Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 Mar 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant presents Claims 1-20 for examination. The Office rejects Claims 1-20 as detailed below.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 and the corresponding dependent claims are objected to because of the following informalities:
The claims recite in error “charactristics-information.” The hyphen is grammatically unnecessary, and the first word should include an “e” in the middle. The corrected term should appear as “characteristics information” throughout.
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.
+_+_+ Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Keilaf et al. - U.S. Pub. 20190271767 +_+_+
As for Claim 1, Keilaf teaches a light-emitting unit array, comprising at least one light-emitting unit disposed at a preset light-emitting position and capable of controlling [characteristics information] of emitted light (¶81|1: “FIG. 2C illustrates an example of LIDAR system 100 in which projecting unit 102 includes a primary light source 112A and a secondary light source 112B. Primary light source 112A may project light with a longer wavelength than is sensitive to the human eye in order to optimize SNR and detection range.”); an optical scanning unit, used to generate a scanning angle to be used by the emitted light to scan a target scene, and determine a first control scanning angle, wherein the first control scanning angle is an angle that is detected when the optical scanning unit controls the scanning angle to scan the target scene (¶74|24: “The projected light is projected towards an outbound deflector 114A that functions as a steering element for directing the projected light in field of view 120.”); a light receiving unit array, comprising at least one light receiving unit, the light receiving unit being used to receive [characteristics information] of reflected light obtained after the emitted light is reflected through the target scene (¶103|1: “FIG. 4A illustrates an example of sensing unit 106 with detector array 400. In this example, at least one sensor 116 includes detector array 400. LIDAR system 100 is configured to detect objects (e.g., bicycle 208A and cloud 208B) in field of view 120 located at different distances from LIDAR system 100 (could be meters or more).”); and a processor, for determining at least one of [1] the scanning angle and a distance between the target scene and the light receiving unit according to the preset light-emitting position (¶286|1: “FIG. 15 is a flow chart of an exemplary process 1500 for determining the distance to one or more objects in the field of view of a LIDAR system. Initially, a light source (e.g., light source 112) may be activated to emit a first light emission (e.g., a light pulse) toward the field of view (step 1502). In some embodiments, the first light emission may be one or more light pulses. In some embodiments the system may control one or more light deflectors to deflect light from the light source for scanning the field of view in a scanning pattern including two or more directions [i.e., angles].”), [2] the first control scanning angle, [3] the [characteristics information] of the emitted light, and [4] the [characteristics information] of the reflected light.
As for Claim 2, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein, the [characteristics information] of the emitted light comprises an emission time of the emitted light and a preset optical characteristic change rule used for controlling the [characteristics information] of the emitted light; and the [characteristics information] of the reflected light comprises a characteristic change rule of the reflected light, a time at which the reflected light arrives at the light receiving unit, and an optical characteristic of the reflected light (¶287|1: “The first light emission may be reflected by an object in the field of view. Processor 118 may receive, from one or more sensors, data associated with the reflection from the object in the field of view (step 1504). Subsequently, the light source may be activated to emit a second light emission toward the field of view (step 1506). In some embodiments, the first and second light emissions may be emitted during the same scanning cycle. In other embodiments, the first and second light emissions are emitted in separate scanning cycles. In some embodiments the second light emission may be one or more light pulses. In some embodiments, the first and second light pulses may be directed towards different portions of the field of view.”)
As for Claim 3, which depends on Claim 2, Keilaf teaches wherein the processor determines, within a first preset optical characteristic change measurement time, the characteristic change rule of the reflected light according to the [characteristics information] of the reflected light that is formed through at least three different scanning angles (¶296|7: “Based on the received information, processor 118 may dynamically apportion the optical budget to a field of view of LIDAR system 100 using, for example, two or more operational parameters associated with the light source 112 and/or deflector 114, including, for example, scanning rates, scanning patterns, scanning angles, spatial light distribution, and/or temporal light distribution. Processor 118 may further output signals for controlling light source 112 and/or deflector 114 in a manner enabling light flux to vary over scanning of the field of view of LIDAR system 100 in accordance with the dynamically apportioned optical budget.”)
As for Claim 4, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein, an optical characteristic of the emitted light comprises at least one of an intensity, a wavelength, polarization, a waveform, a size of a spot, a shape of the spot, a spatial light intensity distribution, a multi-pulse interval, a pulse width, a rising edge width and a falling edge width (¶338|1: “According to some embodiments, at least one pulse parameter may be selected from the following group: pulse power intensity, pulse width, pulse repetition rate pulse sequence, pulse duty cycle, wavelength, phase and/or polarization.”)
As for Claim 5, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the optical scanning unit comprises: at least one or any combination of a rotating prism, a rotating wedge prism, an MEMS (¶97|1: “According to some embodiments, reflector array 312 may include one or more sub-groups of steerable deflectors. Each sub-group of electrically steerable deflectors may include one or more deflector units, such as reflector unit 314. For example, each steerable deflector unit 314 may include at least one of a MEMS mirror, a reflective surface assembly, and an electromechanical actuator.”), an OPA, a scanning unit for implementing a relative motion between a light-emitting unit and an emission lens, a liquid crystal for controlling a reflection direction and/or a transmission direction of an optical path, a photoelectric crystal, and an acoustic-control optic deflector.
As for Claim 6, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein, the light-emitting unit array comprises at least two light-emitting units disposed along a first direction (Fig. 2C, light emitting units 112A-B); and the optical scanning unit comprises a rotating polygon mirror (Fig. 2B rotating mirror 114), wherein the rotating polygon mirror comprises a rotating shaft having an acute angle with the first direction, and at least two mirror surfaces driven to be rotated by the rotating shaft (¶61|1: “Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the LIDAR system may include at least one scanning unit with at least one light deflector configured to deflect light from the light source in order to scan the field of view. The term "light deflector" broadly includes any mechanism or module which is configured to make light deviate from its original path; for example, a mirror, a prism, controllable lens, a mechanical mirror, mechanical scanning polygons, active diffraction (e.g. controllable LCD), Risley prisms, nonmechanical- electro-optical beam steering (such as made by Vscent), polarization grating (such as offered by Boulder Non-Linear Systems), optical phased array (OPA), and more.”)
As for Claim 7, which depends on Claim 6, Keilaf teaches further comprising: at least one second-dimension scanning unit, composed of an acousto-optic deflector, an electro-optic deflector, an MEMS, or an OPA and controlled independently, wherein the second-dimension scanning unit, together with the rotating polygon mirror, completes scanning for the target scene in the first direction and the second direction (¶61|1: “Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the LIDAR system may include at least one scanning unit with at least one light deflector configured to deflect light from the light source in order to scan the field of view. The term "light deflector" broadly includes any mechanism or module which is configured to make light deviate from its original path; for example, a mirror, a prism, controllable lens, a mechanical mirror, mechanical scanning polygons, active diffraction (e.g. controllable LCD), Risley prisms, nonmechanical- electro-optical beam steering (such as made by Vscent), polarization grating (such as offered by Boulder Non-Linear Systems), optical phased array (OPA), and more.”)
As for Claim 8, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches further comprising: laser emission fastener, the laser emission fastener connecting the at least two light-emitting units or at least one multi-light-source integrated circuit chip; optical scanning unit fastener, the optical scanning unit fastener being used to accommodate the optical scanning unit; and laser receiving fastener, the laser receiving fastener connecting the at least one light receiving unit or at least one multi-reception-unit integrated circuit chip, wherein the laser emitting fastener and the optical scanning unit fastener are in relative motion (Fig. 2C showing two “connected” light sources 112A-B and the optical scanning unit 114.)
As for Claim 9, which depends on Claim 8, Keilaf teaches wherein the processor respectively communicates with the light-emitting unit array, the light receiving unit array, the optical scanning unit, and the two-dimensional imaging photodetector, and the processor is configured to acquire the spatial position, a measured distance and a light intensity of the reflection point of the target scene based on at least one of the preset light-emitting position and the position assistance information, the predetermined included angles of the mirror surfaces of the rotating polygon mirror, position [characteristics information] of the laser emitting fastener, position [characteristics information] of the laser receiving fastener, and reflected light formed after the emitted light is reflected by the reflection point of the target scene (¶286|1: “FIG. 15 is a flow chart of an exemplary process 1500 for determining the distance to one or more objects in the field of view of a LIDAR system. Initially, a light source (e.g., light source 112) may be activated to emit a first light emission (e.g., a light pulse) toward the field of view (step 1502). In some embodiments, the first light emission may be one or more light pulses. In some embodiments the system may control one or more light deflectors to deflect light from the light source for scanning the field of view in a scanning pattern including two or more directions [i.e., angles].”)
As for Claim 10, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the at least one light receiving unit comprises: a coaxial light receiving unit, used to receive coaxial optical path reflected light after the emitted light is reflected by the target scene; and a non-coaxial light receiving unit, used to receive non-coaxial optical path reflected light after the emitted light is reflected by the target scene (¶73|10: “In the example depicted in FIG. 2A, the Bi-static configuration includes a configuration where scanning unit 104 includes two light deflectors, a first light deflector 114A for outbound light and a second light deflector 114B for inbound light (the inbound light in LIDAR system includes emitted light reflected from objects in the scene, and may also include ambient light arriving from other sources). In such a configuration the inbound and outbound paths differ.”)
As for Claim 11, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the optical scanning unit comprises at least two one-dimensional optical scanning units for scanning in a single direction, or comprises at least one multidimensional scanning unit for scanning in two directions, and the optical scanning unit comprises scanning fastener and a scanning fastener controller, the scanning fastener controller controlling at least one of a scanning speed and phase of at least one scanning fastener in at least one scanning direction (Fig. 2C showing two “connected” light sources 112A-B and the optical scanning unit 114.)
As for Claim 12, which depends on Claim 11, Keilaf teaches wherein at least one optical scanning unit is not used simultaneously by the emitted light and the reflected light (¶73|10: “In the example depicted in FIG. 2A, the Bi-static configuration includes a configuration where scanning unit 104 includes two light deflectors, a first light deflector 114A for outbound light and a second light deflector 114B for inbound light (the inbound light in LIDAR system includes emitted light reflected from objects in the scene, and may also include ambient light arriving from other sources). In such a configuration the inbound and outbound paths differ.”)
As for Claim 13, which depends on Claim 6, Keilaf teaches wherein the emitted light scans and detects different partial regions of the target scene based on the at least two mirror surfaces of a rotating polygon mirror, at least 50% of scenes of the different partial regions being different (Fig. 2B showing three different partial scan regions.)
As for Claim 14, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the processor determines a reflectivity of a surface of the target scene according to the [characteristics information] of the reflected light (¶70|8: “In addition to location, each gray dot may also be associated with different types of information, for example, intensity ( e.g., how much light returns back from that location), reflectivity, proximity to other dots, and more. In one embodiment, LIDAR system 100 may generate a plurality of point-cloud data entries from detected reflections of multiple scanning cycles of the field of view to enable, for example, determining a point cloud model of the environment around vehicle 110.”)
As for Claim 15, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the light receiving unit array comprises at least two light receiving units, and the at least two light receiving units share at least one electrical signal preamplifier, wherein the electrical signal preamplifier comprises a transimpedance amplifier (¶233|24: “In the described embodiments, the dynamically controlled amplification parameter may include at least one of: detector gain, amplifier gain, sensitivity level, and/or attenuation value. And, as noted, adjusting an amplification parameter of the detector may include an alteration of any or all of these parameters relative to any component present in the light reception or light processing path, including sensor 116 and other components of the LIDAR system.”)
As for Claim 16, which depends on Claim 1, Keilaf teaches wherein the at least two light-emitting units are used to simultaneously emit, within a scanning time interval required by a maximum measurement range, emitted light for scanning; and the light receiving unit array comprises at least two different light receiving units corresponding to the at least two light-emitting units (¶287|1: “The first light emission may be reflected by an object in the field of view. Processor 118 may receive, from one or more sensors, data associated with the reflection from the object in the field of view (step 1504). Subsequently, the light source may be activated to emit a second light emission toward the field of view (step 1506). In some embodiments, the first and second light emissions may be emitted during the same scanning cycle. In other embodiments, the first and second light emissions are emitted in separate scanning cycles. In some embodiments the second light emission may be one or more light pulses. In some embodiments, the first and second light pulses may be directed towards different portions of the field of view.”), wherein the at least two light receiving units correspond to at least two different electrical signal preamplifier; and at least one of a distance and light intensity of the target scene respectively scanned by the at least two light-emitting units is determined according to the emitted light emitted simultaneously and output signals of the electrical signal preamplifiers (¶233|24: “In the described embodiments, the dynamically controlled amplification parameter may include at least one of: detector gain, amplifier gain, sensitivity level, and/or attenuation value. And, as noted, adjusting an amplification parameter of the detector may include an alteration of any or all of these parameters relative to any component present in the light reception or light processing path, including sensor 116 and other components of the LIDAR system.”)
As for Claim 17, Keilaf teaches emitting a measurement pulse according to a predetermined scanning angle and a laser pulse characteristic, wherein the scanning angle is formed after light is emitted by one of at least two light-emitting units disposed in a first direction toward each rotating mirror surface of a rotating polygon mirror at a different predetermined emission angle and deflected by the mirror surface (Fig. 2C showing two pulse emitting lasers with different light characteristics and a rotating scanning mirror; although a scanning mirror is shown, the reference discloses that the scanning mirror can also be a rotating polygon mirror, which would deflect the different pulses at different angles: (¶61|1) “Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the LIDAR system may include at least one scanning unit with at least one light deflector configured to deflect light from the light source in order to scan the field of view. The term "light deflector" broadly includes any mechanism or module which is configured to make light deviate from its original path; for example, a mirror, a prism, controllable lens, a mechanical mirror, mechanical scanning polygons, active diffraction (e.g. controllable LCD), Risley prisms, nonmechanical- electro-optical beam steering (such as made by Vscent), polarization grating (such as offered by Boulder Non-Linear Systems), optical phased array (OPA), and more.”), and predetermined included angles each between a mirror surface and a rotating shaft of the rotating polygon mirror are different; receiving a reflected laser pulse within a preset first reception time interval, the reflected laser pulse being formed after the measurement pulse emitted at the scanning angle is reflected by a target scene (Fig. 2C showing two pulse emitting lasers with different light characteristics and a rotating scanning mirror; although a scanning mirror is shown, the reference discloses that the scanning mirror can also be a rotating polygon mirror: (¶61|1) “Consistent with disclosed embodiments, the LIDAR system may include at least one scanning unit with at least one light deflector configured to deflect light from the light source in order to scan the field of view. The term "light deflector" broadly includes any mechanism or module which is configured to make light deviate from its original path; for example, a mirror, a prism, controllable lens, a mechanical mirror, mechanical scanning polygons, active diffraction (e.g. controllable LCD), Risley prisms, nonmechanical- electro-optical beam steering (such as made by Vscent), polarization grating (such as offered by Boulder Non-Linear Systems), optical phased array (OPA), and more.” The limitation simply describes the inherent functioning of a pulse LiDAR with a scanning polygon mirror.); and recording a characteristic of the received reflected laser pulse and each sub-part reception time of at least two sub-parts that are included in the reflected laser pulse; and calculating a target distance, a target intensity, and a target measurement credibility that correspond to the scanning angle through an optical pulse characteristic of the measurement pulse, the characteristic of the reflected laser pulse, a predetermined emission angle, the predetermined included angles, and the sub-portion reception time (¶77|1: “According to some embodiments, scanning the environment around LIDAR system 100 may include illuminating field of view 120 with light pulses. The light pulses may have parameters such as: pulse duration, pulse angular dispersion, wavelength, instantaneous power, photon density at different distances from light source 112, average power, pulse power intensity, pulse width, pulse repetition rate, pulse sequence, pulse duty cycle, wavelength, phase, polarization, and more. Scanning the environment around LIDAR system 100 may also include detecting and characterizing various aspects of the reflected light. Characteristics of the reflected light may include, for example: time-of-flight (i.e., time from emission until detection), instantaneous power (e.g., power signature), average power across entire return pulse, and photon distribution/signal over return pulse period [including any pulse sub-parts].” Further, (¶316|11) “[a]dditional examples of environmental conditions upon which optical budget (or computational budget) apportionment may be based may include …data analysis from previous collected FOV frames (e.g., point clouds, normal to surfaces, reflectivity, confidence levels [i.e., target measurement credibility], etc.).”)
As for Claim 18, Keilaf teaches emitting a measurement laser pulse set within a predetermined first pulse set time interval, wherein the measurement laser pulse set comprises at least three pulse series having different scanning angles and different optical pulse characteristics (Fig. 2B showing three pulsing lasers 112 scanning at three different angles and FOVs 120A-C, each laser can have its own wavelength, frequency, and polarization, ¶72|3: “FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a plurality of projecting units 102 with a plurality of light sources aimed at a common light deflector 114….”); receiving a reflected laser pulse set within a preset first reception time interval, the reflected laser pulse set being formed after the measurement laser pulse set is reflected by a target scene; and recording optical pulse characteristics of the received reflected laser pulse set; determining that the reflected laser pulse set is received successfully, in response to a correlation between the reflected laser pulse set and the measurement laser pulse set being greater than a preset correlation threshold (¶77|1: “According to some embodiments, scanning the environment around LIDAR system 100 may include illuminating field of view 120 with light pulses. The light pulses may have parameters such as: pulse duration, pulse angular dispersion, wavelength, instantaneous power, photon density at different distances from light source 112, average power, pulse power intensity, pulse width, pulse repetition rate, pulse sequence, pulse duty cycle, wavelength, phase, polarization, and more. Scanning the environment around LIDAR system 100 may also include detecting and characterizing various aspects of the reflected light. Characteristics of the reflected light may include, for example: time-of-flight (i.e., time from emission until detection), instantaneous power (e.g., power signature), average power across entire return pulse, and photon distribution/signal over return pulse period [including any pulse sub-parts].” Further, (¶316|11) “[a]dditional examples of environmental conditions upon which optical budget (or computational budget) apportionment may be based may include …data analysis from previous collected FOV frames (e.g., point clouds, normal to surfaces, reflectivity, confidence levels [i.e., correlation being greater than a preset correlation threshold], etc.).”); and in response to the correlation between the reflected laser pulse set and the measurement laser pulse set being less than or equal to the preset correlation threshold, determining that the reflected laser pulse set is received unsuccessfully, discarding the received reflected laser pulse set (¶193|11: “For example, based on various conditions (e.g., the identification of a defective detection element, etc.) processor 118 can effectively ignore at least one detection element during processing.”), and emitting a measurement laser pulse set again (¶209|1: “Method 910 also includes step 912 of receiving from at least one sensor having a plurality of detection elements reflections signals indicative of light reflected from objects in the FOY portion. It is noted that steps 911 and 912 may be repeated more than once, and that iterations of step 911 and/or 912 may be executed between any of the steps of method 910 discussed below and/or concurrently with one or more of these steps.”)
As for Claim 19, which depends on Claim 18, Keilaf teaches further comprising: pre-processing a related laser pulse set at a high speed using a correlation calculation module, and assisting a computing circuit in screening and calculating the related laser pulse set for high-speed pre-processing, wherein the related laser pulse set is at least one of the measurement laser pulse set and the reflected laser pulse set (¶107|4: “Optionally, processor 408 may be configured to determine the time of flight for reflected light 206 based on the plurality of regions of output signals. In addition to the time of flight, processing unit 108 may analyze reflected light 206 to determine the average power across an entire return pulse, and the photon distribution/signal may be determined over the return pulse period ("pulse shape"). In the illustrated example, the outputs of any detection elements 402 may not be transmitted directly to processor 408, but rather combined (e.g. summed) with signals of other detectors [i.e., high-speed pre-processing] of the region 404 before being passed to processor 408.”)
Claim 20 recites substantially the same subject matter as Claim 17 and stands rejected on the same basis accordingly.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLINT THATCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-3588. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5:30pm ET and generally keeps a daily 2:30pm timeslot open for interviews.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao, can be reached at (571) 270-3603.
Though not relied on, the Office considers the additional prior art listed in the Notice of Reference Cited form (PTO-892) pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
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/Clint Thatcher/
Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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