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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/16/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendments
Claims 1, 3-13, and 15-20 are pending. Claims 1, 8, 12-13, are amended.
Regarding claim rejections under 35 U.S.C §103, Applicant’s arguments are directed to claim amendments which necessitate a grounds for rejection.
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.
Claims 1 and 4 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "each horizontal field of view" and “the horizontal field of view” in paragraph five. These terms are not found in prior claim limitation to establish meaning or provide context.
Likewise, Claim 4 recites “each horizontal unit field of view” in line two.
There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims as currently amended.
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.
Claims 1, 5-9, 11-13, 17-18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over LACHAPELLE (US 20180284226 A1), in view of LACHAPELLE (US 20200049821 A1) and DONOVAN (US 20190302246 A1), and further in view of LOHBIHLER US (20210043398 A1)
With respect to Claims 1, 12, and 13, LACHAPELLE teaches:
A lidar noise removal apparatus, comprising: (LACHAPELLE is in same technical field, [0002] : “disclosure generally relates to lidar systems”, and addresses reducing electrical and optical noise for improved signal to noise ratio, [0129]: “TIA 510 may be configured as a low-pass filter that removes or attenuates high-frequency electrical noise by attenuating”)
a light receiving device provided in a lidar to output an electrical signal corresponding to an input light signal; (LACHAPELLE teaches detection system, FIG. 1 or FIG. 10, and [0042]: “receiver 140 may receive or detect photons from the input beam 135 and generate one or more representative signals. For example, the receiver 140 may generate an output electrical signal”)
a comparative device including a processor and configured to compare the electrical signal with a threshold voltage to detect an electrical signal greater than the threshold voltage; (LACHAPELLE teaches use of standard computer-based components for implementation, [0008]: “lidar system including one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable memory coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions thereon”; LACHAPELLE teaches use of comparative device, FIG.11, element 514 “comparator”, with [0128]: “pulse-detection circuit 504 includes a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) 510, a gain circuit 512, a comparator 514”; LACHAPELLE teaches thresholding techniques, [0068]: “receiver 140 may include circuitry that performs signal amplification, sampling, filtering, signal conditioning, analog-to-digital conversion, time-to-digital conversion, pulse detection, threshold detection”, and teaches comparison to a threshold value, [0131]: “comparator 514 may be configured to receive a voltage signal from the TIA 510 or the gain circuit 512 and produce an electrical-edge signal (e.g., a rising edge or a falling edge) when the received voltage signal rises above or falls below a particular threshold voltage VT”)
a controller including a processor and configured to variably adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device (LACHAPELLE teaches computer-based elements, including controller and processor, with comparator circuit, as above; LACHAPELLE further teaches adjustment of threshold voltage based on comparator result, [0158]: “controller 150 may provide a control signal to toggle between threshold voltages or gain values at various instances of time including pixel-to-pixel, line-to-line, frame-to-frame, etc. In another implementation, the controller 150 adjusts the threshold voltage”)
controller is further configured to dynamically adjust the threshold voltage for each horizontal unit field of view of the lidar when the horizontal field of view scanned by the lidar is changed. (LACHAPELLE teaches scanning with horizontal field of view, [0074]: “scanner 120 may be configured to scan the output beam 125 horizontally and vertically, and the lidar system 100 may have a particular FOR along the horizontal direction”, where term “FOR” means [0073]: “field of regard”, interpreted as analogous to “field of view”; LACHAPELLE teaches threshold adjustment based on scanning variation, where number of collected points is determined by FOR, [0081]: “As indicated above, the lidar system 100 may be used to determine the distance to one or more downrange targets 130. By scanning the lidar system 100 across a field of regard, the system can be used to map the distance to a number of points within the field of regard”, and controller adjusts threshold voltage in response to variation in FOR, . the controller adjusts the threshold voltage as a function of visibility”; and Col22L13: “receiver field of view may be any suitable size relative to the light-source field of view”; and see FIG. 11, with Col31L42: “the pulse-detection circuit 504 may detect the return light pulse when a voltage signal…corresponding to the incoming light exceeds the threshold voltage VT as shown in FIG. 11…then provide the characteristics of the return light pulse to the controller 150, which in turn analyzes the characteristics to detect the triggering event. The controller 150 then increases or decreases the peak power, pulse energy, or other characteristics of subsequent light waveforms (e.g., by providing a control signal to the light source) depending on the triggering event”)
LACHAPPELLE does not teach:
comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device with a first reference
adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device with a first reference number of times;
wherein the first reference number of times is set according to a minimum time between which distinguishment of signals is possible for signal processing of the electrical signals detected through the comparative device; and
LACHAPELLE-2020 teaches
comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device with a first reference (LACHAPELLE-2020 is in same technical field and teaches detection based on number of pulses output, FIG. 21 and [0170]: “when a light signal 720 arrives at the detector 708, the processor…processes the light signal 720 as a return pulse train corresponding to the output pulse train 704 only if the value stored in the sequence value register 712 matches the determined sequence 722, adjusted for the Doppler effect. The processor 701 can output an indication 724 of whether the determined sequence 722 corresponds to the output pulse train 704, and an indication of velocity 726.”, and [0177] : “system can select the number of pulses in view of the distance”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify LACHAPELLE to include the steps of comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device with a first reference, such as that of LACHAPELLE-2020 because the step would provide an additional level of verification for determining signal integrity. One of ordinary skill would see the advantage of combining the step taught by LACHAPELLE-2020 with the method of LACHAPELLE to produce a more accurate and reliable evaluation of measured data and inform system adjustments to refine and optimize noise reduction while maintaining adequate signal.
LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, as taught above, does not teach:
adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device with a first reference number of times;
wherein the first reference number of times is set according to a minimum time between which distinguishment of signals is possible for signal processing of the electrical signals detected through the comparative device; and
DONOVAN teaches:
adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device (DONOVAN is in same technical field, Abstract: “LIDAR system includes an optical…illuminating a FOV…optical receiver has an input FOV…calculates range information”, with technique for noise reduction, [0023]: “relates to solid-state LIDAR systems that measure…describes a noise-adaptive solid-state LIDAR system that enables reduction of the noise in the received measurement signal, enabling improved SNR”; DONOVAN teaches counting number of pulses received compared with a preset number of pulses, FIG. 8 with [0073-74]: “Various embodiments use different numbers of pulses…after obtaining the desired number of pulses for an individual laser or lasers, the system can apply digital signal processing to manipulate the data in some fashion”; Examiner interprets “first reference number of times” using plain meaning with broadest reasonable interpretation to mean some quantity associated with an expected temporal resolution level determined based on system processing limitations, measurement parameters, and speed of light. This interpretation is consistent with spec in at least Applicant’s specification paragraph [0045].; DONAVAN teaches use of system refresh rate in computing limits on number of measurement points, FIG. 10.)
number of times is set according to a minimum time between which distinguishment of signals is possible for signal processing of the electrical signals detected. (DONOVAN teaches a pre-set detection number of pulses based on limits imposed by processing time and variations due to distance between emitter and target, FIG. 10 and [0073]: “more pulses lead to a better signal-to-noise ratio, the system is limited in how many pulses can be averaged based on the time allowed by the system refresh rate”; Examiner asserts that one of ordinary skill would understand from DONOVAN that “more pulses” equates to shorter temporal separation as a result of less distant target or faster system refresh rate. Examiner interprets limit as above, based on Applicant’s specification in at least [0045], where an analogous example calculation based on distance to target and system processing limits to arrive at a number of signals is recited.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify LACHAPELLE as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020 to include the steps of adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions of an electrical signal detected through the comparative device and number of times is set according to a minimum time between which distinguishment of signals is possible for signal processing of the electrical signals detected, such as that of DONOVAN because implementing variable voltage adjustment based on a comparison of actual detection levels would allow for better and more immediate rejection of undesired signal noise. One of ordinary skill would see the advantage in maximizing the number of receptions and minimum processing time to improve signal to noise ratio as an efficient way to reduce overall noise in a detection system.
LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020 and DONOVAN as taught above, does not teach:
adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions with a first reference number of times
LOHBIHLER teaches:
setting a first reference number of times, and adjusting the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions with a first reference number of times (LOHBIHLER is in relevant technical field: [0005]: “relates to range finding of one or more signal transmitting devices, and hence to determining their orientation and position based on a transmitted signal therefrom” and addresses noise reduction, [0061]: “band-pass filter 114 which allows only secondary bursts to get through at the pulsed frequency, hence filtering out signal interference and ambient noise.”; LOHBIHLER explicitly teaches counting number of pulses received based on threshold voltage, [0042]: “signal receiver 12 upon receiving the signal, is operable to…count the number of pulses received above a predetermined threshold”, and [0049]: “process the ranging segment 42 by counting the number of pulses present in the signal above a predetermined threshold value”; LOHBIHLER teaches adjusting threshold voltage based on detection, FIG. 8, with [0059]: “band pass filter 114, in turn, communicates with an automatic gain controller (AGC) 116. The AGC 116 communicates along data path 118 to the amplifier 112 and the amplifier 112 with comparator 120. The comparator 120 receives a threshold setting value from a threshold set unit 122 and compares the messages from AGC 116 to establish the pulses in the range segment that are above the predetermined threshold and to dispatch corresponding instructions for each pulse above the predetermined threshold to the digital output unit 124 which in turn emits a digital output on path 126 to a microprocessor 128 for counting.”, and [0042] “signal receiver 12 upon receiving the signal …synchronize the timing of the received pulse…and to count the number of pulses received above a redetermined threshold”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020 and DONOVAN as taught above, to include the steps setting a first reference number of times, and adjusting the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions with a first reference number of times, such as that of LOBHIHLER because the comparison of actual detection signals with a preset expected number of detection signals would allow for better noise discrimination, whether more or less signals were actually detected. The comparison based on an expected number of signals would provide an immediate assessment of the presence of noise and/or a need for adjusting a threshold. These steps would be understood by one of ordinary skill as a way to more efficiently optimize a system/method aimed at noise elimination or reduction.
With respect to Claims 4 and 16, LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teach the limitations of Claims 1 and 13.
LACHAPELLE, as modified by DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, does not teach:
LACHAPELLE further teaches:
controller is configured to variably adjust the threshold voltage determined for each horizontal unit field of view of the lidar. (LACHAPELLE teaches horizontal field of view or “FOR”, [0064]: “scanner 120 may be configured to scan the output beam 125 horizontally and vertically, and the lidar system 100 may have a particular FOR along the horizontal direction“ ; and teaches controller adjustments based on signal, FIG. 11, with [0134]: “pulse-detection circuit 504 may detect the return light pulse when a voltage signal (or a series of voltage signals for a pulse train for example) corresponding to the incoming light exceeds the threshold voltage VT … may also detect characteristics of the return light pulse…controller 150, which in turn analyzes the characteristics to detect the triggering event…then increases or decreases the peak power, pulse energy, or other characteristics of subsequent light waveforms…depending on the triggering event.”, including adjustments to threshold level, [0030]: “controller provides a control signal to the receiver to adjust a threshold voltage, to adjust the gain, etc. As with the light source, the controller may provide a control signal to toggle between threshold voltages or gain values at various instances of time”)
With respect to Claim 6, LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teach the limitations of Claim 1.
LACHAPELLE further teaches:
further comprising: a light transmitting device configured to output a light signal, wherein the controller is configured to output the light signal through the light transmitting device when the threshold voltage is maintained. (LACHAPELLE teaches light output, [0007]: “lidar system including a light source configured to emit light pulses” and [0033]: “light source 110 emits an output beam of light 125 which may be continuous-wave, pulsed, or modulated in any suitable manner for a given application”; and controller directing output, [0144]: “controller 150 provides a control signal to the light source 110…may provide a control signal to the light source 110 to increase the peak power or adjust other characteristics of the light pulses for a threshold period of time”)
With respect to Claims 7 and 18, LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teach the limitations of Claims 6 and 13.
LACHAPELLE, further teaches:
controller is configured to: control the light transmitting device to output the light signal a preset number of times, and detect a valid signal corresponding to a light signal which returns back by being reflected by a target by comparing electrical signals in rounds based on time information of electrical signals detected through the comparative device. (LACHAPELLE teaches light transmission, [0023]: “light source (e.g., a fiber laser or a laser diode) in a lidar system within a vehicle transmits light pulses (which may be referred to as light waveforms)”; [0024] “waveforms may have several other characteristics, such as a peak power, an average power, an amount of energy, a duration, a wavelength, a number of pulses”; LACHAPELLE teaches light characteristics adjusted via controller, [0144]: “controller 150 may provide a control signal to the light source 110 to adjust characteristics of the light pulses for a particular portion of a frame corresponding to the identified region, and may provide control signals to the light source 110 to emit light pulses having default characteristics”; Examiner interprets “number of times” to be analogous to “number of pulses” and “preset number of times” to be analogous to “default characteristics”, where reference is clear regarding “number of pulses” to be one of the characteristics.)
With respect to Claim 8, LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teaches the limitations of Claim 7.
LACHAPELLE, further teaches:
the preset number of times the controller controls the light transmitting device to output the light signal is determined such that a time required to scan a horizontal unit field of view of the lidar (LACHAPELLE teaches controlling number of pulses, Abstract: “lidar system adjusts…number of pulses, or any other suitable characteristic”; LACHAPPELLE teaches where pulse emission is controlled based on field of view and processing time, Col14,L40: “controller 150 may determine a time-of-flight value for an optical pulse based on timing information associated with when the pulse was emitted by light source 110 and when a portion of the pulse (e.g., the input beam 135) was detected or received by the receiver 140.”; and Col19L13: “lidar system 100 is a pulsed lidar system in which the light source 110 emits pulses of light, and the distance to a remote target 130 is determined from the time-of-flight for a pulse of light to travel to the target 130 and back”; and Col14L40: “controller 150 may determine a time-of-flight value for an optical pulse based on timing information associated with when the pulse was emitted by light source 110 and when a portion of the pulse (e.g., the input beam 135) was detected or received by the receiver 140”; Examiner notes interpretation of claim limitation of “number of times …to output” to be analogous to reference teaching number of pulses output by a controller. This description would suggest to one of ordinary skill the need to allow process time for determining distinguishable pulses.)
LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, does not teach:
total emission time is greater than a time required to process an operation on the electrical signal.
DONOVAN teaches:
total emission time is greater than a time required to process an operation on the electrical signal. (DONAVAN teaches use of system refresh rate in computing limits on number of measurement points, FIG. 10.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN, and LOBHIHLER as taught above, to include the steps setting a first reference number of times, and adjusting the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing a number of receptions with a first reference number of times, such as that further taught by DONOVAN because it would be seen as an advantage for optimizing signal detection within system limits. One of ordinary skill would see the advantage of careful adjustment of pulse numbers and timing to ensure signal to noise ratio was maximized.
With respect to Claims 9 and 19, , LACHAPELLE, as modified by DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teach the limitations of Claims 7 and 18.
LACHAPELLE further teaches:
wherein the controller is configured to determine, as the valid signal, an electrical signal in which a time corresponding to the electrical signal has a difference within a preset threshold time between rounds among the electrical signals detected through the comparative device. (LACHAPELLE teaches controller determining valid signal, [0042]: “receiver 140 may receive or detect photons from the input beam 135 and generate one or more representative signals…may generate an output electrical signal 145 that is representative of the input beam 135… send the electrical signal 145 to the controller… controller 150 may analyze the time of flight or phase modulation for the beam of light 125 transmitted by the light source 110”, followed by a numerical example)
With respect to Claim 11, LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teaches the limitations 1,
LACHAPELLE further teaches:
wherein the controller is configured to variably adjust the threshold voltage based on a result of comparing the number of receptions of the electrical signal detected through the comparative device, when the lidar targets a short-range target. (LACHAPELLE teaches control of number of pulses, [0030]: “system may adjust other characteristics of the light pulses…controller adjusts the pulse duration of the light pulses (or the duration of light pulses within the light waveforms), the pulse rate, the energy, the wavelength, the inter-pulse-train spacing of the light pulses, the number of pulses in a light waveform, etc…controller provides a control signal to the light source to toggle between high power and low power light pulses…controller may provide a control signal to toggle between threshold voltages or gain…controller adjusts the threshold voltage”; .LACHAPELLE teaches adjust number of pulses based on range (distance), [0144]: “controller 150 provides a control signal to the light source 110 to increase the peak power of the light pulses, to increase the average power of the light pulses, to increase the pulse energy of the light pulses, to increase the pulse duration of the light pulses, to change the pulse rate of the light pulses, to change the wavelength of the light pulses, to change the number of light pulses in a light waveform
LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, does not teach:
adjust threshold based on comparing number of receptions of the electrical signal detected with preset second reference number of times,
DONOVAN further teaches:
adjust threshold based on comparing number of receptions of the electrical signal detected with preset second reference number of times (DONOVAN teaches number of reception in terms of pulses received, [0079]: “a combination of multiple measurement points using multiple laser pulses in a particular field-of-view is averaged to determine object distances to improve SNR…Various embodiments use different numbers of pulses”; Specifically, DONAVAN teaches consideration and comparison to a pre-set number of pulses, in [0080]: “after obtaining the desired number of pulses for an individual laser or lasers, the system can apply digital signal processing to manipulate the data in some fashion”; Examiner interprets “number of times” as discussed above.; Examiner interprets “second reference number of times” to be analogous to DONOVAN teaching iterative process, as depicted in FIG. 13.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, to include making adjustments to threshold value based on comparing number of receptions of the electrical signal detected with preset second reference number of times, such as that further disclosed by DONAVAN because it would be understood as a way to optimize accuracy and reliability of detecting signal over noise. One of ordinary skill would understand the obvious advantage of the constant reconsideration of optimization parameters suggested by DONAVAN in the system and method of LACHAPPELLE. One of ordinary skill would appreciate the combination to have a reasonable expectation of success in improving the ability to achieve the objective of suppression or removal of noise in a lidar system.
Claims 3 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over LACHAPELLE in view of LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as applied to Claims 1 and 13 above, and further in view of YOSHINO (JP 2019158693 A).
With respect to Claims 3 and 15, LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above teach the limitations of Claims 1 and 13.
LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, does not teach:
wherein the threshold voltage has an initial value which is set to a value greater than a maximum output of an electrical signal that the light receiving device is able to output.
Nevertheless, YOSHINO, teaches:
wherein the threshold voltage has an initial value which is set to a value greater than a maximum output of an electrical signal that the light receiving device is able to output. (Refer to translated reference provided in previous office action; YOSHINO is in same technical field, and teaches noise reduction, Pg.2, “Technical Field…invention relates to a light receiving device, an object detection device, a distance measurement device, a mobile device, a noise measurement method"; YOSHINO teaches threshold value set higher than maximum voltage, FIG. 9, depicting threshold level set higher than maximum voltage, and Pg.11,Paragraph2: “to suppress the detection error due to noise while suppressing the increase in the size of the laser radar and to enable detection of distant objects and low reflection objects…required to set an appropriate threshold voltage according to the measurement result”; Examiner asserts that one of ordinary skill would understand the relationship between shot noise levels and limits of output voltage, and a threshold value must be higher than the maximum signal value)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to further modify LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, to include a threshold voltage with an initial value which is set to a value greater than a maximum output of an electrical signal that the light receiving device is able to output, such as that of YOSHINO because this would be understood as a beneficial step to ensure all valid data signals from reflected light pulses, while noise signals are suppressed. One of ordinary skill would understand the advantage of setting a threshold, or cut-off for a detection to be greater than the maximum range allowable for a particularly detection device because not doing so could result in missed signals, and diminish the capacity to accurately distinguish valid signals from error signals.
Claims 10 and 20 are rejected under U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over LACHAPELLE in view of LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as applied to Claims 9 and 19 above, respectively, and further in view of TROST (US 5198657 A).
With respect to Claims 10 and 20, LACHAPELLE, as modified by DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, teach the limitations of Claims 9 and 19.
LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, does not teach:
wherein the threshold time is determined according to a preset error range for a distance from the lidar to the target.
TROST teaches:
wherein the threshold time is determined according to a preset error range for a distance from the lidar to the target. (TROST is in related technical field, TROST teaches threshold related to a preset error range, Fig. 3B and Col23L15: “Rangefinder circuitry accuracy is a function of its noise and bandwidth. The uncertainty in time when a threshold value is crossed depends on the noise in the circuit and the pulse rise time as shown in FIG. 3” and general discussion therein of relationship between threshold time and range uncertainty, reciting mathematical relationships including “range error”; Examiner interprets “error range” as analogous in meaning to uncertainty in measured or calculated values based on corresponding uncertainties.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to further LACHAPELLE, as modified by LACHAPELLE-2020, DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER as taught above, to determine a threshold time according to a preset error range for a distance from the lidar to the target, such as that of TROST because this provides inclusion of a fundamental relationship which would be generally known in lidar-based technologies to efficiently determine an allowable error range in distance determinations to optimize error signal elimination and/or suppression. One of ordinary skill would understand the fundamental relationship between uncertainty in light pulse time characteristics including spacing and pulse duration and corresponding uncertainties in distance determination, and would realize the advantage of using these relationships in an error suppression or elimination scheme.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter. Examiner finds specifically, the detail of “increase the threshold voltage when the number of receptions of the electrical signal detected through the comparative device is more than the first reference number of times” and “decrease the threshold voltage when the number of receptions of the electrical signal detected through the comparative device is less than the first reference number of times.” is not found in prior art when placed in context with claimed invention as currently amended. Examiner finds best prior art to be as above, particularly the combination of LACHAPELLE with DONOVAN and LOHBIHLER. However, while these references, all directed to the same technical field, teach various criteria for threshold adjustment, aimed at signal improvement and noise suppression/elimination, the specific detail for increasing threshold under the specific conditional criterion of “number of receptions…more than a first reference number of times”, and decreasing threshold under the specific conditional criterion of “number of receptions…less than a first reference number of times”, was not found either individually, or in an obvious combination. Examiner did not find references made publicly available before the effective filing date of the claimed invention that disclosed the specific comparisons as claimed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
LOHBIHLER (US 20190120925 A1) – teaches pulse counting for noise reduction using a preset threshold value to discriminate pulses received above and below threshold value.
McMANAMON (McManamon, et. al., “Comparison of flash lidar detector options”, Optical Engineering 56(3), 031223, March 2017) – teaches overview and details of mapping using LIDAR and various detection methods.
WILLIAMS (“Optimization of eyesafe avalanche photodiode lidar for automobile safety and autonomous navigation systems”, Optical Engineering, Vol. 56, Issue 3, 031224 March 2017) – teaches detection and discrimination methods for noise reduction.
ZHANG (Zhang, et. al., “A real-time noise filtering strategy for photon counting 3D imaging lidar”, OPTICS EXPRESS, Vol. 21, No. 8, 22 April 2013) – teaches methods for 3D imaging using enhanced sensitivity techniques to noise suppression.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONI D SAUNCY whose telephone number is (703)756-4589. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Catherine Rastovski can be reached at (571) 270-0349. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TONI D SAUNCY/Examiner, Art Unit 2863
/Catherine T. Rastovski/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2857