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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/1/24 was filed 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 § 102
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 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, 2, 4-6, 8, 13-16, 19, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (US 5,444,803), cited in the IDS filed 3/1/24.
Re. Claim 1, Kim et al. discloses an optical interrogation system for sensing with a sensing fiber 50 (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 24-26), the system comprising:
interferometric apparatus configured to probe a core of the sensing fiber 50 over a range of predetermined wavelengths (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 22-35), the core having a grating pattern 20 in the core and supporting multiple light propagating modes (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 35-39), the interferometric apparatus further configured to detect measurement interferometric data associated with the multiple light propagating modes for each predetermined wavelength in the range (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 39-51); and
data processing circuitry configured to process the measurement interferometric data associated with the multiple light propagating modes to determine a cross-sectional variation in the grating pattern (col. 7 lines 8-18).
Re. Claim 2, Kim et al. discloses the cross-sectional variation comprises a variation of a periodicity of the grating pattern across a cross section of the core (col. 7 lines 8-18).
Re. Claim 4, Kim et al. discloses the data processing circuitry is further configured to: determine one or more shape-sensing parameters based at least in part on the cross-sectional variation (col. 2 lines 58-60).
Re. Claim 5, Kim et al. discloses to determine the one or more shape-sensing parameters based on the cross-sectional variation, the data processing circuitry is configured to: determine a phase change between the cross-sectional variation and a baseline cross-sectional variation in the grating pattern, the baseline cross-sectional variation measured in a reference state of the sensing fiber; and determine the one or more shape-sensing parameters based on the phase change (col. 2 lines 24-47).
Re. Claim 6, Kim et al. discloses the one or more shape-sensing parameters include at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of: strain, bend, and twist parameters (col. 2 lines 58-60).
Re. Claim 8, Kim et al. discloses to process the measurement interferometric data to determine the cross-sectional variation, the data processing circuitry is configured to: process the measurement interferometric data to determine modal coupling coefficients between the multiple light propagating modes (col. 2 lines 3-31); and determine the cross-sectional variation based on the modal coupling coefficients (col. 2 lines 58-60).
Re. Claim 13, Kim et al. discloses a method of sensing with a sensing fiber 50 comprising a core having a grating pattern 20 in the core and supporting multiple light propagating modes (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 22-39), the method comprising:
interferometrically probing the core of the sensing fiber 50 over a range of predetermined wavelengths to detect measurement interferometric data associated with the multiple light propagating modes for each predetermined wavelength in the range (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 39-51); and
processing the measurement interferometric data associated with the multiple light propagating modes to determine a cross-sectional variation in the grating pattern 20 (col. 7 lines 8-18).
Re. Claim 14, Kim et al. discloses the cross-sectional variation comprises a variation of a periodicity of the grating pattern across a cross section of the core (col. 7 lines 8-18).
Re. Claim 15, Kim et al. discloses determining one or more shape-sensing parameters based at least in part on the cross-sectional variation (col. 2 lines 58-60).
Re. Claim 16, Kim et al. discloses processing the measurement interferometric data to determine the cross-sectional variation comprises: processing the measurement interferometric data to determine modal coupling coefficients between the multiple light propagating modes (col. 2 lines 3-31); and determining the cross-sectional variation based on the modal coupling coefficients (col. 2 lines 58-60).
Re. Claim 19, Kim et al. discloses a non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors associated with an interferometric apparatus, are adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform operations for sensing with a sensing fiber 50 comprising a core having a grating pattern 20 in the core and supporting multiple light propagating modes (col. 10 lines 45-49), the operations comprising:
operating the interferometric apparatus to interferometrically probe the core of the sensing fiber 50 over a range of predetermined wavelengths to detect measurement interferometric data associated with the multiple light propagating modes of the core for each predetermined wavelength in the range (Fig. 5B; col. 7 lines 22-39); and
processing the measurement interferometric data associated with the multiple light propagating modes to determine a cross-sectional variation in the grating pattern 20 (col. 7 lines 8-18).
Re. Claim 20, Kim et al. discloses processing the measurement interferometric data to determine the cross-sectional variation comprises: processing the measurement interferometric data to determine modal coupling coefficients between the multiple light propagating modes (col. 2 lines 3-31); and determining the cross-sectional variation based on the modal coupling coefficients (col. 2 lines 58-60).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 7, 9-12, 17, and 18 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.
Re. Claim 3, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical interrogation system as required by the claim, specifically wherein the grating pattern results from a first grating written in the core and a second grating written in the core overlapping the first grating, the first grating being tilted in a first direction relative to the core and the second grating being tilted in a second direction relative to the core, the second direction opposite to the first direction.
Re. Claim 7, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical interrogation system as required by the claim, specifically wherein the data processing circuitry is further configured to: determine a shape of the sensing fiber based on the one or more shape-sensing parameters.
Re. Claim 9, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical interrogation system as required by the claim, specifically wherein to process the measurement interferometric data to determine the modal coupling coefficients, the
processing circuitry is configured to: process the measurement interferometric data to determine coupling terms between light input into the core and reflected light output from the core; and determine the modal coupling coefficients based on the coupling terms.
Re. Claims 10-12, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest the optical interrogation system as required by the claim, specifically wherein the interferometric apparatus further comprises: an array of single-core-single-mode fibers coupled to the core of the sensing fiber; and acquisition circuitry comprising a plurality of detectors, each detector configured to detect signals associated with an associated fiber of the array of single-core-single-mode fibers.
Re. Claim 17, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest a method as required by the claim, specifically wherein: interferometrically probing the core of the sensing fiber comprises: inputting light into the core and detecting reflected light output from the core; and processing the measurement interferometric data to determine the modal coupling coefficients comprises: processing the measurement interferometric data to determine coupling terms between the light input into the core and the reflected light output from the core, and determining the modal coupling coefficients based on the coupling terms.
Re. Claim 18, the prior art does not disclose or reasonably suggest a method as required by the claim, specifically wherein: light is input into the core and output from the core of the sensing fiber via an array of single core-single-mode fibers coupled to the core of the sensing fiber; the light output from the core of the sensing fiber into the single-core-single-mode fibers is detected with respective detectors of a plurality of detectors; and processing the measurement interferometric data comprises: determining coupling terms between input light that is input into the core of the sensing fiber from a first fiber of the array of single-core-single-mode fibers and reflected light that is output from the core of the sensing fiber into the first fiber or another fiber of the array of single-core-single-mode fibers, determining modal coupling coefficients between the multiple light propagating modes based on the coupling terms, and
determining the cross-sectional variation based on the modal coupling coefficients.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See the attached PTO-892.
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/RHONDA S PEACE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2874 3/26/26
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