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 05/20/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
Light source portion 601 appears to be light source portion 101 as disclosed in Para [0065].
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4, 7-9, 11-12 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable over Finkelstein et al. (WO 2022087384 A1, “Finkelstein”)
Regarding claim 1, Finkelstein teaches a ranging apparatus, comprising:
a light source portion which emits light (Para [0069], Fig 3, where surface emitting lasers 302, 304, and 306 are the light source portion that emits light in a first and second imaging mode (long and short range));
a setting portion which performs light emission setting of the light source portion (Para [0069]-[0072], Fig 3, where the processing unit functions as the setting portion configured to activate a first or second group of emitters for either a long or short imaging mode);
a light receiving portion which receives reflected light of the light having been emitted from the light source portion and reflected by an object (Para [0065], Fig 2, where the detector array 110 acts as the light receiving portion when the laser pulse 130 is reflected back from a target (object 150)); and
a generating portion which generates a distance image using the reflected light having been received by the light receiving portion (Para [0058], Fig 1, where light is processed based on time of flight to define a 3D point cloud representation 170, and therefore defines a distance image, of a field of view 190 ), wherein
the distance image is made up of a plurality of sub-frames of distance images (Para [0070], Fig 3, where the processing unit may be the generating portion generating an imaging frame associated subframes with a respective distance subrange),
in a process of generating the plurality of sub-frames, the setting portion performs first light emission setting when performing ranging of a first distance range and performs second light emission setting when performing ranging of a second distance range (Para [0069]-[0072] and [0090], Fig 3, where the processing unit functions as the setting portion configured to activate a first or second group of emitters for either a long or short imaging mode, and the imaging mode has associated subframes with respective distance subranges. Subsets of the emitters and detector pixels may also be activated in coordination based on respective subranges of a distance range in a strobe window, strobe windows corresponding to acquisition subframes of an image frame) and
the first light emission setting and the second light emission setting include setting of an irradiated region of the light emitted by the light source portion (Para [0069]-[0072], Fig 3, where the processing unit functions as the setting portion configured to activate a first or second group of emitters for either a long or short imaging mode, and therefore long and short fields of illumination (i.e. irradiated regions)).
Regarding claim 2, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first light emission setting and the second light emission setting include setting related to light intensity of the light emitted by the light source portion (Para [0070]-[0071], Fig 3, where the optical elements 305 and 307 may produce a top hat-shaped intensity profile of 5 kW for a long range mode and 3kW for a short range mode and therefore related to emitted light intensity for emitted light).
Regarding claim 4, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the setting portion switches between the first light emission setting and the second light emission setting so that (Para [0069]-[0072], Fig 3, where the processing unit functions as the setting portion configured to activate and therefore switch between a first or second group of emitters for either a long or short imaging mode)
the generating portion generates a distance image of a first sub-frame among the plurality of sub-frames using the reflected light of the light having been emitted from the light source portion according to the first light emission setting (Para [0070] and [0090], Fig 3, where the processing unit also functions as the generating portion configured to activate a first long range imaging frame, and the imaging frame has associated subframes with respective distance subranges. Subsets of the emitters and detector pixels may also be activated in coordination based on respective subranges of a distance range in a strobe window, strobe windows corresponding to acquisition subframes of an image frame) and
the generating portion generates a distance image of a second sub-frame among the plurality of sub-frames using the reflected light of the light having been emitted from the light source portion according to the second light emission setting (Para [0071], Fig 3, where the processing unit also functions as the generating portion configured to activate a second short range imaging frame, and the imaging frame has associated subframes with respective distance subranges).
Regarding claim 7, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
an environmental information acquiring portion which acquires environmental information related to an external environment of the ranging apparatus (Para [0069], Fig 3, where the emitting lasers for both the first and second imaging modes illuminate a long and short range field of illumination), wherein
the setting portion switches between the first light emission setting and the second light emission setting based on the environmental information acquired by the environmental information acquiring portion (Para [0008] and [0070]-[0071], Fig 3, where the processing unit functions as the setting portion configured to activate a first or second group of emitters for either a long or short imaging mode based on perception of a vehicle in an external environment (e.g. vehicle is on a high way for long range imaging or in an urban setting for short range imaging).
Regarding claim 8, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a movement information acquiring portion which acquires movement information related to a movement of the ranging apparatus (Para [0008] and [0070]-[0071], Fig 3, where the movement information of a vehicle driving in a specified environment determines the activation of long or short range emitters), wherein
the setting portion switches between the first light emission setting and the second light emission setting based on the movement information acquired by the movement information acquiring portion (Para [0008] and [0070]-[0071], Fig 3, where the movement information of a vehicle driving in a specified environment determines the activation of long or short range emitters, and therefore a first or second light emission setting).
Regarding claim 9, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source portion switches among distance ranges to be irradiated with the light using at least one of polarization and modulation (Para [0069]-[0071], Fig 3, where the power levels of emitted light may be modulated for both a long range and short range imaging mode using different peak powers).
Regarding claim 11, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source portion switches among distance ranges to be irradiated with the light by modifying a light emission area of the light source portion (Para [0069]-[0071], Fig 3, where the different subsets of the emitting lasers are activated for long and short range imaging).
Regarding claim 12, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the light source portion switches among distance ranges to be irradiated with the light using a surface-emitting laser made up of a plurality of laser point groups (Para [0069], Fig 3, where emitters 302, 304, and 306 are a plurality of laser point groups and the different subsets of the emitting lasers are activated for long and short range imaging).
Regarding claim 18, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the light receiving portion includes an optical member of which a focal length can be modified (Para [0087], Fig 8A and 8B, where the movable lenses 812-1 and 812-2 can be programmed and therefore have movement information for lenses that are set a first focal length for long range image acquisition or a second focal length for short range image acquisition), and
the light receiving portion modifies the focal length of the optical member in accordance with a distance range to be irradiated with the light (Para [0087] and [0007], Fig 8A and 8B, where the movable lenses 812-1 and 812-2 can be programmed for shorter and farther distance ranges being set a first focal length for long range image acquisition or a second focal length for short range image acquisition).
Regarding claim 19, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the light receiving portion includes a plurality of light receiving elements which receive the reflected light (Para [0087], Fig 8A and 8B, where the detector array 610 has light directed toward it by movable lenses 812-1 and 812-2 with a first focal length for long range image acquisition or a second focal length for short range image acquisition), and
each light receiving element of the plurality of light receiving elements receive the reflected light in a different distance range (Para [0088]-[0089], Fig 8A and 8B, where different parts of the detector array are illuminated to receive light from each of the short and long distance modes).
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 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Yeun (US 20210405163 A1, “Yeun”).
Regarding claim 3, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1,
However, Finkelstein does not teach wherein the first light emission setting and the second light emission setting include setting related to a wavelength of the light emitted by the light source portion
On the other hand, Yeun teaches dual light source emission for a first and second light emission setting for a long and short range emission mode (Yeun, Para [0046], Fig 1 where a first and second light source unit are considered to be the light source portion that emit light at two different wavelengths for long and short distance detection).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Yeun, by using dual laser emission with a long range first wavelength and a short range second wavelength to reduce power consumption of the apparatus (Yeun [0046]).
Claims 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Kuraishi (US 20160335959 A1, “Kuraishi”)
Regarding claim 5, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the light receiving portion includes a light receiving element (Para [0065], Fig 2, where the detector array 110 acts as the light receiving portion when the laser pulse 130 is reflected back from a target (object 150))
the generating portion generates the distance image using a detection result of the light receiving element (Para [0070], Fig 3, where the processing unit may be the generating portion generating an imaging frame after detection).
However, Finkelstein does not teach
On the other hand, Kuraishi teaches an illuminance thresholding to then display an image via a control unit (Kuraishi, Para [0053] and [0058], Fig 4, where the first control unit 100 will output a limit signal if the external illuminance is greater than a threshold value P, to then display an image via the second control unit 200 and image processing) (by using a limiting signal to display a desired image with reduced intensity (Kuraishi [0053]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Kuraishi by using a limiting signal to display a desired image with reduced intensity (Kuraishi [0053]).
Claims 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Kuraishi and Henderson et al. (US 20200158838 A1, “Henderson”)
Regarding claim 6, Finkelstein in view of Kuraishi teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 5,
However, Finkelstein in view of Kuraishi does not teach wherein the light receiving element repetitively performs light reception of the reflected light at constant time intervals when performing ranging of at least one of the first distance range and the second distance range.
On the other hand, Henderson teaches constant activity strobing for constant time delay for detection (Henderson, Para [0090]-[0091], Fig 11, where constant activity strobing is used across detectors using a constant time delay for spatial separation).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein and Kuraishi in view of Henderson by using constant activity strobing to lead to an easier external correction of error (Henderson, Para [0091]).
Claims 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Burroughs et al. (US 20180301872 A1, “Burroughs”)
Regarding claim 10, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 9.
However, Finkelstein does not teach wherein the light source portion switches among distance ranges to be irradiated with the light using at least any of a silicon photonics device, a compound semiconductor, and an optical phased array
On the other hand, Burroughs teaches selected VSCEL laser diodes for a long distance range (Burroughs, Para [0059], Fig 3A and 3B, where laser diodes 200 as a part of a VCSEL array may be selected to provide long range and eye safety).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Burroughs by using selected laser diodes on the surfaces of substrates to reduce optical power density (Burroughs, Para [0059]).
Claims 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Dussan et al. (US 20190086550 A1, “Dussan”)
Regarding claim 13, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1
However, Finkelstein does not teach further comprising at least any of a liquid crystal member, an electro-optical deflection element, and an acousto-optical deflection element which deflects the light emitted by the light source portion
On the other hand, Dussan teaches an acousto-optic deflector mirror as a scanning element in a beam scanner (Dussan, Para [0053], Fig 4, where the acousto-optic deflector mirror can be used as a slow axis scanning element).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Dussan, by using an acousto-optic deflector mirror for slow axis scanning (Dussan, Para [0053]).
Claims 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Nakamura et al. (JP 2021096225 A, “Nakamura”).
Regarding claim 14, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1
However, Finkelstein does not teach further comprising at least any of a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) device and a galvano mirror which modifies at least one of an irradiation angle and an irradiation range of the light due to the light source portion
On the other hand, Nakamura teaches a MEMS mirror with an increasing deflection surface along a rotation axis to change the irradiation angle (Nakamura, Para [0064] and [0065], where scanning MEMS mirror 102 rotates and increases the deflection surface 1020 on the MEMS mirror 102 along rotation axis 110 and therefore modifies an irradiation angle along a single axis similar to as mentioned in Para [0021]).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of a first embodiment of Finkelstein in view of Nakamura by using MEMS mirror to reflect light distinguishable from noise light to enable the detection of objects with a high signal to noise ratio (Nakamura, Para [0069]).
Regarding claim 16, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1,
However, Finkelstein does not teach wherein the light receiving portion modifies a light reception angle of the reflected light every time the light source portion emits the light.
On the other hand, Nakamura teaches a synchronization between a light receiving element and emitted light, therefore when an emitter changes an emitting angle the receiver can detect emitted light (Nakamura, Para [0103], Fig 4, where the emitted scanned light 111 and the reflected light 121 are synchronized such that the light is received by the light-receiving element 104, and therefore modifies the reception angle to match that of emitted light).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Nakamura by synchronizing a light receiving element to emitted light to suppress the influence of noise light and increase the signal to noise ratio (Nakamura, Para [0103]).
Claims 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Shimoda et al. (JP 2008070198 A, “Shimoda”).
Regarding claim 15, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1,
However, Finkelstein does not teach wherein the light source portion modifies an irradiation direction of the light every time the light source portion emits the light
On the other hand, Shimoda teaches a 1 degree position angle change for each light emission (Shimoda, Para [0028], Fig 1, where the light emission intensity of the light-emitting element 150 is measured at predetermined 1 degree positioning angles).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Shimoda by gradually displacing the positioning angle of a light emitting element to obtain a light distribution pattern (Shimoda, Para [0028]).
Claims 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finkelstein in view of Chen (US 20190285749 A1, “Chen”)
Regarding claim 17, Finkelstein teaches the ranging apparatus according to claim 1,
However, Finkelstein does not teach wherein the light source portion modifies a light emission period of the light every time the light source portion emits the light
On the other hand, Chen teaches a pulse repetition interval for modulation of an emission period (Chen, Para [0017] and [0023], Fig 1A, where transmitting pulses are separated by a pulse repetition interval (PRI) for modulation of an emission period).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious of one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to have modified the ranging apparatus of Finkelstein in view of Chen to use a varied pulse repetition interval to distinguish between true returns (Chen, Para [0025]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZAKI HAWKINS whose telephone number is (571)272-6595. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30am-5pm.
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/ZAKI KEHINDE HAWKINS/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ZHENGQING QI/Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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