DETAILED ACTION
Notice to Applicant
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Claims 1-21 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
4. Claims 2-6, 8-9, and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Per claim 2, the limitation “the upper signal rail” in line 2 lacks sufficient antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required. For the purpose of examination, said limitation is interpreted as implying “an upper signal rail.” Claims 3-6 are consequently rejected due to their dependence on claim 2.
Per claim 2, it is unclear if the limitation “an upper signal rail” in line 6 refers to the limitation “the upper signal rail” recited in line 2. Appropriate correction is required.
Per claim 8, it is unclear if the limitation “a reference winding” in line 2 refers to the limitation “a reference winding” recited in line 6 of claim 7, from which claim 8 depends. Appropriate correction is required. For the purpose of examination, the limitation “a reference winding” in line 2 of claim 8 is interpreted as implying “the reference winding.”
Per claim 9, the limitation “a high resistance bridge” lacks clarity because, in light of the specification, the extent to which a bridge can be considered as being a “high resistance” bridge is unclear. Such a determination requires the use of subjective judgement. Appropriate correction is required.
Per claim 12, the limitations “the reference resistor,” “the resistor,” and “the variable winding” lack sufficient antecedent bases. Appropriate correction is required. To note, said limitations are described in claim 7. Claim 12, which is of similar form to claim 8, depends on claim 10.
Per claim 13, the limitation “a high resistance bridge” lacks clarity because, in light of the specification, the extent to which a bridge can be considered as being a “high resistance” bridge is unclear. Such a determination requires the use of subjective judgement. Appropriate correction is required.
Per claim 14, the limitation “the amplifier” in line 2 lacks sufficient antecedent basis. Appropriate correction is required. For the purpose of examination, said limitation is interpreted as implying “an amplifier.” Claims 15-16 are consequently rejected due to their dependence on claim 14.
Per claim 14, it is unclear if the limitation “an amplifier” in line 5 refers to the limitation “the amplifier” recited in line 2. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
5. 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.
6. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Barczyk et al. (US 2019/0170796 – hereinafter “Barczyk”).
Per claim 1, Barczyk teaches a device comprising:
a first sample-and-hold (SH) circuit (Fig. 8; first sample-hold circuit 810; ¶71).
7. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Taguchi (US 2008/0122457).
Per claim 1, Taguchi teaches a device comprising:
a first sample-and-hold (SH) circuit (Fig. 1; first sampling and holding circuit 8; ¶78).
8. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suzuki (US 2021/0255234).
Per claim 17, Suzuki teaches a method comprising:
employing a system to perform a measurement (A test system 1 receives an output signal from a semiconductor device 100 (Fig. 1; ¶32) or self-calibrate one or more electrical standards (A reference voltage standard 421 is calibrated by an external voltage standard 302 (Fig. 1; ¶28)).
9. Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chodora (US 6,147,501).
Per claim 17, Chodora teaches a method comprising:
employing a system to perform a measurement (A network analyzer 21 is configured to perform a test on a device under test (DUT) 23 via a multi-port test set 22 (Fig. 1; col. 5, lines 7-25) or self-calibrate one or more electrical standards (A measurement calibration is performed to calculate corrected terms for each electronic standard (Figs. 1 and 3; col. 7, lines 10-45)).
Claim Objections
10. Claims 7 and 18 are objected to due to the following informalities.
Per claim 7, it appears that the word “he” in line 7 should be revised to “the.”
Per claim 18, it appears that the phrase “the circuit” in line 8 should be revised to “the measurement circuit” to maintain consistent formatting.
11. Claims 7, 10-11, and 18-21 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.
Per claim 7, the prior art of record is silent on the device according to claim 1, wherein the first sample-and-hold (SH) circuit is coupled to a first source having an output coupled to a reference arm of a comparator circuit; and the device further comprises a second SH circuit coupled to a second source having an output coupled to a test arm of a comparator circuit; the reference arm comprises a reference resistor and a reference winding comprising a fixed number of turns in series between he first SH circuit and ground; the test arm comprises a resistor and a variable winding comprising a variable number of turns in series between the second SH circuit and ground; and the comparator circuit supports one or more of voltage reference measurements, current reference measurements and resistor reference measurements.
Per claim 10, the prior art of record is silent on the device according to claim 1, wherein the first sample-and-hold (SH) circuit is coupled to a first source having an output coupled to a first node of a bridge circuit comprising the first node, a second node, a third node and a fourth node; the device further comprises: a second SH circuit coupled to a second source having an output coupled to the fourth node of the bridge circuit; the bridge circuit comprises: a first resistor coupled to the first node and the second node; a second resistor coupled to first node and the third node; a third resistor coupled to the second node and the fourth node; and a fourth resistor coupled to the third node and the fourth node; a first output port coupled to the second node; and a second output port coupled to the third node; the first resistor comprises a plurality of resistors in parallel of which a subset of the plurality of resistors are electrically tunable; and adjustment of the subset of the plurality of resistors provides for adjustment of a voltage divider comprising the first resistor and third resistor. Claim 11 is consequently objected to due to its dependence on claim 10.
Per claim 18, the prior art of record is silent on the method according to claim 17, wherein the system executes a process relating to performing the measurement; and the process comprises: selectively coupling an amplifier to each of a pair of sample-and-hold (S/H) circuits to generate a pair of signals; and coupling the pair of signals from the outputs of the pair of S/H circuits to a measurement circuit for performing a measurement; wherein the outputs of the pair of S/H circuits are coupled to the circuit within a defined time period and each S/H circuit of the pair of S/H circuits is coupled to a defined port of the measurement circuit; and the measurement circuit comprising a bridge selected from the group comprising a direct current comparator resistance bridge, a Wheatstone bridge, a dual source bridge and a null detector bridge circuit. Claims 19-20 are consequently objected to due to their dependence on claim 18.
Per claim 21, the prior art of record is silent on the method according to claim 17, wherein the system executes a process relating to self-calibrating one or more electrical standards; and the process comprises: providing a network of resistors in series and parallel; providing a self-calibrating null detector; and employing the self-calibrating null detector to generate a series of self-calibrated ratios of the resistors within the network of resistors; and employing the series of self-calibrated ratios to self-calibrate one or more electrical standards selected from the group comprising a resistance standard, a voltage standard and a current standard.
Claim Remarks
12. Although claims 2 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), the prior art of record is silent on the subject matter of these claims.
Conclusion
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAS A. SANGHERA whose telephone number is (571)272-4787. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th, alt. Fri, 8-5 EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, WALTER LINDSAY can be reached at (571) 272-1674. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JAS A SANGHERA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2852
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