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 § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b ) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the appl icant regards as his invention. Claim 1 and 2-7 dependent on it are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Where applicant acts as his or her own lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp. , 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d 1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999). The term “ attenuation coefficient ” in claim 1 appears to be used by the claim to mean “ sensitivity ,” while the accepted meaning is “ measure of loss of optical intensity through a medium .” The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term. Claim 1 further recites “obtaining position information of a receiving unit corresponding to a to-be-scanned emission unit” which makes it unclear whether the emission unit being scanned is part of the method or not. Claims are interpreted as best understood by the examiner. Clarification and correction of the claims are required. 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. Note: as discussed above regarding the 35 USC 112(b) rejection , the clause “attenuation coefficient” through the claims is interpreted by the Examiner to mean “sensitivity”. Claim (s) 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niclass et al. (US 2018/0341009) in view of Clifton (US 2016/0109561). Niclass discloses a ranging adjustment method of a LiDAR device, wherein the LiDAR device (Fig. 1) comprises a laser beam emission module (laser light source 20 and beam steering device 24) and a laser beam receiving module (detector array 28 ) , and the laser beam receiving module comprises receiving units (single-photon sensing elements) arranged into a (two-dimensional) array; and wherein the ranging adjustment method comprises: obtaining position information of a receiving unit corresponding to a to-be-scanned emission unit (control of beam steering device determines position of illumination spots on target, para. [0047]) ; calculating an emission power of the emission unit corresponding to the receiving unit in a frame of a scanning image based on the sensitivity coefficient (para. [0082]) ; driving the emission unit to emit a laser beam based on the emission power (laser power at low or high emissive power under control of signal from control circuit [0082] ) , simultaneously driving the receiving unit corresponding to the emission unit to receive a corresponding echo laser beam signal (array elements that are to receive reflected signal are actuated at a sensitivity for optimal performance, paras. [0030] & [0086] ) , and superimposing the echo laser beam signal into corresponding histogram data; and determining distance information of a to-be-detected object based on the histogram data (measured from histogram of pulse delay times, para. [0053]) . Niclass does not specifically disclose querying a table to obtain a sensitivity matching the receiving unit. However, in the same field of endeavor Clifton teaches a method of operating a laser range finding system, including a photodiode array with individual control of sensitivities . Specifically, a calibration lookup table is generated for each detector in the array based on the measured sensitivity; the lookup table is then used to compensate for non-uniformity across the array (para. [0007]) . One skilled in the art, e. g. an optical engineer, would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have the control circuit in the method of Niclass query a lookup of sensitivities for the receiver units, as taught by Clifton to avoid lengthy computations and simplify the electronic circuit. Claim (s) 8 -11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niclass et al. (US 2018/0341009) in view of Clifton (US 2016/0109561) , and further in view of Chung (US 2022/02275072). With regard to claim 8, Niclass discloses a LiDAR device, comprising: a laser beam emission module (laser light source 20 and beam steering device 24) ; a laser beam receiving module, comprising receiving units arranged into an array (detector array 28) ; and a control circuit (38) respectively connected to the laser beam emission module and the laser beam receiving module , obtaining position information of a receiving unit corresponding to a to-be-scanned (control of beam steering device determines position of illumination spots on target, para. [0047]) , t he control circuit controlling the emission unit, and obtain ing a sensitivity coefficient matching the receiving unit; calculating an emission power of the emission unit corresponding to the receiving unit in a frame of a scanning image based on the attenuation coefficient (para. [0082]) ; driving the emission unit to emit a laser beam based on the emission power (laser power at low or high emissive power under control of signal from control circuit [0082] ) , simultaneously driving the receiving unit corresponding to the emission unit to receive a corresponding echo laser beam signal (array elements that are to receive reflected signal are actuated at a sensitivity for optimal performance, paras. [0030] & [0086] ) , and superimposing the echo laser beam signal into corresponding histogram data ; and determining distance information of a to-be-detected object based on the histogram data (measured from histogram of pulse delay times, para. [0053]) . Niclass does not specifically disclose querying a table to obtain an sensitivity coefficient matching the receiving unit . However, in the same field of endeavor Clifton teaches a method of operating a laser range finding system, including a photodiode array with individual control of sensitivities. Specifically, a calibration lookup table is generated for each detector in the array based on the measured sensitivity; the lookup table is then used to compensate for non-uniformity across the array (para. [0007]) . One skilled in the art, e. g. an optical engineer, would have found it obvious before the effective filing date of the invention to have the control circuit in the method of Niclass query a lookup of sensitivities for the receiver units, as taught by Clifton to avoid lengthy computations and simplify the electronic circuit. Neither Niclass nor Clifton disclose that the control circuit comprises a drive and conversion circuit, a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, wherein when executing the computer program, the processor correspondingly drives the drive and conversion circuit to implement operations of the method. However, in the same field of endeavor Morita et al. teach a laser range finding system (Fig. 2) , including a laser beam emission module (laser source 202 ) a laser driver (250), a laser beam receiving module (detector 210), and a control circuit (240) . The control unit includes a computer and software for controlling the laser driver (250) and controlling the scanning and detector (para. [0043]). The use of a computer program stored in a memory as taught by Morita to control the laser driver, detector, and other elements of the laser range finding system in Niclass as modified by Clifton would have been obvious by one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention, for the purpose of easy modification of process steps, and avoiding the need to manufacture application-specific circuitry. With regard to claim 9 , Niclass discloses the emission unit comprises a laser. Morita further teaches that the laser beam emission module comprises an emission lens (Fig. 2, 204) disposed corresponding to the laser (202) ; Clifton teaches the receiving unit comprises a photoelectric converter (APD), and the laser beam receiving module further comprises at least one receiving lens (of telescope 110) disposed corresponding to photoelectric converters arranged into an array (APD array 114). These further teachings would have been recognized as routine in the art for controlling the light beams in the laser range finding system. With regard to claim 10, Morita further teaches the laser beam drive circuit is respectively connected to the processor and the laser of the emission modul e (Fig. 2) , it would have been obvious to apply the laser beam drive circuit is turned on or off based on a control signal output by the processor ( Niclass lasers of low or high power turned on by circuitry, [0009] ) , and /or the drive circuit adjusts the power of the laser to be high or low . Morita further teaches a signal conversion circuit connected to the laser beam receiving module and the processor, configured to convert a current signal from the receiving unit into a corresponding echo pulse signal and output the echo pulse signal to the processor (para. [0042]). Thes functions taught by theses elements were routine in the art; therefor they would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the application. With regard to claim 11, Clifton further teaches the photoelectric converter comprises a photoelectric conversion diode (avalanche photodiode); such detectors were ubiquitous in the art. Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Niclass and Clifton as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. (US 2021/0041568) . Neither Niclass nor Clifton disclose, but Zhang teaches in the same field of endeavor, determining the distance information of the object based on performing peak value calculation on the histogram data to determine a time different between laser beam emission and reception (para. [0019]). The method of determining distance information taught by Zhang is straightforward and requires little data analysis and so would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement filed on Oct. 30, 2024 has been considered by the Examiner. Allowable Subject Matter Claims 2-5 and 7 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Al Abbas et al. , Mandai et al., and Niclass disclose laser range finding with variable emitter power and variable sensitivity arrays. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the Examiner should be directed to ERIC L BOLDA whose telephone number is 571-272-8104 . The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 8:30am to 5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT YUQING XIAO can be reached on FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-3603 . The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ERIC L BOLDA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645