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 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 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.
Claim(s) 1-7, 12, 13, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Doany (Publication No.: US 2009/0226130 A1) in view of Krug (Publication No.: US 2015/0341113 A1) .
Regarding claim 1, Doany teaches An optically interconnected system, comprising: a multicore fiber (reference numeral 812 in Figure 8) ; a first semiconductor package (reference numeral 800 in Figure 8) with a first aperture (e.g. the aperture within which reference numeral 810 in Figure 8 is positioned) to receive a first end of the multicore fiber; first semiconductor logic circuitry (reference numeral 606 in Figure 6) mounted on a first substrate (reference numeral 606 in Figure 6; reference numeral 804 in Figure 8) in the first semiconductor package, the first substrate having a first substrate aperture (e.g. “OPTICAL WINDOWS” as illustrated in Figure 6) aligned with the first aperture of the first semiconductor package so as to form an aperture through the first substrate and the first semiconductor package; first transceiver circuitry (reference numeral 302 in Figure 3; reference numeral 608, 610 in Figure 6) , in the first semiconductor package, electrically coupled to the first semiconductor logic circuitry (e.g. via reference numeral 308, 302, 306 in Figure 3); a plurality of first light sources (reference numeral 608, 610 in Figure 6), in the first semiconductor package, electrically coupled to be driven by the first transceiver circuitry (e.g. via reference numeral 308, 302, 306 in Figure 3), the plurality of first light sources positioned to emit light into the first end of a multicore fiber (e.g. as illustrated in Figure 6 and Figure 8); and a plurality of first photodetectors (reference numeral 608, 610 in Figure 6), in the first semiconductor package, electrically coupled to provide signals to the first transceiver circuitry (e.g. via reference numeral 308, 302, 306 in Figure 3), the plurality of first photodetectors positioned to receive light from the first end of the multicore fiber (e.g. as illustrated in Figure 6 and Figure 8). Doany differs from the claim invention in that it fails to specifically teach that it fails to specifically teach that the plurality of light sources are micro LED light sources. However, Krug teaches that coupling micro LED light sources to a multicore fiber is well known in the art (reference numeral 24, 22, 50 in Figure 4A). One skilled in the art would have been motivated to couple a micro LED light source to a multicore fiber in order to emit light of substantially the same frequency, thereby allowing spatial multiplexing to transmit visible light to and from the lighting array (as in paragraph [0034] of Krug). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art to couple a micro LED light source to a multicore fiber in Doany as taught by Krug.
Regarding claim 2, the combination of references and Doany in particular teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the first transceiver circuitry (reference numeral 302 in Figure 3; reference numeral 608, 610 in Figure 6) is mounted to the first substrate (reference numeral 606 in Figure 6) .
Regarding claim 3, the combination of references and Doany in particular teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the first semiconductor logic circuitry is in a first chip (e.g. “decoupling capacitors, resistors, inductors, and/or integrated active devices, such as voltage regulators, memory circuits, or other active circuits” as in paragraph [0040]), and the first transceiver circuitry is in a second chip (reference numeral 610 in Figure 6) .
Regarding claim 4, the combination of references and Doany in particular teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the first semiconductor logic circuitry is in a first chip (e.g. “decoupling capacitors, resistors, inductors, and/or integrated active devices, such as voltage regulators, memory circuits, or other active circuits” as in paragraph [0040]) , the first transceiver circuitry is in the first chip (reference numeral 608 in Figure 6) .
Regarding claim 5, the combination of references teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the first photodetectors are formed in a first chip (reference numeral 606 in Figure 6) and the first microLEDs are mounted on the first chip (reference numeral 608 in Figure 6 of Doany; reference numeral 24 in Figure 4A of Krug) .
Regarding claim 6, 7, the combination of references teaches The system of claim 5, but fails to specifically teach that the utilizing first microLED/photodetector reflectors for reflecting light from the first microLED/photodetector optically towards the first end of the multicore fiber. However, utilize of reflectors in an optical fiber system to guide light is well known in the art and Officially Noted as such. One skilled in the art would have been motivated to utilize first microLED/photodetector reflectors for reflecting light from the first microLED/photodetector optically towards the first end of the multicore fiber in order to meet design, budget, or performance requirements. Therefore, it would have been obvious for one skilled in the art to utilize first microLED/photodetector reflectors for reflecting light from the first microLED/photodetector optically towards the first end of the multicore fiber in the combined teachings of Doany and Krug.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of references and Doany in particular teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the first semiconductor package is mounted to a circuit board (reference numeral 802 in Figure 8) .
Regarding claim 13, the combination of references and Doany in particular teaches The system of claim 12, wherein the multicore fiber passes through a first circuit board aperture under the first semiconductor package (reference numeral 603 in Figure 6) .
Regarding claim 16, the combination of references and Doany in particular teaches The system of claim 1, wherein the multicore fiber is a coherent multicore fiber (reference numeral 812 in Figure 8).
Conclusion
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/AGUSTIN BELLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635