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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 8/5/26 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1 and 3-11 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new combination/interpretation of references being used in the current rejection (replacement of the Deichmann ‘952 reference with the Schrey ‘882 reference in the 35 USC 103 rejections).
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 (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, 5-6, 11, and 13-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirano US20220342040 in view of Schrey US20220381882.
Regarding independent claim 1, Hirano discloses, in Figures 1-16,
A ranging adjustment method (Hirano; Fig. 1-16) of a LiDAR device (Hirano; the distance measurement apparatus 1), wherein the LiDAR device comprises a laser beam emission module (Hirano; light source 20 with laser light source 22) and a laser beam receiving module (Hirano; light reception device 30), the ranging adjustment method comprising:
turning off a laser beam emission module and turning on a laser beam receiving module, to obtain histogram data of ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 10B histogram of background light alone with the laser off and indicated by “tf of background light”);
adjusting detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module based on the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”);
turning on the laser beam emission module and the laser beam receiving module, to obtain histogram data of a current optical signal (Hirano; Fig. 10C histogram of the signal light); and
comparing the histogram data of the current optical signal with the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 10C histogram of both the signal light and the background light; [0106] Fig. 10C shows the comparison of the histogram of the signal light with the histogram of the background light), and determining histogram data of an echo signal and distance information of a to-be-detected object, based on a result of the comparison (Hirano; Fig. 8 “distance measurement”; Fig. 9 “distance information”).
Hirano does not specifically disclose wherein the result of the comparison comprises magnitude of a ratio between the histogram data of the current optical signal and the histogram data of the ambient light.
Schrey teaches wherein the result of the comparison comprises magnitude of a ratio between the histogram data of the current optical signal and the histogram data of the ambient light (Schrey; Fig. 6; [0065] “The signal-to-noise ratio can be defined as the expected value of the additional count in the bin due to the reception of the reflected pulse divided by the standard deviation of the total count including background events.”; [0065] “Methods for distance measurement with adaptive coincidence usually comprise several steps. In a first step, the intensity of the background light can be measured. For this purpose, the incident background radiation can be detected on the photon detection device in the blanking interval (i.e., without active illumination by the laser). From the number of background events and the duration of the measurement window, the rate and thus the intensity of the background light can be determined.”; [0013] “The use of adaptive coincidence reduces the disturbing influence of background light by exploiting temporal correlation between incident photons and this increases the dynamic range of the laser measuring apparatus further. For this purpose, the coincidence time is adapted to the intensity of the background light during operation of the laser measuring apparatus. Compared to a fixed coincidence time, an adjustment of these parameters allows a detection of weaker signals, which improves the performance of the system at high distances and low reflectances or allows the use of a lower laser power. Adapting the coincidence time to extend the dynamic range additionally increases the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and thus increases the range of the system.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the histogram comparison as taught by Hirano to include magnitude of a ratio between the histogram data of the current optical signal and the histogram data of the ambient light as taught by Schrey for the purpose of reducing the disturbing influence of background light (Schrey; [0065] “Methods for distance measurement with adaptive coincidence”; [0013] “The use of adaptive coincidence reduces the disturbing influence of background light by exploiting temporal correlation between incident photons and this increases the dynamic range of the laser measuring apparatus further. For this purpose, the coincidence time is adapted to the intensity of the background light during operation of the laser measuring apparatus. Compared to a fixed coincidence time, an adjustment of these parameters allows a detection of weaker signals, which improves the performance of the system at high distances and low reflectances or allows the use of a lower laser power. Adapting the coincidence time to extend the dynamic range additionally increases the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and thus increases the range of the system.”).
Regarding claim 5, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the histogram data of the ambient light comprises: turning off the laser beam emission module and turning on the laser beam receiving module to receive current ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 10B histogram of background light alone with the laser off and indicated by “tf of background light”); and converting the ambient light received multiple times into multiple corresponding pulse signals, and superimposing the multiple corresponding pulse signals to form the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 9; [0104] average computing section 634).
Regarding claim 6, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 5, wherein converting the ambient light received multiple times into the multiple corresponding pulse signals, and superimposing the multiple corresponding pulse signals to form the histogram data of the ambient light comprises: performing averaging processing on the multiple pulse signals converted from the ambient light received multiple times, generating multiple pulse signals with equal amplitude, and superimposing the multiple pulse signals to form the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 9; [0104] average computing section 634).
Regarding independent claim 11, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above in reference to regarding independent claim 1, and
A LiDAR device (Hirano; the distance measurement apparatus 1) (Hirano; Fig. 1-16), comprising a laser beam emission module (Hirano; light source 20 with laser light source 22), a laser beam receiving module (Hirano; light reception device 30), and a control circuit (Hirano; Fig. 2A; controller 40) respectively connected to the laser beam emission module and the laser beam receiving module, wherein the control circuit comprises a memory (Hirano; [0061] the inherent memory that cooperates with controller 40 and the CPU to store instructions that run the CPU and the controller and is analogous to the nonvolatile memory described in [0115] as correction table storage section 636), a processor (Hirano; [0061] controller 40 comprises a CPU), and a computer program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor (Hirano; Fig. 8 flowchart that corresponds the computer program instructions), and wherein when the processor executes the computer program, the following processes are implemented:
turning off the laser beam emission module and turning on the laser beam receiving module, to obtain histogram data of ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 10B histogram of background light alone with the laser off and indicated by “tf of background light”);
adjusting detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module based on the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”);
turning on the laser beam emission module and the laser beam receiving module, to obtain histogram data of a current optical signal (Hirano; Fig. 10C histogram of the signal light); and
comparing the histogram data of the current optical signal with the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; Fig. 10C histogram of both the signal light and the background light; [0106] Fig. 10C shows the comparison of the histogram of the signal light with the histogram of the background light), and determining histogram data of an echo signal and distance information of a to-be-detected object, based on a result of the comparison (Hirano; Fig. 8 “distance measurement”; Fig. 9 “distance information”).
Hirano does not specifically disclose wherein the result of the comparison comprises magnitude of a ratio between the histogram data of the current optical signal and the histogram data of the ambient light.
Schrey teaches wherein the result of the comparison comprises magnitude of a ratio between the histogram data of the current optical signal and the histogram data of the ambient light (Schrey; Fig. 6; [0065] “The signal-to-noise ratio can be defined as the expected value of the additional count in the bin due to the reception of the reflected pulse divided by the standard deviation of the total count including background events.”; [0065] “Methods for distance measurement with adaptive coincidence usually comprise several steps. In a first step, the intensity of the background light can be measured. For this purpose, the incident background radiation can be detected on the photon detection device in the blanking interval (i.e., without active illumination by the laser). From the number of background events and the duration of the measurement window, the rate and thus the intensity of the background light can be determined.”; [0013] “The use of adaptive coincidence reduces the disturbing influence of background light by exploiting temporal correlation between incident photons and this increases the dynamic range of the laser measuring apparatus further. For this purpose, the coincidence time is adapted to the intensity of the background light during operation of the laser measuring apparatus. Compared to a fixed coincidence time, an adjustment of these parameters allows a detection of weaker signals, which improves the performance of the system at high distances and low reflectances or allows the use of a lower laser power. Adapting the coincidence time to extend the dynamic range additionally increases the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and thus increases the range of the system.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the histogram comparison as taught by Hirano to include magnitude of a ratio between the histogram data of the current optical signal and the histogram data of the ambient light as taught by Schrey for the purpose of reducing the disturbing influence of background light (Schrey; [0065] “Methods for distance measurement with adaptive coincidence”; [0013] “The use of adaptive coincidence reduces the disturbing influence of background light by exploiting temporal correlation between incident photons and this increases the dynamic range of the laser measuring apparatus further. For this purpose, the coincidence time is adapted to the intensity of the background light during operation of the laser measuring apparatus. Compared to a fixed coincidence time, an adjustment of these parameters allows a detection of weaker signals, which improves the performance of the system at high distances and low reflectances or allows the use of a lower laser power. Adapting the coincidence time to extend the dynamic range additionally increases the signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and thus increases the range of the system.”).
Regarding claim 13, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The LiDAR device according to claim 11, wherein the laser beam receiving module (Hirano; Fig. 2A; light reception device 30) comprises:
a laser beam receiving assembly (Hirano; Fig. 2A; the assembly of lens 31, optical sensor 32, and signal processor 33), wherein the laser beam receiving assembly is configured to convert a corresponding optical signal into a current signal (Hirano; optical sensor 32; [0060] “performs photoelectric conversion”);
a power supply circuit respectively connected to the control circuit and the laser beam receiving assembly, wherein the power supply circuit is triggered by a control signal of the control circuit to output a voltage signal with a corresponding value to the laser beam receiving assembly (Hirano; the inherent power supply circuit that supplies power to the distance measurement apparatus 1),
to adjust detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving assembly (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”); and
a signal processing circuit respectively connected to the laser beam receiving assembly and the control circuit, wherein the signal processing circuit is configured to: convert, into corresponding histogram data, an electrical signal converted and output by the laser beam receiving assembly, and output the corresponding histogram data to the control circuit (Hirano; Fig. 5A circuit diagram; time calculator 60),
wherein the laser beam receiving assembly comprises a photoelectric converter (Hirano; SPAD 51; [0063] single photon avalanche diode SPAD).
Regarding claim 14, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The LiDAR device according to claim 13, wherein the photoelectric converter comprises a photoelectric detection avalanche diode (Hirano; SPAD 51; [0063] single photon avalanche diode SPAD).
Claim(s) 3-4 and 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirano US20220342040 in view of Schrey US20220381882 as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhao US20240192339 .
Regarding claim 3, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 1, further comprising: adjusting the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module based on the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”).
Modified Hirano is silent regarding accordingly adjusting emission power or a number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of a scanning image.
Zhao teaches the balancing of parameters to optimize LIDAR performance under stray light saturation which include the correlation between adjusting light emission power and adjusting a bias voltage. Specifically, Zhao teaches an inverse correlation between emission power and bias voltage for LIDAR operation in that when bias voltages is increased, then light emission power is decreased for the purpose of maintaining long-range detection performance and to avoid the scenario of having the combination of both low photon detection efficiency PDE responsivity and low emission power which would reduce the long-range detection capability of the LIDAR (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the distance ranging method/steps as taught by Modified Hirano to include adjusting emission power as taught by Zhao for the purpose of maintaining long-range detection performance and to avoid the scenario of having the combination of both low photon detection efficiency PDE responsivity and low emission power which would reduce the long-range detection capability of the LIDAR (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”).
Regarding claim 4, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 1.
Modified Hirano is silent regarding further comprising: after the distance information of the to-be-detected object is determined, accordingly adjusting emission power or a number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of a scanning image based on the histogram data of the echo signal.
Zhao teaches the balancing of parameters to optimize LIDAR performance under stray light saturation which include the correlation between adjusting light emission power and adjusting a bias voltage. Specifically, Zhao teaches an inverse correlation between emission power and bias voltage for LIDAR operation in that when bias voltages is increased, then light emission power is decreased for the purpose of maintaining long-range detection performance and to avoid the scenario of having the combination of both low photon detection efficiency PDE responsivity and low emission power which would reduce the long-range detection capability of the LIDAR (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the distance ranging method/steps as taught by Modified Hirano to include adjusting emission power as taught by Zhao for the purpose of maintaining long-range detection performance and to avoid the scenario of having the combination of both low photon detection efficiency PDE responsivity and low emission power which would reduce the long-range detection capability of the LIDAR (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”).
Regarding claim 7, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 3, wherein adjusting the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module based on the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”), and
adjusting the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of the scanning image comprises: reducing the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module, and increasing the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in the frame of the scanning image, when the histogram data of the ambient light is greater than a first preset threshold of the histogram data (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”) (The combination of Hirano, Schrey, and Zhao teaches that in an oversaturated ambient light condition, the PDE should be reduced by reducing the bias voltage which should be balanced by increasing the emission power in order to maintain sufficient long-distance ranging capabilities).
Regarding claim 8, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 3, wherein adjusting the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module based on the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”), and
adjusting the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of the scanning image comprises: increasing the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module, and reducing the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in the frame of the scanning image, when the histogram data of the ambient light is less than a first preset threshold of the histogram data (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”) (The combination of Hirano, Schrey, and Zhao teaches that in an undersaturated ambient light condition, the PDE should be increased by increasing the bias voltage which should be balanced by decreasing the emission power in order to maintain sufficient long-distance ranging capabilities).
Regarding claim 9, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 3, wherein adjusting the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module based on the histogram data of the ambient light (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”), and
adjusting the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of the scanning image comprises: when the histogram data of the ambient light is within a first preset range of the histogram data, setting the detection efficiency of the laser beam receiving module to constant preset detection efficiency, and setting the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in the frame of the scanning image to constant power or a constant number of emissions (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”) (The combination of Hirano, Schrey, and Zhao teaches that in a normal/neutral saturation ambient light condition, the PDE should remain constant by maintaining a constant bias voltage which should be balanced by maintaining a constant emission power in order to maintain sufficient long-distance ranging capabilities).
Regarding claim 10, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The ranging adjustment method according to claim 4, wherein adjusting the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of the scanning image based on the histogram data of the echo signal (Hirano; [0090] “on the basis of the fall time tf… the controller 40 outputs a control signal for controlling the light emission amount of the laser light source 22 or the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51, or both”; [0091] “controls the sensitivity (detection efficiency PDE) of the SPAD element 51… ” and “SPAD driver 55 performs control to reduce the sensitivity of the SPAD element 51 by, for example, changing the voltage value (Ve6-V6d) of the voltage to be applied to the SPAD element 51 to cause the fall time 1r of the light reception response to converge to the predetermined reference value (reference time)±α”), comprises at least one of the following:
when the histogram data of the echo signal is greater than a second preset threshold of the histogram data, reducing the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in the frame of the scanning image (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”) (The combination of Hirano, Schrey, and Zhao teaches that in an oversaturated ambient light condition, the PDE should be reduced by reducing the bias voltage which should be balanced by increasing the emission power in order to maintain sufficient long-distance ranging capabilities);
when the histogram data of the echo signal is less than a second preset threshold of the histogram data, increasing the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in the frame of the scanning image (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”) (The combination of Hirano, Schrey, and Zhao teaches that in an undersaturated ambient light condition, the PDE should be increased by increasing the bias voltage which should be balanced by decreasing the emission power in order to maintain sufficient long-distance ranging capabilities); or
when the histogram data of the echo signal is within a second preset range of the histogram data, setting the emission power or the number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in the frame of the scanning image to constant power or a constant number of emissions (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”) (The combination of Hirano, Schrey, and Zhao teaches that in a normal/neutral saturation ambient light condition, the PDE should remain constant by maintaining a constant bias voltage which should be balanced by maintaining a constant emission power in order to maintain sufficient long-distance ranging capabilities).
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hirano US20220342040 in view of Schrey US20220381882as applied to claim 11 above, and further in view of Zhao US20240192339 and Shu et al. US20180259645.
Regarding claim 12, Modified Hirano teaches the invention substantially the same as described above, and The LiDAR device according to claim 11, wherein the laser beam emission module comprises: a laser beam emission assembly (Hirano; the assembly of laser driver 21 and laser light source 22); and a laser beam drive circuit (Hirano; the corresponding circuit that cycles/switches the laser on/off) respectively connected to the control circuit and the laser beam emission assembly, wherein the laser beam drive circuit is accordingly turned on or off based on a control signal output by the control circuit.
Modified Hirano does not teach accordingly adjusts emission power or a number of laser beam emissions of the laser beam emission module in one frame of a scanning image, wherein the laser beam emission assembly comprises multiple lasers.
Zhao teaches the balancing of parameters to optimize LIDAR performance under stray light saturation which include the correlation between adjusting light emission power and adjusting a bias voltage. Specifically, Zhao teaches an inverse correlation between emission power and bias voltage for LIDAR operation in that when bias voltages is increased, then light emission power is decreased for the purpose of maintaining long-range detection performance and to avoid the scenario of having the combination of both low photon detection efficiency PDE responsivity and low emission power which would reduce the long-range detection capability of the LIDAR (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the distance ranging method/steps as taught by Modified Hirano to include adjusting emission power as taught by Zhao for the purpose of maintaining long-range detection performance and to avoid the scenario of having the combination of both low photon detection efficiency PDE responsivity and low emission power which would reduce the long-range detection capability of the LIDAR (Zhao; [0114] “For example, when the light emission power becomes smaller, the first bias voltage can be increased so that the SiPM is not completely turned off.”; [0006] “low responsivity and low light emission power can cause the problem of reduced long-range detection performance of the LiDAR.”).
Modified Hirano does not teach wherein the laser beam emission assembly comprises multiple lasers.
Shu teaches wherein the laser beam emission assembly comprises multiple lasers (Shu; [0407] “Laser source 3542 can be on its own integrated circuit and can comprise a plurality of laser devices (e.g., vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs)).”).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the invention to modify the laser beam emission assembly as taught by Modified Hirano to comprise multiple lasers as taught by Shu for the purpose of adding redundancy and for determining ranges in multiple/other directions.
Conclusion
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/JONATHAN MALIKASIM/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645 9/1/26
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