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 the reply filed on 12/09/2025 in which claims 1, 8, ad 11-14 have been amended. Claim 21 has been added. Claims 7 and 17-20 have been canceled. Currently claims 1-6, 8-16, and 21 are pending for examination in this application.
Based on this reply:
The previous 112 rejections are withdrawn.
The previous 102 rejections are withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/09/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues that the slanted fiber tips contemplated in Wang would not be suitable for guiding light in both directions because a return beam would have very poor coupling into the fiber waveguide (Page 8-9). The examiner agrees that such an arrangement would be quite inefficient at the least, however, the slanted fiber tips of Wang are not the only embodiment considered, nor are they relied upon in the 103 rejection. Wang contemplates standard flat-tipped fiber ends as well (FIGS. 3 and 7; [0055] “In some embodiments, the end surface at the output end may be perpendicular to the fiber axis such that the direction of output light beams may be controlled by the direction of the corresponding slot receiving the optical fiber.”) which would not invoke the deficiencies argued by the applicant.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 8-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen (US 20250159777 A1) in view of Wang et al. (US 20190302235 A1), hereinafter Wang.
Regarding claim 1, Nguyen teaches:
A lidar system ([0008] “an integrated illumination module for in-cabin monitoring comprises…”), comprising:
a plurality of semiconductor diodes supported on a common substrate ([0008] “an integrated illumination module for in-cabin monitoring comprises a substrate, an active area and a driver circuit. The active area comprises an array of pixels”; [0038] “A resonant-cavity light emitting device can be considered a semiconductor device”),
each of the semiconductor diodes being individually configurable ([0015] “The driver circuit may operate the pixels individually.”) to operate in a selected mode of a plurality of modes including a light-emitting mode and a photodetector mode ([0031] “a transceiver circuit comprises the driver circuit and is operable to selectively drive pixels in a first mode of operation or in a second mode of operation. In the first mode of operation the transceiver circuit is operable to drive pixels with a forward bias so as to emit light. In the second mode of operation, the transceiver circuit is operable to drive pixels with a reverse bias so as to detect light and generate an input signal from an internal sensor to form the occupancy signal.”); and
an electronic controller configured to: select a first subset of the semiconductor diodes to operate in the light-emitting mode and a non-overlapping second subset of the semiconductor diodes to operate in the photodetector mode ([0074-76] “in a LiDAR mode of operation, the first subset forms an emitter segment and the second subset forms a detector segment…”; See FIGS. 3A-4B for examples of non-overlapping subsets.); and
control changes of the first subset and changes of the non-overlapping second subset based on a scan sequence, the changes of the first subset causing the lidar system to optically scan a field of view thereof ([0127] “The transceiver circuit can alter the subsets, or allocate pixels to segments, simply by addressing pixels to be operated in the first or second mode of operation. This way the emitter segment and the detector segment do not necessarily have to be fixed but may be spaced apart differently. By changing the distance between the segments, or baseline, different ranges can be detected.”);
wherein the lidar system is configured to perform a time-of-flight measurement based on relative timing of an optical pulse emitted by the first subset of the semiconductor diodes and a photocurrent generated by the non-overlapping second subset of the semiconductor diodes in response to receiving light produced by reflection of the optical pulse in the field of view ([0077] “the processing unit is operable to determine a time-of-flight of emitted pulses of light and detected incident light.”).
Nguyen does not teach or is not relied upon for:
an optical adapter having a first surface and an opposite second surface, the first surface being adjacent and along the plurality of semiconductor diodes
wherein the optical adapter includes a plurality of optical waveguides, each of the optical waveguides having a respective first end at the first surface and a respective second end at the second surface, the plurality of optical waveguides being optically end-connected to the plurality of semiconductor diodes; and
wherein each optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides is configured to: guide a light portion of the optical pulse emitted by a corresponding semiconductor diode from the first surface, through the second surface, toward the field of view when the corresponding semiconductor diode operates in the light-emitting mode; and
guide a light portion of the light produced by reflection of the optical pulse in the field of view from the second surface, through the first surface, toward the corresponding semiconductor diode when the corresponding semiconductor diode operates in the photodetector mode.
Wang, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
an optical adapter having a […] second surface, […] ([0061] “FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a mounting unit 130 for configuring a plurality of light beams 144, in accordance with embodiments. The mounting unit 130 may comprise a directional structure for controlling the directions of the output end 122 of the plurality of optical fiber elements 120. The directional structure may include a plurality of slots 141.”)
wherein the optical adapter includes a plurality of optical waveguides, each of the optical waveguides having a respective first end […] and a respective second end at the second surface ([0061] “FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a mounting unit 130 for configuring a plurality of light beams 144, in accordance with embodiments. The mounting unit 130 may comprise a directional structure for controlling the directions of the output end 122 of the plurality of optical fiber elements 120. The directional structure may include a plurality of slots 141.”),
the plurality of optical waveguides being optically end-connected to the plurality of semiconductor diodes ([0083] “FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a set of light sources 110 optically coupled to a set of optical fiber elements 120, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention.”); and
wherein each optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides is configured to: guide a light portion of the optical pulse emitted by a corresponding semiconductor diode from the first surface, through the second surface, toward the field of view when the corresponding semiconductor diode operates in the light-emitting mode ([0061] “FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a mounting unit 130 for configuring a plurality of light beams 144”; [0088] “In some cases, the plurality of light sources 110 may have a mapping relationship to an emission end or the mounting unit 130. For instance, the mapping relationship may comprise a given light source and the corresponding one or more slots in the mounting unit 130.”);
By combining the teachings of Wang with the illumination module of Nguyen, the combination further teaches the remaining limitations:
an optical adapter having a first surface and an opposite second surface, the first surface being adjacent and along the plurality of semiconductor diodes (While Wang does not explicitly teach a “first surface” being adjacent the plurality of semiconductor diodes, when combined with the diode array of Nguyen, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the optical coupling of the fibers to the light sources could be achieved with a “first surface”, as a simple constructional choice.)
wherein the optical adapter includes a plurality of optical waveguides, each of the optical waveguides having a respective first end at the first surface and a respective second end at the second surface (The first surface introduced in the prior limitation corresponds with the input end of the fibers of Wang, which correspond to the claimed “first end”.),
guide a light portion of the light produced by reflection of the optical pulse in the field of view from the second surface, through the first surface, toward the corresponding semiconductor diode when the corresponding semiconductor diode operates in the photodetector mode (As mentioned above, the pixels of Nguyen are configured to operate in either an emission mode or a detection mode ([0031]). As the optical waveguides of Wang are controlling the field of view of each pixel in the combined teaching, it is apparent that the return signal of Nguyen would travel back through the optical waveguide to reach the respective detector-mode pixel.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the integrated illumination module of Nguyen with the optical array system of Wang to control the direction of the emitted beams individually (Wang: [0005] “… structure configured to receive a second end of one or more optical fiber elements from the set of optical fiber elements at one or more directions thereby affecting a direction of each of the plurality of light beams individually.”).
Regarding claim 2, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
further comprising a drive and readout circuit connected to the plurality of semiconductor diodes and configured to apply a forward electrical bias to the first subset of the semiconductor diodes and further configured to apply a reverse electrical bias to the second subset of the semiconductor diodes (Nguyen: [0031] “a transceiver circuit comprises the driver circuit and is operable to selectively drive pixels in a first mode of operation or in a second mode of operation. In the first mode of operation the transceiver circuit is operable to drive pixels with a forward bias so as to emit light. In the second mode of operation, the transceiver circuit is operable to drive pixels with a reverse bias so as to detect light and generate an input signal from an internal sensor to form the occupancy signal.”).
Regarding claim 3, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 2, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein the drive and readout circuit is further configured to generate a stream of digital values representing the photocurrent and direct the stream of digital values to the electronic controller (Nguyen: [0011] “The substrate may further comprise functional layers having circuitry for operating the pixels, such as components of a readout circuit and/or a driving circuit”; [0038] “the resonant-cavity light emitting device may directly convert electrical energy into light, e.g., when pumped directly with an electrical current to create amplified spontaneous emission… A resonant photodetector is established when reverse biasing a resonant light emitting device, such as a VCSEL or resonant cavity LED, for instance.” This description describes a structure which produces a time-dependent electrical output of photodetection.); and
wherein the electronic controller is further configured to determine the relative timing based on the stream of digital values (Nguyen: [0077] “the processing unit is operable to determine a time-of-flight of emitted pulses of light and detected incident light.”).
Regarding claim 4, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, but does not explicitly teach:
wherein the plurality of modes includes an idle mode; and
wherein the electronic controller is further configured to: select a non-overlapping third subset of the semiconductor diodes to be in the idle mode; and
control changes of the non-overlapping third subset based on the scan sequence.
However, Nguyen does teach:
A separation between the first and second subset ([0074-76] “in a LiDAR mode of operation, the first subset forms an emitter segment and the second subset forms a detector segment spaced apart from the emitter segment”; See also, FIG. 4B, where a subset of pixels are not included in either of the other two subsets.) which implies the presence of a third subset of pixels which belong to neither the first nor second subset.
This separation subset would by necessity change with the changing of the first and second subset ([0127] “The transceiver circuit can alter the subsets, or allocate pixels to segments, simply by addressing pixels to be operated in the first or second mode of operation. This way the emitter segment and the detector segment do not necessarily have to be fixed but may be spaced apart differently.”).
Further, Nguyen contemplates the option of turning off select pixels ([0053] “unneeded segments are turned off”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have included turning off the pixels of this third subset in the integrated illumination module of Nguyen in view of Wang, as one known and predictable choice for improving efficiency.
Regarding claim 5, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 4, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein the non-overlapping third subset of the semiconductor diodes has a geometric shape configured to provide spatial separation between the first subset of the semiconductor diodes and the non-overlapping second subset of the semiconductor diodes on the common substrate (Nguyen: [0074-76] “in a LiDAR mode of operation, the first subset forms an emitter segment and the second subset forms a detector segment spaced apart from the emitter segment”; See also, FIG. 4B, where a subset of pixels are not included in either of the other two subsets and form a geometrical separation between them.).
Regarding claim 8, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein an end section of a first optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides is oriented at a first nonzero angle with respect to a surface normal of the second surface, said end section of the first optical waveguide being adjacent to the respective second end thereof (Wang: [0066] “slots in different groups may have different angles with respect to the length direction of the mounting unit. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the uppermost group 145-1 may have an angle 146 greater than the angle of the middle group 145-K. The angle with respect to a fiber axis at the output end can be in any suitable range, such as, in any range from −60° to 60°, or in any other range. The difference in angles of adjacent groups may be, for example, no more than 0.1°, 0.2°, 0.3°, 0.4°, 0.5°, 0.6°, 0.7°, 0.8°, 0.9°, 1°, 2°, 5°, 10°, 15° or any number greater than 15°. In some instances, the degree of angle may increase from the middle group (e.g., 145-K) to and off-center group (e.g., group 145-1 or 145-N).”); and
wherein an end section of a second optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides is oriented at a different second nonzero angle with respect to the surface normal, said end section of the second optical waveguide being adjacent to the respective second end thereof (Wang: [0066] “slots in different groups may have different angles with respect to the length direction of the mounting unit. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the uppermost group 145-1 may have an angle 146 greater than the angle of the middle group 145-K. The angle with respect to a fiber axis at the output end can be in any suitable range, such as, in any range from −60° to 60°, or in any other range. The difference in angles of adjacent groups may be, for example, no more than 0.1°, 0.2°, 0.3°, 0.4°, 0.5°, 0.6°, 0.7°, 0.8°, 0.9°, 1°, 2°, 5°, 10°, 15° or any number greater than 15°. In some instances, the degree of angle may increase from the middle group (e.g., 145-K) to and off-center group (e.g., group 145-1 or 145-N).”).
Regarding claim 9, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 8, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein an end section of a third optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides adjacent to the respective second end thereof is orthogonal to the second surface (Wang: FIG. 7, fiber group 145-K, among the plurality of groups is aligned orthogonally.).
Regarding claim 10, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 8, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein an end section of at least a third optical waveguide of the plurality of optical waveguides adjacent to the respective second end thereof is oriented at a third nonzero angle with respect to the surface normal, the third nonzero angle being larger than the first nonzero angle and being smaller than the different second nonzero angle (Wang: [0066] “slots in different groups may have different angles with respect to the length direction of the mounting unit. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the uppermost group 145-1 may have an angle 146 greater than the angle of the middle group 145-K. The angle with respect to a fiber axis at the output end can be in any suitable range, such as, in any range from −60° to 60°, or in any other range. The difference in angles of adjacent groups may be, for example, no more than 0.1°, 0.2°, 0.3°, 0.4°, 0.5°, 0.6°, 0.7°, 0.8°, 0.9°, 1°, 2°, 5°, 10°, 15° or any number greater than 15°. In some instances, the degree of angle may increase from the middle group (e.g., 145-K) to and off-center group (e.g., group 145-1 or 145-N).” More than two non-orthogonal groups of different angles are shown in FIG. 7.).
Regarding claim 11, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein each of the optical waveguides comprises a respective optical fiber (Wang: [0061] “FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a mounting unit 130 for configuring a plurality of light beams 144, in accordance with embodiments. The mounting unit 130 may comprise a directional structure for controlling the directions of the output end 122 of the plurality of optical fiber elements 120.”); and
wherein the respective optical fibers are fixedly attached to each other to form a monolithic structure of the optical adapter (Wang: [0046] “An optical fiber element may be fixedly connected to a slot selected from the plurality of slots. In some instances, the optical fiber element may be rigidly affixed to the mounting unit at the light emission end such that the light emission end of the optical fiber element may be not permitted to move relative to the mounting unit.”).
Regarding claim 12, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein the optical waveguides are arranged in the optical adapter such that each of the semiconductor diodes is optically coupled to emit light and receive light through a respective single one of the optical waveguides (Wang: [0083] “Each light source may be coupled to one or more optical fibers.”).
Regarding claim 13, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein the optical waveguides are arranged in the optical adapter such that each of the semiconductor diodes is optically coupled to emit light and receive light through a respective set of the optical waveguides, each of the respective sets having an equal fixed number of the optical waveguides, the equal fixed number being in a range from 2 to 100 (Wang: [0083] “Each light source may be coupled to one or more optical fibers.”).
Regarding claim 14, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein the first surface of the optical adapter has a smaller surface area than the opposite second surface (Wang contemplates a variety of shapes, [0070] “The mounting unit may have any suitable shape, dimension or geometrics. For instance, the mounting unit may have a substantially rectangular shape, oval shape, circular shape, ring shape, arc shape, triangular shape, square shape, or any other shape.” A shape which has a smaller surface area on the first surface than the second is a reasonable design choice within this contemplation.).
Regarding claim 15, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
further comprising circuitry configured to cause the first subset corresponding to one step of the scan sequence and the first subset corresponding to another step of the scan sequence to emit respective optical pulses at different respective times (Nguyen: [0127] “The transceiver circuit can alter the subsets, or allocate pixels to segments, simply by addressing pixels to be operated in the first or second mode of operation. This way the emitter segment and the detector segment do not necessarily have to be fixed but may be spaced apart differently. By changing the distance between the segments, or baseline, different ranges can be detected.” A change or altering of the subsets inherently involves the passing of time between the two states.).
Regarding claim 16, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, and further teaches:
wherein the plurality of semiconductor diodes has at least ten semiconductor diodes on the common substrate (Nguyen: FIGS. 3A-4B show more than ten pixels.).
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen in view of Wang and further in view of Laflaquiere et al. (US 11418006 B1), hereinafter Laflaquiere.
Regarding claim 6, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, as described above, but does not explicitly teach:
wherein each of the semiconductor diodes comprises a respective p-i-n semiconductor diode.
Laflaquiere, in the same field of endeavor, teaches a bias-swappable PIN diode for emission and detection ((Col. 7, Line 55 - Col. 8, Line 6) “The arrangement of quantum well structure 40 with P- and N-doped layers above and below it defines a PIN diode 56. One or more P-electrodes 48 are coupled to the epitaxial layers of upper DBR 42, while one or more N-electrodes 50 are coupled to the epitaxial layers of lower DBR 44. Drive and detection circuit 32 (FIG. 1) applies a bias voltage between electrodes 48 and 50, thus biasing diode 56. In phase 1, drive and detection circuit 32 applies a forward bias voltage between electrodes 48 and 50, and thus causes optically-active structure 28 to emit an optical pulse 52… In phase 2, drive and detection circuit 32 reverses the bias voltage between electrodes 48 and 50, thus reconfiguring optically-active structure 28 to function as a resonant-cavity photodiode.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have implemented the bias-swappable PIN diode of Laflaquiere in the integrated illumination module of Nguyen in view of Wang, as one of the known and predictable diode arrangements.
Claim(s) 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nguyen in view of Wang and further in view of Ouderkirk et al. (US 7456805 B2), hereinafter Ouderkirk.
Regarding claim 21, Nguyen in view of Wang teaches the lidar system of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach:
wherein the first surface of the optical adapter is fixedly attached to the common substrate of the semiconductor diodes to form an integrated optical transmitter and receiver.
Ouderkirk, in the related optical field, teaches an optical coupling of a two-dimensional diode array into a fiber array:
wherein the first surface of the optical adapter is fixedly attached to the common substrate of the semiconductor diodes to form an integrated optical transmitter and receiver ([Col. 8, Lines 5-17] “A side view of solid state light device 100 is shown in FIG. 3. In this exemplary embodiment, interconnect circuit layer 110 (having LED dies mounted thereon) is disposed on heat sink 140, which further includes heat dissipation pins 142 that extend in an opposite direction from the output aperture 154 of housing 150. In addition, as described herein, the housing 150 can include protrusions 153 to allow for snap fitting onto fiber array connector 134. The array of optical concentrators 120 is disposed between the fiber array connector 134 and the interconnect layer 110. In this embodiment, fibers 130 are supported by the fiber array connector 134 and the banding 156, which is disposed within the output aperture 154 of housing 150.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the integrated illumination module of Nguyen in view of Wang with the fixedly attached fiber array coupling of Ouderkirk to provide robust and resilient coupling between the fiber array and the diodes.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kikufumi (US 20230253764 A1) teaches a diode array with bias controlled swapping of emitters and detectors.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SEAN C. GRANT whose telephone number is (571)272-0402. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 6:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao can be reached at (571)270-3603. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SEAN C. GRANT/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645