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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 6, 7, 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KRAH (US 20150261340) in view of Stanley (US 20020167354).
Regarding claims 1, 11, figs. 1, 2, 6, discloses a touch sensor controller comprising: a line driver having a line driver output configured to be coupled to a row or column of a touch panel and to provide a line drive current and a sense current output configured to output a sense current related to the line drive current (see pars. 28, 30, 34, 36, 42, 63); an analog to digital converter configured to receive the sense current and having a digital data output coupled to a controller (see pars. 39, 74, 81, 101), the digital data output configured to output a plurality of digitized sense current values; wherein the controller has a control output coupled to a drive current control input of the line driver (see pars. 40, 70, 71, 80-82, 97-101, 27,37, 43).
However, KRAH (US 20150261340) is silent about overload status dependent on the digitized sense current values.
Stanley (US 20020167354), figs. 2, 4, the current overload limiter 52 senses the current in the early stages of the output LP filter 50 (the output current from the OCA 48) using voltage feedback sense lines 62. Upon indication of current overload conditions on the output signal line 26 a current overload indication may be provided to the DSP 18 on a current overload line 64. The bias adjustment may be performed by the overlap control by shifting the effective DC baseline of separately computed modulating triangle waveforms functionally generated by the PWM modulator component 98. Digitized input signals processed through the linearity component 94 may be digitally modulated onto the triangle waveforms with N=2 PWM modulation by the PWM modulator component 98 to form the control signals. The control signals may be provided as first and second control signals to the first and second gate drivers 46, respectively, on the logic signal lines 58 as previously discussed.
It would have been obvious to the skilled in the art before the effective filing date to provide the overload status dependent on the digitized sense current values, in KRAH (US 20150261340) as suggested by Stanley (US 20020167354), the motivation in order to overload indications and/or overheating indications.
Therefore, the combination of KRAH (US 20150261340) and Stanley (US 20020167354), discloses determine an overload status dependent on the digitized sense current values; and adapt the line drive current dependent on the overload status (see figs. 1, 2, 6, KRAH (US 20150261340) pars. 39, 74, 81, 101, 40, 70, 71, 80-82, 97-101, 27,37, 43; see Stanley (US 20020167354) The current overload limiter 52 senses the current in the early stages of the output LP filter 50 (the output current from the OCA 48) using voltage feedback sense lines 62. Upon indication of current overload conditions on the output signal line 26 a current overload indication may be provided to the DSP 18 on a current overload line 64).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of KRAH (US 20150261340), figs. 1, 2, 6, and Stanley (US 20020167354), discloses the touch sensor controller of claim 1, wherein the analog to digital converter further comprises an overflow output coupled to the controller and wherein the controller is further configured to adapt the drive current dependent an overflow output value (see KRAH (US 20150261340) pars. 39, 74, 81, 101, 40, 70, 71, 80-82, 97-101, 27,37, 43; see Stanley (US 20020167354), The current overload limiter 52 senses the current in the early stages of the output LP filter 50 (the output current from the OCA 48) using voltage feedback sense lines 62. Upon indication of current overload conditions on the output signal line 26 a current overload indication may be provided to the DSP 18 on a current overload line 64).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of KRAH (US 20150261340), figs. 1, 2, 6, and Stanley (US 20020167354), figs. 2, 4, discloses the touch sensor controller of claim 1, wherein the line driver further comprises an operational transconductance amplifier, OTA, wherein a bias current for the OTA is independent of an output stage biasing current of the line driver ((see KRAH (US 20150261340) pars. 39, 74, 81, 101, 40, 70, 71, 80-82, 97-101, 27,37, 43; see Stanley (US 20020167354),[0065], [0069], The overlap control is a total duty control that preferably performs both static and dynamic bias adjustment of the switching duty of the OCA 48. In the presently preferred embodiments, the overlap control may use the output currents of the OCA 48 as the input variable to control switching duty. Output currents of the OCA 48 that have been converted by the fast ADCs 96 may be made available to the PWM modulator component 98 for the overlap control. The overlap control may compensate for losses in the output stage, such as, for example, effective loss of magnetization, based on the output currents of the OCA 48.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of KRAH (US 20150261340), figs. 1, 2, 6, and Stanley (US 20020167354), figs. 2, 4, discloses the touch sensor controller of claim 1, wherein the line driver further comprises an operational transconductance amplifier, OTA, having a non-inverting input configured to be coupled to a drive signal generator, an inverting input coupled to the line driver output, and an inverting output and a non-inverting output coupled to a respective input of a voltage-to-current module ((see KRAH (US 20150261340) pars. 39, 52; see Stanley (US 20020167354), pars. 78, 96).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 5, 8-10, 13-15 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.
None of the references cited in record disclose or suggest that touch sensor controller of claim 1, further comprising: an averaging module configured to receive the digitized sense current values and output an average of the digitized sense current values; a minimum overload detector configured to detect an overload when the average of digitized sense current values is below a minimum threshold value; a maximum overload detector configured to detect an overload when the average of digitized sense current values is above a maximum threshold value; and wherein the controller is further configured to determine an overload status in response to a number of overloads detected during a predetermined time period exceeding a threshold overload value and increase a gain of the line driver in response to an overload status being determined.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 16-18 are allowed.
None of the references cited in record disclose or suggest a line driver for a touch panel, the line driver comprising: a first current mirror comprising a first PMOS transistor and a second PMOS transistor, wherein a gain factor of the first PMOS transistor is variable between 1 and N times the gain factor of the second PMOS transistor, a source of the first PMOS transistor and the second PMOS transistor is coupled to a supply rail, a drain of the first PMOS transistor is coupled to the line driver output, a drain of the second PMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first PMOS transistor and a gate of the second PMOS transistor; a second current mirror comprising a first NMOS transistor and a second NMOS transistor, wherein the gain factor of the first NMOS transistor is variable between 1 and N times the gain factor of the second NMOS transistor, a source of the first NMOS transistor and the second NMOS transistor is coupled to a ground rail, a drain of the first NMOS transistor is coupled to the line driver output, a drain of the second NMOS transistor is coupled to a gate of the first NMOS transistor, a gate of the second NMOS transistor and the inverting output of the OTA; a third current mirror comprising a third NMOS transistor and a fourth NMOS transistor, a source of the third NMOS transistor and the fourth NMOS transistor is coupled to a ground rail, a drain of the third NMOS transistor is coupled to a non-inverting output of the OTA, a gate of the third NMOS transistor, and a gate of the fourth NMOS transistor, a drain of the fourth NMOS transistor is coupled to the drain of the second PMOS transistor.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Van N Chow whose telephone number is (571)272-7590. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10-6PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Xiao Ke can be reached at 5712727776. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VAN N CHOW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2627
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