DETAILED ACTION
In the response to this office action, the examiner respectfully requests that support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line numbers in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the examiner in prosecuting this application.
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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: AUTOMATED ECHO CONTROL BASED ON ULTRASONIC SIGNAL.
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) 1-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (US 20230421946 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a device (see 100 of figure 1, 401 of figure 4, 501 of figure 53) comprising:
one or more processors (120 of figure 1) configured to:
connect to an external device (102 of figure 1, 402 of figure 4, 502 of figure 53) comprising a speaker (155 of 102, paragraph [0051], “electronic devices 102 or 104 may be a device of a same type as, or a different type, from the electronic device 101”);
transmit a signal to the external device (figure 4, trigger signal 413, paragraph [0081]), the signal instructing the external device to output a reference sound (figure 4, response signal 415, paragraph [0081]) in an inaudible frequency range (paragraph [0081], ” The trigger signal may be referred to as a signal in an inaudible frequency band”, “For example, the electronic device 401 may acquire the response signal corresponding to the trigger signal from the external electronic device 402 using an audio input device (e.g., the audio input device 340 in FIG. 3) (e.g., the microphone). For example, the response signal may be referred to as a signal acquired as the external electronic device 402 outputs the trigger signal received from the electronic device 401 to the outside via an output device (e.g., the speaker)”); and
select a particular echo delay calculation process from among two or more echo delay calculation processes based at least on whether the reference sound is detected (update echo path delay on matching received signal, paragraph [0082], “when it is determined that the trigger signal and the response signal are similar to each other as a result of the comparison, calculate the echo path delay”, implies do not update when not a match, also see paragraphs [0084] to [0085] and [0133]).
Although Park is silent as to which inaudible frequency range is used, it would have been obvious to the designer that the frequency range may be any frequency either higher or lower than the human hearing range, at their preference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to output the reference sound in an ultrasound frequency range in the system of Park for the benefit of not bothering humans around the devices while still being able use audio transducers and allow for faster frequency recognition due to the shorter wavelength cycles.
Although Park is silent as to what causes the initial trigger/response signals to be sent, it would have been obvious to the designer that any condition may be used, at their preference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to send the initial trigger signal in response to the device detecting a connection to an external device in the system of Park for the benefit of setting up the devices right away in a manner that allows the units to function properly.
Regarding claim 2, Park discloses wherein the device comprises a smartphone (paragraph [0052]).
Regarding claim 3, Park discloses wherein the one or more processors (including 520, 571, and 572 of figure 5) are further configured to:
receive the reference sound (415 of figure 4) from the external device (paragraph [0081]); and
communicate data associated with the received reference sound to an echo delay controller (571, paragraphs [0076], [0082], and [0090]).
Regarding claim 4, Park discloses wherein a first echo delay calculation process of the two or more echo delay calculation processes comprises determining, by the echo delay controller, an echo path delay time for the external device based at least on the data associated with the received reference sound (paragraphs [0076], [0082], and [0090]).
Regarding claim 5, Park discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to select a first echo delay calculation process of the two or more echo delay calculation processes responsive to receipt of the reference sound from the external device (update echo path delay on matching received signal, paragraph [0082], “when it is determined that the trigger signal and the response signal are similar to each other as a result of the comparison, calculate the echo path delay”, implies do not update when not a match, also see paragraphs [0084] to [0085] and [0133]).
Regarding claim 6, Park discloses the one or more processors (at least 120 of figure 1, including 121 and 123) configured to use a trained model (paragraph [0032], “artificial intelligence model”, RNN, DNN, etc.).
Although Park does not expressly disclose estimating the delay time using the models, the examiner takes official notice that using trained models to estimate data was well known in the art. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to further comprise wherein a second echo delay calculation process of the two or more echo delay calculation processes comprises determining, using a trained model, an estimated echo delay time in the system of Park for the benefit of being able to estimate the delay values when direct measurement is not available.
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to select a second echo delay calculation process of the two or more echo delay calculation processes responsive to not receiving the reference sound from the external device (no update, only update echo path delay on matching received signal, paragraph [0082], “when it is determined that the trigger signal and the response signal are similar to each other as a result of the comparison, calculate the echo path delay”, implies do not update when not a match, also see paragraphs [0084] to [0085] and [0133]).
Regarding claim 8, Park discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to provide an output of a first echo delay calculation process of the two or more echo delay calculation processes (update as above), an output of a second echo delay calculation process of the two or more echo delay calculation processes (don’t update as above), or both, as input to an echo cancelation process (figure 5, 571 holds output value, 572 is echo cancellation process, paragraphs [0076], [0082], and [0090]).
Regarding claim 9, although Park is silent as to which inaudible frequency range is used, it would have been obvious to the designer that the frequency range may be any frequency either higher or lower than the human hearing range, at their preference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to output the reference sound in an ultrasound frequency range wherein the ultrasound frequency range is approximately 20-22 kHz in the system of Park for the benefit of not bothering humans around the devices while using frequencies close enough to the human hearing range so that they may still use most standard audio transducers.
Regarding claim 10, Park discloses wherein the connection comprises a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) connection (paragraph [0041]).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses wherein the connection comprises a wireless connection (paragraph [0041]).
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses a method comprising:
connecting, by a device (see 100 of figure 1, 401 of figure 4, 501 of figure 53), to an external device (102 of figure 1, 402 of figure 4, 502 of figure 53) comprising a speaker (155 of 102, paragraph [0051], “electronic devices 102 or 104 may be a device of a same type as, or a different type, from the electronic device 101”);
transmitting, by the device, a signal (figure 4, trigger signal 413, paragraph [0081]) to the external device, the signal instructing the external device to output a reference sound (figure 4, response signal 415, paragraph [0081]) in an inaudible frequency range (paragraph [0081], ” The trigger signal may be referred to as a signal in an inaudible frequency band”, “For example, the electronic device 401 may acquire the response signal corresponding to the trigger signal from the external electronic device 402 using an audio input device (e.g., the audio input device 340 in FIG. 3) (e.g., the microphone). For example, the response signal may be referred to as a signal acquired as the external electronic device 402 outputs the trigger signal received from the electronic device 401 to the outside via an output device (e.g., the speaker)”); and
selecting, by the device, a particular echo delay calculation process from among two or more echo delay calculation processes based at least on whether the reference sound is detected (update echo path delay on matching received signal, paragraph [0082], “when it is determined that the trigger signal and the response signal are similar to each other as a result of the comparison, calculate the echo path delay”, implies do not update when not a match, also see paragraphs [0084] to [0085] and [0133]).
Although Park is silent as to which inaudible frequency range is used, it would have been obvious to the designer that the frequency range may be any frequency either higher or lower than the human hearing range, at their preference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to output the reference sound in an ultrasound frequency range in the system of Park for the benefit of not bothering humans around the devices while still being able use audio transducers and allow for faster frequency recognition due to the shorter wavelength cycles.
Although Park is silent as to what causes the initial trigger/response signals to be sent, it would have been obvious to the designer that any condition may be used, at their preference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to send the initial trigger signal in response to the device detecting a connection to an external device in the system of Park for the benefit of setting up the devices right away in a manner that allows the units to function properly.
Claims 13-18 are rejected in an analogous manner to claims 3-8.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS JOHN SUTHERS whose telephone number is (571)272-0563. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8 am -5 pm.
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/DOUGLAS J SUTHERS/ Examiner, Art Unit 2695
/VIVIAN C CHIN/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2695
