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 .
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.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2022/0214219 (FARAON).
Regarding claim 20, FARAON disclose a metasurface element, comprising:
an interleaved arrangement of cells comprising: a first set of cells configured to separate incoming light from a scene into vertically and horizontally polarized light ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4);
a second set of cells configured to separate the incoming light into clockwise and counterclockwise polarized light ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4); and
a third set of cells configured to separate the incoming light into diagonally and antidiagonally polarized light ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
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) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US2022/0214219 (FARAON).
Regarding claim 21, FARAON disclose a camera apparatus including the metasurface element of claim 20, the camera apparatus further comprising:
a photosensor array arranged with respect to the metasurface element so that the vertically and horizontally polarized light is projected onto corresponding first and second regions of the photosensor array, the clockwise and counterclockwise polarized light is projected onto corresponding third and fourth regions of the photosensor array, and the diagonally and antidiagonally polarized light is projected onto corresponding fifth and sixth regions of the photosensor array, such that the photosensor array captures a single image comprised of first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sub-images at the corresponding first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth regions of the photosensor array ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4); and
circuitry configured to compare relative intensity of different pixels of the single image by mapping pixels from each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sub-images to their corresponding counterparts in others of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sub-images to thereby reconstruct a full Stokes vector for each pixel of the single image ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
FARAON fails to teach an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to select from well-known processing hardware such as ASIC to implement image processing operations with improved processing speed and efficiency.
Claim(s) 1-9 and 12-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2022/0214219 (FARAON) in view of US 2022/0268632 (Liang).
Regarding claim 1, FARAON disclose a polarimetric camera, comprising:
structure configured to permit entry of incoming light from a scene ([0030], the input like is projected onto a metasurface comprising three different polarization basis sets);
a single photosensor array arranged to capture images (Fig. 2, “image sensor”); and
a metasurface element (Fig. 2, “metasurface”) positioned between the structure and the single photosensor array ([0029]-[0030]), wherein the metasurface element includes an interleaved arrangement of cells designed to split the incoming light into multiple polarized images, each polarized image corresponding to a distinct fundamental polarization state (shown in Fig. 4).
FARAON disclose the metasurface integrated on an image sensor to provide a polarization camera, wherein input light is projected onto the polarization basis sets [0030], but fails to explicitly teach an aperture stop.
Liang disclose a polarimetric camera comprising an aperture stop [0022].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include an aperture stop, as aperture stops are well-known components in imaging systems for controlling the amount of incoming light and improving image quality.
Regarding claim 2, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells of the metasurface element comprises:
a first set of cells configured to separate the incoming light into vertically and horizontally polarized light (Fig. 4);
a second set of cells configured to separate the incoming light into clockwise and counterclockwise polarized light (Fig. 4); and
a third set of cells configured to separate the incoming light into diagonally and antidiagonally polarized light (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 3, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells of the metasurface element comprises first, second, and third sets of cells configured to separate the incoming light into three distinct pairs of polarization states of light, such that within each pair the polarization states are mutually orthogonal (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 4, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells of the metasurface element comprises first, second, and third sets of cells arranged in a hexagonally interleaved pattern.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to arrange cells in a hexagonally or irregularly interleaved pattern, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in shape of a component which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 5, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells of the metasurface element comprises first, second, and third sets of cells arranged in an irregularly interleaved pattern.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to arrange cells in a hexagonally or irregularly interleaved pattern, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in shape of a component which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 6, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells is configured to project the multiple polarized images onto corresponding regions of the single photosensor array ([0030]-[0033]); and further comprising circuitry configured to reconstruct a full Stokes vector for each pixel of the captured images ([0030]-[0033]).
Regarding claim 7, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells of the metasurface element comprises first, second, and third sets of cells configured to flip orientation of polarization across a central axis of the metasurface element so that the first set of cells separates the incoming light into vertically and horizontally polarized light, so that the second set of cells separates the incoming light into clockwise and counterclockwise polarized light, and so that the third set of cells separates the incoming light into diagonally and antidiagonally polarized light ([0030]-[0033]).
Regarding claim 8, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, wherein the interleaved arrangement of the cells of the metasurface element comprises first, second, and third sets of cells configured to flip orientation of polarization across a central axis of the metasurface element so that the first set of cells separates the incoming light into a first orthogonal pair of light polarization states, so that the second set of cells separates the incoming light into a second orthogonal pair of light polarization states, and so that the third set of cells separates the incoming light into a third orthogonal pair of light polarization states ([0030]-[0033]).
Regarding claim 9, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 1, further comprising a processing circuit configured to process the captured images by mapping pixels from each of the multiple polarized images to corresponding counterparts in others of the multiple polarized images, and then reconstructing a full Stokes vector for each pixel of the captured images from the multiple polarized images ([0030]-[0033]).
Regarding claim 12, FARAON disclose a method for capturing polarized images using a polarimetric camera, the method comprising:
permitting entry of incoming light through a structure [0030];
directing the incoming light onto a metasurface element positioned between the structure and a single photosensor (Fig. 2, “metasurface”; [0030];
splitting the incoming light into multiple polarized images using an interleaved arrangement of cells within the metasurface element, wherein each polarized image corresponds to a distinct fundamental polarization state ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4); and
capturing the multiple polarized images using the single photosensor ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
FARAON disclose the metasurface integrated on an image sensor to provide a polarization camera, wherein input light is projected onto the polarization basis sets [0030], but fails to explicitly teach an aperture stop.
Liang disclose a polarimetric camera comprising an aperture stop [0022].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was filed to include an aperture stop, as aperture stops are well-known components in imaging systems for controlling the amount of incoming light and improving image quality.
Regarding claim 13, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 12, wherein splitting the incoming light includes manipulating phase and amplitude of the incoming light via subwavelength nanostructures of the cells in the metasurface element to produce images corresponding to vertical-horizontal polarization, clockwise-counterclockwise polarization, and diagonal-antidiagonal polarization ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
Regarding claim 14, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 12, wherein splitting the incoming light includes manipulating phase and amplitude of the incoming light via subwavelength nanostructures of the cells in the metasurface element to produce images corresponding to three distinct polarization pairs ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
Regarding claim 15, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 12, wherein the incoming light is split into: vertically and horizontally polarized light using a first set of cells of the metasurface element ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4); clockwise and counterclockwise polarized light using a second set of cells of the metasurface element ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4); and diagonally and antidiagonally polarized light using a third set of cells of the metasurface element ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
Regarding claim 16, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 15, but fail to teach wherein the first, second, and third sets of cells are arranged in a hexagonally interleaved pattern within the metasurface element.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to arrange cells in a hexagonally or irregularly interleaved pattern, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in shape of a component which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 17, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 15, but fails to teach wherein the first, second, and third sets of cells are arranged in an irregularly interleaved pattern within the metasurface element.
However, it would have been an obvious matter of design choice to arrange cells in a hexagonally or irregularly interleaved pattern, since such a modification would have involved a mere change in shape of a component which is generally recognized as being within the level of ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 18, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 15, wherein orientation of the polarization is flipped across a central axis of the metasurface element by each of the first, second, and third sets of cells ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
Regarding claim 19, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the method of claim 12, wherein the interleaved arrangement of cells is configured to project the multiple polarized images onto corresponding regions of the photosensor, and further comprising reconstructing a full Stokes vector for each pixel of the captured images ([0029]-[0032, Fig. 2-4).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10, 11, and 22 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 10, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 9, but fail to teach wherein the processing circuit is further configured to correct fixed distortion resulting from the aperture stop, thereby producing an undistorted final output image. Claim 11 depends on claim 10.
Regarding claim 11, FARAON in view of Liang disclose the polarimetric camera of claim 10, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to reconstruct a three dimensional image of the scene from the full Stokes vector for each pixel of the captured images.
Regarding claim 22, FARAON disclose the camera apparatus of claim 21, but fail to teach wherein the ASIC is further configured to reconstruct a three dimensional image of the scene from the full Stokes vector for each pixel of the single image.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANI FOX whose telephone number is (571)272-3513. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9-5.
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/DANI FOX/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884