Detailed Action
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Acknowledgements
2. Applicant’s arguments, filed 05/18/2026, are acknowledged. Amended claims 1, 7-11, and newly added claims 12-13 are acknowledged.
Claims 1-13 remain pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments, see pages 1-3, with respect to the rejections of claims 1 and 7-11 under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Koudar et al. (US2023/0213626 A1) in further view of Zhang et al. (US 2022/0099801 A1) and https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unicast&oldid=1111897120 (further referred to as Unicast-Wikipedia.
See claim rejections 1 and 7-11 below for further details.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/29/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-7 and 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balasubramanian (US, 10,771,669 B1) in view of Koudar et al. (US2023/0213626 A1) in further view of Zhang et al. (US 2022/0099801 A1).
7. Regarding claim 1, a method of controlling a rotational imaging device, the method
comprising:
controlling a sensor in the imaging device to capture imaging data using a system clock
(…Balasubramanian, in column 9 (line 55-67) and column 10 (lines 1-20), teaches a
controller 202 which derives a master time as a threshold operation whereby sensor data
may be produced; as such a signal including the master time is transmitted, by controller
202, to a camera whereby the camera may produce camera data…); and
a rotational movement of the rotational imaging device is configured to be controlled
using the system clock (…Balasubramanian, in column 16 (lines 37-56), teaches lidar data produced by sensors is used for the determination when lidar sensor will be rotated in a certain direction; as such based on a rotation speed of a lidar sensor, lidar data can be used to determine a master time at which it is known at what angle the rotation of the sensor may be…),
the rotational movement synchronized with the capturing of the image data via the
system clock (…column 16(lines 37-56) further teaches, that the positioning of the lidar sensor can be in accordance with a field of view of visible-light camera; wherein Fig. 7 depicts time synchronization with respect to a master clock involving cameras and lidar sensor…).
Balasubramanian doesn’t further teach
calculating Time of Flight (ToF) data based on the captured imaging data (…however,
Koudar teaches a LiDAR system with time-of-flight capabilities, wherein [0015] teaches
the use SPAD pixels to measure photon time-of-flight…);
controlling a histogrammer to generate histogram data based on the calculated ToF data
(…wherein [0037] teaches a readout die 120 including a time-to-digital converter (TDC)
116 wherein a readout for direct ToF LiDAR being achieved to create raw historgram data
based on direct ToF time-stamps…), wherein
the generated histogram data is written back to a dual-port Block Random Access
Memory (BRAM) which is configured to communicate to the histogrammer with port A and port
B (…wherein [0037] teaches histogram memory 122 for storing raw histogram data; Fig. 1…);
controlling the histogrammer to read the histogram to read data from the dual-port
BRAM using the port A to produce span data and clear the read histogram data using port B
(…wherein, in accordance with Fig. 1A, the input arrow into the raw histogram memory
122 is viewed as a port corresponding to the limited port A and the output arrow from the
raw histogram memory 122 is viewed as a port corresponding to the limited port B…);
controlling a histogram filer to process the produced span data by statistical filtering to
generate peak data (…wherein [0039] teaches a histogram valid peak detector 124 for
extracting (filtering) valid peaks from the raw histogram data stored in memory 122…);
controlling a span histogrammer to reconstruct sub-histograms based on the generated
peak data at regions containing or including statistical significance (…wherein, [0039-0040 ]
teaches that element 124 is configured to filter out only useful signals which are stored
in cache 126, a histogram reconstruction circuit 132 receives the cache stored valid peak
data so to reconstruct an accurate copy of the original raw histogram…), wherein
the imaging data is used to reconstruct the sub-histograms at global maxima positions
and radial span of time defined by a local peak-search radius, with a highest-possible temporal
resolution (…wherein a processor 130 uses reconstructed histogram data (including valid
peak signals; which are viewed as including both global and local maxima positions
because the valid peak signals are used to reconstruct an accurate copy of the original
histogram) for determining a distance between system 100 and an external object 110;
further [0022] teaches the use of SPAD pixels for measuring ToF in a LiDAR module
which represents high temporal resolution given the ability of SPADs to detect photons
in ultrafast timing.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention, that the teachings of Koudar and its LiDAR system could similarly be employed in the teaching of Balasubramanian wherein data processing effectively filters unwanted signals and preserves valid data for further analyzing…).
Balasubramanian in view of Koudar doesn’t further teach
controlling a waveform analyzer to generate target waveform data based on the
reconstructed sub-histograms (…however, Zhang teaches a LiDAR system wherein
historgram data is converted into waveform containing valid data region, as taught in
[0037] and figures 2 and 3.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention that waveform data, as illustrated by Zhang, is useful in determining a valid pattern of data that is stored apart from noise data…).
8. Regarding claim 2, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1 (see claim 1 above), wherein the system clock is a masterclock of the system (…wherein Fig. 7 depicts a master clock with respect to a camera system and LIDAR sensors…).
9. Regarding claim 3, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang the method of claim 2 (see claim 2 above), wherein the masterclock
uses a precision time protocol (…wherein Balasubramanian, in column 9 (line 55-67),
teaches a controller 202 which derives a master time as a threshold operation whereby sensor data may be produced; as such a signal including the master time is transmitted
(by controller 202, using e.g., a PTP handshake)…).
10. Regarding claim 4, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising:
controlling a view angle of the sensor of the rotational imaging device with respect to an
azimuthal angle to maintain a predetermined constant azimuthal angle (…column 16 (lines 37-
56) teaches lidar data produced by sensors is used for the determination when lidar
sensor will be rotated in a certain direction; as such based on a rotational speed of lidar
sensor lidar data is used to determine a master time at which the lidar sensor will be
angled at a particular degree ;0 degrees-270 degrees (which may be viewed as examples
of azimuth angles…).
11. Regarding claim 5, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1 (see claim 1 above), further comprising:
controlling a rotational scan speed of the rotational imaging device to minimize positional
drift in the view angle (…wherein column 16 (lines 28-36) teaches that the computer may
determine a phase offsets for the cameras based on angles of the lidar sensors; wherein
as stated previously based on rotation speed of a lidar sensor, lidar data is used to
determine a master time at which lidar sensors will be angled at a particular position with
respect to a field of view of a camera…).
12. Regarding claim 6, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 4 (see claim 4 above), further comprising:
controlling an angular position of the rotational imaging device to minimize a positional
drift in the view angle (…wherein column 16 (lines 28-36) teaches that the computer may
determine a phase offsets for the cameras based on angles of the lidar sensors; wherein as stated previously based on rotation speed of a lidar sensor, lidar data is used to
determine a master time at which lidar sensors will be angled at a particular position with
respect to a field of view of a camera…).
13. Regarding claim 7, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1 (see claim 1 above), further comprising:
dividing the imaging data into at least two parts by grouping the imaging data according to an angular position or range of a scan at which the imaging data was acquired (…Balasubramanian, in column 16 (lines 37-65), teaches determining when a lidar sensor will be angled 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees with respect to an aspect of the multi-sensor environment; wherein the multi-sensor environment may include a camera having a field of view corresponding to each of those lidar sensor angles. Further, a component 712 can cause cameras of the system to produce sensor data based on the angles of the lidar sensor, receiving a UDP packet from a sensor 702 indicating angle position at one angle with respect to camera 706 and at a different angle position at another angle position with respect to camera 706. Thus, it may be said that imaging data is divided by angle position of sensing devices…).
14. Regarding claim 9, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1 (see claim 1 above) wherein
the rotational movement of the rotational imaging device is controlled by controlling a shutter of a sensor (…wherein column 16 (lines 1-12) teaches a camera system
receives signals from a component 712 (which includes a master clock; Fig. 7), which
control the cameras to produce data and the timing thereof; wherein e.g. sensor data as
such the opening of a camera shutter…) and
the rotational movement of the rotational imaging device to be in sync using the same system clock (…column 16 (lines 37-56) teaches lidar data produced by sensors is used
for the determination when lidar sensor will be rotated in a certain direction; as such
based on a rotation speed of a lidar sensor, lidar data can be used to determine a master
time at which it is known at what angle the rotation of the sensor may be…).
15. Regarding claim 10, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1 (see claim 1 above) wherein
the rotational movement of the rotational imaging device is controlled by controlling at least one of a rotational speed and an angular position of the sensor (…column 16 (lines 37-56) teaches lidar data produced by sensors is used for the determination when lidar sensor will be rotated in a certain direction; as such based on a rotation speed of a lidar sensor, lidar data can be used to determine a master time at which it is known at what angle the rotation of the sensor may be…).
16. Regarding claim 11, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1 (see claim 1 above) wherein
the rotational movement of the rotational imaging device is controlled by controlling both a rotational speed an angular position of the sensor (…column 16 (lines 37-56) teaches lidar data produced by sensors is used for the determination when lidar sensor will be rotated in a certain direction; as such based on a rotation speed of a lidar sensor, lidar data can be used to determine a master time at which it is known at what angle the rotation of the sensor may be…).
17. Regarding claim 12, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 7, wherein
the imaging data is divided by setting limits for the corresponding region defined by two azimuth values specifying a start limit and a stop limit (…wherein Balasubramanian, in column 16 (lines 37-65), teaches determining when a lidar sensor will be angled 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees with respect to an aspect of the multi-sensor environment. Further, a component 712 can cause cameras of the system to produce sensor data based on the angles of the lidar sensor…).
18. Regarding claim 13, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 7 (see claim 7 above) wherein
the imaging data is divided by defining one azimuth value and specifying the number of sensor frames counted from the azimuth value (…wherein Balasubramanian, in column 16 (lines 37-65), teaches determining when a lidar sensor will be angled 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees with respect to an aspect of the multi-sensor environment. Further, a component 712 can cause cameras of the system to produce sensor data based on the angles of the lidar sensor…).
19. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Balasubramanian (US, 10,771,669 B1) in view of Koudar et al. (US2023/0213626 A1) and Zhang et al. (US 2022/0099801 A1) and further view of Unicast-Wikipedia.
20. Regarding claim 8, Balasubramanian in view of Koudar and further view of Zhang method of claim 7 (see claim 7 above), wherein
the imaging data whose azimuth values fall within a multicast azimuth range, defined by
a programmable start angle and stop angle, is routed to a multicast User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol (UDP/IP) endpoint, and the imaging data which is from outside of the azimuth range is unicast along with status packets (…wherein Balasubramanian, in column 16 (lines 37-65), teaches determining when a lidar sensor will be angled 0 degrees, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or 270 degrees with respect to an aspect of the multi-sensor environment. Further, a component 712 can cause cameras of the system to produce sensor data based on the angles of the lidar sensor, receiving a UDP packet from a sensor 702 indicating angle position at one angle with respect to camera 706 and at a different angle position at another angle position with respect to camera 706. Thus, any particular group can be defined to belong to a particular azimuth range.
Further, Unicast-Wikipedia teaches unicast and multicast transmission methods
which are used in computer networking.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention that data transmission whereby data is shared within a network in accordance with program requirements can be specified to be either a unicast or multicast, thus allowing bandwidth to be conserved…).
Conclusion
21. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SURAFEL YILMAKASSAYE whose telephone number is (703)756-1910. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30am-5:00pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, TWYLER HASKINS can be reached at (571)272-7406. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SURAFEL YILMAKASSAYE/Examiner, Art Unit 2639
/TWYLER L HASKINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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