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 .
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.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted by the applicant and listed below have been considered and are included in the file.
30 January 2026
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Dependent claims 2, 6-7, 12 and 16-17 have been amended by applicant’s amendments received 04 May 2026. No new matter has been introduced.
Prior objections of the drawings have been overcome by amendment and are therefore withdrawn.
Prior objections of specification have been overcome by amendment and are therefore withdrawn.
Prior objections of claims 2 and 12 have been overcome by amendment and are therefore withdrawn.
Prior rejections of claims 7, 9, 17 and 19 under USC § 112(b) have been overcome by amendment and are therefore withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 04 May 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues (Remarks, pg. 11) that the art relied upon for a rejection under 35 USC § 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) (Zohar, US 20180136337 A1) does not fully anticipate the limitations of claim 1, specifically the limitation that requires the number of time bins utilized in a second scan with higher power is larger than the number of time bins utilized in a first scan with lower power. However, Applicant’s arguments state that this feature is not described in Zohar paragraph [0275], which only describes the increase in power between the first and second scan. While this is true, paragraph [0275] was not relied upon in the prior office action to discuss the changing of number of sampling durations (time bins), which is mainly described in the previously referenced paragraphs ( [0158], [0163], [0167], [0254]). Zohar anticipates a system which operates a system which, after an initial scan at a low power and close range (“near-field illumination scheme”), initiates scanning at a second, higher power and for a longer range (“far-field illumination scheme”). The secondary, far-field scan will be for a further distance, which inherently needs more sampling durations to cover the longer time-of-flight of the signals involved in a far-range scan when compared to a near-field scan.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 10-15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and (a)(2) as being anticipated by Zohar et al. (hereinafter Zohar, US 20180136337 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Zohar anticipates a lidar system comprising:
a plurality of emitter elements to emit optical signals ([0121], [0212]; Fig. 1A, LIDAR system includes projecting unit (102) which may include a VCSEL array for emission);
a plurality of sensor elements to detect incident photons ([0121], [0157]; Figs. 1A, 4A-D, where each at least one sensor (116) includes detector array (400));
control circuitry to ([0121], [0151]; Fig. 1A, processing unit (118) may control operation of projecting unit, scanning unit, and sensing unit and may act as a common controller):
operate the plurality of emitter elements to emit a first optical signal having a first power level ([0275], where a first scan/set of pulses for each frame is emitted at a first power power), and to operate the plurality of sensor elements to determine a number of detected incident photons during a first number of time bins, the first number of time bins beginning with an initial time bin and extending to a first time bin ([0158], [0163], [0167], [0254]; where scans occur as reflected light is detected by sensor(s) and register a first time of flight, where the sensors may issue information for each sampling duration within a first set of sampling durations, for example, every 1 ns until a set number of durations is reached for a first detection range);
and operate the plurality of emitter elements to emit a second optical signal having a second power level ([0275], where a second scan/set of pulses for each frame is emitted at a second power power), and to operate the plurality of sensor elements to determine a number of detected incident photons during a second number of time bins, the second number of time bins beginning with the initial time bin and extending to a second time bin ([0158], [0163], [0167], [0254]; where scans occur as reflected light is detected by sensor(s) and register a second time of flight, where the sensors may issue information for each sampling duration within a second set of sampling durations, for example, every 1 ns until a set number of durations is reached for a second detection range),
wherein the second power level is a higher power level than the first power level ([0275], where the second emitted power may be higher than the first) and the second number is greater than the first number ( [0158], [0163], [0167], [0254]; where subsequent scans of longer ranges will return a longer time of flight, and therefore will require the detection elements to issue detection information for more sampling durations such that the number of sampling durations for a longer range scan will be larger than the number of sampling durations for a shorter range scan).
Regarding claim 2, Zohar anticipates the lidar system of claim 1 wherein
operating the plurality of emitter elements to emit the first optical signal having the first power level comprises operating the plurality of emitter elements to emit the first optical signal for a first number of cycles and operating sensor elements to determine the number of detected incident photons during the first number of time bins comprises operating sensor elements to determine the number of detected incident photons during the first number of time bins for each of the first number of cycles,
wherein operating the plurality of emitter elements to emit the second optical signal having the second power level comprises operating the plurality of emitter elements to emit a second optical signal for a second number of cycles and operating sensor elements to determine a number of detected incident photons during the second number of time bins comprises operating sensor elements to determine the number of detected incident photons during a second number of time bins for each of the second number of cycles ([0186], [0193], where scan cycles/frames may include repeated pulses for each frame where emission power, pattern, etc. are repeated for each scan).
Regarding claim 3, Zohar anticipates the lidar system of claim 2 wherein
the second number of cycles is equal 2 to the first number of cycles ([0197]; where number of repeated pulses for each frame may be the same).
Regarding claim 4, Zohar anticipates the lidar system of claim 2 wherein
the second number of cycles is greater than the first number of cycles ([0197]; where number of repeated pulses for subsequent frames may be increased to increase intensity).
Regarding claim 5, Zohar anticipates the lidar system of claim 1 wherein
the control signal further operates the plurality of emitter elements to emit a third optical signal having a third power level ([0275], where a third scan/set of pulses for each frame is emitted at a third power power), and to operate the sensor elements to determine a number of detected incident photons during a third number of time bins, the third number of time bins beginning with the initial time bin and extending to a third time bin ([0158], [0163], [0167], [0254]; where scans occur as reflected light is detected by sensor(s) and register a third time of flight, where the sensors may issue information for each sampling duration within a third set of sampling durations, for example, every 1 ns until a set number of durations is reached for a third detection range),
wherein the third power level is a higher power level than the second power level ([0275], where the third emitted power may be higher than the first and second) and the third number is greater than the first number ([0158], [0163], [0167], [0254]; where subsequent scans of longer ranges will return a longer time of flight, and therefore will require the detection elements to issue detection information for more sampling durations such that the number of sampling durations for a longer range scan will be larger than the number of sampling durations for a shorter range scan).
Regarding claim 10, Zohar anticipates the lidar system of claim 1 wherein
each sensor element in the plurality of sensor elements comprises a plurality of groups of different number single-photon avalanche diodes connected in parallel ([0159] - [0164]; Fig. 4A-4E, where array (400) may be segmented into detector regions (404) which includes groups of detector elements (402), each region can include one or more element which may include a differing number of detector elements, and each region has output circuitry (406) which connects signal output).
Regarding claim 11, Zohar anticipates both a LIDAR system and method of operating a LIDAR system ([0005]) and therefore claim 11 is rejected similarly to claim 1.
Claim 12 is rejected similarly to claim 2.
Claim 13 is rejected similarly to claim 3.
Claim 14 is rejected similarly to claim 4.
Claim 15 is rejected similarly to claim 5.
Claim 20 is rejected similarly to claim 10.
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.
Claim(s) 6 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zohar et al. (hereinafter Zohar, US 20180136337 A1) in view of Shu et al. (hereinafter Shu, US 20180259645 A1).
Regarding claim 6, Zohar teaches the lidar system of claim 2, but is silent on the specific use of a histogram as a way to sum incident photon counts.
Shu teaches a LIDAR system which generates a histogram by combining the number of incident photons detected in the first number of time bins following the emitted first optical signal and the number of incident photons detected in the second number of time bins following the emitted second optical signal ([0057], [0102] - [0103], [0115] - [0121]; where a histogram may be a summation of two or more sets of bin accumulations).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to modify Zohar to incorporate the teachings of Shu with a reasonable expectation of success. Zohar notes that the detection elements and readout circuit may be a summing circuit which sums responses from a plurality of detectors ([0159]-[0163]), which would integrate the histogram method as taught by Shu with a predictable result of increasing signal-to-noise values as well as accuracy of the distance measurements.
Claim 16 is rejected similarly to claim 6.
Claim(s) 7-9 and 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zohar et al. (hereinafter Zohar, US 20180136337 A1), in view of Shu et al. (hereinafter Shu, US 20180259645 A1) and further in view of Paesen et al. (hereinafter Paesen, US 20220326358 A1).
Regarding claim 7, Zohar as modified above teaches the lidar system of claim 6, but is silent on use of specific algorithms for data analysis of the summed counts for specific time bins.
Shu teaches a LIDAR system wherein combining the number of incident photons comprises summing the number of incident photons detected in the first number of time bins following the emitted first optical signal with the number of incident photons detected in the second number of time bins following the emitted second optical signal ([0057], [0102] - [0103], [0116] - [0121]; where a histogram may be a summation of two or more sets of bin accumulations).
Paesen teaches a system where processing counts for the time bins beginning with the initial time bin and extending to the first time bin using a first algorithm, and processing counts for the time bins beginning with the time bin following the first time bin and extending to the second time bin using a second algorithm ([0115] - [0127]; where various algorithms may be used to analyze detection time windows, which may take into account detection time windows or exposure times, and therefore an algorithm may be assigned to a first time window and a second algorithm may be assigned to a second time window).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to further modify Zohar and Shu to incorporate the teachings of Paesen to use specific algorithms aligned with different time windows with a reasonable expectation of success. Shu teaches assigning different weights to different optical signals which may be emitted at different times ([0056]), which may take into account detection windows or exposure times as taught by Paesen.
Regarding claim 8, Zohar as modified above teaches the lidar system of claim 7.
Zohar and Shu are silent on the first and second algorithms discerning the differences in background information collected between two time frames.
Paesen teaches the first algorithm and the second algorithm which compensate for a higher level of background information from the initial time bin to the second time bin ([0115] - [0127]; where exposures are corrected for background events and values in detection time windows, and where background exposure values in longer detection time windows will have additional background detections).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to further modify Zohar and Shu to incorporate the teachings of Paesen to utilize the first and second algorithms to discern differences in background information collected between two time frames, where the shorter timeframe incurs less background noise, with a reasonable expectation of success. Knowledge that more background radiation will be collected during longer exposure times would be considered well known to one of ordinary skill in the art of LIDAR detection.
Regarding claim 9, Zohar as modified above teaches the lidar system of claim 7.
Zohar and Shu are silent on the first and second algorithms being based on differences in a number of cycles of an emitter between two scans.
Paesen teaches the first algorithm and the second algorithm compensate for a difference between a first number of cycles and a second number of cycles ([0130] - [0133], [0139] - [0145]; where temporal error is found for individual frames, and temporal error depends on factors such as pulse sequence and width).
Therefore, to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious prima facie to further modify Zohar and Shu to incorporate the teachings of Paesen to utilize the first and second algorithms to discern differences in signals collected between two time frames, where the timeframes have emission cycle counts which may be different, with a reasonable expectation of success. As noted by Paesen, error in signals collected during frames depends on factors such as pulse sequences and pulse width (where more emissions during a given time frame will have narrower pulse widths) ([01439] – [0145]). To one of ordinary skill in the art, an algorithm which compensates for more pulses in a given cycle would have a predictable result of accounting for an increase in emission intensity, which would affect collected signals and therefore would need to be normalized.
Claim 17 is rejected similarly to claim 7.
Claim 18 is rejected similarly to claim 8.
Claim 19 is rejected similarly to claim 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Smith (US 20230090199 A1) teaches a LiDAR system where the controller is programmable to activate a light emitter for use in creating a 3D environmental map, where emission and/or detection of a subset of shots may be dependent on the distance to an object int eh environment.
Yeruhami et al. (US 20200249354 A1) teaches a LIDAR system where a processor may be configured to control the emissions of a light source and the collection of a subset of return signals based on a relative distance to an object, where the subset or “bins” may relate to specific ranges.
Geuens et al. (US 20200124726 A1) teaches a system for determining a distance to an object, which utilizes collection of return signals during time windows which may have differing exposure values for different time windows.
Kim et al. (US 20220236415 A1) teaches a LiDAR system and method for determining distance, where collection time windows may be varied according to measurement conditions, and the ToF light may be calculated through statistical analysis, such as of a histogram of collected data.
Hulm et al. (US 20130301030 A1) teaches a laser scanner, which determines distance of objects, which collects a histogram of received light for multiple time intervals, which may overlap with one another.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 Kara Richter whose telephone number is (571)272-2763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday, 8A-5P EST, Fridays are variable.
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/K.M.R./Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/HELAL A ALGAHAIM/SPE , Art Unit 3645
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