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 .
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) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kish (20030095736).
Referring to claim 1, Kish shows A laser transmitter component comprising (see figure 1 and figure 3):
a photonic integrated circuit substrate (see figure 3 10B) comprising a plurality of laser transmitters (see figure 3 Ref 12(1)-12(8)) coupled to at least one optical output (see figure 3 Ref 22), the laser transmitter component configured to emit a light beam from one of the laser transmitters of the plurality of laser transmitters through the at least one optical output one laser transmitter at a time (see paragraph 142);
a feedback circuit (see figure 10 for a block diagram of the feedback circuit) configured to determine at least one characteristic (see figure 10 Ref 330 also see paragraph 165) of the light beam emitted from the optical output and to provide the determined characteristic to a controller (see figure 10 Ref 132); and
the controller configured to control at least one of a temperature and an input electrical current of the laser transmitter (see paragraph 165 also see figure 10 Ref 158) emitting the light beam emitted from the optical output and to control at least one of a temperature and an input electrical current of at least one further laser transmitter of the laser transmitter component based on the determined characteristic corresponding to a predetermined characteristic of the light beam to be emitted from the optical output (see figure 11 note the flow chart of the heating and current control that tunes the DFB heater as well as the DFB bias also see that the feedback look can impose chases such at the heater and other wavelength tuning elements such as current as shown in paragraph 165).
Referring to claim 3, Kish shows the feedback circuit comprises an optical frequency discriminator configured to detect the characteristic of the light beam output from the optical output (see figure 10 Ref 330 also see paragraph 165).
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) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kish (20030095736) in view of Volz (6501773).
Referring to claim 2, Kish renders obvious a plurality of optical switches, wherein one optical switch of the plurality of optical switches is arranged between one laser transmitter of the plurality of laser transmitters and the at least one optical output respectively. (see figure 6 note the AWG also see paragraph 80). Note the AWG acts a multiplexer essentially switching the outputs of the multiple lasers (Ref 12(1)-12(8)) to the output Ref 22.
Volz shows a similar multiwavelength device that includes a plurality of optical switches wherein one optical switch of the plurality of optical switches is arranged between one laser transmitter of the plurality of laser transmitters and the at least one optical output respectively (see figure 3A Ref 300). It would have been obvious to include the optical switch as shown by Volz because this allows the device to sequentially pass the tapped beams from the lasers one at a time.
Claim(s) 8-13 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kish (20030095736) in view of Donovan (20170307736).
Referring to claims 8 and 18, Kish shows A laser transmitter component comprising (see figure 1 and figure 3):
a photonic integrated circuit substrate (see figure 3 10B) comprising a plurality of laser transmitters (see figure 3 Ref 12(1)-12(8)) coupled to at least one optical output (see figure 3 Ref 22), the laser transmitter component configured to emit a light beam from one of the laser transmitters of the plurality of laser transmitters through the at least one optical output one laser transmitter at a time (see paragraph 142);
a feedback circuit (see figure 10 for a block diagram of the feedback circuit) configured to determine at least one characteristic (see figure 10 Ref 330 also see paragraph 165) of the light beam emitted from the optical output and to provide the determined characteristic to a controller (see figure 10 Ref 132); and
the controller configured to control at least one of a temperature and an input electrical current of the laser transmitter (see paragraph 165 also see figure 10 Ref 158) emitting the light beam emitted from the optical output and to control at least one of a temperature and an input electrical current of at least one further laser transmitter of the laser transmitter component based on the determined characteristic corresponding to a predetermined characteristic of the light beam to be emitted from the optical output (see figure 11 note the flow chart of the heating and current control that tunes the DFB heater as well as the DFB bias also see that the feedback look can impose chases such at the heater and other wavelength tuning elements such as current as shown in paragraph 165).
However Kish fails to show the laser implemented in a LIDAR device.
Donovan shows a similar laser that is implemented in a LIDAR device and includes the LIDAR system further comprising an optical component system optically coupled to the output of the laser transmitter component, the optical component system configured to determine a signal difference between a light beam transmitted to a scene of the LIDAR system, and a light beam received from the scene (see figure 7). It would have been obvious to include the use of the laser in a LIDAR device because this is an extremely common use for a multiwavelength laser PIC and adds no new or unexpected results.
Referring to claim 9, Kish shows wherein the optical component system comprises a plurality of optical channels optically coupled to the optical output of the laser transmitter component (see figure 3 Ref 63 and 22).
Referring to claim 10, Kish fails to show but Donovan shows wherein the optical component system comprises a lens, a grating, and a scanning mirror respectively coupled to the plurality of optical channels (see paragraph 71). It would have been obvious to include the optical components as shown by Donovan because this is an extremely common optical component used in a LIDAR device allowing a laser to be scanned in a field of view and adds no new or unexpected results.
Referring to claim 11, Kish shows a plurality of heating devices, wherein one heating device of the plurality of heating devices is thermally coupled to one laser transmitter of the plurality of laser transmitters respectively (see the multiple heating elements as shown in figure 3 Ref 14(1)-14(8)).
Referring to claim 12, Kish shows wherein the controller comprises a thermal driver circuit configured to control a heat generated by a heating device thermally coupled to the laser transmitter emitting the light through the optical output and the heating device thermally coupled to the at least one further laser transmitter (see figure 10 Ref 132 and 158).
Referring to claim 13, Kish shows wherein the controller is configured to control the electrical currents input to at least the laser transmitter emitting the light through the optical output and input to the at least one further laser transmitter (see figure 11 note the optional current bias control Ref 55, 49 and 47).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over by Kish (20030095736) in view of Donovan (20170307736) and Volz (6501773).
Referring to claim 19, Kish renders obvious a plurality of optical switches, wherein one optical switch of the plurality of optical switches is arranged between one laser transmitter of the plurality of laser transmitters and the at least one optical output respectively. (see figure 6 note the AWG also see paragraph 80). Note the AWG acts a multiplexer essentially switching the outputs of the multiple lasers (Ref 12(1)-12(8)) to the output Ref 22.
Volz shows a similar multiwavelength device that includes a plurality of optical switches wherein one optical switch of the plurality of optical switches is arranged between one laser transmitter of the plurality of laser transmitters and the at least one optical output respectively (see figure 3A Ref 300). It would have been obvious to include the optical switch as shown by Volz because this allows the device to sequentially pass the tapped beams from the lasers one at a time.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5-7, 14-17, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUKE D RATCLIFFE whose telephone number is (571)272-3110. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00AM-5:00PM EST.
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/LUKE D RATCLIFFE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645