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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 08/07/2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 4-20 remain pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 13-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 13 recites the limitations "the first pulse" and “the second pulse” in lines 11-12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. For examining purposes, the claim is interpreted as stating “a first pulse” and “a second pulse”
Claims 14-17 depend from claim 13 and are rejected for the reasons stated above.
Claim 18 recites the limitations "the first pulse" and “the second pulse” in lines 18-19. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these limitations in the claim. For examining purposes, the claim is interpreted as stating “a first pulse” and “a second pulse”
Claims 19-20 depend from claim 18 and are rejected for the reasons stated above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 10-15, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (US 11947047) in view of Chen et al. (CN 109884611).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches:
A LiDAR (#200 of Fig. 2, LiDAR device), comprising:
a laser emitting device (#210 of Fig. 2, light source);
a control device (#240 of Fig. 2, microprocessor);
a detection device (#230 of Fig. 2, light detector);
a data processing device (#240 of Fig. 2, microprocessor), and
a random number generator configured to generate the time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code.") wherein the control device is coupled to the random number generator and configured to receive the time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator) and generate a trigger signal based on a time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code."),
wherein the laser emitting device comprises at least one laser (“ In the examples described herein, the light source 210 is a laser diode”) and at least one driver coupled with the at least one laser (#212 of Fig. 2, internal modulator), and a driver is configured to drive a laser coupled to the driver to emit a laser pulse signal according to the trigger signal and a multi pulse-pulse coding scheme ("the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator 244"),
wherein the laser is configured to have a plurality of predetermined light emitting times ("FIG. 4A illustrates four encoded sequences for encoded LiDAR systems. The encoded sequence 402 has a logic level “1” 410 and a logic level “0” 416 that transitions at a rising edge 412 or a falling edge 414.... As depicted in FIG. 4A, the encoded sequence 402 is a PRBS-5 code corresponding to 31 bits (e.g., 2.sup.5-1)", the bits of the PRBS sequence can be interpreted as light emitting times),
and wherein the control device is configured to select, according to the time sequence random number, a light emitting time from the plurality of predetermined light emitting times as a trigger time for the trigger signal ("In some instances, the internal modulator 212 is configured to modulate an injection current to the laser diode light source 210 in accordance with on-off keying", a 1 bit can be interpreted as selecting the light emitting time as the emitter turns on for that period).
wherein the detection device is configured to receive an echo signal of the laser pulse signal (#216 of Fig. 2, scattered light) reflected by an object (#250 of Fig. 2, object) and convert the echo signal into an electrical signal ("analog electrical response from the detector (e.g., photo sensor 232)"), and
wherein the data processing device is configured to determine distance information of the object based on an emission time of the laser pulse signal and a reception time of the echo signal ("Based on this time difference the microprocessor 240 is configured to calculate a distance to the surface (e.g., distance to first surface 252) of the object 250. ").
and wherein the laser pulse signal comprises a first pulse and a second pulse (second pulse group signal #708 of Fig. 7A, [68] “second pulse group signal 708 includes two pulses”)
Li does not teach:
Wherein the random number generator is configured to generate a first time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the first pulse and a second time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the second pulse.
However, Chen teaches:
Wherein the random number generator is configured to generate a first time sequence random number ([68] “a pseudo-random number generator is used to generate a random signal data sequence.” ) as a random light emitting time of the first pulse (“Based on the mapping relationship of pulse position modulation, the random signal data is mapped to random pulse positions within different transmission cycles.”) and a second time sequence random number ([68] “a pseudo-random number generator is used to generate a random signal data sequence.” A person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that the data sequence would include multiple random numbers, as illustrated by Fig. 9 ) as a random light emitting time of the second pulse (“Based on the mapping relationship of pulse position modulation, the random signal data is mapped to random pulse positions within different transmission cycles.”, additionally, Fig. 9 shows both the first and second pulse with different pulse positions using the random data sequence).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the LiDAR device of Li to use a first pulse and a second pulse with random light emitting times using a first and second random number similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of decreasing the effects of crosstalk by allowing for the LiDAR to further distinguish between pulse groups to determine pulse ownership, .
Regarding claim 10, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1, wherein the control device is further configured to control the driver to drive the laser to emit a laser pulse sequence with the multi-pulse coding scheme, the multi-pulse coding scheme comprising at least one of time sequence coding ("the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator 244"), amplitude coding, or pulse width coding.
Regarding claim 11, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1, wherein the data processing device is coupled to the detection device (#240 of Fig. 2, microprocessor) and configured to calculate the reception time of the echo signal according to the electrical signal (“For a high similarity, the correlator 246 outputs a peak value where the pulse of scattered light 216 and the sequence code align. The position of the peak value is associated with a time that the pulse of scattered light 216 is received.”).
Regarding claim 12, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1, wherein the data processing device is configured to:
calculate a correlation of a plurality of distance information signals (#246 of Fig. 2, correlator), and
filter out a distance information signal associated with a corresponding correlation lower than a predetermined value as an interference signal. ("In some examples. the microprocessor 240 is further configure to determine whether an amplitude of the peak value from the correlation between the scattered light 216 and the sequence code exceeds a threshold value.")
Regarding claim 13, Li teaches:
A ranging method, comprising:
Generating a time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code.") and a trigger signal (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code.");
Controlling, based on the time sequence random number, at least one driver of a laser emitting device to drive a laser coupled to the driver to emit a laser pulse signal according to the trigger signal and a multi pulse-pulse coding scheme ("the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator 244"),
wherein the laser is configured to have a plurality of predetermined light emitting times ("FIG. 4A illustrates four encoded sequences for encoded LiDAR systems. The encoded sequence 402 has a logic level “1” 410 and a logic level “0” 416 that transitions at a rising edge 412 or a falling edge 414.... As depicted in FIG. 4A, the encoded sequence 402 is a PRBS-5 code corresponding to 31 bits (e.g., 2.sup.5-1)", the bits of the PRBS sequence can be interpreted as light emitting times),
selecting, according to the time sequence random number, a light emitting time from the plurality of predetermined light emitting times as a trigger time for the trigger signal ("In some instances, the internal modulator 212 is configured to modulate an injection current to the laser diode light source 210 in accordance with on-off keying", a 1 bit can be interpreted as selecting the light emitting time as the emitter turns on for that period).
Receiving an echo signal of the laser pulse signal (#216 of Fig. 2, scattered light) reflected by an object (#250 of Fig. 2, object);
determining distance information of the object based on an emission time of the laser pulse signal and a reception time of the echo signal ("Based on this time difference the microprocessor 240 is configured to calculate a distance to the surface (e.g., distance to first surface 252) of the object 250. ").
a first pulse and a second pulse (second pulse group signal #708 of Fig. 7A, [68] “second pulse group signal 708 includes two pulses”)
Li does not teach:
generating a first time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the first pulse and a second time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the second pulse.
However, Chen teaches:
generating a first time sequence random number ([68] “a pseudo-random number generator is used to generate a random signal data sequence.” ) as a random light emitting time of the first pulse (“Based on the mapping relationship of pulse position modulation, the random signal data is mapped to random pulse positions within different transmission cycles.”) and a second time sequence random number ([68] “a pseudo-random number generator is used to generate a random signal data sequence.” A person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that the data sequence would include multiple random numbers, as illustrated by Fig. 9 ) as a random light emitting time of the second pulse (“Based on the mapping relationship of pulse position modulation, the random signal data is mapped to random pulse positions within different transmission cycles.”, additionally, Fig. 9 shows both the first and second pulse with different pulse positions using the random data sequence).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the ranging method of Li to use a first pulse and a second pulse with random light emitting times using a first and second random number similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of allowing for the LiDAR to further distinguish between pulse groups to determine pulse ownership.
Regarding claim 14, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The ranging method of claim 13, further comprising:
calculating correlation of a plurality of distance information signals (#246 of Fig. 2, correlator), and
determining a distance information signal associated with a corresponding correlation lower than a predetermined value as an interference signal ("In some examples. the microprocessor 240 is further configure to determine whether an amplitude of the peak value from the correlation between the scattered light 216 and the sequence code exceeds a threshold value.").
Regarding claim 15, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The ranging method of claim 13, wherein controlling, based on the time sequence random number, the at least one driver of the laser emitting device to drive the coupled laser to emit the laser pulse signal comprises at least one of:
controlling the emission time of the laser pulse signal emitted by the laser ("the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator 244", encoding the pulse is interpreted as controlling the emission time of the laser pulse signal, as it changes when the laser is on or off), or
controlling a time interval between adjacent laser pulses, based on the time sequence random number.
Regarding claim 18, Li teaches:
A LiDAR (#200 of Fig. 2, LiDAR device), comprising:
a laser emitting device (#210 of Fig. 2, light source);
a control device (#240 of Fig. 2, microprocessor);
a detection device (#230 of Fig. 2, light detector), and
a random number generator configured to generate the time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code.") wherein the control device is coupled to the random number generator and configured to receive the time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator) and generate a trigger signal based on a time sequence random number (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code."),
wherein the laser emitting device comprises at least one laser (“ In the examples described herein, the light source 210 is a laser diode”) and at least one driver coupled with the at least one laser (#212 of Fig. 2, internal modulator), and a driver is configured to drive a laser coupled to the driver to emit a laser pulse signal according to the trigger signal and a multi-pulse coding scheme ("the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator 244"),
wherein the laser pulse signal comprises a laser pulse sequence with the multi-pulse coding scheme , and the multi-pulse coding scheme comprises at least one of time sequence coding ("the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator 244"), amplitude coding, or pulse width coding, and
wherein the detection device is configured to receive an echo signal of the laser pulse signal (#216 of Fig. 2, scattered light) reflected by an object (#250 of Fig. 2, object) and convert the echo signal into an electrical signal ("analog electrical response from the detector (e.g., photo sensor 232)"), and
Li does not teach:
wherein the random number generator is configured to generate a first time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the first pulse and a second time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the second pulse.
However, Chen teaches:
wherein the random number generator is configured to generate a first time sequence random number ([68] “a pseudo-random number generator is used to generate a random signal data sequence.” ) as a random light emitting time of the first pulse (“Based on the mapping relationship of pulse position modulation, the random signal data is mapped to random pulse positions within different transmission cycles.”) and a second time sequence random number ([68] “a pseudo-random number generator is used to generate a random signal data sequence.” A person having ordinary skill in the art would understand that the data sequence would include multiple random numbers, as illustrated by Fig. 9 ) as a random light emitting time of the second pulse (“Based on the mapping relationship of pulse position modulation, the random signal data is mapped to random pulse positions within different transmission cycles.”, additionally, Fig. 9 shows both the first and second pulse with different pulse positions using the random data sequence).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the LiDAR device of Li to use a first pulse and a second pulse with random light emitting times using a first and second random number similar to Chen with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of allowing for the LiDAR to further distinguish between pulse groups to determine pulse ownership.
Regarding claim 19, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 18, further comprising a data processing device (#240 of Fig. 2, microprocessor) configured to determine distance information of the object based on an emission time of the laser pulse signal and a reception time of the echo signal ("Based on this time difference the microprocessor 240 is configured to calculate a distance to the surface (e.g., distance to first surface 252) of the object 250.").
Regarding claim 20, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 19, wherein the data processing device is coupled to the detection device (#240 of Fig. 2, microprocessor) and configured to calculate the reception time of the echo signal according to the electrical signal (“For a high similarity, the correlator 246 outputs a peak value where the pulse of scattered light 216 and the sequence code align. The position of the peak value is associated with a time that the pulse of scattered light 216 is received.”).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Chen as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Zhang et al. (US 11782138).
Regarding claim 4, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1, wherein the laser has a predetermined light emitting time ("FIG. 4A illustrates four encoded sequences for encoded LiDAR systems. The encoded sequence 402 has a logic level “1” 410 and a logic level “0” 416 that transitions at a rising edge 412 or a falling edge 414.... As depicted in FIG. 4A, the encoded sequence 402 is a PRBS-5 code corresponding to 31 bits (e.g., 2.sup.5-1)", the bits of the PRBS sequence can be interpreted as light emitting times),
Li does not teach, but Zhang does teach:
wherein the control device is configured to delay or advance, according to the time sequence random number, the predetermined light emitting time as the trigger time for the trigger signal ("For example, assume that a first interval between a first transmitter pulse and a second transmitter pulse is M, then the immediately successive interval for a successive transmitter pulse is (1±α)M, where α is a randomization factor that is applied to M. The randomization factor may be bounded to prevent the time interval from exceeding maximum and minimum bounds", M can be the predetermined light emitting time, and the randomization factor delays or advances it).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the PRBS modulation of Li with time interval modulation similar to Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of decreasing crosstalk without increasing integration time by increasing the randomness of the signal without increasing the number of bits for the PRBS.
Regarding claim 5, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1,
Li does not teach, but Zhang does teach:
wherein the laser is configured to emit a plurality of pulses (“time interval variation of successive pulses enables the LiDAR system and methods”), and wherein the control device is configured to adjust, according to the time sequence random number, a time interval between trigger signals corresponding to two adjacent pulses ("For example, assume that a first interval between a first transmitter pulse and a second transmitter pulse is M, then the immediately successive interval for a successive transmitter pulse is (1±α)M, where α is a randomization factor that is applied to M. The randomization factor may be bounded to prevent the time interval from exceeding maximum and minimum bounds").
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the PRBS modulation of Li with time interval modulation similar to Zhang with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of decreasing crosstalk without increasing integration time by increasing the randomness of the signal without increasing the number of bits for the PRBS.
Claim(s) 6, 8-9, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Chen as applied to claim in view of Zhu et al (CN 110927734).
Regarding claim 6, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1,
Li does not teach, but Zhu teaches:
wherein the laser emitting device comprises a plurality of lasers [46] and a plurality of drivers each coupled with a respective laser [46], and
wherein the control device is coupled with the plurality of drivers [47], and
wherein the control device is configured to:
determine a light emitting sequence of the plurality of lasers based on the time sequence random numbers [47].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the LiDAR system of Li with an array of randomly sequenced laser sources and drivers similar to Zhu with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of increasing the FOV of the LiDAR system without increasing interference by other LiDAR systems [Zhu: 26].
Regarding claim 8, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1,
Li does not teach:
wherein the laser emitting device comprises a plurality of lasers and a plurality of drivers, and a number of the plurality of lasers is equal to a number of the plurality of drivers , and
wherein the LiDAR further comprises a plurality of random number generators, and a number of the plurality of random number generators is equal to the number of the plurality of lasers.
However, Zhu teaches:
wherein the laser emitting device comprises a plurality of lasers and a plurality of drivers [46], and a number of the plurality of lasers is equal to a number of the plurality of drivers [46], and
wherein the LiDAR further comprises a random number generator [62]
Additionally, Li teaches:
Using a random number generator to drive a single laser source using a PRBS (#244 of Fig. 2, sequence generator, "In some examples, the sequence code is a pseudorandom bit sequence (PRBS) code.")
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the LiDAR system of Li with an array of lasers with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of increasing the FOV of the LiDAR system. Using a 1 to 1 correspondence of random number generators similar to Li would have the predictable result of allowing a LiDAR system to use the emission sequencing of Zhu while maintaining the PRBS pulse timing of Li.
Regarding claim 9, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1,
Li does not teach:
wherein the laser emitting device comprises multiple groups of lasers, each group of lasers comprising a plurality of lasers and a plurality of drivers each coupled with a respective laser, and
wherein the LiDAR further comprises a plurality of random number generators corresponding to the multiple groups of lasers, and
wherein, for each of the plurality of random number generators, time sequence random numbers generated by the random number generator correspond to a light emitting sequence of a group of lasers corresponding to the random number generator.
However, Zhu teaches:
a plurality of lasers and a plurality of drivers each coupled with a respective laser [46], and
wherein the LiDAR comprises a random number generator corresponding to the lasers [62], and
wherein time sequence random numbers generated by the random number generator correspond to a light emitting sequence of a of laser corresponding to the random number generator [47].
In a separate embodiment, Zhu teaches:
wherein the laser emitting device comprises multiple groups of lasers [47]
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the LiDAR system of Li with the laser sequencing embodiment and the laser grouping embodiment of Zhu with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of increasing the FOV, and increasing the scanning rate by scanning multiple portions of the FOV simultaneously. In this case, a person having ordinary skill in the art would use the first embodiment of Zhu (ungrouped lasers) as a group and duplicate them to form a larger array, similar to the second embodiment of Zhu.
Regarding claim 16, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The ranging method of claim 13,
Li does not teach, but Zhu does teach:
wherein controlling, based on the time sequence random number, the at least one driver of the laser emitting device to drive the coupled laser to emit the laser pulse signal comprises: controlling a light emitting sequence of a plurality of lasers based on the time sequence random number [47].
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify the LiDAR method of Li with an array of randomly sequenced laser sources and drivers similar to Zhu with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of increasing the FOV of the LiDAR method without increasing interference by other LiDAR systems [Zhu: 26].
Claim(s) 7 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Wikipedia (Pseudorandom binary sequence, 2020).
Regarding claim 7, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The LiDAR of claim 1,
Li does not teach, but Wikipedia does teach:
wherein the random number generator comprises a pseudo-random number generator configured to generate the time sequence random number based on at least one of: random sampling from a pre-stored random number table, a clock phase, a system temperature, or a linear feedback shift register (“Pseudorandom binary sequences can be generated using linear-feedback shift registers”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to implement the sequence generator of Li using a linear feedback shift register with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of allowing the system to generate a PRBS. Li teaches a sequence generator for generating a PRBS, but does not specify how the sequence generator functions. Wikipedia merely fills in the gaps.
Regarding claim 17, Li, as modified above, teaches:
The method of claim 13,
Li does not teach, but Wikipedia does teach:
wherein generating the time sequence random number comprises: generating the time sequence random number based on at least one of: random sampling from a pre-stored random number table, a clock phase, a system temperature, or a linear feedback shift register (“Pseudorandom binary sequences can be generated using linear-feedback shift registers”).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art to implement the sequence generator of Li using a linear feedback shift register with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of allowing the system to generate a PRBS. Li teaches a sequence generator for generating a PRBS, but does not specify how the sequence generator functions. Wikipedia merely fills in the gaps.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/07/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the specific combination of the references being used in the current rejection.
With respect to applicant’s arguments regarding claim 1, specifically with respect to whether Li teaches selecting an emitting time from a plurality of predetermined light emitting times. Applicant argues that encoding a pulse using on off keying is not selecting a trigger time from a plurality of predetermined times. Li explicitly states that “the internal modulator can modulate an injection current in accordance with on-off keying” (Li: [37]). This affirms that the internal modulator is driving the operation of the laser. Since the on-off keying is itself driven by the sequence generator (Li [37] “the light source 210 has an internal modulator 212 that is operable to encode the pulse of light 214 in response to a signal from a sequence generator”), the sequence generator is thus creating a trigger signal for the laser. The on-off keying is driven by the bits, and the on-off keying thus corresponds each bit to some point in time. Figures 4A and 4B of Li show this, as the encoded sequence is shown as a series of bits in Figure 4A, and then the correlation is shown over a time index, thus showing that the bits are encoded in time. The PRBS signal, as shown in Fig. 4A, can be understood to be randomly selecting a certain subset of bits to be set to 1. Any bit set to 1 is a selected time (per the time correspondence shown above) for the laser to be emitting.
In response to applicant’s argument that references fail to show certain features of applicant’s invention, it is noted that features upon which applicant relies (i.e, a first pulse and a second pulse, a first time sequence random number and a second time sequence random number) are not recited in the rejected claims. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Here, Applicant argues that Li does not teach a multi-pulse coding scheme wherein the laser pulse signal comprises a first pulse and a second pulse, the random number generator is configured to generate a first time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the first pulse and a second time sequence random number as a random light emitting time of the second pulse. However, these claim limitations were not present in the previous claims and were presented by amendment on 08/07/2026. Therefore, the issue of whether Li, Zhang, Zhu, or Wikipedia addresses these limitations are not relevant. These amended claims containing new limitations have been addressed by Li, Zhang, Zhu, Wikipedia, and Chen in the present Office Action
Conclusion
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.
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