DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 20 is allowed.
Claim 20 is allowed since none of the prior art alone or in combination suggests a display device comprising:
a display panel including light emitting pixels and light sensing pixels, each of the light emitting pixels including a light emitting element and each of the light sensing pixels including a photoelectric conversion element; and
a readout circuit connected to the light sensing pixels through readout lines and configured to generate a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal based on sensing currents received from the light sensing pixels in a PPG sensing mode, and wherein in the PPG sensing mode,
one or more of the light emitting pixels in a sensing light emitting area are turned on, one or more of the light sensing pixels in the sensing light emitting area are turned off, and reflected light, which is emitted from the sensing light emitting area and reflected from a blood vessel of a finger of a user, is incident on a partial area of the display panel,
in a first sensing area where the reflected light is incident, one or more of the light emitting pixels are turned off and one or more of the light sensing pixels are turned on, and
in a second sensing area where the reflected light is not incident, one or more of the light emitting pixels are turned off and one or more of the light sensing pixels are turned on.
Claims 3-18 and 22 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 1-2, 19, 21 and 23-26 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2019/0065717 A1 to Won et al (“Won”) in view of US Patent Pub. 2018/0078151 A1 to Allec et al (“Allec”).
As to claim 1, Won discloses a display device (See Fig. 3A) comprising:
a display panel (Fig. 3A) including light emitting pixels (310) and light sensing pixels (310), each of the light emitting pixels including a light emitting element (312, 314, 316) and each of the light sensing pixels including a photoelectric conversion element (318); and
a readout circuit connected to the light sensing pixels through readout lines (340; ¶ 0063),
wherein, in a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensing mode (¶ 0106), the readout circuit is configured to receive first sensing current from one or more of the light sensing pixels in a first sensing area adjacent to a sensing light emitting area that is configured to emit light (¶ 0057, “light receiving module 318 of each pixel 310 to obtain biometric information in a partial region of the display device”).
Won fails to disclose receive second sensing current from one or more of the light sensing pixels in at least one second sensing area spaced from the first sensing area, and generate a PPG signal based on the first sensing current and the second sensing current.
Allec discloses a sensing circuit (See Fig. 2, 200) to receive second sensing current from one or more of the light sensing detectors in a second sensing area (Fig. 2, 202) spaced apparat from the first sensing area (Fig. 2, 204), and generate a PPG signal based on the first sensing current and the second sensing (¶ 0037, “the ambient light detected by light sensor 202 can be used to remove unwanted environmental noise from signal(s) generated by the light sensor 204”.).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Won with the teachings of Allec to receive second sensing current from one or more of the light sensing pixels in at least one second sensing area spaced from the first sensing area, and generate a PPG signal based on the first sensing current and the second sensing current, as suggested by Allec thereby similarly using known configurations such that sensing elements are configured for generating a noise signal that is subtracted from a detection signal and enhancing measurement accuracy.
As to claim 2, Won view of Allec discloses wherein the at least one second sensing area is spaced apart from the sensing light emitting area (Allec, Fig. 2; the light sensor 202 is spaced apart from light sensor 204.),
reflected light, which is emitted from the sensing light emitting area and reflected from a blood vessel of a finger of a user, is incident on the first sensing area (Won, See Fig. 2, ¶ 0057, 0062-0063, “light receiving module 318 of each pixel 310 to obtain biometric information in a partial region of the display device”), and
the reflected light is not incident on the at least one second sensing area (Allec, Fig. 2, ¶ 0032; the light sensor 202 is spaced apart from light sensor 204 for detecting ambient light.).
As to claim 19, Won discloses a main processor (Fig. 2, 220) configured to receive the PPG signal from the readout circuit and determine a biomarker of a user based on the PPG signal (¶ 0106, 0129).
As to claim 21, Won discloses a display device (See Fig. 3A) comprising:
a first pixel (310) to emit light reflected by a finger of a user (¶ 0057);
a light sensing pixel (318) at a position to sense the reflected light (¶ 0057, “light receiving module 318 of each pixel 310 to obtain biometric information in a partial region of the display device”);
a second pixel (310) at a position that does not sense the reflected light (¶ 0057, “As an example, the display device 300 may control the light receiving module 318 of each pixel 310 to obtain biometric information in a partial region of the display device 300. For instance, the display device 300 may activate the light receiving module 318 of the pixel 310 disposed in a biometric information obtaining region, and inactivate a light receiving module 318 of a pixel (second pixel) disposed in the remnant region.”);
a sensing circuit (340) to generate a first sensing signal based on a sensing current output from the light sensing pixel (¶ 0063, “the light receiving module 310 may be forwarded to a sensing module 340”).
Won fails to disclose a sensing circuit to generate a noise signal based on a sensing current output from the second pixel, and a noise eliminator to subtract the noise signal from the first sensing signal to generate a biological signal of the user.
Allec discloses a sensing circuit (See Fig. 2, 200) to generate a first sensing signal based on a sensing current output from a first sensor (204; ¶ 0032, “the user 208 can position a portion of their body (e.g., a finger) over the second light sensor… light detected by the second light sensor 204 can be correlated with one or more physiological parameters of interest”) and a noise signal based on a sensing current output from a second sensor (202; ¶ 0032, “ambient light 206 can be detected by a first light sensor 202”), and a noise eliminator to subtract the noise signal from the first sensing signal to generate a biological signal of the user (¶ 0037, “the ambient light detected by light sensor 202 can be used to remove unwanted environmental noise from signal(s) generated by the light sensor 204”.).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Won with the teachings of Allec of a sensing circuit to generate a first sensing signal based on a sensing current output from a first sensor and a noise signal based on a sensing current output from a second sensor, and a noise eliminator to subtract the noise signal from the first sensing signal to generate a biological signal of the user, as suggested by Allec thereby similarly using known configurations such that sensing elements are configured for generating a noise signal that is subtracted from a detection signal and enhancing measurement accuracy.
As to claim 23, Won discloses wherein the biological signal is a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal (¶ 0106).
As to claim 24, Won discloses wherein the first pixel is configured to emit green light (Fig. 3A, 314; ¶ 0059).
As to claim 25, Won in view of Allec discloses wherein the sensing current output from the second pixel is generated based on one of a motion artifact, micro-motion, mis-positioning, ambient light (¶ 0032), or breathing of the user.
As to claim 26, the same rejection or discussion is used as in the rejection of claim 1.
Conclusion
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/NICHOLAS J LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624