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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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 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) 1-18 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hong et al. US 20230022688.
Hong discloses a laser distance measuring device as follows:
1. A laser distance measuring device (see, e.g., [0072]–[0075], Figs. 1, 2A, 5), comprising: a transmitting module, including: a transmitting circuit configured to transmit laser pulses (emitter array 114), and an optical transmitting system configured to disperse the laser pulses to cover a target field-of-view area (sensor array 126); and a receiving module (Sensor array 116), including: a receiving circuit, including an avalanche photodiode (APD or SPADs) array operating in a linear mode, and configured to: receive at least some of returning laser pulses as the laser pulses are reflected back by a measured object, and convert the at least some of the returning laser pulses into an electrical signal ([0073], [0102]–[0105], Figs. 1, 2A, 5)., and an optical receiving system, configured to converge the returning laser pulses on the APD array ([0102]–[0105], Figs. 5, 22, 23).
Hong teaches all elements of the claims or their equivalents. Where Hung is silent on a specific implementation detail (e.g., explicit APD “linear mode” operation), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to select APDs and operate them in linear mode for improved dynamic range and SNR, as is well known (see Ouster [0073], [0105]; also general knowledge in the lidar art).
2. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting circuit includes a plurality of transmitting units to sequentially emit the laser pulses; and the optical transmitting system disperses the laser pulses transmitted by each of the plurality of transmitting units to a corresponding sub-field-of-view area of the target field-of-view area ([0086]–[0088], Figs. 2B–2D, 6, 7)..3. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of transmitting units corresponds to a different optical element in the optical transmitting system ([0066]–[0067], [0107], [0153]–[0159], Figs. 5, 10).4. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the optical receiving system includes a lens group disposed on a side of the APD array; and the plurality of transmitting units is integrally disposed on a side of the lens group or dispersedly disposed around the lens group. ([0072]–[0073], [0102]–[0107], Figs. 1, 5).5. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of transmitting units and the lens group at least partially overlap in an axial direction of the lens group. ([0092]–[0094], Figs. 4, 5).6. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the receiving circuit includes a plurality of receiving units in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of transmitting units; and each of the plurality of receiving units includes one or more APDs in the APD array to receive at least some of the returning laser pulses after the laser pulses transmitted by a corresponding transmitting unit are reflected back by the measured object. ([0085]–[0093], Figs. 2A, 3, 4, 14).7. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein the optical receiving system converges the returning laser pulses into a range smaller than a size of the corresponding receiving unit. ([0064]–[0067], [0103], [0191], [0220], Figs. 5, 22, 23).8. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein adjacent transmitting units of the plurality of transmitting units has corresponding sub-field-of-view areas that partially overlap; and the optical receiving system converges the returning laser pulses into a range larger than a size of a corresponding receiving unit of the plurality of receiving unit. ([0133]–[0139], Figs. 8D, 8E).9. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of receiving units is respectively turned on in different time windows. ([0086]–[0088], [0111]–[0114], Figs. 2B–2D, 6, 7).10. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 9, wherein a receiving unit of the plurality of receiving units and its corresponding transmitting unit are turned on synchronously to receive the returning laser pulses of the laser pulses transmitted by the corresponding transmitting unit. ([0086]–[0088], [0111]–[0114], Figs. 2B–2D, 6, 7).11. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein adjacent transmitting units of the plurality of transmitting units are turned on in sequence to transmit the laser pulses; and adjacent receiving units of the plurality of receiving units are turned on in sequence to receive the returning laser pulses of the laser pulses. ([0086]–[0088], [0111]–[0114], Figs. 2B–2D, 6, 7).12. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of transmitting units is arranged at intervals and is sequentially turned on to transmit laser pulses; and the plurality of receiving units is arranged at intervals and is sequentially turned on to receive the returning laser pulses. ([0086]–[0088], [0111]–[0114], Figs. 2B–2D, 6, 7).13. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein two adjacent receiving units of the plurality of receiving units share some of the APDs. [Sensor multiplexing, shared FOVs, redundancy ([0133]–[0139], Figs. 8D, 8E, 16)]14. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 13, wherein sub-field-of-view areas covered by the laser pulses transmitted by at least some of the plurality of transmitting units include a central area of a field of view of the laser distance measuring device; and at least some of the plurality of receiving units share an APD located in a central area of the APD array, so as to receive the returning laser pulses returned from the central area of the field of view of the laser distance measuring device. [Sensor multiplexing, shared FOVs, redundancy ([0133]–[0139], Figs. 8D, 8E, 16)]15. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein sub-field-of-view areas covered by laser pulses transmitted by at least some of the plurality of transmitting units include a central area of a field of view of the laser distance measuring device; and a receiving unit located in a central area of the APD array is turned on synchronously with the at least some of the plurality of transmitting units, so as to receive the returning laser pulses returned from the central area of the field of view of the laser distance measuring device. [Sensor multiplexing, shared FOVs, redundancy ([0133]–[0139], Figs. 8D, 8E, 16)].16. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 6, wherein the optical receiving system includes a lens group coaxially disposed in front of the APD array; and the plurality of receiving units share the lens group. [Bulk receiver optic shared by the sensor array ([0073], [0102], [0105], Figs. 1, 4, 5).]17. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the optical receiving system further includes a narrow-band filter; and a pass-band waveband of the narrow-band filter matches an operating waveband of the optical receiving system to filter out a waveband other than a transmitting waveband. [Narrow-band optical filters ([0064]–[0067], [0104], [0193], Figs. 5, 22, 23).]18. The laser distance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the optical receiving system further includes a micro lens array formed on a surface of the APD array through etching, or glued onto a surface of the APD array. [ ([0064]–[0067], [0130]–[0132], Figs. 5, 8B, 8C, 22).]19. A laser distance measuring device, comprising: a transmitting module, including: a transmitting circuit including a plurality of transmitting units to sequentially emit laser pulses, and an optical transmitting system configured to disperse the laser pulses transmitted by each of the transmitting units to a corresponding sub-field-of-view area of a target field-of-view area; and a receiving module, including: a receiving circuit, including a plurality of receiving units, and configured to: receive at least some of the returning laser pulses as the laser pulses are reflected back by a measured object, and convert the at least some of the returning laser pulses into an electrical signal, and an optical receiving system, configured to converge the returning laser pulses of the sub-field-of-view areas on the receiving circuit. [See rejections of claim 1 and ([0072]–[0074], [0086]–[0088], [0092]–[0093], Figs. 1, 2A–2D, 5, 6, 7).]20. A movable platform, comprising: a movable platform body; and a laser distance measuring device disposed on the movable platform body, including: a transmitting module, including: a transmitting circuit configured to transmit laser pulses, and an optical transmitting system configured to disperse the laser pulses to cover a target field-of-view area, and a receiving module, including: a receiving circuit, including an avalanche photodiode (APD) array operating in a linear mode and configured to: receive at least some of returning laser pulses as the laser pulses are reflected back by a measured object, and convert the at least some of the returning laser pulses into an electrical signal, and an optical receiving system, configured to converge the returning laser pulses on the APD array. [See rejection of claim 1, use on a movable platform (vehicle, UAV) ([0002], [0084], [0179]–[0184], Figs. 18, 19, 20).]
A Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Hong et al. US 20230022688.
Hong discloses a laser distance measuring device as follows:
19. A laser distance measuring device, comprising: a transmitting module, including: a transmitting circuit including a plurality of transmitting units to sequentially emit laser pulses, and an optical transmitting system configured to disperse the laser pulses transmitted by each of the transmitting units to a corresponding sub-field-of-view area of a target field-of-view area; and a receiving module, including: a receiving circuit, including a plurality of receiving units, and configured to: receive at least some of the returning laser pulses as the laser pulses are reflected back by a measured object, and convert the at least some of the returning laser pulses into an electrical signal, and an optical receiving system, configured to converge the returning laser pulses of the sub-field-of-view areas on the receiving circuit. [See rejections of claim 1 and ([0072]–[0074], [0086]–[0088], [0092]–[0093], Figs. 1, 2A–2D, 5, 6, 7).]
Conclusion
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/ISAM A ALSOMIRI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645