Office Action 2: Notice of Allowance (2025-03-24)

CLAIMS:
CLAIM AMENDMENTS

IN THE CLAIMS

The following listing of the Claims replaces all prior versions and listings of claims in the application as filed or submitted in any previous amendment:

1\. - 18. (Previously Cancelled)217

19\. (Currently Amended) Pre-conditioning circuitry for pre-conditioning a capacitor of a circuit to support a change in operation of the circuit, wherein the pre-conditioning circuitry is configured to apply a voltage, current or charge directly to the capacitor prior to the change in operation of the circuit to reduce a settling time of the circuit following the change in operation of the SVG {EMBED HERE} 0.1530.463 wherein the pre-conditioning circuitry is configured to output a first voltage to a first circuit node andto output a secondvoltage to a second circuit node to pre-charge the capacitorprior to the change in operation ofthe circuit.SVG {EMBED HERE} 0.0770.053

20\. (Previously Presented) The pre-conditioning circuitry of claim 19, wherein the pre- conditioning circuitry is configured to apply the voltage, current or charge directly to the capacitor to pre-charge the capacitor to a predefined level of charge prior to the change in operation of the circuit.

21\. (Cancelled)

22\. (Previously Presented) The pre-conditioning circuitry of claim 21, wherein the pre- conditioning circuitry is configured to control a first pre-conditioning switch to selectively output the first voltage to the first circuit node and to control a second pre-conditioning switch to selectively output the second voltage to the second circuit node.

23\. (Previously Presented) The pre-conditioning circuitry of claim 20, wherein the predefined level of charge is higher than is theoretically required to achieve a given settling time.

24\. (Previously Presented) The pre-conditioning circuitry of claim 23, wherein the predefined level of charge includes an additional amount of charge to compensate for charge redistribution from the capacitor to a parasitic capacitance, an intrinsic capacitance or an explicit capacitance of the circuit.

25\. (Previously Presented) The pre-conditioning circuitry of claim 19, wherein the capacitor is a Miller capacitor.

26\. (Previously Presented) The pre-conditioning circuitry of claim 19, wherein the circuit is an amplifier circuit configured such that, in use of the amplifier circuit, the capacitor provides frequency compensation for the amplifier circuit.

27\. (Previously Presented) Pre-conditioning circuitry according to claim 19, wherein the change in operation of the circuit is in response to start-up of the circuit.

28\. (Previously Presented) An integrated circuit comprising pre-conditioning circuitry according to claim 19.

29\. (Previously Presented) A host device comprising pre-conditioning circuitry according to claim 19.

30\. (Previously Presented) A host device according to claim 29, wherein the host device comprises a laptop, notebook, netbook or tablet computer, a gaming device, a games console, a controller for a games console, a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) device, a mobile telephone, a portable audio player, a portable device, an accessory device for use with a laptop, notebook, netbook or tablet computer, a gaming device, a games console a VR or AR device, a mobile telephone, a portable audio player or other portable device.

OFFICE ACTION:
DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 19, 20 and 22-30 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claim 19, the prior art does not fairly teach or suggest that the pre-conditioning circuitry is configured to output a first voltage to a first circuit node and to output a second voltage to a second circuit node to pre-charge the capacitor prior to the change in operation of the circuit in combination with the limitations of claim 19.
Claims 20 and 22-30 are allowed merely for being dependent on claim 19.
Kim (U.S. Patent 11,086,343 cited in the Information Disclosure Statement filed January 31, 2024) teaches pre-conditioning circuitry (Figure 1) for pre-conditioning a capacitor (Cc) to support a change in operation of the circuit (column 2 lines 1-10). Kim does not specifically teach outputting a first voltage to a first circuit node and to output a second voltage to a second circuit node to pre-charge the capacitor prior to the change in operation of the circuit.
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

APPLICANT REBUTTAL: ATTORNEY DOCKET
PATENT APPLICATION
REMARKS
Claims 19-30 were pending and examined. Applicant has amended Claim 19 and cancelled, without waiver or prejudice, Claim 21. Claims 19, 20, and 22-30 remain pending. Any amendment not specifically referenced with respect to a statutory ground of rejection is not made for any purpose related to patentability.
Allowable Sub
j
ect Matter
Applicant appreciates the Examiner's indication that Claims 21-24 would be allowable if rewritten in independent form to include the limitations of their respective base and intervening claims. To that end, Applicant has amended independent Claim 19 to include the features of now- cancelled Claim 21.
Thus, Claim 19 is allowable. Given that Claim 22-24 depend from Claim 19, Claims 22- 24 are also allowable.  Accordingly, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration and withdrawal of the objections to Claims 22-24, and full allowance of Claims 22-24.
Rej
ections under 35 U.S.C.
&
102(a)(2) and 103
Claims 19, 20, and 25-29 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(2) as allegedly anticipated by Kim, U.S. Patent No. 11086343 (hereinafter, "Kim").
Claim 30 was rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as allegedly unpatentable over Kim in view of Zhan et al., U.S. Patent No. 11082047 (hereinafter, "Zhan").
While Applicant makes no concessions regarding the rejections under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103, as set forth above, Applicant has amended Claim 19 to include the subject matter of original, now-cancelled Claim 21, which the Examiner held to recite allowable subject matter. Accordingly, amended Claim 19 is allowable. Given that Claims 20 and 25-30 depend from Claim 19, Applicant submits that Claims 20 and 25-30 are also allowable. Accordingly, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration and withdrawal of the rejections under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103, and full allowance of Claims 19, 20, and 25-30, as amended.
ATTORNEY DOCKET
PATENT APPLICATION
CONCLUSION


CITED REFERENCE SUMMARIES: Ref US11086343: Claims:
1. A low-dropout (LDO) regulator comprising:
a pass element, connected between a power supply voltage and an output node of the LDO regulator;
a feedback circuit, configured to receive a feedback from the output node and generates a feedback voltage;
an error amplifier, configured to receive the feedback voltage and a reference voltage to generate a control signal to drive the pass element;
a compensation capacitor, comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is coupled to a first node and the second terminal is coupled to the output node of the LDO regulator; and
a detection circuit, configured to detect a voltage at the first node and controls a first switch according to a detection result,
wherein when the LDO regulator is operating in an active mode, the first switch is turned on to connect the first node and a control terminal of the pass element and when the LDO regulator is operating in a standby mode, the first switch is turned off to disconnect the first node from the control terminal of the pass element.
2. The LDO regulator of claim 1, wherein the first switch is coupled between the first node and the control terminal of the pass element.
3. The LDO regulator of claim 1, further comprising:
a driver circuit, configured to charge and discharge the first node; and
a second switch, configured to connect the driver circuit and the first node.
4. The LDO regulator of claim 3, wherein when the first switch changes from turn on to turn off, a transition detection pulse is generated to initialize the first node with a first predetermined voltage by the driver circuit.
5. The LDO regulator of claim 4, wherein when the transition detection pulse is generated, the detection circuit compares a voltage at the first node and the first predetermined voltage.
6. The LDO regulator of claim 5, wherein when the voltage at the first node is higher than the first predetermined voltage, the driver circuit discharges the first node.
7. The LDO regulator of claim 5, wherein when the voltage at the first node is lower than the first predetermined voltage, the driver circuit charges the first node.
8. The LDO regulator of claim 7, wherein the driver circuit comprises a diode connected PMOS configured to charge the first node to the first predetermined voltage during charging.
9. The LDO regulator of claim 8, wherein the detection circuit is coupled to the driver circuit to detect a voltage of the diode connected PMOS.
10. A method of regulating a low-dropout (LDO) regulator comprising:
generating a feedback voltage by receiving a feedback from an output node of the LDO regulator;
generating a control signal to drive a pass element by receiving the feedback voltage and a reference voltage; and
detecting a voltage at a first node and controlling a switching operation of a first switch according to a detection result by a detection circuit, wherein a first terminal of a compensation capacitor of the LDO regulator is coupled to the first node and a second terminal of the compensation capacitor of the LDO regulator is coupled to the output node,
wherein when the LDO regulator is operating in an active mode, the first switch is turned on to connect the first node and a control terminal of the pass element and when the LDO regulator is operating in a standby mode, the first switch is turned off to disconnect the first node from the control terminal of the pass element.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first switch is coupled between the first node and the control terminal of the pass element.
12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:
perform a charging operation and a discharging operation on the first node.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein when the first switch changes from turn on to turn off, a transition detection pulse is generated to initialize the first node with a first predetermined voltage by the driver circuit.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein when the transition detection pulse is generated, the detection circuit compares a voltage at the first node and the first predetermined voltage.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein when the voltage at the first node is higher than the first predetermined voltage, the driver circuit discharges the first node.
16. The method of claim 14, wherein when the voltage at the first node is lower than the first predetermined voltage, the driver circuit charges the first node.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the driver circuit comprises a diode connected PMOS configured to charge the first node to the first predetermined voltage during charging.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the detection circuit is coupled to the driver circuit to detect a voltage of the diode connected PMOS.