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.
Claims 1, 3, 4, and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lei (WO2021196545 Machine Translation).
Regarding claim 1, Lei discloses A LiDAR controlling method, wherein a LiDAR comprises a laser emission array and a laser receiving array, “Optionally, the optical emission module 210 includes at least one emission array with the number of columns of the
emission array M; The optical receiving module 230 includes at least one receiving array” (Paragraph 0072). Lei discloses in a measurement cycle, determining at least one emission block to be turned on in a current measurement cycle from the laser emission array, “the optical emission module is configured to output M transmitting light using the M transmitting area” (Paragraph 0011) and “processing module is configured to generate a transmitting sequence, the transmitting area outputs the emitted light according to the emission order” (Paragraph). Lei discloses the laser emission array comprises multiple emission blocks, and each emission block comprises multiple emission units, “According to the emission sequence, M transmitting areas output M emission light” (Paragraph 0027) and “Optionally, each transmitting area comprises K sub-emission areas, each sub-emission area comprising at least one transmitting unit” (Paragraph 0030). Lei discloses controlling the at least one emission block to emit a laser beam according to a preset rule, “According to the preset sequence, the randomly generated sequence or the sequence generated by different functional relationships is used to determine the emission order of M emission regions” (Paragraph 0044). Lei discloses controlling a receiving block in the laser receiving array that corresponds to the at least one emission block to receive a laser echo, wherein the laser echo refers to an echo formed after the laser beam is reflected by a target object, “The optical receiving module is configured to adopt N receiving regions, receiving the reflected light information reflected by the detected target emitted by the M transmitting areas” (Paragraph 0012).
Regarding claim 3, Lei discloses method according to claim 1, wherein, before controlling the at least one emission block to emit the laser beam according to the preset rule, see claim 1 rejection. Lei discloses obtaining a number of times of turning on the at least one emission block in the current measurement cycle, “the processing module is specifically configured to determine the emission order of M emission regions according to a preset sequence, a randomly generated sequence or a sequence generated by different function relationships” (Paragraph 0024). Lei discloses controlling the at least one emission block to emit the laser beam according to the preset rule comprises controlling the at least one emission block to emit the laser beam according to the number of turn-on times, “According to the emission sequence, M transmitting areas output M emission light” (Paragraph 0027).
Lei discloses obtaining a time coding sequence corresponding to the at least one emission block, and emitting the laser beam according to the time coding sequence corresponding to the at least one emission block and the number of turn-on times, “the processing module is specifically configured to determine the emission order of M emission regions according to a preset sequence, a randomly generated sequence or a sequence generated by different function relationships” (Paragraph 0024). Lei discloses “wherein M and N are both
integers greater than 0;” (Paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 4, Lei discloses the method according to claim 3, see claim 3 rejection. Lei discloses obtaining a time coding sequence corresponding to the at least one emission block, and emitting the laser beam according to the time coding sequence corresponding to the at least one emission block and the number of turn-on times, “the processing module is specifically configured to determine the emission order of M emission regions according to a preset sequence, a randomly generated sequence or a sequence generated by different function relationships” (Paragraph 0024). Lei discloses “wherein M and N are both
integers greater than 0;” (Paragraph 0010).
Regarding claim 8, Lei discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the emission block corresponds to N receiving blocks in the laser receiving array, and N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1, see claim 1 rejection. Lei discloses obtaining the N receiving blocks corresponding to each of the emission blocks and controlling the N receiving blocks to receive the laser echo, “The optical emission module 210 is configured to use M emission areas to output M transmitted light; The optical receiving module 230 is configured to adopt N receiving regions to receive the reflected light information reflected by the detected target emitted by M transmitting areas”, (Paragraph 0057). Lei discloses fusing echo data received by the N receiving blocks to obtain a fusion result, “The reflected light information and the received reflected light information are processed and synthesized by the receiving time corresponding to the reflected light information to synthesize a distance image” (Paragraph 0046). Lei discloses determining a distance between the LiDAR and the target object based on the fision result, “optical receiving module 230 can adopt N receiving areas, and receive the reflected light information reflected by the detected target 250 emitted by M transmitting areas according to the transmitting sequence, and send the reflected light information and the corresponding reception time of the reflected light information to the processing module 220. The processing module 220 can calculate and obtain the distance data of the detection target 250 according to the reflected light information and the corresponding reception time of the reflected light information.” (Paragraph 0061).
Regarding claim 9, Lei discloses a determining module, configured to, in a measurement cycle, determine at least one emission block to be turned on in a current measurement cycle from the laser emission array, “processing module 220 is configured to generate the emission sequence, the transmitting area outputs the emission light according to the emission sequence” (Paragraph 0060). Lei discloses the laser emission array comprising multiple emission blocks, “optical emission module 210 is configured to use M emission areas to output M transmitted light” (Paragraph 0057) and each emission block comprises multiple emission units, “each emission region includes K sub-emission areas, each sub-emission area includes at least one transmitter unit” (Paragraph 0066) and a control module, to control the emission block to emit the laser beam, “optical transmitting module 210 receives the transmitting sequence, it can make M transmitting regions in the optical transmitting module 210 output the transmitted light according to the transmitting sequence” (Paragraph 0061). Lei discloses second control module, configured to control a receiving block in the laser receiving array that corresponds to the emission block to receive a laser echo, “the optical receiving module 230 can adopt N receiving areas, and receive the reflected light information reflected by the detected target 250 emitted by M transmitting areas according to the transmitting sequence” (Paragraph 0061). Lei discloses that each receiving block contains multiple receiving units, “optical receiving module comprising a plurality of receiving units” (Paragraph 0019).
Regarding claim 10, Lei discloses in a measurement cycle, determining at least one emission block to be turned on in a current measurement cycle from the laser emission array, “the optical emission module is configured to output M transmitting light using the M transmitting area” (Paragraph 0011) and “processing module is configured to generate a transmitting sequence, the transmitting area outputs the emitted light according to the emission order” (Paragraph). Lei discloses the laser emission array comprises multiple emission blocks, and each emission block comprises multiple emission units, “According to the emission sequence, M transmitting areas output M emission light” (Paragraph 0027) and “Optionally, each transmitting area comprises K sub-emission areas, each sub-emission area comprising at least one transmitting unit” (Paragraph 0030). Lei discloses controlling the at least one emission block to emit a laser beam according to a preset rule, “According to the preset sequence, the randomly generated sequence or the sequence generated by different functional relationships is used to determine the emission order of M emission regions” (Paragraph 0044). Lei discloses controlling a receiving block in the laser receiving array that corresponds to the at least one emission block to receive a laser echo, wherein the laser echo refers to an echo formed after the laser beam is reflected by a target object, “The optical receiving module is configured to adopt N receiving regions, receiving the reflected light information reflected by the detected target emitted by the M transmitting areas” (Paragraph 0012). Lei discloses a processing module, “the processing module is specifically configured to determine the emission order of M emission regions according to a preset sequence, a randomly generated sequence or a sequence generated by different function relationships” (Paragraph 0024). It can be assumed that the processing module must have memory in order to store the emission orders and a computer program that allows a user to input a preset sequence or that generates a sequence.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei (WO2021196545) in view of Wang (US 20200103508 A1).
Lei discloses controlling at least one emission block to emit detection laser beams, “The optical emission module 210 is configured to use M emission areas to output M transmitted light” (Paragraph 0057). Lei does not disclose emitting detection laser beams simultaneously.
Wang discloses emitting detection laser beams simultaneously, “Multiple emission modules 110 for emitting multiple laser beams for detecting ranges” (Paragraph 0043).
It would be obvious to someone with knowledge in the art prior to the effective filing date to combine Wang and Lei to create a LIDAR method that has multiple receiving blocks and the ability to emit multiple lasers or signals at the simultaneously in order to improve the accuracy and measuring capabilities of a LIDAR method.
Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei(WO2021196545) and Pacala(US-10444359-B2).
Regarding claim 5, Lei discloses the method according to claim 1, see claim 1 rejection. Lei does not disclose when there are at least two emission blocks to be turned on in the current measurement cycle, satisfying, by the at least two emission blocks, a condition of no optical crosstalk in physical positions; and controlling the at least two emission blocks to emit laser beams at different times according to the preset rule.
Pacala discloses when there are at least two emission blocks to be turned on in the current measurement cycle, “. For instance, if the emitter array in FIG. 16 is a column modulated emitter array as discussed herein with respect to FIG. 2 where emitters 1602a-b are activated at once (likewise for emitters 1602c-d, 1602e-f “ (Line 54-67, Page 47). Pacala discloses by the at least two emission blocks, a condition of no optical crosstalk in physical positions and controlling the at least two emission blocks to emit laser beams at different times according to the preset rule, “Thus, it may be beneficial to modulate the emitter array in a way that mitigates cross-talk between adjacent photosensors while still enabling the photosensor resources to be shared. For instance, if the emitter array in FIG. 16 is a column modulated emitter array as discussed herein with respect to FIG. 2 where emitters 1602a-b are activated at once (likewise for emitters 1602c-d, 1602e-f, and 1602g-h), then the emitter array can be configured to activate emitters 1602a-b and 1602e-f at a first instance in time, and then emitters 1602c-d and 1602g-h at a second instance in time” (Line 54-67, Page 47).
Pacala and Lei are within the same field of endeavor. Lei discloses a LIDAR controlling method similar to the invention but does not disclose the method of controlling the at least two emission blocks according to the preset rule of no optical crosstalk in physical positions. However, Pacala discloses a solid-state LIDAR system that does include a method of reducing physical optical cross-talk by way of activating emitters at different instances in time based on their location. One with ordinary skill in the art could have applied the technique disclosed by Pacala to improve upon the method disclosed by Lei since they are within the same field of endeavor before the effective filing date.
Regarding claim 6, Lei discloses controlling the emission block in the kth emission to emit a laser beam at corresponding time according to a time coding sequence corresponding to an emission block in a kth emission in the at least two emission blocks and according to a time coding sequence corresponding to an emission block in a (k+1)th emission, controlling the emission block in the (k+1)th emission to emit a laser beam at corresponding time, “when the optical emission module 210 includes 6 emission areas, its corresponding emission sequence can be sequential: 1→2→ 3→4→5→6, that is, the emission area 1 outputs the emitted light first, followed by No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6” (Paragraph 0093). Lei discloses k as an integer greater than or equal to 1, as M can be a integer equal to or greater than 1.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei(WO2021196545) in view of Du(CN 202111593084 A).
Regarding claim 7, Lei discloses the method according to claim 3, see the claim 3 rejection. Lei does not disclose based on a first preset sequence, generating, by a linear feedback shift register, a series of pseudorandom sequences to obtain multiple pseudorandom sequences. Lei does not disclose determining an autocorrelation function for each of the multiple pseudorandom sequences. Lei does not disclose according to the autocorrelation function, screening out a pseudorandom sequence with an autocorrelation coefficient less than a first specified threshold from the multiple pseudorandom sequences and selecting one pseudorandom sequence from the at least one screened-out pseudorandom sequence as a time coding sequence corresponding to any emission block.
Du discloses based on a first preset sequence, generating, by a linear feedback shift register, a series of pseudorandom sequences to obtain multiple pseudorandom sequences, “Generate at least two pseudo-random sequences using a linear feedback shift register” (Page 12, Line 10-11 Machine Translation) and “Based on the definition of a linear feedback shift register, it is known that it should have at least one input sequence. The input sequence can be set by the electronic device according to actual needs, and is not limited here.” (Page 12, Lines 13-16 Machine Translation). Du discloses determining an autocorrelation function for each of the multiple pseudorandom sequences, “Electronic devices can first calculate the autocorrelation coefficient of each pseudo-random sequence based on the autocorrelation function of each pseudo-random sequence. Specifically, the autocorrelation function can be obtained based on the following formula:
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”(Page 12, Lines 28-32 Machine Translation and line 0058 in untranslated document for image of formula). Du discloses according to the autocorrelation function, screening out a pseudorandom sequence with an autocorrelation coefficient less than a first specified threshold from the multiple pseudorandom sequences and selecting one pseudorandom sequence from the at least one screened-out pseudorandom sequence as a time coding sequence corresponding to any emission block, “select pseudo-random sequences whose autocorrelation coefficients meet the preset autocorrelation conditions, and determine the set of 12 transmission coding values based on the selected pseudo-random sequences.” (Page 12-13, Machine Translation).
It would have been obvious to one with knowledge in the art before the filing date to combine what is disclosed by Lei with Du’s method of generating pseudorandom sequences with a linear feedback register and screening out sequences with a auto correlation function to arrive at the invention. It would yield a predictable result of LIDAR method that determines its emission sequence based upon pseudorandom functions that generated and screened out.
Conclusion
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/JOSH CHARLES GARDINER/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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