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
The following claimed benefit is acknowledged: The instant application, filed on 26 March 2024, claims foreign priority to KR Application No. 10-2023-0125317, filed on 20 September 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statements (lDS) submitted on 03/26/2024, 05/14/2024 and 12/10/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and have been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claims 1 and 4-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ando (US20200400822A1) in view of Crouch (US20190310372A1).
Regarding claim 1, Ando teaches a LiDAR apparatus (Fig. 1) comprising:
a first light source configured to output light for detecting a distance up to a target the light having a frequency (Fig. 1, first laser light source 2a; ¶¶ 69-71, range gated for “indicating the measurement distance”; ¶ 22, targeting “aerosols in the atmosphere” to measure wind parameters; Fig. 2 & ¶ 27, source 2a at 1520 nm wavelength) […];
a second light source configured to output light having a preset frequency for detecting a speed of the target (Fig. 1, second laser light source 2b; Fig. 2 & ¶ 27, source 2b with preset wavelength 1540 nm; ¶ 65 & 70, Doppler shift provides for “speed of an object”);
a third light source configured to output light having a preset frequency difference from the preset frequency of the light output by the second light source for detecting a directivity of the target that moves (Fig. 1, third laser light source 2c; Fig. 2 & ¶ 27, source 2c with preset wavelength 1560 nm; ¶¶ 71& 93, employed for calculating a three-dimensional velocity vector);
a light combination unit configured to combine pieces of light radiated by the first to third light sources, respectively (Fig. 1, multiplexing unit 3 + branching unit 4; ¶ 29, combines sources 2a, 2b, 2c; ¶ 93, sequential source selection);
an optical system configured to adjust a path or state of light to be output to an outside or reflected light that is reflected by the target (Fig. 1, optical antenna 9 + optical branch 8 + circulator 7 + optical amplifier 6; ¶¶ 41-43, output light directed to different paths, input light multiplexed and directed to circulator);
an interferometer (Fig. 1, heterodyne unit 10a) configured to receive the light that has been combined by the light combination unit (Fig. 1 & ¶ 36, light output from multiplexing unit 3 + branching unit 4 directed to heterodyne unit 10a) and the reflected light that has passed through the optical system (Fig. 1 & ¶¶ 40, 43 & 48, reflected light received by heterodyne unit 10a from optical antenna 9 + optical branch 8 + circulator 7) and to make the combined light and the reflected light interfere with each other (¶ 66, interferometric/heterodyne detection through generating beat signal from mixing of emission and reception light); and
a detection unit configured to detect information on a distance and speed including directivity of the target by receiving the light subjected to the interference in the interferometer (Fig. 1, processing unit 10b; ¶¶ 69-71, mixed beat signal is gated to provide for distance, Doppler shift calculated to provide for speed, and used in vector operation to provide for directivity), wherein
the light combination unit (Fig. 1, multiplexing unit 3 + branching unit 4) combines and adjusts the pieces of light radiated by the first light source and the second light source so that the pieces of light are output to the outside of the LiDAR apparatus (¶¶ 29 & 31, multiplexes/combines the light sources; ¶ 36, adjusts and branches the light for transmission), and wherein
the light combination unit (Fig. 1, multiplexing unit 3 + branching unit 4) combines and adjusts the pieces of light radiated by the first light source and the third light source so that the pieces of light proceed to the interferometer (¶¶ 29 & 31, multiplexes/combines the light sources; ¶ 36, adjusts and branches the light to heterodyne unit 10a).
Ando does not teach: [a first light source configured to output light having a frequency] “that linearly changes between a first frequency and a second frequency over time.” However, Crouch teaches a laser source (¶ 47) configured to output light having a frequency that linearly changes between a first frequency f1 and a second frequency f2 over time τ (Fig. 1A; ¶¶ 38-39). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the first light source of Ando with a chirped frequency output as taught by Crouch with a reasonable expectation for success in order to provide for high ranging accuracy at lower peak power, thereby mitigating optical component degradation and yielding a system with improved measurement stability and performance (see Crouch, ¶¶ 4-5).
Regarding claim 4, Ando in view of Crouch teaches the LiDAR apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches: wherein the optical system comprises: a transmission-optical system configured to adjust a path of the light combined by the light combination unit so that the light proceeds to the target (Ando, Fig. 1, optical antenna 9; ¶¶ 49-50, beam adjusted to different directions); and a reception-optical system configured to adjust a path of the reflected light that is incident thereon from the outside by being reflected by the target so that the reflected light proceeds to the interferometer (Ando, Fig. 1, optical branch 8 + circulator 7; ¶¶ 40 & 43, reflected return light is multiplexed and directed to heterodyne unit 10a).
Regarding claim 5, Ando in view of Crouch teaches the LiDAR apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches: wherein the optical system amplifies light that is combined by the light combination unit and that is to be output to the target (Ando, Fig. 1, optical amplifier 6; ¶ 38).
Regarding claim 6, Ando in view of Crouch teaches the LiDAR apparatus of claim 1. The combination as currently modified does not teach: wherein the detection unit detects the information on the distance of the target based on a frequency that has been changed by the distance of the reflected light. However, Crouch teaches the limitation in ¶ 40, Equations 1a & 1b, where range/distance is based on a frequency difference f2-f1, as computed by processor 346 (¶ 56). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the detection unit of Ando in view of Crouch and with the frequency-difference distance determination of Crouch with a reasonable expectation for success in order to provide more precise and robust range determination within each range gate of Ando without requiring higher peak power, thereby yielding a system with enhanced ranging resolution and robustness (see Crouch, ¶¶ 4, 40, and 43-44).
Regarding claim 7, Ando in view of Crouch teaches the LiDAR apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches: wherein the detection unit detects the information on the speed of the target based on a Doppler frequency (Ando, ¶ 70, speed based on Doppler frequency shift).
Conclusion
Prior art made of record though not relied upon in the present basis of rejection are noted in the attached PTO 892 and include: Pierrottet (US20210373157A1) which discloses an FMCP Doppler lidar system employing three output beams for range and velocity measurements. Amzajerdian (US20140036252A1) which discloses a coherent Doppler LIDAR employing three output beams for measuring velocity. Chang (US20120206712A1) which discloses a multi-wavelength multi-source laser Doppler system for measurement of velocity based on coherent detection.
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/ZHENGQING QI/Examiner, Art Unit 3645