Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
2. This communication is responsive to Application No. 18/879,483 filed on December 27, 2024. Claims 18 and 22-25 have been canceled. Claims 1-17 and 19-21 have been amended. Accordingly, claims 1-17 and 19-21 are subject to examination.
Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)
3. The IDS submitted on 12/30/24 has been entered and considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections/Suggestions
4. Following claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
in claim 1, “, IDFT;” (line 7) should be replaced with “(IDFT);”;
in claim 10, “, OOK,” (line 3) should be replaced with “(OOK)” and “, PSK.” (line 3) should be replaced with “(PSK).”;
in claim 14, “, QPSK,” (line 3) should be replaced with “(QPSK)” and “Modulation, QAM, 4” (line 3) should be replaced with “Modulation-4 (QAM-4)”; and
in claim 19, “, UL,” (line 2) should be replaced with “(UL)”, “, SL,” (line 3) should be replaced with “(SL)”, “OFDM” (line 4) should be replaced with “orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)”, “memory” (line 7) should be replaced with “a memory”, “protocol” (line 8) should be replaced with “operation”, “such that” (line 9) should be replaced with “in a manner that” and “the device,” (line 10) should be replaced with “the device, and”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretations
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. –An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
6. This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitation(s) uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitation(s) is/are: “neuromorphic couplings” in claims 1 and 20; and “device” in claim 19.
Because this/these claim limitation(s) is/are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, it/they is/are being interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification as performing the claimed function, and equivalents thereof.
If Applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, Applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
7. 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.
8. Claims 1-17 and 19-21 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 pre-AIA the Applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the respective" in line 10. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Hence, renders claim 1 and its dependent claims indefinite. Similar rejection applies to claim 20.
Claim 3 recites the limitations "the respective" in line 3 and "the absence" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. In addition, claim 2 recites “a spike input” (line 2) and “a spike input” (line 4). It is not clear whether said "spike input" (line 4) is different from or the same as "spike input" (line 2).
Claim 4 recites the limitations "the mapping" in line 2 and "the binary-valued frequency domain component" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitations "the real part" in line 5 and "the imaginary part" in line 8. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the binary value" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 19 recites the limitations "the binary-valued frequency domain components" in lines 9-10, "the input neurons" in line 10, "the output neurons" in line 11 and "the time domain signal" in line 12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim.
Reason for Allowance
9. Keskin (US 12,353,261 B2) teaches in Figure 1 input neurons (102 “NEURONS”), weights (104 “WEIGHTS”) and output neurons (106 “NEURONS”); and in Figures 3-6 neural network circuit. Grollier (US 2024/0303484 A1) teaches in Figure 1 a neuromorphic circuit implementing a spiking neural network. Kovshov (US 2024/0005141 A1) teaches in Figure 5 a neuron with weights and a summation. Hamerly (US 11,604,978 B2) teaches in Figure 2 a neural network with matrix multiplication circuitry. Park (US 10,567,205 B2) teaches in Figure 8 time/frequency (DFT/IDFT) domain components. Dorosenco (US 9,608,675 B2) teaches in Figure 5 transmitting OFDM symbols.
However, with regard to claims 1 and 20, the prior art of record fails to disclose said neuromorphic couplings (Figures 3-6: 300); and regarding claim 19, the prior art of record fails to disclose said device (Figure 1: 100) as claimed in “combination” with “the corresponding structure, material or act described in the Applicant’s specification as performing the entire claimed function and [or] equivalents thereof” where applicable under 35 U.S.C 112(f).
Conclusion
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to SHAWKAT M. ALI whose telephone number is (571) 270-1639. The Examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 8:30AM-3:30PM ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO AIR at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s Supervisor, SAM K. AHN can be reached on (571) 272-3044. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHAWKAT M ALI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2633
