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 .
Claims 1 – 12 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1, 4 – 8, and 10 – 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Patent No. 11,947,832 (hereinafter Govindarajan).
As per claim 1, Govindarajan teaches an interface system on a chip (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 220, Col 3 Lines 20 – 26), comprising: a plurality of input interfaces (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 230, 231, and 232) configured for at least two different communication protocols (Govindarajan; Col 4 Lines 21 – 24), and configured to receive sensor data from a plurality of sensors (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 210, 211, and 212); a preprocessing unit (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 233, 234, 235, and 240) configured to process the sensor data (Govindarajan; Col 1 Lines 37 – 39); and at least one output interface (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 236 and 237) configured for a specific communication protocol for outputting the sensor data (Govindarajan; Col 5 Lines 4 – 13).
As per claim 4, Govindarajan also teaches wherein an input interface of the plurality of input interfaces is configured for a Camera Serial Interface (CSI) protocol (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 230, Col 4 Lines 21 – 28).
As per claim 5, Govindarajan also teaches wherein an input interface of the plurality of input interfaces is configured for an Ethernet protocol (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 231, Col 4 Lines 21 – 22).
As per claim 6, Govindarajan also teaches a plurality of output interfaces (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 236 and 237) for one or more specific communication protocols (Govindarajan; Col 5 Lines 4 – 13).
As per claim 7, Govindarajan also teaches wherein the specific communication protocol for the output interface is PCI express (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 236, Col 5 Lines 4 – 13).
As per claim 8, Govindarajan also teaches wherein the preprocessing unit comprises an image signal processor configured to process image data (Govindarajan; Col 8 Lines 7 – 22).
As per claim 10, Govindarajan also teaches the interface system (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 220) comprising at least one of the following: a safety unit having at least two processors that work in parallel, results of which are compared with one another by the safety unit; a processor unit (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 235) comprising a plurality of processors; a data communication network (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 234) configured to send data between units in the interface system (Govindarajan; Col 4 Lines 48 – 52, ; an internal drive (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 233, Col 4 Lines 55 – 58); and/or a drive interface configured to access an external drive (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 238, Col 4 Lines 55 – 58).
As per claim 11, Govindarajan also teaches a vehicle system comprising: a plurality of sensors (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 210, 211, and 212) configured to monitor a vehicle’s environment (Govindarajan; Col 4 Lines 10 – 20); and at least one application system on a chip (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Items 250, 251, and 252) configured to control a vehicle (Govindarajan; Col 2 Lines 29 – 32); and the interface system on a chip according to claim 1 (Govindarajan; Figure 2 Item 220) (See rejection of claim 1 above), wherein the input interfaces are connected to the plurality of sensors (Govindarajan; Figure 2), and wherein the at least one output interface is connected to the application system (Govindarajan; Figure 2).
As per claim 12, Govindarajan also teaches a second interface system on a chip, wherein the interface system on a chip and the second interface system on a chip are connected to one another by an output interface, wherein the interface systems are connected to different sensor sets (Govindarajan; Col 2 Lines 51 – 55).
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) 2, 3, and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent No. 11,947,832 (hereinafter Govindarajan) in view of US Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0264599 (hereinafter Narayanan).
As per claim 2, Govindarajan teaches the invention as described per claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Govindarajan does not teach a synchronizing unit configured to synchronize the sensor data, wherein sensor data recorded at a same time are given a same timestamp.
However, Narayanan teaches a sensor hub system which synchronizes sensor data received at the same time with a timestamp (Narayanan; Paragraph [0079]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Govindarajan to include the sensor data synchronization because doing so allows for ensuring temporal alignment (Narayanan; Paragraph [0079]).
As per claim 3, Govindarajan teaches the invention as described per claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Govindarajan does not teach an automotive interface configured to communicate with control units in a vehicle.
However, Narayanan teaches a sensor hub system including an automotive interface (Narayanan; Figure 2 Item 216) configured to communicate with control units in a vehicle (Narayanan; Figure 2 Item 270).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Govindarajan to include the automotive interface because doing so allows for controlling vehicle systems (Narayanan; Paragraph [0061]).
As per claim 9, Govindarajan teaches the invention as described per claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Govindarajan does not teach wherein the preprocessing unit comprises a digital signal processor configured to process radar data and/or lidar data.
However, Narayanan teaches a sensor hub which includes a digital signal processor (Narayanan; Paragraph [0203]) as a preprocessing unit configured to process radar and/or lidar data (Narayanan; Paragraphs [0081] – [0086]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the teachings of Govindarajan to include the lidar/radar preprocessing because doing so allows for providing safer autonomous driving and accurate object notifications (Narayanan; Paragraph [0087]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD B FRANKLIN whose telephone number is (571)272-0669. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am-5pm.
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/RICHARD B FRANKLIN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2181
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