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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application 18/287,749 filed on 10/20/2023.
Claims 1 – 16 have been examined and are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/20/2023. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
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 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 1, 4 - 8, 10 and 12 – 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US 2020/0333461 A1) in view of Geiger (US 5157257 A).
Regarding claim 1, Guo discloses: “a transmission device of a detection device for detecting objects by electromagnetic scanning signals[see para: 0020; FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary vehicle 100 equipped with a LiDAR system 102], the transmission device comprising:
at least one signal source for generating electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0022; For example, a transmitter of LiDAR system 102 is configured to scan the surrounding and acquire point clouds. LiDAR system 102 measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light] and having at least one beam displacing device for displacing signal paths of electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0029; As described below in detail, light modulator 208 separate laser beams, emitted by laser source 206 and transmitting at a same elevation, along the vertical direction so the elevation of the separated laser beams are suitable for power combining. The elevation (e.g., level or position along the vertical direction/axis) of a laser beam can be adjusted before being combined with other laser beams. And see para: 0052; Photodetector 216 may convert the laser light (e.g., returned laser beam 211) collected by lens 214 into an electrical signal 218 (e.g., a current or a voltage signal)],
wherein the transmission device includes at least two signal sources, which can be activated individually to generate electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0034; In some embodiments, laser beams 307-4 and 308-2 are of different elevation along the vertical direction so laser beam 308-3 includes two laser beams of different elevations]; and
wherein the signal paths of at least two signal sources at the output [see para: 0012; FIG. 3B illustrates a side view of light transmission of a laser beam with two exemplary beam shifters along the A-A′ direction in FIG. 3A, according to embodiments of the disclosure] of the at least one beam displacing device are located on a common main signal path of the transmission device in the displacement states, which are respectively assigned to the at least two signal sources [see para: 0029; Specifically, light modulator 208 can include a beam shifter arranged in a transmission path of a laser beam to vertically shift the laser beam before the laser beam enters a combiner of transmitter 202, which combines all light beams for scanning. The shifted laser beam can be parallel to the laser beam (e.g., before the shifting) and can transmit along a same direction/path as the laser beam (e.g., before the shifting). Accordingly, the elevation of laser beams passing through one or more beam shifters may be adjusted to their desired/optimized elevation when entering the combiner, e.g., for minimum power loss].
Guo does not explicitly disclose: “at least one beam displacing device is adjustable between at least two displacement states, wherein the displacement states are assigned to different signal sources”.
However, Geiger, from the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: “at least one beam displacing device is adjustable between at least two displacement states, wherein the displacement states are assigned to different signal sources [see page:7; lines: 20 – 25; The rotating beam displacer 206 rotates about the transmitter axis and contains two mirrors, one of which, the mirror 206a, is disposed at the radius of the incoming beams and the other of which, 206b, is disposed on the transmitter axis],
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system/head mounted camera system disclosed by Guo to add the teachings of Geiger as above, in order to provide a means for improving the beam displacement unit such as tiltable or adjusting the lean angle so that beam displacing device can be adjusted as per requirement and multiple scanning signals will be shifted at desired angle. There will be predefined states for displacement device for incoming signals [Geiger see page: 7; lines: 20 – 25].
Regarding claim 4, Guo and Geiger disclose all the limitation of claim 1 and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Guo discloses: “further comprising: at least one control device, using which the at least one beam displacing device and/or the at least two signal sources are controllable [see para: 0024; Consistent with the present disclosure, vehicle 100 may include a local controller 112 inside body 104 of vehicle 100 or communicate with a remote computing device, such as a server (not illustrated in FIG. 1), for controlling the operations of LiDAR system 102 and sensor 110. And see para: 0031; each laser source 206 includes one or more pulsed laser diode (PLD.) A PLD may be a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the laser beam is created at the diode's junction. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PLD includes a PIN diode in which the active region is in the intrinsic region, and the carriers (electrons and holes) are pumped into the active region from the N and P regions, respectively. Depending on the semiconductor materials, the wavelength of n laser beam 207 provided by a PLD may be smaller than 1,100 nm, such as 405 nm, between 445 nm and 465 nm, between 510 nm and 525 m, 532 nm, 635 nm, between 650 nm and 660 nm, 670 nm, 760 nm, 785 nm, 808 nm, or 848 nm].
Regarding claim 5, Guo and Geiger disclose all the limitation of claim 1 and are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Guo discloses: “wherein at least one control device of the transmission device includes means, using which the at least one beam displacing device and the at least two signal sources can be controlled in a manner adapted to one another [Guo see para: 0024; Consistent with the present disclosure, vehicle 100 may include a local controller 112 inside body 104 of vehicle 100 or communicate with a remote computing device, such as a server (not illustrated in FIG. 1), for controlling the operations of LiDAR system 102 and sensor 110. And see para: 0031; each laser source 206 includes one or more pulsed laser diode (PLD.) A PLD may be a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the laser beam is created at the diode's junction. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a PLD includes a PIN diode in which the active region is in the intrinsic region, and the carriers (electrons and holes) are pumped into the active region from the N and P regions, respectively. Depending on the semiconductor materials, the wavelength of n laser beam 207 provided by a PLD may be smaller than 1,100 nm, such as 405 nm, between 445 nm and 465 nm, between 510 nm and 525 m, 532 nm, 635 nm, between 650 nm and 660 nm, 670 nm, 760 nm, 785 nm, 808 nm, or 848 nm]. Plus design
Regarding claim 6 – 8, 10, 12, 13, the Examiner takes Official Notice that these claimed features or limitations is commonly known in the art or considered as design choice and therefore it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the instant application to incorporate what is known in the art the teaching of the Gua and Geiger reference due to the fact that the combining would make the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system more efficient, beneficial and useful and more particularly to, a transmitter having a beam shifter for LiDAR with updated feature. These claimed features can be modifiable by the skilled persons to achieve targeted result as disclosed by the above references.
Regarding claim 14, Guo discloses: “a detection device for detecting objects by electromagnetic scanning signals[see para: 0020; FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary vehicle 100 equipped with a LiDAR system 102], comprising:
at least one transmission device, which includes at least one signal source for generating electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0022; For example, a transmitter of LiDAR system 102 is configured to scan the surrounding and acquire point clouds. LiDAR system 102 measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light] and at least one beam displacing device for displacing signal paths of electromagnetic scanning signals[see para: 0029; As described below in detail, light modulator 208 separate laser beams, emitted by laser source 206 and transmitting at a same elevation, along the vertical direction so the elevation of the separated laser beams are suitable for power combining. The elevation (e.g., level or position along the vertical direction/axis) of a laser beam can be adjusted before being combined with other laser beams]; and
at least one reception device for receiving electromagnetic echo signals, which originate from electromagnetic scanning signals that are reflected at objects [see para: 0022; For example, a transmitter of LiDAR system 102 is configured to scan the surrounding and acquire point clouds. LiDAR system 102 measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light and measuring the reflected pulses with a receiver];
wherein the transmission device includes at least two signal sources, which can be activated individually to generate electromagnetic scanning signals[see para: 0034; In some embodiments, laser beams 307-4 and 308-2 are of different elevation along the vertical direction so laser beam 308-3 includes two laser beams of different elevations],
wherein the signal paths of at least two signal sources at the output [see para: 0012; FIG. 3B illustrates a side view of light transmission of a laser beam with two exemplary beam shifters along the A-A′ direction in FIG. 3A, according to embodiments of the disclosure] of the at least one beam displacing device are located on a common main signal path of the transmission device in the displacement states, which are respectively assigned to the signal sources [Guo see para: 0029; Specifically, light modulator 208 can include a beam shifter arranged in a transmission path of a laser beam to vertically shift the laser beam before the laser beam enters a combiner of transmitter 202, which combines all light beams for scanning. The shifted laser beam can be parallel to the laser beam (e.g., before the shifting) and can transmit along a same direction/path as the laser beam (e.g., before the shifting). Accordingly, the elevation of laser beams passing through one or more beam shifters may be adjusted to their desired/optimized elevation when entering the combiner, e.g., for minimum power loss].
Guo does not explicitly disclose: “wherein at least one beam displacing device is adjustable between at least two displacement states, wherein the displacement states are assigned to different signal sources”.
However, Geiger, from the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: “wherein at least one beam displacing device is adjustable between at least two displacement states, wherein the displacement states are assigned to different signal sources [see page:7; lines: 20 – 25; The rotating beam displacer 206 rotates about the transmitter axis and contains two mirrors, one of which, the mirror 206a, is disposed at the radius of the incoming beams and the other of which, 206b, is disposed on the transmitter axis],
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system/head mounted camera system disclosed by Guo to add the teachings of Geiger as above, in order to provide a means for improving the beam displacement unit such as tiltable or adjusting the lean angle so that beam displacing device can be adjusted as per requirement and multiple scanning signals will be shifted at desired angle. There will be predefined states for displacement device for incoming signals [Geiger see page: 7; lines: 20 – 25].
Regarding claim 15, Guo discloses: “a vehicle having at least one detection device for detecting objects by means of electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0020; FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an exemplary vehicle 100 equipped with a LiDAR system 102], comprising:
at least one transmission device, which includes at least one signal source for generating electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0022; For example, a transmitter of LiDAR system 102 is configured to scan the surrounding and acquire point clouds. LiDAR system 102 measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light] and at least one beam displacing device for displacing signal paths of electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0029; As described below in detail, light modulator 208 separate laser beams, emitted by laser source 206 and transmitting at a same elevation, along the vertical direction so the elevation of the separated laser beams are suitable for power combining. The elevation (e.g., level or position along the vertical direction/axis) of a laser beam can be adjusted before being combined with other laser beams]; and
at least one reception device for receiving electromagnetic echo signals, which originate from electromagnetic scanning signals that are reflected at objects [see para: 0022; For example, a transmitter of LiDAR system 102 is configured to scan the surrounding and acquire point clouds. LiDAR system 102 measures distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light and measuring the reflected pulses with a receiver],
wherein the transmission device includes at least two signal sources, which can be activated individually to generate electromagnetic scanning signals [see para: 0034; In some embodiments, laser beams 307-4 and 308-2 are of different elevation along the vertical direction so laser beam 308-3 includes two laser beams of different elevations],
wherein the signal paths of at least two signal sources at the output [Guo see para: 0012; FIG. 3B illustrates a side view of light transmission of a laser beam with two exemplary beam shifters along the A-A′ direction in FIG. 3A, according to embodiments of the disclosure] of the at least one beam displacing device are located on a common main signal path of the transmission device in the displacement states, which are respectively assigned to the signal sources [see para: 0029; Specifically, light modulator 208 can include a beam shifter arranged in a transmission path of a laser beam to vertically shift the laser beam before the laser beam enters a combiner of transmitter 202, which combines all light beams for scanning. The shifted laser beam can be parallel to the laser beam (e.g., before the shifting) and can transmit along a same direction/path as the laser beam (e.g., before the shifting). Accordingly, the elevation of laser beams passing through one or more beam shifters may be adjusted to their desired/optimized elevation when entering the combiner, e.g., for minimum power loss].
Guo does not explicitly disclose: “wherein at least one beam displacing device is adjustable between at least two displacement states, wherein the displacement states are assigned to different signal sources”.
However, Geiger, from the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: “wherein at least one beam displacing device is adjustable between at least two displacement states, wherein the displacement states are assigned to different signal sources [see page:7; lines: 20 – 25; The rotating beam displacer 206 rotates about the transmitter axis and contains two mirrors, one of which, the mirror 206a, is disposed at the radius of the incoming beams and the other of which, 206b, is disposed on the transmitter axis],
It would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system/head mounted camera system disclosed by Guo to add the teachings of Geiger as above, in order to provide a means for improving the beam displacement unit such as tiltable or adjusting the lean angle so that beam displacing device can be adjusted as per requirement and multiple scanning signals will be shifted at desired angle. There will be predefined states for displacement device for incoming signals [Geiger see page: 7; lines: 20 – 25].
Regarding claim 16, claim 16 is rejected under the same art and evidentiary limitations as determined for the method of claim 15.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 9 and 11 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sun et al (US 2019/0310353 A1).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Masum Billah whose telephone number is (571)270-0701. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Friday 9 - 5 PM ET.
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/MASUM BILLAH/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2486