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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
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Claims 1, 13, 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 13, 20 of U.S. Patent No. 10,614,790 B2 in view of Christopher (US 2014/0363010 A1). Christopher disclose the features “including a first filter and a second filter; generating, based on the first portion of the input signal, a first signal, wherein the first signal represents the first portion of the input signal, as processed by the ANR signal flow path and wherein the estimator is disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter and the second filter. It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use the filters taught by Christopher as filters in the method of US 10,614,790B2. The motivation to do so would have been to improve the accuracy of the noise cancellation.
#19014384
US 10,614,790 B2
1. A method comprising: receiving, at an active noise reduction (ANR) signal flow path, a first portion of an input signal that is captured by one or more sensors, the ANR signal flow path including a first filter and a second filter; generating, based on the first portion of the input signal, a first signal, wherein the first signal represents the first portion of the input signal, as processed by the ANR signal flow path; determining, by an estimator, one or more characteristics of the first signal, wherein the estimator is disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter and the second filter; selecting, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter; and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter, a control signal for an acoustic transducer.
1. A method comprising: receiving an input signal captured by one or more sensors associated with an ANR headphone; determining, by one or more processing devices in a particular ANR signal flow path, one or more characteristics of a first portion of the input signal; determining, from the one or more characteristics, that an external environment of the ANR headphone is of a first type or a second type; automatically adjusting, by the one or more processing devices responsive to determining that the external environment of the ANR headphone is of the first type or the second type, a gain of a variable gain amplifier (VGA) disposed in the particular ANR signal flow path to a first gain level or a second gain level, respectively; selecting, by the one or more processing devices, a first set of coefficients or a second set of coefficients for a tunable digital filter disposed in the particular ANR signal flow path, wherein the first set of coefficients or the second set of coefficients is selected in accordance with the gain of the VGA being adjusted to the first gain level or the second gain level, respectively, such that a first gain of the particular ANR signal path due to the first gain level and the first set of coefficients is substantially equal to a second gain of the particular ANR signal path due to the second gain level and the second set of coefficients; and processing a second portion of the input signal in the particular ANR signal flow path using (i) the adjusted gain of the VGA and (ii) the selected set of coefficients to generate a second output signal for an electroacoustic transducer of the ANR headphone.
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) 1-3, 5-14, 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christopher et al (US 2014/0363010 A1) in view of Carreras et al (WO 2010/129272 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Christopher et al disclose a method comprising: receiving, at an active noise reduction (ANR) signal flow path (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; path 202), a first portion of an input signal that is captured by one or more sensors (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; first portion of audio from sensor FF), the ANR signal flow path including a first filter and a second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; path 202 including filter Kff and filter 222); generating, based on the first portion of the input signal, a first signal, wherein the first signal represents the first portion of the input signal, as processed by the ANR signal flow path (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; generating first signal at end of filter 222, wherein the first signal represents the first portion of the input signal, as processed by the ANR signal flow path 202); determining, by an estimator, one or more characteristics of the first signal (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; determining, by an estimator 210, one or more characteristics of the first signal from output of filter 222), wherein the estimator is disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter and the second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; the estimator 210 is disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter Kff and the second filter 222); and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; wideband band signal has first and second portion and apply filter 222 on the wideband signal include generating by processing a second portion of the input signal using the second filter), a control signal for an acoustic transducer (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; Fig 2; output signal outputted by filter 222 to headphone interpreted as acoustic transducer); but do not expressly disclose selecting, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter; and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter, a control signal for an acoustic transducer. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose a method comprising determining one or more characteristics of the first signal (Carreras et al; Para [0247]), selecting, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247]; [0276]; [0287]; gain values interpreted as interpreted as filter coefficients are stored in a storage and selected depending on signal level); and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247];[0272]; frequencies up to 40Hz interpreted as first portion and frequencies in the 40-100Hz range interpreted as second portion; processing second portion with second filter with different setting than setting for first portion) a control signal for an acoustic transducer (Carreras et al; Para [0247]; [0276]; [0287]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 2, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the first filter is disposed in series with the second filter in the ANR signal flow path (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; Fig 2; flow path path with filter Kff and filter 222 in series).
Regarding claim 3, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, wherein generating the first signal comprising processing the first portion of the input signal with the first filter and the second filter (Christopher et al; first signal at output of 222 comprises processing of first portion -low frequency within the input signal- with the first filter Kff and second filter 222).
Regarding claim 5, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the control signal is generated by processing the second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter, and the first filter. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose a device wherein the control signal is generated by processing the second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter, and the first filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247]; [0276]; [0287]; Fig 4a; filter 250 and filter 280 output control signal). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 6, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the second filter is disposed before the first filter in the ANR signal flow path (Christopher et al; Fig 5; second filter 224 is disposed before the first filter Kfb in the ANR signal flow path).
Regarding claim 7, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose further comprising: determining, based on the one or more characteristics, that the first portion of the input signal is in a particular frequency range, and is causing the first signal to trigger an overload condition in the acoustic transducer; and selecting the plurality of filter coefficients such that the plurality of filter coefficients configure the second filter to attenuate the second portion of the input signal in the particular frequency range. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose method further comprising: determining, based on the one or more characteristics, that the first portion of the input signal is in a particular frequency range, and is causing the first signal to trigger an overload condition in the acoustic transducer (Carreras et al; Para [0239][0027]); and selecting the plurality of filter coefficients such that the plurality of filter coefficients configure the second filter to attenuate the second portion of the input signal in the particular frequency range (Carreras et al; Para [0240]-[0241]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 8, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a voltage level. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose method wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a voltage level (Carreras et al; Para [0244]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 9, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising driving the acoustic transducer using the control signal (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; output signal outputted by filter 222 to headphone interpreted as acoustic transducer).
Regarding claim 10, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the second filter comprises at least one of a high-pass filter, a notch filter, or an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter (Christopher et al; Para [0028]; notch filter).
Regarding claim 11, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the ANR signal flow path comprises a feedforward path disposed between a feedforward microphone and the acoustic transducer (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; feedforward path 202).
Regarding claim 12, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the ANR signal flow path comprises a feedback path disposed between a feedback microphone and the acoustic transducer (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; feedforward path 204).
Regarding claim 13, Christopher et al disclose a device comprising: one or more sensors configured to generate an input signal indicative of an external environment of the device (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; microphone FF); and a compensator disposed in an ANR signal flow path of the device (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; compensator filter Kff and filter 222), the compensator comprising: a first filter and a second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; compensator filter Kff and filter 222), wherein the first filter and the second filter are configured to generate a first signal based on the input signal (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; output of filter 222); and an estimator comprising one or more processing devices (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; estimator 206), the estimator disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter and the second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; estimator 206 disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between filter Kff and filter 222), wherein the compensator is configured to generate a control signal for an acoustic transducer of the device using the second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; Fig 2; output signal of compensator Kff+ filter 222 to headphone interpreted as acoustic transducer) wherein the estimator is configured to: determine one or more characteristics of the first signal, and select, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter; and wherein the compensator is configured to generate a control signal for an acoustic transducer of the device using the plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose a device determine one or more characteristics of the first signal (Carreras et al; Para [0247]), and select, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247]; [0276]; [0287]; gain values interpreted as interpreted as filter coefficients are stored in a storage and selected depending on signal level); wherein the compensator is configured to generate a control signal for an acoustic transducer of the device using the plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247];[0272]; frequencies up to 40Hz interpreted as first portion and frequencies in the 40-100Hz range interpreted as second portion; processing second portion with second filter with different setting than setting for first portion). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 14, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the device of claim 13, wherein the first filter is disposed in series with the second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; Fig 2; flow path path with filter Kff and filter 222 in series).
Regarding claim 16, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the device of claim 13, but do not expressly disclose wherein the compensator is configured to generate the control signal by processing the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter, and the first filter. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose a device wherein the compensator is configured to generate the control signal by processing the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter, and the first filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247]; [0276]; [0287]; Fig 4a; filter 250 and filter 280 output control signal). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 17, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the device of claim 13, but do not expressly disclose wherein the one or more processing devices are further configured to: determine, based on the one or more characteristics, that a portion of the input signal in a particular frequency range is causing the first signal to trigger an overload condition in the acoustic transducer; and select the plurality of filter coefficients such that the plurality of filter coefficients configure the second filter to attenuate the portion of the input signal in the particular frequency range. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose a device further comprising: determine, based on the one or more characteristics, that a portion of the input signal in a particular frequency range is causing the first signal to trigger an overload condition in the acoustic transducer (Carreras et al; Para [0239][0027]); and select the plurality of filter coefficients such that the plurality of filter coefficients configure the second filter to attenuate the portion of the input signal in the particular frequency range (Carreras et al; Para [0240]-[0241]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 18, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the device of claim 13, but do not expressly disclose wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a voltage level. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose method wherein the one or more characteristics comprise a voltage level (Carreras et al; Para [0244]). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Regarding claim 19, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the device of claim 13, wherein the second filter comprises at least one of a high-pass filter, a notch filter, or an infinite impulse response (IIR) filter (Christopher et al; Para [0028]; notch filter).
Regarding claim 20, Christopher et al disclose one or more machine-readable storage devices storing instructions for causing one or more processing devices to perform operations (Christopher et al; Para [0032]); comprising: receiving, at an active noise reduction (ANR) signal flow path (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; path 202), a first portion of an input signal that is captured by one or more sensors (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; first portion of audio from sensor FF), the ANR signal flow path including a first filter and a second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; path 202 including filter Kff and filter 222); generating, based on the first portion of the input signal, a first signal, wherein the first signal represents the first portion of the input signal, as processed by the ANR signal flow path (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; generating first signal at end of filter 222, wherein the first signal represents the first portion of the input signal, as processed by the ANR signal flow path 202); determining, by an estimator, one or more characteristics of the first signal (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; determining, by an estimator 210, one or more characteristics of the first signal from output of filter 222), wherein the estimator is disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter and the second filter (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; the estimator 210 is disposed in a signal path that is parallel to a connection between the first filter Kff and the second filter 222); and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal (Christopher et al; Para [0021]; Fig 2; wideband band signal has first and second portion and apply filter 222 on the wideband signal include generating by processing a second portion of the input signal using the second filter), a control signal for an acoustic transducer (Christopher et al; Para [0027]; Fig 2; output signal outputted by filter 222 to headphone interpreted as acoustic transducer); but do not expressly disclose selecting, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter; and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter. However, in the same field of endeavor, Carreras et al disclose method comprising selecting, based on the one or more characteristics of the first signal, a plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247]; [0276]; [0287]; gain values interpreted as interpreted as filter coefficients are stored in a storage and selected depending on signal level); and generating, by processing a second portion of the input signal using the plurality of filter coefficients of the second filter (Carreras et al; Para [0247];[0272]; frequencies up to 40Hz interpreted as first portion and frequencies in the 40-100Hz range interpreted as second portion; processing second portion with second filter with different setting than setting for first portion). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Carreras as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to avoid occurrences of the saturation of the compression (Carreras et al; Para [0241]).
Claim(s) 4, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Christopher et al (US 2014/0363010 A1) in view of Carreras et al (WO 2010/129272 A1) and further in view of Eastty (GB 2477713 A).
Regarding claim 4, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the method of claim 1, but do not expressly disclose wherein the plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter are selected in accordance with a target frequency response of the second filter. However, in the same field of endeavor, Eastty discloses method wherein the plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter are selected in accordance with a target frequency response of the second filter (Eastty; abstract). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Eastty as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to tuning acoustic performance (Eastty; abstract).
Regarding claim 15, Christopher et al in view of Carreras et al disclose the device of claim 13, but do not expressly disclose wherein the plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter are selected in accordance with a target frequency response of the second filter. However, in the same field of endeavor, Eastty discloses method wherein the plurality of filter coefficients for the second filter are selected in accordance with a target frequency response of the second filter (Eastty; abstract). It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art to use the filter coefficient taught by Eastty as filter coefficients in the assembly taught by Christopher. The motivation to do so would have been to tuning acoustic performance (Eastty; abstract).
Conclusion
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/KUASSI A GANMAVO/Examiner, Art Unit 2692
/CAROLYN R EDWARDS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2692
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