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.
(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) 1-3, 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Yang (US 2023/0204733).
Regarding Claim 1, Yang discloses a detection method [0201-0202], comprising: obtaining ambient information [0202-05]; determining a first signal processing mode for a receiver to process a current scanning received detection echo, based on the ambient information [0207-0213]; processing a received echo signal based on the first signal processing mode [0200-0205; 0207-0213]; and generating detection information based on a processed received echo signal [0200-0205; 0207-0213].
The rejection for Claim 1 applies mutatis mutandis, to the detection apparatus [0200-0201] of Claim 10, and the electronic device [0200-0201] of Claim 11.
Regarding Claim 2, Yang also discloses obtaining a sampling frequency of a detection echo signal processing mode and a sampling number of a detection echo [0217-0223]; and determining a second signal processing mode for the detection echo, based on the sampling frequency of the detection echo signal processing mode and the sampling number of the detection echo [0217-0223; 0225-0234]
Regarding Claim 3, Yang also discloses wherein the ambient information comprises ambient light information, and the determining the first signal processing mode [0217-0223] for the receiver to process the current scanning received detection echo based on the ambient information comprises: determining the first signal processing mode for the receiver to process the current received detection echo based on the ambient light information [0217-0223; 0225-0234].
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) 4-8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 2023/0204733), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Henderson (US 2020/0158836)
Regarding Claim 4, Yang does not explicitly teach – but Henderson does teach wherein the first signal processing mode is a gray image output mode or a point cloud signal processing output mode [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Yang to include grayscale or point cloud processing to selectively capture or count these correlated photons while rejecting uncorrelated photons from ambient light sources, to provide in-pixel averaging without time-to-digital conversion by implementing the rolling center of mass calculation techniques.
Regarding Claim 5, Yang does not explicitly teach – but Henderson does teach wherein the second signal processing mode is a gray image output mode or a point cloud signal processing output mode [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Yang to include grayscale or point cloud processing to selectively capture or count these correlated photons while rejecting uncorrelated photons from ambient light sources, to provide in-pixel averaging without time-to-digital conversion by implementing the rolling center of mass calculation techniques.
Regarding Claim 6, Yang does not explicitly teach – but Henderson does teach wherein the determining the first signal processing mode for the receiver to process the current scanning received detection echo based on ambient light information comprises: determining that the receiver performs detection echo output in the gray image output mode when a value of ambient light intensity information is greater than a first preset value [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]; and determining that the receiver performs detection echo output in the point cloud signal processing output mode when the value of the ambient light intensity information is less than or equal to the first preset value [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Yang to include grayscale or point cloud processing to selectively capture or count these correlated photons while rejecting uncorrelated photons from ambient light sources, to provide in-pixel averaging without time-to-digital conversion by implementing the rolling center of mass calculation techniques.
Regarding Claim 7, Yang does not explicitly teach – but Henderson does teach obtaining a minimum receiving unit corresponding to the first signal processing mode [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]; and performing output of the detection information based on the minimum receiving unit [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Yang to include grayscale or point cloud processing to selectively capture or count these correlated photons while rejecting uncorrelated photons from ambient light sources, to provide in-pixel averaging without time-to-digital conversion by implementing the rolling center of mass calculation techniques.
Regarding Claim 8, Yang does not explicitly teach – but Henderson does teach obtaining a correspondence between an output frequency of the detection information and a scanning number [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]; and when a first preset scanning number corresponds to one output of the detection information, after fusing the detection information obtained based on the first preset scanning number based on a preset rule, performing output of the detection information [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Yang to include grayscale or point cloud processing to selectively capture or count these correlated photons while rejecting uncorrelated photons from ambient light sources, to provide in-pixel averaging without time-to-digital conversion by implementing the rolling center of mass calculation techniques.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US 2023/0204733) and Henderson (US 2020/0158836), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hinderling (US 2016/0084651)
Regarding Claim 9, Yang also teaches and obtaining a superimposed echo signal [0217-0223; 0225-0234]. Henderson additionally teaches this limitation in [0043-46; 0053-56; 0083-84]. Yang, as modified, does not explicitly teach – but Hinderling does teach wherein one scanning comprises a plurality of signal emission angles, and the point cloud signal processing output mode comprises: superimposing echo signals of each emission angle in the plurality of signal emission angles [0087-88; 0114; 0162]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of Yang to include plural scan angles and a superimposed (accumulated) signal such that a 3D point cloud or, given simultaneous detection of the received light intensities, e.g. a photograph-like representation of the scanned environment can result from the scan.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R HULKA whose telephone number is (571)270-7553. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 9am-6pm, F: 10am-2pm.
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JAMES R. HULKA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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