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 .
Oath/Declaration
The receipt of the Oath/Declaration is acknowledged.
Drawings
The drawing(s) filed on 05/06/2024 are accepted by the Examiner.
Claim Amendments
Acknowledgement of receiving amendments to the claims, which were received by the Office on 05/11/2026.
Response to Arguments
The applicant’s amendments to claims 7 and 18 overcome the 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph (pre-AIA ). Therefore, the rejection is withdrawn.
In the current Applicant’s amendment dated 05/11/2026, the claims were rewritten in independent form incorporating the allowable subject matter indicated in the Non-Final Rejection mailed on 02/13/2026. Upon further review , all of the subject matter previously indicated as allowable is no longer considered allowable. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made. Please see the detailed action below.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/06/2024 is in compliance with the provisions on 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 13 is improper because it recites the same limitations as claim 12 which includes the system from claim 2, therefore claim 13 does not further limit the subject matter. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Objections
Claims 3 and 14 are objected to because of the following informalities: in last line claims 3 and 14, the term “an even” should read “an event”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim(s) 2, 5-10 and 12-13, 16-19 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Harris et al. (US 2018/0225521 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Harris et al. (Hereafter referred to as Harris) teaches
an apparatus (Harris, Fig. 1, Focal Plane Array) comprising: a plurality of pixels (Harris, [0017], discloses a focal plane array 104 having a matrix or other collection of pixels…)., including a light detector including a photon detection element (Harris, Fig 2, pixel-based event detector 200, [0024], Harris discloses …Detectors 200 could be used with all pixels of the focal plane array 104…; pixel 202, discloses a pixel 202 that generates an electrical signal based on received illumination. Harris describes a pixel/photodetector, capacitor, comparator architecture. [0025]–[0034].), a counter configured to count an output of the light detector (Harris, [0028]–[0034], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.), and a generator, configured to reset the counter and generate a flag signal in accordance with a count value of the counter reaching a predetermined value (Harris, [0030]–[0034], [0038]–[0042], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.); and a readout circuit configured to process the flag signal (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], Harris discloses a processing system 106 that receives and processes the outputs of the focal plane array, including event indicators. It also discusses outputs from the latches 214 being used by the processing system.), wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event based on a time interval of the flag signal (Harris, [0033], [0042]–[0044], [0048]–[0051], Harris detects events based on: 1) the filter counter reaching a threshold during a short time interval, and 2) optionally neighbor-pixel confirmation. He also mentions temporal information and higher-than-frame-rate detection.), and wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], The processing system 106 receives outputs from the focal plane array and processes them to determine whether an event of interest has been detected.) in accordance with the number of times of occurrence of the flag signal (Harris, [0030]–[0034], [0038]–[0042], The filter counter 212 and latch 214 can generate repeated pixel event indicator pulses when a bright event causes the counter to reach a threshold multiple times.) in a predetermined period (Harris, [0035]-[0042], Harris discusses a global time reference signal 304 that defines repeating time intervals, and the counters are reset at each interval.).
Regarding claim 5, Harris et al. (Hereafter referred to as Harris) teaches
an apparatus (Harris, Fig. 1, Focal Plane Array) comprising: a plurality of pixels (Harris, [0017], discloses a focal plane array 104 having a matrix or other collection of pixels…)., including a light detector including a photon detection element (Harris, Fig 2, pixel-based event detector 200, [0024], Harris discloses …Detectors 200 could be used with all pixels of the focal plane array 104…; pixel 202, discloses a pixel 202 that generates an electrical signal based on received illumination. Harris describes a pixel/photodetector, capacitor, comparator architecture. [0025]–[0034].), a counter configured to count an output of the light detector (Harris, [0028]–[0034], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.), and a generator, configured to reset the counter and generate a flag signal in accordance with a count value of the counter reaching a predetermined value (Harris, [0030]–[0034], [0038]–[0042], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.); and a readout circuit configured to process the flag signal (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], Harris discloses a processing system 106 that receives and processes the outputs of the focal plane array, including event indicators. It also discusses outputs from the latches 214 being used by the processing system.), wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event based on a time interval of the flag signal (Harris, [0033], [0042]–[0044], [0048]–[0051], Harris detects events based on: 1) the filter counter reaching a threshold during a short time interval, and 2) optionally neighbor-pixel confirmation. He also mentions temporal information and higher-than-frame-rate detection.).
Regarding claim 6, Harris also teaches wherein the plurality of pixels is
divided into a plurality of groups (Harris, [0018]–[0020], [0043]–[0047], Harris states that the pixel-based event detectors may be used with a focal plane array containing multiple pixels, and that the pixels can be associated with
neighboring detectors for local filtering.), and each group is provided with a signal line (Harris, [0043]–[0044], [0049]–[0051] Harris discloses outputs from each detector to neighboring detectors and to the processing system.) configured to transfer a signal corresponding to outputs of the respective generators of at least two pixels forming the group (Harris, [0043]–[0044], Harris discloses a neighboring pixel filter and event flag generator 222 that receives pixel event indicator signals 224 from neighboring detectors and may generate an event indicator signal 226 if multiple detectors indicate the same event.).
Regarding claim 7, Harris also teaches wherein the readout circuit is further configured to read out a signal transferred through the signal line of each of the plurality of groups (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], Harris states that the processing system 106 receives outputs from the focal plane array 104 and processes information, including event indicators.).
Regarding claim 8, Harris also teaches wherein each group corresponds to one row (Harris, [0043]–[0044], [0046], Harris discusses a focal plane array and pixel neighborhoods, and it notes that neighboring detectors may be directly above, below, left, and right.).
Regarding claim 9, Harris also teaches wherein each group corresponds to one column (Harris, [0017], [0043]–[0048], Harris refers to a focal plane array 104 with multiple pixels in a matrix, and it describes orthogonally neighboring detectors above, below, left, and right of a given detector. It also discusses a portion 402 of the focal plane array and a subset 410 of pixels that generate event signals in response to a bright event.).
Regarding claim 10, Harris also teaches wherein each group corresponds to a two-dimensional region formed by pixels arranged in at least two rows and at least two columns (Harris, [0017], [0043]–[0048], Harris refers to a focal plane array 104 with multiple pixels in a matrix, and it describes orthogonally neighboring detectors above, below, left, and right of a given detector. It also discusses a portion 402 of the focal plane array and a subset 410 of pixels that generate event signals in response to a bright event.).
Regarding claim 12, Harris also teaches a system (Harris, Fig 1, system 100 [0016] comprising: the apparatus defined in claim 2 an apparatus (Harris, Fig. 1, Focal Plane Array) comprising: a plurality of pixels (Harris, [0017], discloses a focal plane array 104 having a matrix or other collection of pixels…), including a light detector including a photon detection element (Harris, Fig 2, pixel-based event detector 200, [0024], Harris discloses …Detectors 200 could be used with all pixels of the focal plane array 104…; pixel 202, discloses a pixel 202 that generates an electrical signal based on received illumination. Harris describes a pixel/photodetector, capacitor, comparator architecture. [0025]–[0034].), a counter configured to count an output of the light detector (Harris, [0028]–[0034], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.), and a generator, configured to reset the counter and generate a flag signal in accordance with a count value of the counter reaching a predetermined value (Harris, [0030]–[0034], [0038]–[0042], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.); and a readout circuit configured to process the flag signal (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], Harris discloses a processing system 106 that receives and processes the outputs of the focal plane array, including event indicators. It also discusses outputs from the latches 214 being used by the processing system.), wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event based on a time interval of the flag signal (Harris, [0033], [0042]–[0044], [0048]–[0051], Harris detects events based on: 1) the filter counter reaching a threshold during a short time interval, and 2) optionally neighbor-pixel confirmation. He also mentions temporal information and higher-than-frame-rate detection.), and wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event in accordance with the number of times of occurrence of the flag signal in a predetermined period (Harris, [0035]-[0042], Harris discusses a global time reference signal 304 that defines repeating time intervals, and the counters are reset at each interval.); and a processor configured to process a signal output by the apparatus (paragraph 0049 when an event is detected, any suitable information can be derived by the processing system 106 or other system using the information from the detectors 200. For example, the processing system 106 or other system could use the event indicator signals 226 from the detectors 200 to identify the X-Y coordinates of the detecting pixels in the focal plane array 104, the center location of the detected event, the measured intensities from those pixels, and a timestamp for the event such that processor system 106 is configured to process a signal of the X-Y coordinates of the detecting pixels output by the apparatus 100).
Claim 13 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 12.
Regarding claim 16, Harris also teaches wherein the apparatus further comprises a plurality of pixels (Harris, [0017], [0024], Harris describes a focal plane array 104 that includes a matrix or other collection of pixels.), and each pixel includes the counter and the generator (Harris, [0024]–[0034], Harris discloses a pixel-based event detector 200 associated with each pixel 202, including a filter counter 212, intensity counter 210, and latch 214.).
Regarding claim 17, Harris also teaches wherein, in the apparatus, the plurality of pixels is divided into a plurality of groups (Harris, [0019], [0043]–[0047], Harris describes neighboring detectors and local filtering among pixels in a focal plane array.), and each group is provided with a signal line (Harris, [0043]–[0044], [0049]–[0051], Harris describes pixel event indicator signals being exchanged with neighboring detectors and outputs being processed by the system.) configured to transfer a signal corresponding to outputs of the respective generators of at least two pixels forming the group (Harris, [0043]–[0044], The neighboring pixel filter and event flag generator 222 receives pixel event indicator signals 224 from multiple neighboring detectors and can generate an event indicator signal 226 when multiple detectors indicate an event.).
Regarding claim 18, Harris also teaches wherein the apparatus further comprises a readout circuit is further configured to read out a signal transferred through the signal line of each of the plurality of groups (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], Harris discloses a processing system 106 that receives outputs from the focal plane array 104 and processes them, including event indicators.).
Regarding claim 19, Harris also teaches wherein, in the apparatus, each group corresponds to a two-dimensional region formed by pixels arranged in at least two rows and at least two columns (Harris, [0017], [0043]–[0048], Harris describes a focal plane array 104 with a matrix of pixels and discusses orthogonally neighboring detectors above, below, left, and right of a detector. It also refers to a bright event affecting a portion 402 of the array and a subset 410 of pixels.).
Regarding claim 21, Harris also teaches a system (Harris, Fig 1, system 100 [0016] comprising: the apparatus defined in claim 5 an apparatus ((Harris, Fig. 1, Focal Plane Array) comprising: a plurality of pixels (Harris, [0017], discloses a focal plane array 104 having a matrix or other collection of pixels…)., including a light detector including a photon detection element (Harris, Fig 2, pixel-based event detector 200, [0024], Harris discloses …Detectors 200 could be used with all pixels of the focal plane array 104…; pixel 202, discloses a pixel 202 that generates an electrical signal based on received illumination. Harris describes a pixel/photodetector, capacitor, comparator architecture. [0025]–[0034].), a counter configured to count an output of the light detector (Harris, [0028]–[0034], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.), and a generator, configured to reset the counter and generate a flag signal in accordance with a count value of the counter reaching a predetermined value (Harris, [0030]–[0034], [0038]–[0042], Harris discloses a latch 214 that outputs a signal when the filter counter 212 reaches a threshold value, and the filter counter is reset periodically.); and a readout circuit configured to process the flag signal (Harris, [0020]–[0022], [0049]–[0051], Harris discloses a processing system 106 that receives and processes the outputs of the focal plane array, including event indicators. It also discusses outputs from the latches 214 being used by the processing system.), wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event based on a time interval of the flag signal (Harris, [0033], [0042]–[0044], [0048]–[0051], Harris detects events based on: 1) the filter counter reaching a threshold during a short time interval, and 2) optionally neighbor-pixel confirmation. He also mentions temporal information and higher-than-frame-rate detection.); and a processor configured to process a signal output by the apparatus (paragraph 0049 when an event is detected, any suitable information can be derived by the processing system 106 or other system using the information from the detectors 200. For example, the processing system 106 or other system could use the event indicator signals 226 from the detectors 200 to identify the X-Y coordinates of the detecting pixels in the focal plane array 104, the center location of the detected event, the measured intensities from those pixels, and a timestamp for the event such that processor system 106 is configured to process a signal of the X-Y coordinates of the detecting pixels output by the apparatus 100).
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.
Claims 11 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Harris et al. (US 2018/0225521 A1) in view of Brown et al. (US 8,836,066 B1).
Regarding claim 11, Harris also teaches the apparatus of claim 2, but does not does not teach wherein in the apparatus, the photon detection element is an avalanche photodiode.
In reference to Brown et al. (hereinafter referred to as Brown), Brown teaches an avalanche photodiode configured for an image sensor that teaches wherein in the apparatus, the photon detection element is an avalanche photodiode (Brown, Fig 1, Col 2, line 59 – Col 4, line 15 Brown expressly states that “the avalanche photodiode includes silicon crystal doped with impurities” and that “an imaging sensor… includes a plurality of pixels responsive to light,” where “the plurality of pixels include avalanche photodiodes.”).
These arts are analogous since they are both related to image forming apparatuses that include image sensors. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to modify the invention of Harris with the teaching of using an avalanche photodiode as the photon detection element as seen in Brown to allow effective use of the lower-cost image sensors and to allow cameras to operate in low-light conditions without a flash as taught by Brown in Col 3, lines 27-36.
Claim 20 is rejected for the same reasons as claim 11.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-4 are allowed.
Dependent claims 14-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including al of the limitations of the base claim.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
As per claim independent claim 2, known prior art fails to teach or suggest singularly or in combination: “wherein the readout circuit detects occurrence of an event in accordance with the number of times of occurrence of the flag signal in a predetermined period”.
As per claims 3 and 14, known prior art fails to teach or suggest singularly or in combination: “wherein in a first mode for monitoring occurrence of an event, the generator resets the counter and generate the flag signal in accordance with the count value by the counter reaching the predetermined value, and in a second mode for generating a pixel signal, the generator does not reset the counter even if the count value by the counter reaches the predetermined value, and wherein the generator transitions from the first mode to the second mode in accordance with detection of occurrence of an even by the readout circuit”.
Dependent claims 4 depends on allowed claim 3 and claim 15 depends on objected to claim 14 and are therefore would be allowed for the same reasons.
Conclusion
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/TWYLER L HASKINS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2639
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