI level) and/or the bit-error rate (BER), whether it is more favorable to switch to the other antenna), generation of a radio signal reception blocking control when the calculated received signal strength value (RSSI) is less than the first threshold (Lindenbauer teaches, in ¶ 0036, that the signal intensity of the modulated signal (for example, quantified by the RSSI level) is determined. If the RSSI level falls short of a predefined threshold value and/or the bit error rate surpasses a predefined threshold value, the dropout concealment is activated and a concealment signal is synthesized/generated by a concealment unit 1000, and placed on the receiving channel in place of the transmitted audio signal by the audio decoder 700).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system taught in Perl & McDevitt with the concealment method taught in Lindenbauer. The motivation is to offer an improvement in the quality of service [Lindenbauer: ¶ 0055].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-6 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims 1-8 are considered allowable because the prior art does not teach limitations including:
“acquiring a second surrounding noise audio signal by means of a microphone; calculating a first energy level of the first audio signal and a second energy level of the second audio signal by means of the first control
automatic parameterizing a voice detection threshold as a function of the energy level of the calculated second audio signal;
comparing the first energy level with said voice detection threshold,
the first control law being implemented when the first energy level is greater
than the voice detection threshold,” in addition to other claim limitations as recited in dependent claims 4.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Dunn et al (US 8019386 B2) teaches a method and system for enhancing speech intelligibility using wireless communication in portable, battery-powered and entirely user-supportable devices. The devices may be talker devices and receiver devices, where the audio signals input into the talker devices may be transmitted to the receiver devices to provide better quality audio to person using the receiver devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMED A KAMARA whose telephone number is (571)270-5629. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9AM-4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, CHARLES JIANG can be reached on 5712707191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MOHAMED A KAMARA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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