ANALOG DEVICES, INC.

Patent Trials and Appeals Board

Nov 2, 2020

2019003709 (P.T.A.B. Nov. 2, 2020)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www.uspto.gov
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
14/911,239 02/09/2016 MIKAEL MORTENSEN 05974.0008-
NP (APD4956-2)
8892
110506 7590 11/02/2020
Patent Capital Group - Analog
Attn: Shirley Fung
3267 E 3300 S
#515
Salt Lake City, UT 84109
EXAMINER
KRZYSTAN, ALEXANDER J
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2653
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
11/02/2020 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address(es):
PAIR_110506@patcapgroup.com
bonnie@patcapgroup.com
eofficeaction@appcoll.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte MIKAEL MORTENSEN, MELISSA NOLET, and KHIEM
QUANG NGUYEN
Appeal 2019-003709
Application 14/911,239
Technology Center 2600
Before ALLEN R. MACDONALD, BRADLEY W. BAUMEISTER, and
MICHAEL J. STRAUSS, Administrative Patent Judges.
STRAUSS, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL1
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant2 appeals from the
Examiner’s decision to reject claims 21, 23–37, 40–43. See Final Act. 1.
We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We reverse.

1 We refer to the Specification, filed February 9, 2016 (“Spec.”); the Final
Office Action, mailed March 8, 2018 (“Final Act.”); the Appeal Brief, filed
August 13, 2018 as revised November 14, 2018 (“Appeal Br.”); the
Examiner’s Answer, mailed February 7, 2019 (“Ans.”); the Examiner’s
Supplemental Answer, mailed February 25, 2019 (“Supp. Ans.”); and the
Reply Brief, filed April 8, 2019 (“Reply Br.”).
2 We use the word Appellant to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R.
§ 1.42. Appellant identifies the real party in interest as Analog Devices, Inc.
Appeal Br. 2.
Appeal 2019-003709
Application 14/911,239
2
CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER
The claims are directed to low latency processing of digital data.
Abstract. Claim 21, reproduced below with formatting altered including
bracketed labels added and disputed limitation (d)(iii) emphasized in italics,
is illustrative of the claimed subject matter:
21. A low latency communication system, comprising:
[(a)] a first processing circuit to:
[(b)] receive an input frame of digital data, wherein
[(i)] the input frame includes a frame start signal followed
by digital data arranged into time-divided data slots,
[(ii)] the time-divided data slots include a last data slot and
one or more other data slots, and
[(iii)] the input frame of digital data is followed by another
frame start signal indicating a start of another input
frame,
[(c)] perform a signal processing operation on the digital data
in at least one other data slot to generate processed digital
data, wherein the signal processing operation on the digital
data in the at least one other data slot is initiated before the
last data slot is received, and
[(d)] [(i)] transmit the processed digital data in an output
frame of digital data, wherein
[(ii)] the output frame includes a frame start signal
followed by the processed digital data arranged into
time-divided data slots, and
[(iii)] the frame start signal of the output frame is
transmitted before the last data slot is received.

REFERENCES
The prior art relied upon by the Examiner is:
Name Reference Date
Chennakeshu US 5,151,926 Sep. 29, 1992
Ookuri US 2012/0308022 A1 Dec. 6, 2012
Kessler US 2014/0025999 A1 Jan. 23, 2014
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Application 14/911,239
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STATEMENT OF THE REJECTIONS3
Claims 21, 23, 24, 26–28, 37, and 40–43 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Chennakeshu and Kessler. Final
Act. 3–7.
Claims 25 and 29–36 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being
unpatentable over Chennakeshu, Kessler, and Ookuri. Final Act. 8–10.

DETERMINATIONS AND CONTENTIONS
The Examiner finds that Chennakeshu’s digital radio system receiver
discloses most of the limitations of independent claim 21, including
limitations (a), (b)(i), (b)(ii), (c), and (d)(i). Final Act. 3–4. The Examiner
finds Kessler’s master slave microphone audio telephone system teaches
limitations (b)(iii) and (c)(ii) in addition to disputed limitation (c)(iii)
reciting the frame start signal of the output frame is transmitted before the
last data slot is received. Id. at 4.
The Examiner determines that the references’ teachings can be
combined because “[the] processing and transmission of Chennakeshu could
use synchronization response frames and superframes [(as taught by
Kessler)] for the purpose of synchronizing the system, where the processing
must all occur before the upstream transmission begins.” Id. In particular,
the Examiner explains that, according to a first mapping of the references,

3 The Examiner initially also rejected claims 31 under 35 U.S.C. § 112,
second paragraph, as failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the
subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the
invention, but the Examiner subsequently withdrew this rejection. Cf. Final
Act. 2 with Examiner’s Answer (Ans. 3).
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Application 14/911,239
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[Chennakeshu’s delay circuit] stage 32 receives the beginning
samples from slot 1 of Fig. 2a (or whichever of slots 1–3 are
received first), which is framed/defined in block 30 via blocks 15
and 120, including the indicator/start of the superframe taught by
Kessler, and is processed (a signal processing operation being the
delay process as applied to the samples within the slot 1), and
then the processed slot 1 is output along with the superframe
indicator before the next slot (slot 2) is received. The output
frame is the superframe indicator along with slot 1 which is
output before slot 2 or [slot 3 has] been received by the signal
processing operation. The cited signal processing operations are
on a slot synchronized basis as per Col 6 lines 25-35 which
recites sample synchronization to a TDMA frame/slot
(Chennakeshu).
Id.at 11 (emphasis added).
The Examiner finds Chennakeshu’s stages 13, 42, 52, and 76 similarly
function to teach the emphasized temporal relationship wherein “[t]he output
frame is the superframe indicator along with slot 1[,] which is output before
slot 2 or [slot 3] have been received by the signal processing operation.” Id.
at 12–16.
Appellant contends, inter alia, Chennakeshu fails to teach the
temporal relationship of limitation (d)(iii). Appeal Br. 7–8. According to
Appellant,
[N]o part of Chennakeshu indicates that these adjusted
coefficients (Ik, Qk) are arranged into any particular kind of
frame/slot format, nor does Chennakeshu or Kessler provide any
rationale for arranging them into a frame/slot format and then
utilizing Kessler’s alleged frame start signal to provide the
adjusted coefficients (lk, Qk) to the delay circuit 32.
Id. at 7.
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Application 14/911,239
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Appellant further argues
The portion of Chennakeshu at col. 6, lines 25–35, cited in the
Action, states only that “prior to establishing sample timing, it is
necessary to synchronize to a TDMA frame/slot. This can be
done using a correlation with the preamble sequence contained
within each slot.” There is no teaching or suggestion in
Chennakeshu that the delay circuit 32 need output any data
before the data slots 2 or 3 are received by the system of FIG. 5.
Further, no combination of Chennakeshu or Kessler provides any
rationale for arranging the output of the delay circuit 32 into a
frame/slot format along with Kessler’s alleged frame start signal.
Thus, no combination of the references teaches or suggests to
“transmit the processed digital data in an output frame of digital
data, wherein the output frame includes a frame start signal
followed by the processed digital data arranged into time-divided
data slots, and the frame start signal of the output frame is
transmitted before the last data slot is received,” in combination
with the other limitations of claim 21.
Id. at 7–8.
In response, the Examiner further explains,
[T]he TDMA framing structure disclosed in Chennakeshu Fig. 2
is used to provide synchronization in a TDMA system
(Chennakeshu Col 2 lines 40-55). As such[,] all of the disclosed
digital stages must conform to the stated protocol (the TDMA
system) in order to synchronize[,] as disclosed by Chennakeshu.
As such[,] the adjusted coefficients will be communicated to the
rest of the system using the same TDMA framing structure, as
well as any additional super framing (the cited synchronization
control frame) taught by Kessler, in order to synchronize the
different processing stages of the device.
Ans. 5; Supp. Ans. 5–6.
The Examiner further finds,
The framing protocol defines the blocks of data [that] are
processed by each stage in fig. 5 of Chennakeshu. The first
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Application 14/911,239
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frame/slot of Chennakeshu will complete processing by a stage
32 in fig. 5 because that is how the framing is defined in fig, 2.
The addition of a superframe indicator/SCF as taught by Kessler
will be output (with the control signaling of the first slot of
Chennakeshu) after the first slot is processed by stage 32, in order
for the next slot to be processed where the next slot will not
contain the SCF taught by Kessler because the superframes of
Kessler by definition comprise more than one frame/slot.
Ans. 5–6, Supp. Ans. 6.
Appellant replies, arguing,
The purpose of the detector of Chennakeshu’s FIG. 5 is to take
an incoming IF signal and properly decode it. There is no support
for the assertion that data generated internal to the detector is re-
encoded after each operation into a TDMA format, and then
decoded before the next operation.
Reply Br. 3.

STANDARD OF REVIEW
The Board conducts a limited de novo review of the appealed
rejections for error based upon the issues identified by Appellant, and in
light of the arguments and evidence produced thereon. Ex parte Frye,
94 USPQ2d 1072, 1075 (BPAI 2010) (precedential).

ANALYSIS
Appellant’s contentions are persuasive of reversible Examiner error.
In particular, the Examiner has not established in any of the proposed
mappings of the claim language to the cited references that the combination
of Chennakeshu and Kessler teaches or suggests disputed limitation (d)(iii)
requiring the frame start signal of the output frame is transmitted before the
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last data slot is received. In particular, the Examiner has not established that
either Chennakeshu or Kessler discloses the recited temporal relationship
between processing performed within Chennakeshu’s receiver and the
Synchronization Control Frame (SCF) of Kessler’s superframes. And we
find insufficient evidence to support the Examiner’s finding that
Chennakeshu’s stage 32 will complete processing of a first frame/slot in any
particular timing relation to other events such as receipt of a last data slot or
that a frame start signal of an output frame would be transmitted before the
last data slot is received. See Ans. 5–6.
Furthermore, the Examiner provides insufficient evidence to support
the stated rationale for why the recited temporal relationship necessarily
would be present in the asserted combination. That is, we find insufficient
evidence that, even if Chennakeshu were modified to adopt Kessler’s
superframe structure, the combination would teach or suggest the particular
configuration advanced by the Examiner including use of a superframe
structure at the input and output of each processing stage of Chennakeshu’s
receiver. See id. at 5.
In particular, the combination of Chennakeshu and Kessler fails to
teach internally decoding and encoding a data signal from/into a superframe
format when transmitting a data signal within a particular device and, in
particular, a receiver providing an analog output signal such as
Chennakeshu’s receiver. Thus, we find insufficient evidence to support the
Examiner’s finding that “adjusted coefficients will be communicated to the
rest of [Chennakeshu’s] system using the same TDMA framing structure . . .
to synchronize the different processing stages [of Chennakeshu’s] device.”
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Application 14/911,239
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Because we agree with at least one of the arguments advanced by
Appellant, we need not reach the merits of Appellant’s other arguments.
Accordingly, we do not sustain the rejection of independent claim 21
under 35 U.S.C. § 103 or, for the same reasons, the rejection of independent
claim 37, which includes similar limitations, or the rejection of claims 23,
24, 26–28, 40–43, which depend from these independent claims.
With respect to the additional obviousness rejection of dependent
claims 25 and 29–36, the Examiner does not rely on the additionally cited
reference, Ookuri, to cure the deficiency of the obviousness rejection of
claim 21, noted above. Final Act. 8–10. Accordingly, we do not sustain this
rejection for the same reasons noted above.

DECISION
Claims
Rejected
35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed
21, 23, 24,
26–28, 37,
40–43
103(a) Chennakeshu,
Kessler
21, 23, 24,
26–28, 37,
40–43
25, 29–36 103(a) Chennakeshu,
Kessler, Ookuri
25, 29–36
Overall
Outcome
21, 23–37,
40–43
REVERSED