DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is a response to an application filed on 01/06/2025, in which claims 1-14 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d).
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted was filed before the mailing date of the Office Action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1 and 3-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(1) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Funakoshi (US Pub. 20220150384 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Funakoshi discloses a signal processing apparatus comprising (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. Funakoshi; A signal processing system is used for processing sound/acoustic signal, also see Fig. 10, Para. [0111-112].):
one or more memories configured to store instructions; and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to (Funakoshi; Fig. 4, Para. [0039-40]. A signal processing system includes memories with instructions to be executed by processors.):
acquire first time information (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. A first time information is read out/acquired, also see Para. [0028-29].);
perform signal processing on an acoustic signal to generate first acoustic data including the acquired first time information (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate first sound/acoustic data including at least acquired first time information.);
measure processing time for the signal processing based on the acquired first time information and the first acoustic data (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0036-37]. A processing time is detected/measured in accordance with first time information and first acoustic data, also see Para. [0127].);
acquire second time information indicating a time after measuring the processing time (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Second time information is read out/acquired indicating a time after detecting/measuring processing time.);
perform signal processing on the acoustic signal to generate second acoustic data (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate second sound/acoustic data.);
correct the second time information based on the processing time (Funakoshi; Para. [0075-76]. Second time information is corrected based on processing time.); and
record the second acoustic data synchronized in time with the corrected second time information (Funakoshi; Para. [0034-37]. Second sound/acoustic data is stored/recorded, being synchronized with corrected second time information.).
While Funakoshi disclose perform signal processing on the acoustic signal to generate second acoustic data, it does not specifically disclose
perform signal processing on the acoustic signal to generate second acoustic data that does not include the first time information and the acquired second time information (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate second sound/acoustic data, not including first time information and acquired second time information, also see Para. [0131-133, 140-141].);
However, Funakoshi disclose perform signal processing on the acoustic signal to generate second acoustic data that is independent from the first time information and the acquired second time information (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate second sound/acoustic data, wherein a generated second acoustic/sound data is independent from first time information and acquired second time information.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that the generated second acoustic data does not include the first time information and the acquired second time information since they are independent from one another.
Regarding claim 3, Funakoshi teaches the first acoustic data includes the first time information in a data area corresponding to a predetermined channel of the acoustic signal (Funakoshi; Para. [0033]. First sound/acoustic data includes a first time information in a data area of a predetermined channel of sound/acoustic signal, also see Para. [0131-132].).
Regarding claim 4, Funakoshi teaches the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions for switching to perform processing to measure the processing time, or to synchronize the corrected second time information with the second acoustic data (Funakoshi; Para. [0131-133]. Processing is turned to for performing detection/measure of processing time, or for synchronizing corrected second time information with second sound/acoustic data.).
Regarding claim 5, Funakoshi teaches the processing time is measured based on a time at which the first acoustic data is generated, and the first time information (Funakoshi; Para. [0034-37]. Processing time is detected/measured in accordance with first sound/acoustic data generation and first time information, Para. [0139-140].).
Regarding claim 6, Funakoshi teaches the acoustic signal includes a plurality of acoustic signals collected by a plurality of sound collection units (Funakoshi;Para. [0027-29]. Different sound/acoustic signals are collected through units of different channels.), and
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to measure the processing time for each of the plurality of acoustic signals on which the signal processing is performed (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0036-37]. A processing time is detected/measured for each of different sound/acoustic signals, also see Para. [0127].), and
record each of the acoustic data generated from the plurality of the acoustic signals synchronized in time with the corrected second time information (Funakoshi; Para. [0034-37]. Second sound/acoustic data is stored/recorded for different sound/acoustic signals, being synchronized with corrected second time information.).
Regarding claim 7, Funakoshi teaches generating a time code (Funakoshi; Para. [0105-106]. A timecode is generated.), wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to perform synchronization of the signal processed acoustic signal based on a maximum time among the processing times measured for each of the plurality of acoustic signals relative to the time code (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0138-141]. Sound/acoustic signals are processed to be synchronized in accordance with different times among processing times detected for different sound/acoustic signals for different timecodes, including at least max time and min time.).
Claim 8 is directed to a control method for a signal processing apparatus, the control method comprising a sequence of processing steps corresponding to the same as claimed in claim 1, and is non-patentable over the prior art for the same reason as previously indicated.
Claim 9 is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a signal processing apparatus to execute a control method, the control method comprising a sequence of processing steps corresponding to the same as claimed in claim 1, and is non-patentable over the prior art for the same reason as previously indicated.
Claim 10 is directed to a control method for a signal processing system, the control method comprising a sequence of processing steps corresponding to the same as claimed in claim 1, and is non-patentable over the prior art for the same reason as previously indicated.
Regarding claim 11, Funakoshi teaches a signal processor comprising (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. Funakoshi; A signal processing system is used for processing sound/acoustic signal, also see Fig. 10, Para. [0111-112].): a memory configured to store instructions; and a processor configured to execute the instructions to (Funakoshi; Fig. 4, Para. [0039-40]. A signal processing system includes memories with instructions to be executed by processors.):
receive first time identification information (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. A first time information is read out/acquired, also see Para. [0028-29].);
process an acoustic signal to generate first acoustic data that includes the received first time identification information (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate first sound/acoustic data including at least acquired first time information.);
measure a time duration for the processing of the acoustic signal (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0036-37]. A processing time is detected/measured in accordance with first time information and first acoustic data, also see Para. [0127].);
receive second time identification information indicating a time after the measured time duration of the processing of the acoustic signal (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Second time information is read out/acquired indicating a time after detecting/measuring processing time, also see Para. [0140-141].);
correct the second time identification information based on the time duration (Funakoshi; Para. [0075-76]. Second time information is corrected based on processing time, also see Para. [0136-138].);
re-process the acoustic signal to generate second acoustic data (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate second sound/acoustic data, not including first time information and acquired second time information, also see Para. [0131-133, 140-141].); and
record the second acoustic data with the corrected second time identification information (Funakoshi; Para. [0034-37]. Second sound/acoustic data is stored/recorded, being synchronized with corrected second time information.).
Regarding claim 12, Funakoshi teaches based on the measured time duration and the corrected second time identification information, the first acoustic data is synchronized with the second acoustic data (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0138-141]. Sound/acoustic signals are processed to be synchronized in accordance with different times among processing times detected for different sound/acoustic signals, e.g. first acoustic data and second acoustic data for different timecodes, including at least max time and min time.).
Regarding claim 13, Funakoshi discloses the second acoustic data (Funakoshi; See remarks regarding claim 11 above.).
But it does not specifically the second acoustic data does not include the first time identification information or the second time identification information
the second acoustic data being independent from the first time identification information or the second time identification information (Funakoshi; Para. Fig. 1, 3, Para. [0034-37]. Signal processing on sound/acoustic signal is performed to generate second sound/acoustic data, being independent from the first time information and acquired second time information.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to recognize that the generated second acoustic data does not include the first time information and the acquired second time information since they are independent from one another.
Regarding claim 14, Funakoshi teaches the first time identification information is based on measurements of an environment in which the first acoustic data and the second acoustic data are to be output (Funakoshi; Fig. 1, Para. [0034-37]. A first time information is read out/acquired in accordance with measurements of an environment of a first sound data and a second sound data to be output, also see Para. [0028-29].).
Claims 2 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Funakoshi (US Pub. 20220150384 A1) in view of Croft (WO 2002005261 A2).
Regarding claim 2, Funakoshi discloses generating the first acoustic data (Funakoshi; See remarks regarding claim 1 above.).
But it does not specifically disclose generating the first acoustic data includes clipping the acoustic signal in a predetermined unit corresponding to the first time information.
However, Croft teaches generating the first acoustic data includes clipping the acoustic signal in a predetermined unit corresponding to the first time information (Croft; Pg. 10, Ln. 4-28. A first acoustic data is generated by clipping sound/acoustic signal in a predetermined unit for a first time information.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person with ordinary skill in the pertinent before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the signal processing system of Funakoshi to adapt a multi-channel sound system, by incorporating Croft’s teaching wherein sound/acoustic signal is processed via clipping, for the motivation to enable signal mixing between channels in accordance with signal level threshold (Croft; Abstract).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Morales (US Pub. 20220021997 A1) teaches a multi-stage processing of audio signals to facilitate rendering of 3D audio via different playback devices.
Lowe (US Pat. 5046097) teaches a sound imaging process.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALBERT KIR whose telephone number is (571)272-6245. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/ALBERT KIR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485