DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/21/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendments
Claims 14-16, 22, 29 are cancelled.
Claims 1 and 23 are amended.
Claims 1-13,17-21,23-28 and 30-31 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s amendments to claim 1 have overcome the claim objection from the preceding office action.
Applicant’s arguments in combination with amendments to the claims, have been fully considered and are persuasive with regards to the current grounds of rejection made under 103. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made against amended claim 1 using previously cited references Seong, Li and Donnovan in combination with newly cited reference Roh (US 20100260232), which describes avoiding adjacent wavelengths when frequency hopping to avoid or at least mitigate issues with interference from other emitters.
Applicant’s remaining arguments with respect to claim 1-13,17-21,23-28 and 30-31 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the specific combination of the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to 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.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-13, 17-19, 27-28 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seong (KR20200130793) in view of Li (WO2023044538), Donovan (US 20170307736) and Roh (US 20100260232).
Regarding Claim 1, Seong teaches a lidar system (FIGS. 9-10 & [0078] identifying 9-10 as illustrating a lidar scanning device) comprising:
a light source (100) configured to create emitted pulses of light, wherein each emitted pulse of light of the emitted pulses of light has a wavelength selected from a plurality of different wavelengths ([0087] describes the emission of pulsed waves from transmitting unit 100),
a scanner configured to scan the emitted pulses of light across a field of regard of the lidar system (see FIGS. 12-13 showing fields of regard H1-H4), the scanner comprising:
a beam deflector (200) configured to direct each emitted pulse of light along a first scan axis by angularly deflecting each emitted pulse of light along the first scan axis (see longitudinal axis of mirror 300 as shown in FIGS. 9-10); and
a scan mirror (300) configured to scan the emitted pulses of light along a second scan axis (defined by an orientation of the faces of mirror 300) different from the first scan axis;
a receiver (400) comprising a one-dimensional detector array comprising a plurality of detector elements (see FIGS. 8-9 and [0087] describing 400 as a multi-channel unit having Nx1 pixels) arranged along a direction corresponding to the first scan axis, wherein the receiver is configured to:
detect a received pulse of light, the received pulse of light comprising a portion of one of the emitted pulses of light scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system ([0069] describes light being received at mirror 300 after reflecting off an object, [0077] describes receiving light reflected off mirror 300 at receiver 400); and
determine a time of arrival of the received pulse of light;
and
a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target based on the time of arrival of the received pulse of light ([0002] describes analysis of the returned laser light to determined distance of the lidar system from the object/target).
As shown by the crossed out limitations above, Seong fails to teach all the limitations of claim 1. However, Li teaches:
wherein each emitted pulse of light of the emitted pulses of light has a wavelength selected from a plurality of different wavelengths, wherein the plurality of different wavelengths comprises W different wavelengths and W is an integer greater than or equal to 4 (Li at page 12 lines 5-10 teaches a light source of a LIDAR system with a plurality of different wavelength channels and describes how the light source 101 is configured to cycle through a subset of the plurality of wavelength channels, thereby resulting in some predefined wavelength channels being skipped or hopped over. However, Li is silent as to how the subset of available wavelength channels should be selected).
Li also teaches a beam deflector comprising a diffractive optical element (dispersive component 504 of Li, shown in FIG. 5A and described on page 14 lines 16-17 is described as including one or more diffractive gratings)
Seong and Li both describe scanning LIDAR systems with a focus on the arrangement of optical elements of the laser scanner. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to improve the deflector taking the form of mirror 200 taught by Seong with the dispersive component 504 that includes a series of diffractive gratings and prisms as doing so in conjunction with the beam wavelength modulation would remove the need for moving parts in the deflector and thereby address the durability issues identified in paragraphs [0043] and [0097] of Seong, which describes rotation of various components in the scanner as negatively impacting reliability.
Neither Seong nor Li explicitly describe a variable optical filter governing limiting transmission to certain wavelengths to certain pixels on a receiver array.
However, Donovan teaches the receiver further comprising a variable optical filter configured to transmit different wavelengths of light to different ones of the detector elements, wherein the different wavelengths vary with a position along the direction ([0156] describe the use of a notch filter in front of photodiodes to make different photodiodes sensitive to different wavelengths of light)
Donovan and the combination of Seong and Li are both directed to multi-wavelength LIDAR systems. A person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious to modify the configuration taught by the combination of Seong and Li to incorporate a series of notch filters over the vertical photodiode array. Doing so would be obvious in light of Donovan’s statement in [0156] that filtering the photodiode array in this way allows for independent monitoring of multiple wavelengths of light
Neither Seong, Li or Donovan explicitly teach the specific wavelength modulation described in claim 1 as amended. However, Roh teaches wherein the emitted pulses of light are emitted in a non-sequential wavelength order in which, for each pair of temporally adjacent emitted pulses of light including (i) a first emitted pulse of light having a wavelength λ2 and (ii) a second emitted pulse of light emitted immediately after the first emitted pulse of light with no intervening emitted pulse of light, the second emitted pulse of light has a wavelength other than λ1, λ2 and λ3, where λ1, λ2 and λ3 are three adjacent wavelengths of the W different wavelengths satisfying λ1 > λ2 > λ3 and λ2 is a only wavelength of the W different wavelengths located between λ1 and λ3 ([0017] of Roh teaches the use of a minimum separation interval when modulating frequencies so that the previous frequency and frequencies neighboring the previous frequency are avoided so that the frequency hopping device is more friendly to other devices operating in the same frequency band and particularly to non-frequency hopping devices).
Roh and the combination of Seong, Li and Donovan both teach frequency modulating devices. A person having ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have found it obvious to modify the teachings of the combination of Seong, Li and Donovan to bypass adjacent wavelength/frequency channels in order to solve the common problem of causing interference with other devices or in the case of the device taught by Seong, Li and Donovan, other emitting lasers, doing so would be obvious in light of the teachings of [0037] of Roh, which describes how groups of devices can mitigate interference by utilizing different wavelength hopping sequences adhering to rule of bypassing adjacent wavelength / frequency channels.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein the received pulse of light is part of an input beam of light, the input beam comprising a plurality of received pulses of light, wherein the input beam, prior to being detected by the receiver (400), is reflected by the scan mirror (300) and bypasses the beam deflector (FIGS. 9 and 10 of Seong shows return light reflecting off mirror 300 and then bypassing deflector 200 to arrive at receiver 400).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 2, wherein the received pulse of light is directed to a portion of the detector array (400) corresponding to a direction along the first scan axis at which the emitted pulse of light was directed by the beam deflector (FIGS. 9-10 and [0079]-[0080] of Seong show/describe how variations in direction along the first scan axis by deflector 200 correspond to changes in a position of return light at receiver 400).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 2, wherein:
the emitted pulses of light are part of an output beam of light, the output beam of light having a beam diameter of d1 (FIG. 9, see d1 in annotated FIG. 9 of Seong below);
the input beam of light has a beam diameter of d2, wherein d2 is greater than d1 (FIG. 9, see d2 in annotated FIG. 9 below);
an aperture of the beam deflector has a length or diameter of s1 (see s1 in annotated FIG. 9 below, [0171] of instant application describes aperture of the beam deflector as being a reflective surface or an opening the beam travels through); and
an aperture of the scan mirror has a length or diameter of s2 (see s2 in annotated FIG. 9 below, [0171] of instant application describes the aperture of the scan mirror as a reflective surface of the scan mirror), wherein:
s2 is greater than s1 (annotated FIG. 9 shows s2 > s1),
s2 is greater than or equal to d2 (annotated FIG. 9 shows s2 >= d2),
S1 is greater than or equal to d1 (annotated FIG. 9 shows s1 >= d1), and
S1 is less than d2 (annotated FIG. 9 shows s1 < d2).
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Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein a scanning speed of the beam deflector is greater than or equal to four times a scanning speed of the scan mirror ([0066] of Seong describes scanner 200 performing high speed measurement in the vertical direction. FIGS. 12-13 of Seong show exemplary fields of regard H1-H4 for the lidar scanner and FIG. 13 in particular shows how the scans pattern runs vertically up/down. Given that the vertical travel of the scan pattern is shown to be more than twice as long as the spacing between vertical scan lines the travel speed in the vertical direction made by the beam deflector would be at least four times the scanning speed of the scan mirror).
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein the scan mirror comprises a polygon mirror configured to rotate to scan the emitted pulses of light along the second scan axis, wherein the polygon mirror comprises a plurality of reflective surfaces angularly offset from one another along a periphery of the polygon mirror, each reflective surface configured to reflect, in sequence as the polygon mirror rotates, a portion of the emitted pulses of light (FIG. 9 of Seong illustrates polygonal mirror 300 having reflective surfaces angularly offset to reflect the laser as the polygonal mirror rotates).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 6, wherein: the polygon mirror comprises S reflective surfaces, wherein S is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the polygon mirror is configured to rotate at a rotation speed of R revolutions per second; the portion of the emitted pulses of light reflected from each of the reflective surfaces of the polygon mirror are associated with a single scan across at least a portion of the field of regard of the lidar system; and the lidar system is configured to produce point clouds at a frame rate of F frames per second according to an expression F=SxR (FIGS. 5A-5B, 7-12, 14A-14B of Seong show two mirror scanner configurations that includes a polygonal mirror having four reflective surfaces that rotate at a rotational speed R. Since each reflective face creates its own complete scan in this configuration, a complete rotation of the polygonal mirror would create SxR frames per second.)
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 6, wherein: the polygon mirror is configured to rotate about a rotation axis; and one or more of the reflective surfaces of the polygon mirror have non-zero angles with respect to the rotation axis of the polygon mirror ([0074] of Seong describe multi-faceted mirror 300 having reflective surfaces with different inclinations).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 8, wherein:
each of the reflective surfaces has one of r different angles with respect to the rotation axis, wherein r is an integer greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to a number of reflective surfaces of the polygon mirror;
the field of regard of the lidar system is subdivided into r regions; and
each reflective surface of the polygon mirror is configured to scan one of the portions of the emitted pulses of light along the second scan axis within one of the r regions of the field of regard (see [0074] of Seong describing reflective surfaces of mirror 300 arranged with different inclinations and [0075] describing a configuration where mirror 300 has reflective surfaces with four different inclinations corresponding to four measurement altitudes (H1 - H4), as shown in FIG. 8).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 9, wherein: the beam deflector is configured to direct the emitted pulses of light over an angular range of α along the first scan axis; and the field of regard has an angular extent along the first scan axis of greater than or equal to 80% of rxα and less than or equal to rxα (FIG. 8 of Seong shows a configuration in which the varied inclinations of the four faces of the polygonal mirror 300 are angled such that there is no overlap between H1-H4 and so the total field of regard would be rxα).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 9, wherein two or more of the reflective surfaces have equal angles with respect to the rotation axis of the polygon mirror, wherein the two or more reflective surfaces are each configured to scan one of the portions of the emitted pulses of light along the second scan axis within a same one of the r regions of the field of regard ([0074] of Seong describe multi-faceted mirror 300 having reflective surfaces with different inclinations & FIG. 13 shows a configuration in which fields of view overlap rendering obvious the use of at least two surfaces of the same inclination, which would provide overlapping coverage of one the scan regions).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 9, wherein: the polygon mirror comprises S reflective surfaces, wherein S is greater than or equal to r; the polygon mirror is configured to rotate at a rotation speed of R revolutions per second; and the lidar system is configured to produce point clouds at a frame rate of R frames per second, wherein each point cloud comprises pixels corresponding to pulses of light reflected from each of the S reflective surfaces (FIGS. 12 and 13 of Seong both show configurations in which pulses of light are reflected from each of the reflective surfaces into a different region according to the inclination of a particular surface).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein the scan mirror comprises a galvanometer scanner (mirror 200 as shown in FIG. 6 of Seong and described in [0064] describes the use of modulated magnetic fields to drive rotation of a mirror, which is how a galvanometer scanner works. Examiner notes that while mirror 200 is mapped to beam deflector in Claim 1, since claim 1 is unspecific as to whether the laser reflects off the beam deflector before it reflects off the scan mirror, for purposes of the rejection of claim 13, mirror 200 of Seong is mapped to the beam deflector and mirror 300 is mapped to the scan mirror).
Regarding Claim 17, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein: the received pulse of light is part of an input beam of light comprising a plurality of received pulses of light; and the receiver further comprises a lens configured to focus the input beam of light onto the detector array, wherein each received pulse of light is directed to a portion of the detector array corresponding to a direction along the first scan axis at which a corresponding emitted pulse of light was directed by the beam deflector. (FIGS. 9-10 and [0079]-[0080] of Seong describe how variations in direction along the first scan axis by deflector 200 correspond to changes in a position of return light at receiver 400).
Regarding Claim 18, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein the second scan axis is substantially orthogonal to the first scan axis ([0061] describes mirror 200 reflects the laser beam in vertical directions and mirror 300 rotates to reflect the laser beam in the horizontal direction. Vertical and horizontal directions are known to be orthogonal).
Regarding Claim 19, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein each detector element is configured to detect received pulses of light originating from a particular direction with respect to the first scan axis (Variations shown between FIGS. 9 and 10 of Seong indicate how a position of incoming light on the detector varies based on its vertical position on mirror 300, which corresponds to the first axis).
Regarding Claim 27, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of claim 1 as described above, wherein the light source comprises: a seed laser diode (101, see FIG. 5A and page 7 line 6 of Li) configured to produce seed light; and an optical amplifier configured to amplify the seed light to produce the emitted pulses of light, wherein the optical amplifier comprises a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), a fiber-optic amplifier, or a SOA followed by a fiber-optic amplifier (page 7 lines 9-12, describes the amplifier taking the form of an SOA or fiber amplifier).
Regarding Claim 28, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 27, wherein the seed laser diode is a sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector (SG-DBR) laser configured to produce the seed light at the plurality of different wavelengths (page 9 lines 26-31 of Li describe the use of a SG-DBR configured to produce light at different wavelengths), wherein each of the emitted pulses of light has a particular wavelength of the plurality of different wavelengths (page 9 lines 26-31 also describes how the laser can switch between wavelength outputs in less than 100 nanoseconds).
Regarding Claim 30, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein: the time of arrival of the received pulse of light corresponds to a round-trip time (T) for the portion of the one of the emitted pulses of light to travel to the target and back to the lidar system; and the distance (D) to the target is determined from an expression D= c*T/2, wherein c is a speed of light (Claim 30 describes laws of physics governing the distance light travels over time and is consequently anticipated by every LIDAR device utilizing pulsed emissions and consequently is anticipated by Seong).
Claims 20-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Seong (KR20200130793) in view of Li (WO2023044538), Donovan (US 20170307736) and Roh (US 20100260232), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vines, (“High Performance Planar Germanium-On-Silicon Single-Photon Avalanche Diode Detectors” 3/6/19).
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, but does not address the types of materials to be used in a LIDAR detector or more specifically whether the detector array comprises silicon (Si) detector elements, silicon-germanium (SiGe) detector elements, silicon-germanium-tin (SiGeSn) detector elements, or indium-gallium-arsenide (InGaAs) detector elements.
However, Vines teaches wherein the detector array comprises silicon (Si) detector elements, silicon-germanium (SiGe) detector elements, silicon-germanium-tin (SiGeSn) detector elements, or indium-gallium-arsenide (InGaAs) detector elements (page 2 of Vines describes that APD and SPAD type LIDAR sensors can be made from Si, SiGe or InGaAs).
Seong and Vines are both directed to the field of LIDAR. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to incorporate any one of the sensor material types suggested by Vines when implementing the LIDAR system taught by Seong. For example, a Silicon material could be used to help with cost control, InGaAs material could be used for a more commercially available better understood material capable of handling longer infrared wavelengths and a GeSi material could be used for its cheaper cost, ability to sense longer infrared wavelength detection and low afterpulsing effects.
Regarding Claim 21, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan, Roh and Vines teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein each detector element is an avalanche photodiode (APD), a PN photodiode, a PIN photodiode, or a quantum dot photodetector (page 2 of Vines specifically recites the use of an avalanche photodiode, as a type of LIDAR detector element).
Claim 23 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seong (KR20200130793) in view of Li (WO2023044538), Donovan (US 20170307736) and Roh (US 20100260232), as applied to claim 1 above, further in view of Hamasaki (US20220359584).
Regarding Claim 23, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the method of Claim 1, but fails to teach wherein each detector element of the one-dimensional detector array comprises an anode and a cathode wherein the anodes of the one-dimensional detector array are electrically isolated from one another, and the cathodes of the one-dimensional detector array are electrically isolated from one another.
However, Hamasaki teaches wherein each detector element of the one-dimensional detector array comprises an anode (221) and a cathode (211) wherein the anodes of the one-dimensional detector array are electrically isolated from one another (250 / 251), and the cathodes of the one-dimensional detector array are electrically isolated from one another (see FIGS. 40 – 41 and [0441] that describes how pixel separation layer 250 isolates the exemplary pixel from adjacent pixels of photodetector 200).
Hamasaki and the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh both describe imaging sensors suitable for use in lidar applications. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have considered it obvious to improve the one dimensional imaging sensor disclosed by Seong to incorporate the discrete cathode and anode electrodes taught by Hamasaki. The person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to reduce crosstalk between pixels as is described in [0439] of Hamasaki.
Claims 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Seong (KR20200130793) in view of Li (WO2023044538), Donovan (US 20170307736) and Roh (US 20100260232), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Graefling (US20200264287).
Regarding Claim 24, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, wherein: the received pulse of light is incident on one or more detector elements of the detector array (see FIGS. 9-10 of Seong); the one or more detector elements are configured to produce one or more respective photocurrent signals corresponding to the received pulse of light;
Seong however fails to specifically teach where the receiver further comprises an electronic amplifier configured to amplify the one or more photocurrent signals to produce one or more voltage signals, each voltage signal corresponding to one of the photocurrent signals.
However, Graefling teaches where the receiver further comprises an electronic amplifier configured to amplify the one or more photocurrent signals to produce one or more voltage signals, each voltage signal corresponding to one of the photocurrent signals (see FIG. 3 where Graefling describes a LIDAR system at [0026] that includes a one-dimensional photodetector array, and at [0073] shows the use of amplifiers taking the form of transimpedance amplifiers, shown in receiver circuit 32 of FIG. 3, where each TIA amplifies and converts currents supplied by the photodetectors into voltage signals).
Graefling and the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh are both directed to LIDAR devices utilizing one dimensional detector arrays. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to improve the configuration of Seong by using transimpedance amplifiers to boost the signal provided by return pulses for better object detection.
Regarding Claim 25, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan, Roh and Graefling teaches the lidar system of Claim 24, wherein the receiver further comprises a pulse-detection circuit comprising a plurality of comparators coupled to a respective plurality of time-to-digital converters (TDCs), wherein: each comparator is configured to receive one of the voltage signals and provide an electrical-edge signal to a corresponding TDC when the received voltage signal rises above or falls below a particular threshold voltage; and the corresponding TDC is configured to produce a time value corresponding to a time when the electrical-edge signal was received, wherein the time of arrival of the received pulse of light is determined based on one or more time values produced by one or more of the TDCs ([0055] of Graefling teaches the use of comparators and TDCs for processing and detecting objects associated with incoming LIDAR data).
Regarding Claim 26, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan, Roh and Graefling teaches the lidar system of Claim 24, wherein the receiver further comprises a Nxn electronic multiplexer (31-3 shown in FIG. 3 of Graefling) disposed between the detector array and the electronic amplifier (FIG. 3 shows 31-3 between the detector array 31-1 and amplifiers 32), wherein: N is a number of inputs of the multiplexer, and n is a number of outputs of the multiplexer; the one-dimensional detector array comprises N detector elements, and each input of the multiplexer is coupled to one of the detector elements; the electronic amplifier comprises n inputs, and each output of the multiplexer is coupled to one of the inputs of the electronic amplifier, wherein n is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and the multiplexer is configured to couple the one or more photocurrent signals from the one or more detector elements to one or more respective inputs of the electronic amplifier ([0065] of Graefling describes transfer of photocurrent from array 31-1 to receiver circuit 32).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seong (KR20200130793) in view of Li (WO2023044538), Donovan (US 20170307736) and Roh (US 20100260232), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Eichenholz (US 2020/0076152).
Regarding Claim 31, the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh teaches the lidar system of Claim 1, but the combination fails to teach the remaining specific operating parameters.
However, Eichenholz teaches wherein the emitted pulses of light have optical characteristics comprising: one or more wavelengths between 1400 nanometers (nm) and 1600 nm ([0026] of Eichenholz describes a pulsed laser emitter operating between 1400 and 1600nm); a pulse energy between 0.01 uJ and 100 uJ ([0022] of Eichenholz describes output beam with pulse energy of 1 microjoule); a pulse repetition frequency between 80 kHz and 10 MHz ([0024] of Eichenholz describes use of a pulse repetition frequency of between 80 kHz and 10 MHz); and a pulse duration between 1 ns and 100 ns ([0024] of Eichenholz describes exemplary pulse durations of 1 ns, 2 ns, 5 ns, 10 ns, 20 ns, 50 ns and 100ns).
Eichenholz and the combination of Seong, Li, Donnovan and Roh are both directed to LIDAR systems using polygonal scanning elements. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to add the bandpass filter and specific operating parameters taught by Eichenholz to the system taught by Seong in order to filter out ambient light to help with noise reduction (see end of [0086] of Eichenholz).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN WIGGER whose telephone number is (571)272-4208. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30am to 7:00pm.
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/BENJAMIN DAVID WIGGER/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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