DETAILED ACTION
This is the first office action on the merits. Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s arguments, see Reply to Restriction Requirement, filed 6/22/2026, with respect to the requirement for election of species have been fully considered and are persuasive. The requirement for election/restriction of 4/27/2026 has been withdrawn.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 8/22/2024, 10/23/2024, and 4/15/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 18 is objected to because of the following informalities: “wherein the detection apparatus comprising” should be “wherein the detection apparatus comprises”. Appropriate correction is required.
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, 6, 7, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Salvadé et al., US 20200064116 A1 (“Salvadé”).
Regarding claims 1 and 18, Salvadé discloses A lidar, comprising a detection apparatus, wherein the detection apparatus comprising:
a light source (Fig. 3, laser beam source 8, Paragraph [0074]);
a modulator (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]);
a first wavelength selector (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, signal generator 12, oscillator signal 13, Paragraph [0082]); and
an optical transceiver (Fig. 3, FMCW distance measuring device), wherein:
the light source is configured to emit a continuous laser beam(Fig. 3, laser beam source 8, base radiation 9, Paragraph [0074]);
the modulator is configured to modulate the continuous laser beam from the light source to obtain a first laser beam (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]), wherein the first laser beam comprises a carrier signal and symmetric side band signals (Fig. 3, modulated output radiation 11, Paragraph [0074]; Fig. 4, carrier signal component 20, first sideband component 21A, second sideband component 21B, Paragraph [0074]-[0075]);
the first wavelength selector is configured to allow at least one side band signal in the symmetric side band signals to pass through and prevent the carrier signal from passing through to obtain a second laser beam (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, signal generator 12, oscillator signal 13, Paragraph [0082]); and
the optical transceiver is configured to:
emit the second laser beam to a detection area (Fig. 3, first and a second transmission radiation 100A, 100B, Paragraph [0077]); and
receive a first echo signal for the second laser beam, wherein the first echo signal comprises the at least one side band signal, and a first side band signal in the at least one side band signal comprised in the first echo signal is used to detect a target (Fig. 3, first reception radiation 200A, first reception radiation 200A, Paragraph [0079]).
Regarding claim 6, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the modulator comprises a first Y-shaped waveguide, a first waveguide arm, a second waveguide arm, and a second Y-shaped waveguide (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]), and wherein:
the first Y-shaped waveguide is configured to:
split the continuous laser beam from the light source into two beams (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]); and
respectively propagate the two beams to the first waveguide arm and the second waveguide arm (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]);
the first waveguide arm is configured to modulate intensity of the received continuous laser beam to obtain a third laser beam, wherein a phase of the third laser beam is related to a third radio frequency signal that is input to the first waveguide arm (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]; Fig. 5, Paragraph [0078]);
the second waveguide arm is configured to modulate the intensity of the received continuous laser beam to obtain a fourth laser beam, wherein a phase of the fourth laser beam is related to a fourth radio frequency signal that is input to the second waveguide arm (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]; Fig. 5, Paragraph [0078]); and
the second Y-shaped waveguide is configured to:
receive the third laser beam from the first waveguide arm and the fourth laser beam from the second waveguide arm (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]); and
combine the third laser beam and the fourth laser beam into the first laser beam (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, Paragraph [0074]).
Regarding claim 7, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 6, wherein:
the detection apparatus further comprises a radio frequency transceiver (Fig. 3, signal generator 12, Paragraph [0074], [0078]); and
the radio frequency transceiver is configured to:
input the third radio frequency signal to the first waveguide arm (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, signal generator 12, Paragraph [0074], [0078]); and
input the fourth radio frequency signal to the second waveguide arm (Fig. 3, Mach-Zehnder modulator 10, signal generator 12, Paragraph [0074], [0078]).
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.
Claims 2, 9, 13, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salvadé in view of Nicolaescu et al., US 20190391243 A1 (“Nicolaescu”).
Regarding claims 2 and 19, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1 and The lidar according to claim 18.
Salvadé does not teach: wherein the optical transceiver comprises a scanner, and the scanner is configured to separately emit the second laser beam to the detection area at different scanning angles.
However, Nicolaescu teaches an optical transceiver system that includes a laser and an optical modulator. The optical transceiver system also includes a MEMs mirror that scans the modulated signal to the detection area at different angles (Fig. 5, MEMs mirror 406, Paragraph [0108]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by coupling a MEMs mirror to the transceiver, which is disclosed by Nicolaescu. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to execute a rastering or Lissajous pattern in the horizontal and vertical direction thereby extending the field of view, as suggested by Nicolaescu (Paragraph [0108]).
Regarding claim 9, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1.
Salvadé does not teach: wherein the first wavelength selector comprises a fiber Bragg grating, and the fiber Bragg grating is configured to obtain the second laser beam.
However, Nicolaescu teaches a grating coupler that can select a wavelength range to couple to based on the period of the grating. (Fig. 11A, grating 1201, Paragraph [0127]-[0128], See also: Paragraph [0014]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by replacing the Salvadé’s wavelength selector with Nicolaescu’s grating. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to increase the coupling to light within a select wavelength range and decrease coupling to light outside that range, as suggested by Nicolaescu (Paragraph [0014]).
Regarding claim 13, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1.
Salvadé does not teach: wherein a linewidth range of the continuous laser beam is greater than 0 and not greater than 3 megahertz.
However, Nicolaescu teaches a laser with a linewidth in the range from 10 KHz to 10 MHz (Paragraph [0144]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by using a laser with a linewidth in the range from 10 KHz to 3 MHz, which is disclosed by Nicolaescu. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to try emitting laser light in the disclosed frequency range, and the results of the modification would have been predictable.
Regarding claim 15, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1.
Salvadé does not teach: wherein the detection apparatus further comprises an optical amplifier, and the optical amplifier is configured to amplify the second laser beam from the first wavelength selector.
However, Nicolaescu teaches a LIDAR architecture with a fiber amplifier that amplifies the generated light (Fig. 3, fiber amplifier 113, Paragraph [0099]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by including a fiber amplifier to amplify the modulated beam, which is disclosed by Nicolaescu. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art combine Salvadé’s light source and modulator with Nicolaescu’s optical amplifier and the results would have predictably been amplified outgoing light.
Claims 3-4, 8, 10-12, 14, 16-17, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salvadé in view of Bao et al., CN 102866876 A (“Bao”).
Regarding claims 3 and 20, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1 and The lidar according to claim 18.
Salvadé does not teach: wherein the modulator comprises a silicon microring modulator, the silicon microring modulator comprises a straight waveguide and a ring waveguide that are coupled to each other, and the straight waveguide and the ring waveguide are configured to modulate intensity of the continuous laser beam.
However, Bao teaches a wavelength selective microring module that consists of a silicon microring waveguide and a straight waveguide coupled to each other (Fig. 1-2, straight waveguide 13, silicon microring 21, Paragraph [0025]). The silicon microring can selectively modulate the intensity of the outgoing signal (Paragraph [0025]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by replacing the modulator with a silicon microring modulator, which is disclosed by Bao. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce the number of components and the size of a silicon substrate for the device, as suggested by Bao (Paragraph [0015]).
Regarding claim 4, Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 3, wherein:
the detection apparatus further comprises a radio frequency transceiver (Salvadé, Fig. 3, signal generator 12, Paragraph [0074], [0078]); and
the radio frequency transceiver is configured to input a first radio frequency signal to the ring waveguide (Salvadé, Fig. 3, signal generator 12, control signal 13, modulator 10 Paragraph [0078]; Bao, Fig. 1-2, straight waveguide 13, silicon microring 21, Paragraph [0025]), wherein the first radio frequency signal is a linear frequency modulation signal, and the first radio frequency signal is used by the ring waveguide to modulate the intensity of the continuous laser beam (Salvadé, Fig. 3, signal generator 12, control signal 13, modulator 10 Paragraph [0049]; [0078]).
Regarding claim 8, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1.
Salvadé does not teach: the first wavelength selector comprises at least one level of ring waveguide; and
the first wavelength selector is configured to obtain the second laser beam based on a received control signal, wherein the control signal corresponds to a wavelength of the second laser beam.
However, Bao teaches a wavelength selective microring module that consists of a silicon microring waveguide and a straight waveguide coupled to each other (Fig. 1-2, wavelength selectable modulation module 2, straight waveguide 13, silicon microring 21, Paragraph [0025]). The silicon microring can selectively modulate the intensity of the outgoing signal based on the wavelength that corresponds to a control signal (Paragraph [0025]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by replacing the wavelength selector with a wavelength selective microring module, which is disclosed by Bao. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce the number of components and the size of a silicon substrate for the device, as suggested by Bao (Paragraph [0015]).
Regarding claim 10, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1.
Salvadé does not teach: the detection apparatus further comprises a second wavelength selector; and
the second wavelength selector is configured to amplify, or amplify and filter the first echo signal for the second laser beam to obtain an amplified first side band signal.
However, Bao teaches a wavelength selective microring module that consists of a series of silicon microring waveguide and a straight waveguide coupled to each other (Fig. 1-2, wavelength selectable modulation module 2, straight waveguide 13, silicon microring 21, Paragraph [0025]). The silicon microring can selectively modulate the intensity of the outgoing signal based on the wavelength that corresponds to a control signal (Paragraph [0025]). In addition, the power balance of the output optical signals is controlled using a pump light (Paragraph [0025]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by replacing the wavelength selector with a wavelength selective microring module, which is disclosed by Bao. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to reduce the number of components and the size of a silicon substrate for the device, as suggested by Bao (Paragraph [0015]).
Regarding claim 11, Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the second wavelength selector comprises a non-linear waveguide (Bao, Fig. 1-2, wavelength selectable modulation module 2, straight waveguide 13, silicon microring 21, Paragraph [0025]).
Regarding claim 12, Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the non-linear waveguide is configured to amplify the first side band signal by using received pump light, a propagation direction of the pump light is opposite to a propagation direction of the first side band signal, and a difference between a frequency of the pump light and a frequency of the first side band signal meets a preset range (Bao, Fig. 1-2, wavelength selectable modulation module 2, straight waveguide 13, silicon microring 21, Paragraph [0025]).
Regarding claim 14, Salvadé discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 1.
Salvadé does not teach: wherein the light source comprises a semiconductor laser.
However, Bao teaches a system with a semiconductor laser (Fig 1, semiconductor laser 11, Paragraph [0024]).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Salvadé’s distance measuring device by replacing the laser beam source with Bao’s semiconductor laser. One of ordinary skill in the art could have substituted one known laser for the other and the results would have been predictable.
Regarding claim 16, Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the detection apparatus further comprises an optoelectronic detector, and the optoelectronic detector is configured to convert the first side band signal or the amplified first side band signal into a first electrical signal (Salvadé, Fig. 3, mixer 15, computing unit 16, Paragraph [0079]).
Regarding claim 17, Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the detection apparatus further comprises:
at least one processor (Salvadé, Fig. 3, computing unit 16, Paragraph [0079]); and
one or more memories coupled to the at least one processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one processor to determine information about the target based on the first electrical signal (Salvadé, Fig. 3, computing unit 16, Paragraph [0079]).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Salvadé in view of Bao in further view of Roxworthy et al., US 11209677 B1 (“Roxworthy”).
Regarding claim 5, Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, discloses The detection apparatus according to claim 4.
Salvadé, as modified in view of Bao, does not teach: wherein the radio frequency transceiver is further configured to:
generate a second radio frequency signal; and
perform predistortion processing on the second radio frequency signal to obtain the first radio frequency signal.
However, Roxworthy teaches a LIDAR system that has a photonic IQ modulator that includes a ring waveguide resonator and acts as a carrier suppressed, sideband signal modulator. The IQ modulator uses a harmonic predistortion scheme where the radio frequency drive signal incorporates a second component at higher harmonic frequencies to generate the radio frequency output (Fig. 8B, Col. 13 lines 32-52).
It would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the distance measuring device with a ring modulator, disclosed by Salvadé and Bao, by including a harmonic predistortion scheme to the RF for the modulator, which is disclosed by Roxworthy. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to achieve the highest possible conversion efficiency without saturating the magnitude of the sidebands, as suggested by Roxworthy (Col. 13 lines 34-39).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL N NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-5405. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8 am - 5:30 pm ET.
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, Yuqing Xiao can be reached at (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.
/RACHEL NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/HOVHANNES BAGHDASARYAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
Prosecution Insights