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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on December 23, 2025 is acknowledged.
Applicant has withdrawn claims 13 – 17, as being to a non-elected Species. Claims 10 – 12 are also withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b), as being drawn to a nonelected Species, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicant timely traversed the restriction (election) requirement in the reply filed on December 23, 2025.
Claims 1 – 20 pending.
Claims 10 – 17 withdrawn.
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.
(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.
Claim(s) 1 – 4, 6, 18 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Seo (US 2022/0172375).
Regarding claim 1, Seo discloses a dynamic vision sensor (¶28) comprising: a pixel array (110) comprising a plurality of pixels (PX) arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns (fig. 2), wherein each of the plurality of pixels is configured to detect a change in intensity of incident light (¶29, 35); and a readout circuit configured to simultaneously select first pixels of first target columns among the plurality of columns in a first section of a binning operation, and generate and output first binning event signals of first binning pixel groups based on first event signals simultaneously output from the first pixels (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 2, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 1. Seo also teaches wherein the readout circuit is further configured to simultaneously select second pixels of second target columns among the plurality of columns in a second section of the binning operation following the first section, and to generate and output second binning event signals of second binning pixel groups based on second event signals simultaneously output from the second pixels (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 3, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 2. Seo also teaches wherein the second target columns are adjacent to the first target columns (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 4, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 1. Seo also teaches wherein each of the first binning pixel groups comprises pixels arranged in an M×N array (where each of M and N is an integer equal to or greater than 2). (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 6, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 1. Seo also teaches wherein the readout circuit is further configured to, in a normal mode, sequentially select the plurality of columns and output event signals corresponding to the plurality of pixels output from the pixel array in units of row (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 18, Seo discloses a dynamic vision sensor (¶28) comprising: a pixel array (110) comprising a plurality of pixels (PX) arranged in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns (fig. 2), wherein each of the plurality of pixels is configured to detect a change in intensity of incident light (¶29, 35); and a readout circuit configured to sequentially select binning pixel groups of the plurality of pixels in units of columns in a binning operation and generate and output binning event signals of the binning pixel groups based on a plurality of event signals output from the binning pixel groups (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 19, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 18. Seo also teaches wherein the readout circuit is further configured to sequentially select the plurality of pixels in units of columns in a normal mode and to output event signals output from selected pixels in units of rows (figs. 8; ¶83-85: binning event signals of 4x4 pixel groups).
Regarding claim 20, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 18. Seo also teaches further comprising a column selection circuit (122) configured to generate column addresses corresponding to the binning event signals (¶42, 44, 45); a row address generation circuit (122) configured to generate row addresses corresponding to the binning event signals (¶42, 44, 46); and an output buffer (123) configured to generate event data based on the binning event signals, the column addresses, and the row addresses (¶49).
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.
Claim(s) 5 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo in view of Kindt (US 2006/0077629).
Regarding claim 5, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 4. Seo fails to explicitly disclose wherein the readout circuit is further configured to adjust at least one of M and N according to a type of the binning operation.
In a similar field of endeavor, Kindt teaches a pixel binning image sensor that modifies the selected region based on the type of binning mode, if any (¶20-21). In light of the teaching of Kindt, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use Kindt’s teaching in Seo’s system because an artisan of ordinarily skill would recognize that this would result in an enhancing low-light sensitivity of the image sensor.
Claim(s) 7 – 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo in view of Samsung (US 2022/0094865).
Regarding claim 7, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 1. Seo fails to explicitly disclose wherein each of the plurality of pixels comprises: a photoelectric transformation element configured to accumulate charges corresponding to the incident light; a light reception circuit configured to output a logarithmic voltage based on a photoelectric current corresponding to the accumulated charges; and an event detection circuit configured to amplify the logarithmic voltage, compare the amplified logarithmic voltage with a reference voltage, identify the change in the intensity of the incident light, and output an event signal corresponding to the change.
In a similar field of endeavor, Samsung teaches a vision sensor wherein each of the plurality of pixels comprises: a photoelectric transformation element (PSD) configured to accumulate charges corresponding to the incident light (¶59); a light reception circuit (310) configured to output a logarithmic voltage based on a photoelectric current corresponding to the accumulated charges (¶59); and an event detection circuit (320) configured to amplify the logarithmic voltage, compare the amplified logarithmic voltage with a reference voltage, identify the change in the intensity of the incident light, and output an event signal corresponding to the change (fig. 6; ¶62-64). In light of the teaching of Samsung, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use Samsung’s teaching in Seo’s system because an artisan of ordinarily skill would recognize that this would result in an enhancing low-light performance of the image sensor.
Regarding claim 8, Seo disclose the limitations of claim 1. Seo fails to explicitly disclose wherein each of the plurality of pixels comprises: a photoelectric transformation element configured to accumulate charges corresponding to the incident light; a light reception circuit configured to output a logarithmic voltage based on a photoelectric current corresponding to the accumulated charges; and wherein the pixel array further comprises a plurality of event detection circuits configured to compare the logarithmic voltage from the plurality of pixels with a reference voltage to identify the change in the intensity of the incident light, and to output an event signal corresponding to the change.
In a similar field of endeavor, Samsung teaches a vision sensor wherein each of the plurality of pixels comprises: a photoelectric transformation element (PSD) configured to accumulate charges corresponding to the incident light (¶59); a light reception circuit (310) configured to output a logarithmic voltage based on a photoelectric current corresponding to the accumulated charges (¶59); and wherein the pixel array further comprises a plurality of event detection circuits (320) configured to compare the logarithmic voltage from the plurality of pixels with a reference voltage to identify the change in the intensity of the incident light, and to output an event signal corresponding to the change (fig. 6; ¶62-64). In light of the teaching of Samsung, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to use Samsung’s teaching in Seo’s system because an artisan of ordinarily skill would recognize that this would result in an enhancing low-light performance of the image sensor.
Regarding claim 9, Seo in view of Samsung disclose the limitations of claim 8. Samsung also teaches wherein the plurality of event detection circuits respectively correspond to the plurality of rows on a one-to-one basis (¶49).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Contact
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANTOINETTE SPINKS whose telephone number is (571)270-3749. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 7am - 5pm EST.
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/ANTOINETTE T SPINKS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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