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
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20110090998).
With regard to claim 1, Zhang discloses:
A single-ended successive approximation register (SAR) digital-to-analog converter (ADC)( ….a Successive Approximation ADC// abstract//Fig. 15) an array of N capacitors (301-303 Fig. 15) each having a first plate coupled to a first node, wherein a second plate of each of the N capacitors is coupled to an associated one of N different switches (306-308 Fig. 15) configured to connect the second plate of the capacitor to a ground voltage or a reference voltage (GND Fig. 15); a comparator (304 Fig. 15) having a first input receiving the voltage of the first node, and a second input that receives the reference voltage if the voltage at the first node during a first phase is smaller than the reference voltage, wherein the second input to the comparator receives twice the reference voltage if the voltage at the first node during the first phase is greater than the reference voltage. (para 41// Figs, 8-9//The ADC 158 compares the voltage on input 167 to a voltage reference VREF. A voltage reference 2VREF that has twice the magnitude of comparison voltage VREF is received onto input 168 of ADC 158 for this purpose).
Zhang fails to teach;
a second input that receives the reference voltage if the voltage at the first node during a first phase is smaller than the reference voltage, wherein the second input to the comparator receives twice the reference voltage if the voltage at the first node during the first phase is greater than the reference voltage. It is to be noted that the switches of Zhang are activated at different times, hence, they could be activated at different phases of the clock cycle. In addition, it is a to set criteria to apply signals and/or reference voltages based on predetermined function, operation, and characteristic of the converter device.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cullinane et al (US 2014/0266839) and Ishii (US 2006/0290544) disclose SAR converter with dual reference voltage.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PEGUY JEAN PIERRE whose telephone number is (571) 272-1803. The examiner can normally be reached from 8:00-6:30 PM Monday-Thursday. The examiner’s fax phone number is (571) 273-1803. The Examiner email address is peguy.jeanpierre@uspto.gov. If attempts to reach the Examiner are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor Dameon E. Levi can be reached at (571) 272-2105.
/PEGUY JEAN PIERRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2845
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