DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Response to Amendment
Examiner acknowledges amending of claims 1, 6, 11, 13-14, 22, cancellation of claims 4-5, 7, 18-21, 23-32 and addition of new claims 33-52.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues prior art of record does not disclose amended claim 1 due to prior art of record not disclosing lightpipe with an input having a collection area that redirects light to a monitor photodiode (Remarks pgs. 12-16).
Examiner agrees that Donovan alone does not disclose amended claim 1, however, Examiner contends that the combination of Donovan in view of O’Keeffe discloses amended claim 1. Claim 1 rejected over Donovan in view of O’Keeffe.
Applicant argues O’Keeffe does not disclose the use of a lightpipe in a monitoring configuration associated with a LiDAR transmitter as recited in independent claim 1. Applicant contends that O’Keeffe’s disclosure of a CFOB in a LIDAR receiver is not sufficiently equivalent to what is required by the instant applicant claims (Remarks pgs. 17-18).
Examiner disagrees. Generally, O’Keeffe discloses using fiber optics to transmit light through a LIDAR system. This is sufficiently analogous to the structure and function required by instant application claims. Additionally, the function of the device/fiber optics in O’Keeffe can be interpreted as “monitoring”.
New claims rejected using combination of new and existing prior art.
Claim Objections
Claim 1, 33, 41 objected to because of the following informalities:
Last line of step d) should read “plurality of optical beams” claim 1
Last line of step c) should read “plurality of optical beams” claim 33
2nd to last line of step c) should read “plurality of optical beams” claim 41
2nd line step d) and step e) should read “the monitor plane” claim 41
. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 52 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term “close” “distant” in claim 52 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “close” “distant” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The distance between the lightpipe and the laser array and the distance between the monitor photodiode and the laser array have been rendered indefinite by the language. Examiner interprets “close” to mean “closer than the monitor photodiode” and “distant” to mean “farther than the lightpipe”.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 09/19/2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Interpretation
Regarding claims 17 and 31, “eye safety” is interpreted to be a type of “functional safety”. See Applicant specification 0061.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 33-36, 38-39 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Donovan et al. (US-20170307736-A1).
For claim 33, “plurality of optical beams” comprises only the beams from the lambda2 emitters in the VCSEL array, see 0155 + fig. 14.
Regarding claim 33, Donovan discloses a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) transmitter with optical power monitoring (fig. 31), the transmitter comprising: a) a laser array positioned in a plane (annotated fig. 31X VCSEL array in PLANE), the laser array generating a plurality of optical beams that propagate along an optical path in response to an electrical signal provided at an input (annotated fig. 31X VCSEL array generates plurality of beams 3104 ONLY LAMBDA2 BEAMS (lines emanating from LAMBDA2 VCSEL elements), 0155 line 9); b) a first projecting optical element positioned in the optical path that projects the plurality of optical beams such that the plurality of optical beams at least partially overlaps at a common point (annotated fig. 31X L1 in optical path projects 3104 to eventually overlap at common point POINT, 0112 lines 7-9); c) a directing optical element comprising a partially reflective mirror positioned at the common point in the optical path of the plurality of optical beams (annotated fig. 31X 3102 comprises “partial mirror” with wavelength-dependent reflectance, fig. 31 wavelengths separated by reflection direction at POINT, 0155 lines 8-10), the directing optical element reflecting a portion of the light from each of the plurality of optical beams producing an illumination region comprising at least some light from each of the plurality of beams in the plane (annotated fig. 31X 3102 reflects optical beams to produce illumination region (entire region to the right of 3114) comprising light from beams in plane PLANE, 0156 lines 8-10, 0157 lines 4-6); d) a monitor photodiode positioned within the illumination region in the plane that collects at least some of the reflected portion of the light from each of the plurality of optical beams (annotated fig. 31X monitor photodiode behind notch filter in 3110 collects some of the reflected light from each lambda2 beam, 0156), the monitor photodiode generating a detected signal at an output in response to the collected light (0156, 0158); and e) a controller with an input connected to the output of the monitor photodiode and an output connected to the input of the laser array, the controller generating the electrical signal in response to the detected signal that controls the laser array to achieve a desired operation of the LiDAR system transmitter (0158).
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Annotated fig. 31X
Regarding claim 34, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 33 wherein the partially reflecting mirror is oriented such that it is inclined towards the plane in which the monitor photodiode is positioned (annotated fig. 31X in the frame of PLANE, 3102 is inclined towards PLANE, i.e. they are not parallel).
Regarding claim 35, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 33 wherein the partially reflecting mirror is oriented such that a normal to a surface of the partially reflecting mirror is parallel to an optical axis of the first projecting optical element thereby maintaining a rotational symmetry of the LiDAR transmitter (fig. 31 right/front surface of 3102 has normal that is parallel to optical axis of L1).
Regarding claim 36, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 33 wherein the monitor photodiode is mounted on a same substrate as the laser array.
All components within the fig. 31 device are located on vehicle/”substrate” (fig. 1 vehicle 108, 0053).
def. substrate – substratum (Merriam-Webster def. 1)
def. substratum – an underlying support, a foundation (Merriam-Webster)
Regarding claim 38, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 33 wherein the laser array comprises a VCSEL array (fig. 31 VCSEL).
Regarding claim 39, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 33 wherein the laser array comprises a two- dimensional array (fig. 31 VCSEL 2-dimensional, see figs. 12a-b), where at least two lasers within the array can be operated independently (0156 lines 5-10).
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, 8-9, 11-13, 15, 22, 45-46, 49-52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of O'Keeffe (US-20180100929-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Donovan discloses a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) transmitter with optical power monitoring (fig. 31), the transmitter comprising: a) a laser array (annotated fig. 31 VCSEL array in PLANE1) generating a plurality of optical beams that propagate along an optical path in response to an electrical signal provided at an input (annotated fig. 31 VCSEL array generates plurality of beams 3104 (lines emanating from VCSEL elements), 0155 line 9); b) a first projecting optical element positioned in the optical path that projects the plurality of optical beams such that the plurality of optical beams at least partially overlaps at a common point (annotated fig. 31 L1 in optical path projects 3104 to eventually overlap at common point POINT, 0112 lines 7-9); d) a directing optical element comprising a partially reflective mirror positioned at the common point in the optical path of the plurality of optical beams (annotated fig. 31 3102 comprises “partial mirror” with wavelength-dependent reflectance, fig. 31 wavelengths separated by reflection direction at POINT, 0155 lines 8-10), the directing optical element reflecting a portion of the light from each of the plurality of optical beams producing an illumination region comprising at least some light from each of the plurality of beams in a monitor plane (annotated fig. 31 3102 reflects optical beams to produce illumination region (entire region to the right of 3114) in a monitor plane PLANE2, 0156 lines 8-10, 0157 lines 4-6); e) a monitor having an input comprising a collection area positioned within the illumination region in the monitor plane (annotated fig. 31 monitor 3108+3110 has input comprising collection area Collection within region to the right of 3114 and in PLANE2, 0156 lines 1-3), the monitor configured such that the input collects at least some of the reflected portion of the light from each of the plurality of optical beams (annotated fig. 31 monitor combo 3108 + 3110 input within illumination region collects reflected light from beams, 0156 lines 1-3), a monitor photodiode configured to generate a detected signal at an output in response to the collected light (0156 lines 3-5, 0158); and f) a controller with an input connected to the output of the monitor photodiode and an output connected to the input of the laser array, the controller generating the electrical signal in response to the detected signal that controls the laser array to achieve a desired operation of the LiDAR system transmitter (0158).
Donovan does not disclose the monitor being a lightpipe that collects light at an input and redirects the collected light to an output and monitor photodiode.
O’Keeffe discloses a LIDAR device using fiber optic bundles/lightpipes to redirect received light to a series of photodetectors (fig. 8 175d-e redirect reflected beams 245 + 850a to detector array 150 with photodetectors 151, 0054 line 3, 0061 lines 6-7, 0089 lines 1-3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the monitor a lightpipe that collects light at an input and redirects the collected light to an output and the monitor photodiode to allow for additional flexibility when positioning the photodiode and designing the LiDAR system. The photodiode could be positioned further inside of an object/vehicle where it would be less likely to be damaged by the surrounding environment (O’Keeffe 0014 lines 1-7).
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Donovan fig. 31
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Annotated fig. 31
Regarding claim 2, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the laser array comprises a VCSEL array (fig. 31 VCSEL).
Regarding claim 3, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the laser array comprises a two-dimensional array (annotated fig. 31 VCSEL 2-dimensional, see figs. 12a-b), where at least two lasers within the array can be operated independently (0156 lines 5-10).
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Annotated fig. 31a
Regarding claim 6, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the directing optical element further comprises a second projecting optical element that projects light from the first projecting optical element in a direction of transmission (annotated fig. 31, directing optical element 3102 comprises second projecting optical element 3102, 3102 projects light from L1 in a direction of transmission (top to bottom in fig. 31)).
Regarding claim 8, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the directing optical element comprises a diffractive element.
Donovan discloses using a diffractive element as one of the optical elements within the device (0113 lines 1-16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a diffractive element as the directing optical element in the device in Donovan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve precision of the output beam steering, shaping, and wavelength selectivity (0113 lines 11-16).
Regarding claim 9, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the directing optical element comprises a prism.
Donovan discloses using a prism as one of the optical elements within the device (0113 lines 13-16).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a prism as the directing optical element in the device in Donovan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to eliminate the cost and time spent adding coatings to make a mirror partially-reflective. The prism would not require these processes.
Regarding claim 11, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the directing optical element further comprises an optical filter (0155 lines 8-10, “partial mirror” with wavelength-dependent reflectance, fig. 31 wavelengths separated by reflection direction).
Regarding claim 12, modified, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the directing optical element comprises a flat optical element (fig. 31 3102 is flat).
Regarding claim 13, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the directing optical element comprises a transmissive element (0155 lines 8-10, “partial mirror” is partially transmissive).
Regarding claim 15, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the achieving the desired operation of the LiDAR system transmitter comprises achieving a predetermined performance metric (0077 general monitoring, 0145 temperature monitoring).
Regarding claim 22, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1 wherein the monitor photodiode further comprises a multi-wavelength monitor that provides wavelength information about the collected light (fig. 31 monitor combination 3108+3110 w/ photodiode monitors parameters of light, including wavelength, 0160).
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Annotated fig. 31b
Regarding claim 45, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the lightpipe is formed of glass.
O’Keeffe discloses a LIDAR device using optical fibers within a CFOB with a glass core and cladding (fig. 3A core 318 and cladding 316 made of glass, same core and cladding material used in fig. 3B CFOB, 0067).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the lightpipe glass due to glass’s increased resistance to extreme temperatures.
Regarding claim 46, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the lightpipe is formed of plastic.
O’Keeffe discloses a LIDAR device using optical fibers within a CFOB with a plastic core and cladding (fig. 3A core 318 and cladding 316 made of plastic, fig. 3B same core and cladding material in CFOB, 0067).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the lightpipe plastic due to plastic’s lower cost and increased flexibility.
Regarding claim 49, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein a size of the collection area is larger than an active area of the monitor photodiode.
O’Keeffe discloses a size of a photodetector in a photodetector array being smaller than a size of a CFOB input (fig. 10A photodetector within array 150 smaller than CFOB 175 input, 0092).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make the collection area larger than an active area of the monitor photodiode to increase the amount of detected light without needing to increase photodetector size, will increase detection accuracy.
Regarding claim 50, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the lightpipe is configured to condense light from the collection area onto an active area of the monitor photodiode.
O’Keeffe discloses a CFOB condensing light from a CFOB collection area onto an active area of a photodetector (fig. 10A light from CFOB 175 condensed before reaching active area of photodetector within array 150, 0092).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the lightpipe to condense light from the collection area onto an active area of the monitor photodiode to increase the amount of detected light without needing to increase photodetector size, will increase detection accuracy. This modification will also allow for decreased photodetector size, shrinking overall size of device.
Regarding claim 51, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the monitor photodiode is located remotely from the input of the lightpipe.
O’Keeffe discloses a LIDAR system with a photodetector array located remotely from an input of a CFOB (fig. 1A detector array 150 located remotely from input of 175s, 0053-0054).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have the monitor photodiode located remotely from the input of the lightpipe to increase flexibility when positioning the device within a larger system.
Regarding claim 52, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the lightpipe is positioned physically close to the laser array and the monitor photodiode is positioned physically distant from the laser array.
O’Keeffe discloses a LIDAR system with a light emitter that is closer to a CFOB than to a photodetector array (fig. 6 LIDAR system with light emitter 120e closer to CFOB 175f than to photodetector array within 140, 0054, 0086).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to position the lightpipe close to the laser array and the monitor photodiode distant from the laser array to reduce thermal influence of laser array on the photodiode without sacrificing intensity of detected light.
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of O’Keeffe and Mamidipudi et al. (US-20130208256-A1).
Regarding claim 10, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the directing optical element comprises a holographic element.
Mamidipudi discloses a transceiver device including a holographic directing optical element for use in a LiDAR system (fig. 3 HOE 304 used in transceiver device/LiDAR to direct optical beam, Abstract final 7 lines, 0050 lines 1-7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a holographic element within the directing optical element in Donovan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to consolidate and increase optical functionality within the device and reduce the number of optical elements required to operate the device (0019).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of O’Keeffe and Buettgen et al. (US-20170090018-A1).
Regarding claim 14, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the directing optical element comprises an optical coating.
Buettgen discloses an optical imaging module for time-of-flight with an optical coating on one or more surfaces within an emission chamber that is reflective to certain wavelengths of light (fig. 2, optical coating 132 on emitter window 122A, 0039).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add wavelength selective optical coatings onto directing optical element 3102 to reduce amount of non-lambda2 light entering lambda2 detector and non-lambda1 light entering lambda1 detector.
Claim(s) 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of O’Keeffe and Bauhahn et al. (US-20090273770-A1).
Regarding claim 16, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the achieving the desired operation of the LiDAR system transmitter comprises achieving eye safety.
Bauhahn discloses a LiDAR device with a controller that automatically adjusts laser output to comply with a predefined eye safety model (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make achieving the desired operation of the device in Donovan comprise achieving eye safety.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to prevent eye damage (Bauhahn 0002 + 0003).
Regarding claim 17, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the achieving the desired operation of the LiDAR system transmitter comprises achieving functional safety.
“Eye safety” is interpreted as a type of “functional safety” (Applicant Specification 0061).
Bauhahn discloses a LiDAR device with a controller that automatically adjusts laser output to comply with a predefined eye safety model (Abstract).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to make achieving the desired operation of the device in Donovan comprise achieving eye safety and functional safety.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to prevent eye damage and functional damage (Bauhahn 0002 + 0003).
Claim(s) 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan.
Regarding claim 40, Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 33.
Donovan does not disclose wherein the monitor photodiode further comprises a multi-wavelength monitor that provides wavelength information about the collected light.
Donovan discloses a LIDAR device with two separate monitor photodiodes detecting two separate wavelengths (fig. 31 two separate monitor photodiodes behind 3110 and 3108, 3110 detects lambda2 and 3108 detects lambda1). Donovan also discloses the option of reflecting light from both wavelengths in one direction (0157).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the 3108 and 3110 photodiodes to make a single monitor photodiode and include all beams from VCSEL array (lambda1 and lambda2) within the plurality of optical beams to consolidate space within the device and simplify the beam path (MPEP 2144.04 V B).
Claim(s) 41-44 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of Kim (US-20210364603-A1).
Regarding claim 41, Donovan discloses a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) transmitter with optical power monitoring (fig. 31), the transmitter comprising: a) a laser array (annotated fig. 31Y VCSEL array), the laser array generating a plurality of optical beams that propagate along an optical path in response to an electrical signal provided at an input (annotated fig. 31Y VCSEL array generates plurality of beams 3104 (lines emanating from VCSEL elements), 0155 line 9); b) a first projecting optical element positioned in the optical path that projects the plurality of optical beams such that the plurality of optical beams at least partially overlaps at a common point (annotated fig. 31Y L1 in optical path projects 3104 to eventually overlap at common point POINT, 0112 lines 7-9); c) a transmissive mounting plate positioned at the common point in the optical path of the plurality of optical beams (annotated fig. 31Y transmissive mounting plate 3114 positioned at POINT, 0157), the transmissive mounting plate transmitting a portion of the light from each of the plurality of optical beams producing an illumination region comprising at least some light from each of the plurality of beams in a monitor plane (annotated fig. 31Y 3114 transmits portion of light from optical beams to produce illumination region (entire region to right of 3114) comprising at least some light from each of the beams in a monitor plane PLANE2); d) an element having an input comprising a collection area positioned within the illumination region in the plane (annotated fig. 31Y element 3102 has input/collection area (left surface) within illumination region in PLANE2), the element configured such that the collection area collects at least some of the reflected portion of the light from each of the plurality of optical beams and redirects the collected light (annotated fig. 31Y 3102 collection area collects + redirects light towards 3110 + 3108 detectors), e) a monitor photodiode positioned in a location that is outside the illumination region in the plane and in a path of the redirected collected light (annotated fig. 31Y monitor photodiode behind 3110 and outside illumination region in path of redirected light), the monitor photodiode being configured to generate a detected signal at an output in response to the redirected collected light (0156 lines 3-5, 0158); and f) a controller with an input connected to the output of the monitor photodiode and an output connected to the input of the laser array, the controller generating the electrical signal in response to the detected signal that controls the laser array to achieve a desired operation of the LiDAR system transmitter (0158).
Donovan does not disclose the element being a microprism.
Kim discloses a LIDAR device with a beam steering unit comprising microprisms (fig. 17 beam steering unit 234 comprises microprisms 235, fig. 14, 0244-0246, 0254).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a microprism as the “element” to take advantage of their small size relative to other redirection components.
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Annotated fig. 31Y
Regarding claim 42, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 41 wherein the laser array comprises a VCSEL array (annotated fig. 31Y VCSEL).
Regarding claim 43, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 41 wherein the laser array comprises a two- dimensional array (annotated fig. 31Y VCSEL 2-dimensional, see figs. 12a-b), where at least two lasers within the array can be operated independently (0156 lines 5-10).
Regarding claim 44, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 41.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the monitor photodiode further comprises a multi-wavelength monitor that provides wavelength information about the collected light.
Donovan discloses a LIDAR device with two separate monitor photodiodes detecting two separate wavelengths (fig. 31Y two separate monitor photodiodes behind 3110 and 3108, 3110 detects lambda2 and 3108 detects lambda1). Donovan also discloses the option of reflecting light from both wavelengths in one direction (0157).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the 3108 and 3110 photodiodes to make a single monitor photodiode and include all beams from VCSEL array (lambda1 and lambda2) within the plurality of optical beams to consolidate space within the device and simplify the beam path (MPEP 2144.04 V B).
Claim(s) 47 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of O'Keeffe and McNie (US-20060171626-A1).
Regarding claim 47, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the lightpipe comprises a hollow waveguide with internal mirrored surfaces.
McNie discloses hollow core optical waveguides with internal mirrored surfaces used in an optical transmitter and receiver apparatus (fig. 1 hollow core waveguides with internal mirrored surfaces 20 used in optical transmitter 2, 0045, 0053, 0057-0058, claim 42).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use a hollow waveguide with internal mirrored surfaces as the lightpipe to allow higher optical power to be transmitted than solid core waveguides + reduce optical losses (McNie 0006).
Claim(s) 48 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Donovan in view of O'Keeffe and Vogt (US-20130265563-A1).
Regarding claim 48, modified Donovan discloses the LiDAR transmitter of claim 1.
Modified Donovan does not disclose wherein the lightpipe comprises a fiber optic cable.
Vogt discloses a LIDAR system using fiber optic cables as lightpipes (fig. 4, fiber optic cables 26 + 28, Abstract, 0047, 0049).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use fiber optic cable as the lightpipe to provide increased transmission speed of the light compared with other lightpipe options.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 37 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 37 – Prior art of record does not disclose monitor photodiode manufactured monolithically with laser array.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/A.E./Examiner, Art Unit 2828
/TOD T VAN ROY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2828