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 § 102
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, 10, 19 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bastyr (US 10347236 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Bastyr (US 10347236 B1) discloses a computer-implemented method of updating adaptive filters in a remote active noise control (ANC) system (Bastyr, Fig. 3, item 334; col. 1, ln. 13-19: “Active Noise Control (ANC) systems”), the computer-implemented method comprising:
Receiving one or more local signals from a vehicle (Bastyr, col. 1, ln 32-34: “signals of microphones located in various positions inside the vehicle's
cabin”), wherein
the one or more local signals are associated with noise control by an ANC controller of the vehicle, and wherein each local signal, of the one or more local signals, comprises a reference signal, a noise control signal, an error signal, or a virtual error signal (Bastyr, Fig. 1, items 128, 108, 112, e(n), x(n));
updating, using the one or more local signals, the adaptive filters of the remote ANC system (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 118; Fig. 3; col. 6, ln 5-12: “the cloud 334 through connecting and networking servers, receivers or devices 336 which may include, but are not limited to, SATA, Wi-Fi, lightning, Ethernet, UFS, Edge, 3G, 4G, 5G. etc. on the vehicle. An RNC system 304, connects to the cloud 334 through the device 336. Cloud processing 338 may then be implemented to analyze sensor data captured by the RNC system 304 and create the database to select optimal tuning parameters.”); and
transmitting, to the vehicle, the updated adaptive filter (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 118) to adjust the ANC controller of the vehicle (Bastyr, Figs. 1 and 3, col. 6, ln 47-50: “Two-way communication between the vehicle 302 and the cloud 334 also allows data from the database or map to be uploaded to the cloud for use, or download, by other vehicles.” Downloading includes parameters for adjusting the controller and updating the filter).
Regard claim 10, a method performed in a vehicle associated with a remote active noise control (ANC) system (Bastyr, Fig. 3, item 334; col. 1, ln. 13: “Active Noise Control (ANC) systems”), the method comprising:
transmitting, to a server associated with the ANC system, one or more local signals (Bastyr, col. 1, lns. 29-34:“RNC systems are adaptive Least Mean Square (LMS) systems that continuously adapt W filters …signals of microphones located in various positions inside the vehicle's cabin”, and col. 3, lns. 6-11: “One or more servers, receivers, or devices may operate using a dedicated operating system, multiple software programs and/or platforms for interfaces such as graphics, audio, wireless networking, enabling applications, integrating hardware of vehicle components, systems, and external device”), wherein
the one or more local signals are associated with noise control by an ANC controller of the vehicle, and wherein each local signal, of the one or more local signals, comprises a reference signal, a noise control signal, an error signal, or a virtual error signal (Bastyr, Fig. 1, items 128, 108, 112, e(n), x(n));
receiving, from the server, adaptive filters of the remote ANC system, wherein the adaptive filters are updated based on the one or more local signals; and generating, by the ANC controller, a noise control signal by applying the received adaptive filters to the reference signal (Bastyr, Figs. 1 and 3, col. 6, lns. 47-50: “Two-way communication between the vehicle 302 and the cloud 334 also allows data from the database or map to be uploaded to the cloud for use, or download, by other vehicles.” Downloading includes parameters for adjusting the controller and updating the filter).
Regarding claim 19, a device for updating an adaptive filter in a remote active noise control (ANC) system (Bastyr, Fig. 3, item 334; col. 1, ln. 13: “Active Noise Control (ANC) systems”), the device comprising:
a memory storing instructions (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 130); and at least
one processor configured to execute the instructions (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 128) to cause the device to:
receive one or more local signals from a vehicle (Bastyr, col. 1, ln 32-34: “signals of microphones located in various positions inside the vehicle's
cabin”), wherein
the one or more local signals are associated with noise control by an ANC controller of the vehicle, and wherein each local signal, of the one or more local signals, comprises a reference signal, a noise control signal, an error signal, or a virtual error signal (Bastyr, Fig. 1, items 128, 108, 112, e(n), x(n)),
update, using the one or more local signals, the adaptive filter of the remote ANC system (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 118; Fig. 3; col. 6, lns. 5-12: “the cloud 334 through connecting and networking servers, receivers or devices 336 which may include, but are not limited to, SATA, Wi-Fi, lightning, Ethernet, UFS, Edge, 3G, 4G, 5G. etc. on the vehicle. An RNC system 304, connects to the cloud 334 through the device 336. Cloud processing 338 may then be implemented to analyze sensor data captured by the RNC system 304 and create the database to select optimal tuning parameters. ”), and
transmit, to the vehicle, the updated adaptive filter (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 118) to adjust the ANC controller of the vehicle (Bastyr, Figs. 1 and 3, col. 6, lns. 47-50: “Two-way communication between the vehicle 302 and the cloud 334 also allows data from the database or map to be uploaded to the cloud for use, or download, by other vehicles.” Downloading includes parameters for adjusting the controller and updating the filter).
Regarding claim 20, Bastyr discloses all the limitations of claim 10
A device included in a vehicle (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 104) in a remote active noise control (ANC) system (Bastyr, col. 3., ln 14-17: “noise cancellation system in which one or more vibration sensors are disposed throughout the vehicle to monitor the vibratory behavior of the vehicle's suspension, other axle components and chassis.”), the device comprising:
a memory storing instructions (Bastyr, Fig.3, item 130); and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions (Bastyr, Fig.3, item 128).
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) 2, 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bastyr (US 10347236 B1), and further in view of Giacobello (US 20230395088 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Bastyr discloses all the limitations of claim 1.
Bastyr further discloses, wherein: the updated adaptive filters (Bastyr, Fig. 1, item 118); are associated with a plurality of channels, wherein each of the plurality of channels corresponds to a combination of a reference signal of a respective channel of the plurality of channels and a noise control signal of the respective channel of the plurality of channels (Bastyr, Fig. 2; col. 5, lns 4-31);
the transmitting comprises transmitting, via one or more packets (Bastyr, Col. 3, ln 9: “Connecting and networking servers, receivers or devices may include…
wireless network”, in a wireless network, data travels in packets), each of the updated adaptive filters (Bastyr, Fig. 3, items 334; col. 6, lns. 19-20), each of the one or more packets comprises one or more chunks.
However, Bastyr fails to disclose two or more adaptive filters, of the updated adaptive filters, corresponding to different channels are put in different chunks of a single packet of the one or more packets or put in different packets of the one or more packets.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Giacobello (US 20230395088 A1) discloses adaptive filters, of the updated adaptive filters, corresponding to different channels are put in different chunks of a single packet of the one or more packets or put in different packets of the one or more packets (Giacobello, Fig. 8A, item 872; ¶ [0048]: “the network interface may be configured to parse the digital packet data such that the data destined for a playback device is properly received and processed”) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bastyr with Giacobello to adjust the input filters to provide adequate noise cancellations inside a vehicle.
Regarding claim 11, Bastyr discloses all the limitations of claim 10.
Bastyr further discloses, wherein: each local signal, of the one or more local signals, is a multi-channel signal associated with a plurality of channels (Bastyr, Fig. 2; col. 5, lns 4-31), and
the transmitting the one or more local signals comprises transmitting, to the server via one or more packets, samples for each channel of each local signal of the one or more local signals (Bastyr, Col. 3, ln 9 : “Connecting and networking servers, receivers or devices may include…wireless network”, in a wireless network, data travels in packets); each of the one or more packets comprises one or more chunks.
However, Bastyr fails to disclose two or more samples, of the samples, corresponding to different channels are put in different chunks of a single packet or put in different packets of the one or more packets.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Giacobello (US 20230395088 A1) discloses two or more samples, of the samples, corresponding to different channels are put in different chunks of a single packet or put in different packets of the one or more packets (Giacobello, Fig. 8A, item 872; ¶ [0048]: “the network interface may be configured to parse the digital packet data such that the data destined for a playback device is properly received and processed”) .
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Bastyr with Giacobello to adjust the input filters to provide adequate noise cancellations inside a vehicle.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bastyr (US 10347236 B1), in view of Giacobello (US 20230395088 A1), and further in view of Kollenz (US 20260134860 A1).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Bastyr and Giacobello discloses all the limitations of claim 2.
However, the combination of Bastyr and Giacobello fails to teach wherein each of the one or more chunks comprises: at least one of coefficients of a respective adaptive filter, of the updated adaptive filters, corresponding to a certain channel of the plurality of channels, and channel information of the certain channel.
In an analogous field of endeavor, Kollenz (US 20260134860 A1) discloses at least one of coefficients of a respective adaptive filter, of the updated adaptive filters, corresponding to a certain channel (microphones) of the plurality of channels (Kollenz, Fig 1, items a), g), FB-Mic, FF-Mic; ¶ [0014]: “applying the selected filter
coefficient set as a feedback filter in the current feedback audio path; ¶ [0015] estimating the feedforward transfer function by comparing the received feedforward signal and the received feedback microphone signal using an adaptive algorithm to estimate the feedforward transfer function”), and channel information of the certain channel.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add Kollenz to the combination of Bastyr and Giacobello to adjust the adaptive input filters to provide adequate noise cancellations inside a vehicle.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-9, 12-18 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRIEDRICH FAHNERT whose telephone number is (571)270-7797. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 am-4:00 pm.
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/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/FRIEDRICH FAHNERT/
Examiner
Art Unit 2692
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