DETAILED ACTION
This is the first office action on the merits. Claims 1-13 and 15-20 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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/4/2024 and 5/4/2026 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 12 is objected to because of the following informalities: on lines 2 and 5, “through detection at at least one first (second) scanning angle” should be “through detection of at least one first (second) scanning angle”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim 8 is 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 8 recites the limitation "the image" and “the point cloud data” in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1-13 and 15-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pacala US 20220291387 A1 (“Pacala”).
Regarding claims 1 and 17, Pacala discloses A signal processing method, comprising and A processing apparatus, comprising: a non-transitory memory having processor-executable instructions stored thereon (Paragraph [0296]); and
a processor configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to facilitate performance of the following by the processing apparatus (Fig. 2, processor 238, Paragraph [0051]):
obtaining, by a processing apparatus, at least one first echo signal from a detector (Fig. 3, laser pulse reflection 320, Paragraph [0060]), wherein the at least one first echo signal is based on a first optical signal detected by the detector (Fig. 4, reflected beam 411, sensor 413, Paragraph [0069]; See also Fig. 10, lidar sensor 1002), wherein the first optical signal comprises a return signal (Fig. 4, reflected beam 411, sensor 413, Paragraph [0069]), and wherein the return signal is based on a transmit signal for performing detection in a detection region (Fig. 4, emitter 403 , illuminating beam 405, Paragraph [0065]);
obtaining, by the processing apparatus, at least one second echo signal from the detector (Fig. 3, background light 330, Paragraph [0060]), wherein the at least one second echo signal is based on a second optical signal detected by the detector (Fig. 3, background light 330, Paragraph [0060]; See also Fig. 10, ambient-light sensors 1006), and wherein the second optical signal comprises a background optical signal from the detection region (Fig. 3, background light 330, Paragraph [0060]; See also Fig. 10, ambient-light sensors 1006, Paragraph [0122], [0124]); and
obtaining, by the processing apparatus, a detection result of the detection region based on the at least one first echo signal and the at least one second echo signal (Fig. 6, histogram 600, Paragraph [0089]).
Regarding claim 2 and 18, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 1 and The processing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to facilitate performance of the following by the processing apparatus:
processing the at least one first echo signal to obtain point cloud data corresponding to the detection region (Fig. 13, controller 1350, match filter 1310, peak detector 1320, mapping table 1330, image reconstruction circuit 1325, Paragraph [0149]-[0150], [0158]); and
processing the at least one second echo signal, and imaging the detection region, to obtain an image corresponding to the detection region (Fig. 13, controller 1350, match filter 1310, peak detector 1320, mapping table 1330, image reconstruction circuit 1325, Paragraph [0155]).
Regarding claim 3 and 19, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 2 and The processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to facilitate performance of the following by the processing apparatus:
obtaining enhanced point cloud data of the detection region based on the point cloud data and the image (Fig. 15, processed lidar images 1507, processed color images 1527, Paragraph [0199]).
Regarding claim 4 and 20, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 3 and The processing apparatus according to claim 19, wherein a quantity of points in the enhanced point cloud data is greater than a quantity of points in the point cloud data (Fig. 14, lidar image processor 1410, input buffer 1412, Paragraph [0165]).
Regarding claim 5, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 3, wherein obtaining the enhanced point cloud data comprises:
filtering out, based on a contour that is of a target object in the detection region and that is indicated by the image of the detection region, noise in the point cloud data (Fig. 14, lidar image processor 1410, filter kernel 1414, Paragraph [0166], [0174], [0183]).
Regarding claim 6, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 3, further comprising:
obtaining a size of the target object in the detection region based on the enhanced point cloud data (Fig. 15, Classifiers 1514 and 1534, Paragraph [0202]).
Regarding claim 7, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 3, wherein the enhanced point cloud data is enhanced point cloud data in an overlapping region between the point cloud data of the detection region and the image of the detection region (Paragraph [0124]: color and lidar pixels are correlated).
Regarding claim 8, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining the detection result of the detection region comprises:
performing enhancement on the image based on the point cloud data to obtain an enhanced image of the detection region, wherein performing enhancement comprises one or more of the following operations: shadow removal, noise reduction, contrast enhancement, overexposure removal, or underexposure compensation (Fig. 14, lidar image processor 1410, filter kernel 1414, Paragraph [0166], [0174], [0183]).
Regarding claim 9, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the detector comprises PxQ detection elements, where P is a quantity of rows of detection elements comprised in the detector, and Q is a quantity of columns of detection elements comprised in the detector (Fig. 10, sensor array 1000, Paragraph [0121]-[0122]).
Regarding claim 10, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 9, wherein the detector comprises a first plurality of detection elements for detecting the first optical signal (Fig. 10, lidar sensor 1002, Paragraph [0122]) and a second plurality of detection elements for detecting the second optical signal (Fig. 10, ambient-light sensors 1006, Paragraph [0122]).
Regarding claim 11, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first echo signal comprises a plurality of first pixels, a quantity of detection elements corresponding to the plurality of first pixels is M, and M is a positive integer (Fig. 10, lidar sensor 1002, Paragraph [0122]);
wherein the at least one second echo signal comprises a plurality of second pixels, a quantity of detection elements corresponding to the plurality of second pixels is N, and N is a positive integer (Fig. 10, ambient-light sensors 1006, Paragraph [0122]); and
wherein M is greater than N (Fig. 10, lidar sensor 1002, Paragraph [0121]: “any number of lidar sensors can be included”).
Regarding claim 12, Pacala discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first echo signal is obtained through detection at at least one first scanning angle (Paragraph [0127]-[0128]); and
wherein the at least one second echo signal is obtained through detection at at least one second scanning angle (Paragraph [0127]-[0128]).
Regarding claim 13, Pacala discloses A detection apparatus, comprising:
a laser transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal for performing detection in a detection region (Fig. 4, light emitter array 402, Paragraph [0064]); and
a detector (Fig. 4, light sensor array 404, Paragraph [0064]; See also Fig. 10, sensor array 1000) configured to:
detect a first optical signal and obtain at least one first echo signal, wherein the first optical signal comprises a return signal (Fig. 4, reflected beam 411, sensor 413, Paragraph [0069]; See also Fig. 10, lidar sensor 1002), wherein the return signal is based on the transmit signal (Fig. 4, emitter 403 , illuminating beam 405, Paragraph [0065]); and
detect a second optical signal and obtain at least one second echo signal, wherein the second optical signal comprises a background optical signal from the detection region (Fig. 3, background light 330, Paragraph [0060]; See also Fig. 10, ambient-light sensors 1006, Paragraph [0122], [0124]).
Regarding claim 15, Pacala discloses The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the detector comprises PxQ detection elements, where P is a quantity of rows of detection elements comprised in the detector, and Q is a quantity of columns of detection elements comprised in the detector (Fig. 10, sensor array 1000, Paragraph [0121]-[0122]).
Regarding claim 16, Pacala discloses The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the detector comprises a first plurality of detection elements for detecting the first optical signal (Fig. 10, lidar sensor 1002, Paragraph [0122]) and a second plurality of detection elements for detecting the second optical signal (Fig. 10, ambient-light sensors 1006, Paragraph [0122]).
Conclusion
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/RACHEL NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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