DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered and are not persuasive.
In regards to the applicant’s argument that the prior art fails to disclose predicting upcoming interference and operating a SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Attention is brought to paragraphs 30 and 38 of the reference to Fishman, wherein dynamic modulation to reduce or remove speckle-related noise patterns is explicitly disclosed; wherein the dynamic modulation method utilizes selective modulations at “particular times” or “time intervals” based upon pre-defined or triggering conditions. Fishman also discloses that the system may be operated in accordance with a timing schedule or operation scheme (par. 41). Further, Fishman discloses that the conditions of the system may be altered based upon the quality estimator (1035) determining that the self-mixing signal has dropped below a desired signal quality threshold (par. 39). In other words, the system quality estimator determines that a current signal is undesirable and that a subsequent signal will remain undesirable; in response to the signal quality dropping below this threshold, the system modifies parameters to return the signal to a desirable state.
Therefore, Fishman is understood to explicitly disclose predicting “upcoming interference”, wherein the upcoming interference may be associated with changes in the conditions of the system, e.g. temperature, or based upon an upcoming timing interval or undesirable signal.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2018/0139534 to Fishman et al.
In regards to claims 1-20, Fishman discloses and shows in Figures 1-4, an electronic device and method (par. 15), comprising:
a self-mixing interferometry (SMI) sensor (1004) (par. 8, 26) configured to:
emit electromagnetic radiation (1001) (par. 8, 16);
receive a reflection of the emitted electromagnetic radiation (par. 8, 26; wherein a self-mixing interferometry unit receives an optical reflection from an object); and
in response to receiving the reflection, generate by the SMI sensor (1004), an SMI signal based at least in part on the reflection of the emitted electromagnetic radiation (par. 8, 26; wherein a self-mixing interferometry unit receives an optical reflection from an object); and
a speckle noise reducer (1020) (applicant’s processing circuitry) (par. 8, 26, 36, 39) communicably coupled to the SMI sensor and configured to:
receive the SMI signal from the SMI sensor (par. 8, 26, 39; wherein a speckle noise reducer analyzes the SMI signal to reduce speckle noise and to increase a bandwidth of the optical signal);
predict, based on the SMI signal, upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 26, 30, 39, 41-42; wherein a speckle noise reducer analyzes the SMI signal to reduce speckle noise and to increase a bandwidth of the optical signal, and wherein a speckle noise reduction mechanism is operated when the SMI signal appears weak or is below a threshold value); and
operate the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 36-39; wherein a speckle noise reduction mechanism is operated when the SMI signal appears weak or is below a threshold value);
[claim 2 and 12] further comprising:
emitting electromagnetic radiation from the SMI sensor (par. 8, 16, 44);
wherein, the SMI signal is based at least in part on reflections of the emitted electromagnetic radiation (par. 8, 16); and
operating the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle comprises adjusting one or more characteristics of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 36-43; wherein a self-mix dynamic modulation modifier module (1012) may be utilized to alter: the timing, beam propagation characteristics, temperature, voltage, current or resistance of the light source);
[claims 3 and 13] wherein operating the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle comprises: enabling emission of electromagnetic radiation from the SMI sensor during a first set of time periods that is predicted to not include interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 36-43); and disabling emission of electromagnetic radiation from the SMI sensor during a second set of time periods that is predicted to include interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 36-43; wherein the speckle noise reducer may contain a timing unit (1022) and a calibration unit (1023) which may provide any desired timing scheme to the laser transmitter);
[claims 4 and 14] wherein adjusting the one or more characteristics of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the SMI sensor comprises adjusting one or more of: a power of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the SMI sensor; or a waveform of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from the SMI sensor (par. 8, 36-43; wherein a self-mix dynamic modulation modifier module (1012) may be utilized to alter: the timing, beam propagation characteristics, temperature, voltage, current or resistance of the light source);
[claims 5 and 15] wherein operating the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle comprises adjusting an optic associated with the SMI sensor based on predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 28-34, 36; wherein mirrors, lenses and other optics may be moved or vibrated to remove speckle);
[claims 6 and 16] further comprising: sampling, by the processing circuitry, the SMI signal; wherein, operating the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle comprises adjusting one or more characteristics of the sampling of the SMI signal based on predicted interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 36-43; wherein a self-mix dynamic modulation modifier module (1012) may be utilized to alter: the timing, beam propagation characteristics, temperature, voltage, current or resistance of the light source);
[claims 7 and 17] wherein adjusting the one or more characteristics of the sampling of the SMI signal comprises adjusting one or more of: a sampling rate of the SMI signal; a sampling window of the SMI signal; or a duty cycle of sampling of the SMI signal (par. 8, 36-43; wherein the speckle noise reducer may contain a timing unit (1022) and a calibration unit (1023) which may provide any desired timing scheme to the laser transmitter);
[claims 8 and 18] wherein operating the SMI sensor based on the predicted upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle comprises adjusting one or more characteristics of a post-processing step of the SMI signal based on predicted interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle (par. 8, 36-43; wherein the speckle noise reducer may contain a timing unit (1022) and a calibration unit (1023) which may provide any desired timing scheme to the laser transmitter);
[claims 9 and 19] wherein predicting upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle is based on the SMI signal (par. 8, 16, 39);
[claims 10 and 20] wherein predicting upcoming interference in the SMI signal caused by speckle is based on a history of the SMI signal over time (par. 8, 16, 39-43).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN M HANSEN whose telephone number is (571)270-1736. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877