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 § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Steele (US 20070014419 A1, hereinafter “Steele”).
Regarding claim 1, Steele teaches receiving a first electrical signal from a first cardioid microphone capsule of a microphone assembly, the first cardioid microphone capsule oriented to face in a first direction; receiving a second electrical signal from a second cardioid microphone capsule of the microphone assembly, the second cardioid microphone capsule oriented to face in a second direction that is opposite the first direction; (see Fig. 1, [0005]-[0007], [0016], [0063]: adaptive directional microphone system both utilizing a forward-facing and backward-facing cardioid polar pattern, which receives electrical signals, front 20 and rear 22 microphones)
and generating, within the microphone assembly, a polar pattern, wherein generating the polar pattern comprises: converting the first electrical signal into a first audio signal; converting the second electrical signal into a second audio signal; (see [0037], [0062]: first and second signal have omni-directional polar pattern, front 20 and rear 22 microphones include analogue to digital converters to provide to the front 21 and rear signals 22)
applying a first weight to the first audio signal to form a first weighted signal; applying a second weight to the second audio signal to form a second weighted signal; (see [0065]: calculates and applies respective front signal weight 39A and rear signal weight 39B)
and summing the first weighted signal and the second weighted signal to form the polar pattern. (see [0071], [0089]: weighted signals 42A and 42B are then passed to a summing element 44 that outputs an adaptive directional signal 46 by summing the weighted signals 42A and 42B. an omni-directional polar pattern may be produced, i.e. when an omni-directional weight is applied)
Regarding claim 2, Steele teaches the polar pattern includes at least one of an omnidirectional polar pattern, a cardioid polar pattern, a supercardioid polar pattern, a hypercardioid polar pattern, or a figure eight polar pattern. (see Fig.1, [0007]: polar patterns include an omni-directional polar pattern 10, a bi-directional polar pattern 12, a cardioid polar pattern 14, and a super-cardioid polar pattern 16)
Regarding claim 3, Steele teaches the first weight and the second weight are within a range of -1.0 to +1.0. (see claim 12: first and second weight are within a range which defaults to 1.0 if less than predetermined minimum value)
Regarding claim 4, Steele teaches the first weight and the second weight are less than zero or greater than zero. (see claim 12: first and second weight are within a range which defaults to 1.0 if less than predetermined minimum value)
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.
Claim(s) 5-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Steele (US 20070014419 A1, hereinafter “Steele”).
Regarding claim 5, Steele does not teach receiving a third electrical signal from a third cardioid microphone capsule of the microphone assembly, the third cardioid microphone capsule oriented to face in the first direction, wherein generating the polar pattern comprises: converting the third electrical signal into a third audio signal; applying a third weight to the third audio signal to form a third weighted signal; wherein summing the first weighted signal and the second weighted signal further comprises summing the first weighted signal, the second weighted signal, and the third weighted signal, and wherein the generating the polar pattern is based on the sum of the first weighted signal, the second weighted signal, and the third weighted signal.
Note the discussion of claim 1, it would have been obvious for Steele to have additional microphones such as a third microphone and using similar arrangement as that for the first microphone and the second microphone so that receiving a third electrical signal from a third cardioid microphone capsule of the microphone assembly, the third cardioid microphone capsule oriented to face in the first direction, wherein generating the polar pattern comprises: converting the third electrical signal into a third audio signal; applying a third weight to the third audio signal to form a third weighted signal; wherein summing the first weighted signal and the second weighted signal further comprises summing the first weighted signal, the second weighted signal, and the third weighted signal, and wherein the generating the polar pattern is based on the sum of the first weighted signal, the second weighted signal, and the third weighted signal based on designer's preferences and needs since the principle of operation is very similar to how the first and second microphone arrangements are and no unexpected result is achieved.
Regarding claim 6, Steele does not explicitly mention the polar pattern includes a second order cardioid pattern.
However, official notice is taken that it is well-known in the art that a polar pattern may include a second order cardioid pattern, and therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to have included a second order cardioid pattern since it is just one of the many well-known ways that a designer can use to expand the set of patterns and enable higher-order and stereo modes.
Regarding claim 7, Steele does not explicitly mention receiving a fourth electrical signal from a fourth cardioid microphone capsule of the microphone assembly, the fourth cardioid microphone capsule oriented to face in the second direction that is opposite the first direction, wherein the polar pattern is generated based on the first electrical signal, the second electrical signal, the third electrical signal, and the fourth electrical signal.
However, official notice is taken that it is well-known in the art that to include a fourth cardioid microphone capsule that generates a polar pattern based on the previous electrical signals, and therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to have included a fourth cardioid microphone capsule assembly since it is just one of the many well-known ways that a designer can use to expand the set of patterns and enable higher-order and stereo modes.
Regarding claim 8, Steele teaches the polar pattern includes at least one of a see [0007]: super-cardioid polar pattern)
Steele does not teach a second order polar pattern. However, it would have been obvious that the designer/a person of ordinary skill could have chosen such arrangement for a second order polar pattern based on the users' needs/preferences and no unexpected result is produced.
Regarding claim 9, Steele does not explicitly teach the first electrical signal is converted into the first audio signal in a codec of the microphone assembly.
However, it would have been obvious that the designer/a person of ordinary skill could have chosen such arrangement for the first electrical signal is converted into the first audio signal in a codec of the microphone assembly based on the users' needs/preferences and no unexpected result is produced.
Regarding claim 10, Steele does not explicitly teach the first weight is applied to the first audio signal in a microcontroller unit of the microphone assembly.
However, it would have been obvious that the designer/a person of ordinary skill could have chosen such arrangement for the first weight is applied to the first audio signal in a microcontroller unit of the microphone assembly based on the users' needs/preferences and no unexpected result is produced.
Regarding claim 11, Steele does not explicitly teach the polar pattern for the microphone assembly is formed based on a user input received relative to an input device.
However, official notice is taken that it is well-known in the art that the polar pattern for the microphone assembly is formed based on a user input received relative to an input device, and therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to have included a user input since it is just one of the many well-known ways that a designer can use to effectively adjust the pattern continuously based on user input.
Regarding claim 12, Steele teaches a first microphone capsule oriented to face in a first direction within a first plane and configured to generate a first audio signal; a second microphone capsule oriented to face in a second direction that is opposite the first direction in a second plane and configured to generate a second audio signal; (see Fig. 1-2, [0005]-[0007], [0016], [0063]: adaptive directional microphone system both utilizing a forward-facing and backward-facing cardioid polar pattern, which receives electrical signals, front 20 and rear 22 microphones) signal, the second audio signal, an omni-directional polar pattern may be produced, i.e. when an omni-directional weight is applied based on the first and second audio signal)
Steele does not teach a third microphone capsule oriented to face in the first direction within the first plane and configured to generate a third audio signal.
However, official notice is taken that it is well-known in the art that including a plurality of microphone capsules expand the set of patterns and enable high-order and stereo modes, and therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to have included a third microphone capsule oriented to face in the first direction within the first plane and configured to generate a third audio signal since it is just one of the many well-known ways that a designer can use to expand the set of patterns and enable high-order and stereo modes.
Regarding claim 13, Steele teaches the multiple polar patterns include at least one of an omnidirectional polar pattern, a cardioid polar pattern, a supercardioid polar pattern, a hypercardioid polar pattern, a figure eight polar pattern, or a second order cardioid polar pattern. (see Fig.1, [0007]: polar patterns include an omni-directional polar pattern 10, a bi-directional polar pattern 12, a cardioid polar pattern 14, and a super-cardioid polar pattern 16)
Regarding claim 14, Steele teaches a polar pattern of the multiple polar patterns is generated for the microphone assembly based on a direction of sound relative to an orientation of the microphone assembly. (see [0006]: the plot of a polar pattern represents gain as a function of the direction of sound arrival based on the directionality of a particular directional microphone system)
Regarding claim 15, Steele teaches the microphone control system is configured to convert the first audio signal into a first digital signal and convert the second audio signal into a second digital signal. (see [0062]: the front 20 and rear 22 microphones also include suitable analogue-to-digital converters for providing the front 21 and rear signals 22 in a digital form.)
Regarding claim 16, Steele teaches the microphone control system is configured to apply a first weight in a first range of -1.0 to +1.0 to the first digital signal and apply a second weight in a second range of -1.0 to +1.0 to the second digital signal. (see claim 12: first and second weight are within a range which defaults to 1.0 if less than predetermined minimum value)
Regarding claim 17, Steele teaches a polar pattern of the multiple polar patterns is generated for the microphone assembly by summing the first digital signal and the second digital signal. (see [0019]: sum of a first signal having an omni-directional polar pattern and a second signal having a bi-directional polar pattern)
Regarding claim 18, Steele teaches the first, second, and see [0016], [0090]: cardioid directional microphone)
Regarding claim 19, Steele does not teach a fourth microphone capsule oriented in the second direction in the second plane and configured to generate a fourth audio signal, wherein the microphone control system is configured to generate the multiple polar patterns based on at least one of the first audio signal, the second audio signal, the third audio signal, or the fourth audio signal.
However, official notice is taken that it is well-known in the art that including a plurality of microphone capsules expand the set of patterns and enable high-order and stereo modes, and therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill to have included a fourth microphone capsule oriented to face in the first direction within the first plane and configured to generate a third audio signal since it is just one of the many well-known ways that a designer can use to expand the set of patterns and enable high-order and stereo modes.
Regarding claim 20, Steele teaches the multiple polar patterns include at least one of a see [0007]: super-cardioid polar pattern)
Steele does not teach a second order polar pattern. However, it would have been obvious that the designer/a person of ordinary skill could have chosen such arrangement for a second order polar pattern based on the users' needs/preferences and no unexpected result is produced.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANNABELLE KANG whose telephone number is (571)270-3403. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00-5:00.
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/ANNABELLE KANG/Examiner, Art Unit 2695
/VIVIAN C CHIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2695
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