DETAILED ACTION
This Action addresses the communication received on 6 Apr 2026. Applicant has amended Claims 1, 9-10, 13, 15-16, and 18; and cancelled Claims 3-4, 6-7, 11-12, and 14. The Office rejects pending Claims 1-2, 5, 8-10, 13, and 15-18 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, 5, 9-10, 13, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Klemme - U.S. Pub. 20220413140 - in view of Ovsannkov et al. - U.S. Pub. 20130176550 +_+_+
As for Claim 1, Klemme teaches a light signal generator configured to generate a plurality of light signals having different phases based on a reference light signal by delaying a phase of the reference light signal at least one time according to a regular interval (Fig. 4, Emitter 400, Time Delay 428, ¶41|1: “The emitter 400 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 402 which provides selected inputs to a local oscillator 404, which is configured to output different outputs and different frequencies and phases. The local oscillator 404 drives two separate and parallel emission channels 406, 408. These two channels 406, 408 are sometimes referred to as a first channel and a second channel, respectively. While two separate channels 406, 408 are shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, in other embodiments the operations described below can be accomplished using a single emission channel that operates successively in different time frames. Conversely, other embodiments can be configured to use three or more separate emission channels.”); a demodulated signal generator configured to generate a plurality of demodulated signals based on the reference light signal (¶49|1: “FIG. 6 shows a detector circuit 600 constructed and operated in accordance with various embodiments. The detector circuit 600 forms at least a portion of the detector 106 of FIG. 1 in some embodiments. The detector 600 operates to detect and decode [i.e., demodulate] the pulses generated and emitted by the emitter 400 of FIG. 4 to derive range information regarding the downrange target.”); a light source configured to sequentially output each of the plurality of light signals to an object in a time division method by temporally dividing a single integration time (Fig. 4, Emitter 400, Time Delay 428, ¶41|1: “The emitter 400 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 402 which provides selected inputs to a local oscillator 404, which is configured to output different outputs and different frequencies and phases. The local oscillator 404 drives two separate and parallel emission channels 406, 408. These two channels 406, 408 are sometimes referred to as a first channel and a second channel, respectively. While two separate channels 406, 408 are shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, in other embodiments the operations described below can be accomplished using a single emission channel that operates successively in different time frames. Conversely, other embodiments can be configured to use three or more separate emission channels.”); a light receiver configured to receive, during the single integration time, a plurality of reflected light signals respectively in which corresponding to the plurality of light signals and to generate an integrated reflected light signal by summing the plurality of reflected light signals received during the single integration time (¶53|1: “The circuit 608 can be a separate dedicated circuit or can form a portion of a DSP (such as 402 in FIG. 4) or other controller circuitry. The processing carried out by the circuit 608 can include a variety of functions including averaging, weighting, subtraction, comparison, and/or other combinatorial operations [i.e., summing].”) Klemme does not explicitly teach receiving the LiDAR signal using a pixel array.
But Ovsannkov teaches a pixel array configured to generate a plurality of pixel signals by demodulating the integrated reflected light signal based on the plurality of demodulated signals (¶45|6: “Referring to FIG. 4, each of the depth pixels PXd may receive a demodulation signal, for example SIGD0, and illumination by four modulated signals SIGD0 through SIGD3 whose phases are shifted respectively by 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees from the output light OLIG, and output corresponding depth pixel signals POUTd.”)
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 Klemme and Ovsannkov because using a pixel array is a well-known way to receive reflected light from a pulse emitting LiDAR.
As for Claim 2, which depends on Claim 1, Klemme teaches wherein the plurality of light signals include the same amplitude and period (¶47|1: “As represented in FIG. 5, the [uniform] pulses will have various tuned waveform characteristics including amplitude (e.g., pulse height), frequency (pulse width), phase (in terms of separation distance/time between pulses), shape (sinusoid, square, trapezoidal, triangular, irregular, etc.), and substantially any other characteristic as desired.”)
As for Claim 5, which depends on Claim 1, Ovsannkov teaches wherein the demodulated signal generator delays a phase of the reference light signal by 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° to generate the plurality of demodulated signals (¶45|6: “Referring to FIG. 4, each of the depth pixels PXd may receive a demodulation signal, for example SIGD0, and illumination by four modulated signals SIGD0 through SIGD3 whose phases are shifted respectively by 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees from the output light OLIG, and output corresponding depth pixel signals POUTd.”)
Claims 9 and 16 recite substantially the same subject matter as Claim 1 and stand rejected on the same basis accordingly.
Claims 10 and 13 recite substantially the same subject matter as Claims 2 and 5, respectively, and stand rejected on the same basis accordingly.
Claims 17 and 18 recite substantially the same subject matter as Claims 2 and 3, respectively, and stand rejected on the same basis accordingly.
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+_+_+ Claims 8 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Klemme and Ovsannkov in view of Lehmann - U.S. Pub. 20160299218 +_+_+
As for Claim 8, which depends on Claim 1, Klemme and Ovsannkov do not explicitly teach that the duty cycle of the signals is less than 50%. The duty cycle is not explicitly discussed in the disclosure and the modulated/demodulated signals illustrated in the drawings appear to be the standard 50% duty cycle (half on, half off).
But Lehmann teaches wherein the plurality of light signals and the plurality of demodulated signals have a duty cycle of less than 50% (¶28|1: “Illumination can be controlled, for example, by signals from the control unit 28 that modulate the light source 22 (i.e., turn the light source 22 on and off). In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, the light pulses [modulated/demodulated signals] are compressed (i.e., shortened) such that the duty cycle of the light pulses is less than 50% (i.e., the light pulses are ON less than fifty percent of the time).”)
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 Klemme and Ovsannkov with Lehmann because generating compressed light pulses (i.e., lower duty cycle) can result in an increased demodulation contrast (Lehmann, ¶29|1).
Claim 15 recites substantially the same subject matter as Claim 8 and stands rejected on the same basis accordingly.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 6 Apr 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
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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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