DETAILED ACTION
This Action addresses the communication received on 29 May 2026. Applicant has amended Claims 1, 4, and 20; and cancelled Claim 3. The Office rejects pending Claims 1-2 and 4-20 as detailed below.
Response to Amendments
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 1-2 and 4-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Keilaf et al. - U.S. Pub. 20190271767 - in view of Levy - U.S. Pub. 20200263958 +_+_+
As for Claim 1, Keilaf teaches a light source configured to generate a beam, wherein the light source is capable of generating light in a plurality of polarization states; a polarization filter configured to filter the beam to obtain a beam in a single polarization state, wherein the single polarization state is one of the plurality of polarization states (¶85|18: “Accordingly, LIDAR system 100 may include one or more optical components (e.g. lens, collimator) for focusing or otherwise manipulating the emitted polarized light beam [i.e., filter to single polarization state] to the dimensions of the asymmetrical deflector 216. In one embodiment, one-way deflector 220 may be a polarizing beam splitter that is virtually transparent to the polarized light beam.”); [..1..] and a control unit configured to control a first optical element to control a direction of the first beam to obtain an emergent beam including controlling the first optical element to respectively control the direction of the first beam at M different moments, to obtain emergent beams in M different directions (Fig. 2A beam is directed to deflector 114 and scanned into environment at multiple angles. Scanner 114 can be a single reflector as shown in Fig. 2B or two different reflectors 114A and 114B as shown in Fig. 2A. ); control a second optical element to deflect, to a receiving unit, a reflected beam that is obtained by reflecting the emergent beam by a target object including controlling the second optical element to respectively deflect, to the receiving unit, M reflected beams that are obtained by reflecting the emergent beams in the M different directions by the target object (Fig. 2A received beam is scanned at corresponding angles by scanning mirror 114B toward receiving element 116. Scanner 114 can be a single reflector as shown in Fig. 2B or two different reflectors, one for transmitting and one for receiving, 114A and 114B as shown in Fig. 2A. ); and generating a depth image of the target object based on the TOFs respectively corresponding to the emergent beams in the M different directions (¶131|5: “In one embodiment, LIDAR system 100 may be operable to generate depth maps of one or more different types, such as any one or more of the following types: point cloud model, polygon mesh, depth image (holding depth information for each pixel of an image or of a 2D array), or any other type of 3D model of a scene.”) Keilaf doesn’t explicitly teach expanding the emitted beam with a beam shaper.
But Levy teaches [1] a beam shaper configured to increase a field of view (FOV) of the beam in the single polarization state to obtain a first beam, wherein the FOV of the first beam meets a first preset range (¶90|1: ”In some embodiments the beam shaping assembly 130 also includes a beam expander module 130.3 configured and operable to expand/contract the solid angle of the illumination FOV, L-FOV, relative to the solid angle of the imaging FOV, I-FOV. This may be used to adjust the imaging and/or illumination FOVs, such that the imaging FOV, I-FOV is larger than the illumination FOV, L-FOV, to thereby enable improved noise/clutter estimation.“)
It 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 to combine Keilaf and Levy because expanding the beam with a beam shaper can increase the coverage of the beam thereby increasing the scanning area and FOV.
As for Claim 2, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the first preset range is [5°x5°, 20°x20°] (¶208|1: “Method 910 may include step 911 of controlling activation of at least one light source for illuminating a field of view portion (FOV portion). Method 910 may be executed for a FOV portion which is at least 10 square degrees (e.g. 2° by 2.5°). It is noted that optionally, method 910 may be executed for significantly larger FOV portions (e.g. 100 square degrees, 1,000 square degrees), and may be executed for the entire FOV of the LID AR system, or only for one or more parts of it. While not necessarily so, the FOV portion may be a continuous FOV portion. It is noted that optionally, method 910 may be executed for FOV portions smaller than 10 square degrees.”)
As for Claim 4, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein total FOV covered by the emergent beams in the M different directions meets a second preset range (¶208|1: “Method 910 may include step 911 of controlling activation of at least one light source for illuminating a field of view portion (FOV portion). Method 910 may be executed for a FOV portion which is at least 10 square degrees (e.g. 2° by 2.5°). It is noted that optionally, method 910 may be executed for significantly larger FOV portions (e.g. 100 square degrees, 1,000 square degrees), and may be executed for the entire FOV of the LID AR system, or only for one or more parts of it. While not necessarily so, the FOV portion may be a continuous FOV portion. It is noted that optionally, method 910 may be executed for FOV portions smaller than 10 square degrees.”)
As for Claim 5, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein a distance between the first optical element and the second optical element is less than or equal to 1 cm (Fig. 4A, Scanning Unit 104 both deflects light out of the module, and directs incoming light to the detection module)
As for Claim 6, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the first optical element and/or the second optical element is a liquid crystal polarization element (¶50|6: “For example, light sources, lenses, mirrors, prisms, beam splitters, collimators, polarizing optics, optical modulators, optical switches, optical amplifiers, optical detectors, optical sensors, fiber optics, semiconductor optic components, while each not necessarily required, may each be part of an optical system.”)
As for Claim 7, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the first optical element and/or the second optical element is a rotating mirror component, and the rotating mirror component rotates to control emergent directions of the emergent beams (Fig. 4A, Scanning Unit 104 both deflects light out of the module, and directs incoming light to the detection module)
As for Claim 8, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the beam shaper comprises a diffusion lens and a rectangular aperture stop (¶99|13: “Specifically, the projected light emission may be reflected by deflector 114A through an exit aperture 314 when projected light 204 travel towards optional optical window 124.”)
As for Claim 9, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the light source is a Fabry-Perot laser (¶74|3: “As shown, projecting unit 102 is associated with a single light source 112 that includes a laser diode 202A (or one or more laser diodes coupled together) configured to emit light (projected light 204).” Fabry-Perot lasers are the most common type of laser diode.)
As for Claim 10, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the light source is a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (¶60|11: “For example, one type of light source that may be used is a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL).”)
As for Claim 11, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches further comprising: a collimation lens disposed between the light source and the polarization filter, and configured to collimate the beam (¶67|19: “Optional optical window 124 may serve different purposes, such as collimation of the projected light and focusing of the reflected light. In one embodiment, optional optical window 124 may be an opening, a flat window, a lens, or any other type of optical window.”); and wherein the polarization filter is configured to filter a collimated beam of the collimation lens, to obtain a beam in a single polarization state (¶85|18: “Accordingly, LIDAR system 100 may include one or more optical components (e.g. lens, collimator) for focusing or otherwise manipulating the emitted polarized light beam [i.e., filter to single polarization state] to the dimensions of the asymmetrical deflector 216. In one embodiment, one-way deflector 220 may be a polarizing beam splitter that is virtually transparent to the polarized light beam.”)
As for Claim 12, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein a light emitting area of the light source is less than or equal to 5x5 mm2 (¶60|11: “For example, one type of light source that may be used is a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL).” 5x5 mm2 is a typical size for a VCSEL array used in industrial applications.)
As for Claim 13, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein an average output optical power of the TOF depth sensing module is less than 800 mw (¶298|1: “In some cases, an average optical budget for light source 112 may be between about 10 milliwatts and 1,000 milliwatts.”)
Claims 14-15 recite substantially the same subject matter as Claims 1-2, respectively, and stand rejected on the same basis accordingly.
As for Claim 16, which depends on Claim 14, Keilaf teaches wherein the second preset range is [50°x50°, 80°x80°] (¶208|1: “Method 910 may include step 911 of controlling activation of at least one light source for illuminating a field of view portion (FOV portion). Method 910 may be executed for a FOV portion which is at least 10 square degrees (e.g. 2° by 2.5°). It is noted that optionally, method 910 may be executed for significantly larger FOV portions (e.g. 100 square degrees, 1,000 square degrees), and may be executed for the entire FOV of the LID AR system, or only for one or more parts of it. While not necessarily so, the FOV portion may be a continuous FOV portion. It is noted that optionally, method 910 may be executed for FOV portions smaller than 10 square degrees.”)
As for Claim 17, which depends on Claim 14, Keilaf teaches wherein generating the depth image of the target object based on the TOFs comprises: determining distances between the TOF depth sensing module and M regions of the target object based on the TOFs respectively corresponding to the M emergent beams (¶53|13: “For example, the LIDAR system may be used for detecting a plurality of objects in an environment of a vehicle on which the LIDAR system is installed, up to a horizontal distance of 100m ( or 200m, 300m, etc.), and up to a vertical distance of 10m (or 25m, 50 m, etc.). In another example, the LIDAR system may be used for detecting a plurality of objects in an environment of a vehicle or within a predefined horizontal range (e.g., 25°, 50°, 100°, 180°, etc.), and up to a predefined vertical elevation (e.g., ±10°, ±20°, +40°-20°, ±90° or 0°-90°).”); generating depth images of the M regions of the target object based on the distances between the TOF depth sensing module and the M regions of the target object; and synthesizing the depth image of the target object based on the depth images of the M regions of the target object (¶131|5: “In one embodiment, LIDAR system 100 may be operable to generate depth maps of one or more different types, such as any one or more of the following types: point cloud model, polygon mesh, depth image (holding depth information for each pixel of an image or of a 2D array), or any other type of 3D model of a scene.”)
As for Claim 18, which depends on Claim 14, Keilaf teaches further comprising: generating, by a control unit of the TOP depth sensing module, a first voltage signal to control the first optical element to respectively control the direction of the first beam at the M different moments, to obtain the emergent beams in the M different directions; and generating, by the control unit, a second voltage signal to control the second optical element to respectively deflect, to the receiving unit, the M reflected beams that are obtained by reflecting the emergent beams in the M different directions by the target object, and voltage values of the first voltage signal and the second voltage signal are the same at a same moment (Fig. 2A beam is directed to deflector 114 and scanned [via voltage controlled element] into environment at multiple angles. Scanner 114 can be a single reflector as shown in Fig. 2B or two different reflectors 114A and 114B as shown in Fig. 2A. Fig. 2A received beam is scanned at corresponding angles by scanning mirror 114B toward receiving element 116. Scanner 114 can be a single reflector as shown in Fig. 2B or two different reflectors, one for transmitting and one for receiving, 114A and 114B as shown in Fig. 2A. )
As for Claim 19, which depends on Claim 14, Levy teaches wherein the adjusting a field of view FOV of the beam in the single polarization state by using the beam shaper to obtain a first beam comprises: increasing angular intensity distribution of the beam in the single polarization state by using the beam shaper to obtain the first beam (¶90|1: ”In some embodiments the beam shaping assembly 130 also includes a beam expander module 130.3 configured and operable to expand/contract the solid angle of the illumination FOV, L-FOV, relative to the solid angle of the imaging FOV, I-FOV. This may be used to adjust the imaging and/or illumination FOVs, such that the imaging FOV, I-FOV is larger than the illumination FOV, L-FOV, to thereby enable improved noise/clutter estimation.“)
Claim 20 recites substantially the same subject matter as Claim 1 and stands rejected on the same basis accordingly.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 29 May 2026 relate to newly amended claims and are not addressed in this section; the rejections above, however, address the latest version of the claims in detail.
Conclusion
Applicants should direct any inquiry concerning this or earlier communications to CLINT THATCHER at phone 571.270.3588. Examiner is normally available Mon-Fri, 9am to 5:30pm ET and generally keeps a daily 2:30pm timeslot open for interviews.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, Examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao, can be reached at (571) 270-3603.
Though not relied on, the Office considers the additional prior art listed in the Notice of Reference Cited form (PTO-892) pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
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/Clint Thatcher/
Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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