Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after 16 Mar 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Applicant presents Claims 1-10 for examination. The Office rejects Claims 1-10 as detailed below.
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)(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.
+_+_+ Claims 1-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Fitelson et al. - U.S. Pub. 20230375708 +_+_+
As for Claim 1, Fitelson teaches circuitry configured to: calculate quantum correlation information based on first light and second light quantum-entangled with the first light (Fig. 1, ¶14|1: “The quantum lidar system 100 includes a beam generator 104 and a beam combiner 106. The beam generator 104 is configured to generate a signal beam and an idler beam that can be implemented in a quantum entangled beam (e.g., via a nonlinear device). The beam combiner 106 is thus configured to combine the signal beam and the idler beam to generate the quantum entangled beam, described hereinafter as a "combined optical beam".”); perform inference based on the quantum correlation information to obtain inference results (¶5|16: “The lidar receiver further includes a lidar processor configured to generate lidar data associated with the target based on the first and second detection signals.”); and output the inference results (¶13|8: “Thus, the quantum lidar system 100 can be configured to determine a range to the target 102 and/or generate image data associated with the target 102.”)
As for Claim 2, which depends on Claim 1, Fitelson teaches wherein the quantum correlation information includes multiple spatially correlated images corresponding to the first light and the second light at different times (¶13|8: “Thus, the quantum lidar system 100 can be configured to determine a range to the target 102 and/or generate image data [i.e., spatially correlated images] associated with the target 102.”)
As for Claim 3, which depends on Claim 1, Fitelson teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to: infer an object frame corresponding to at least one of the first light or the second light reflected from an object, and the inference results include information on the object frame (¶13|8: “Thus, the quantum lidar system 100 can be configured to determine a range to the target 102 and/or generate image data associated with the target 102.” That is, the target is an identified object [object frame] within an image.)
As for Claim 4, which depends on Claim 1, Fitelson teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to receive a captured-light image of reflection light of at least one of the first light or the second light reflected from an object (¶13|8: “Thus, the quantum lidar system 100 can be configured to determine a range to the target 102 and/or generate image data [from captured reflected light] associated with the target 102.”)
As for Claim 5, Fitelson teaches circuitry configured to: receive information including flight time information (¶13|1: “FIG. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a quantum lidar system 100. The quantum lidar system 100 can be implemented in any of a variety of range-finding and/or imaging applications with respect to a target 102.”) based on reflection light of at least one of first light or second light reflected from an object, the first light and the second light being quantum-entangled with each other (Fig. 1, ¶14|1: “The quantum lidar system 100 includes a beam generator 104 and a beam combiner 106. The beam generator 104 is configured to generate a signal beam and an idler beam that can be implemented in a quantum entangled beam (e.g., via a nonlinear device). The beam combiner 106 is thus configured to combine the signal beam and the idler beam to generate the quantum entangled beam, described hereinafter as a "combined optical beam".”); and output analysis results including at least one of: object frame information about an object frame corresponding to the reflection light from the object; the flight time information; and distance information about a distance to the object (¶13|1: “FIG. 1 illustrates an example block diagram of a quantum lidar system 100. The quantum lidar system 100 can be implemented in any of a variety of range-finding [i.e. flight time and distance] and/or imaging applications with respect to a target 102.”)
As for Claim 6, which depends on Claim 5, Fitelson teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to: calculate quantum correlation information based on the information including the flight time information; and perform inference based on the quantum correlation information to obtain inference results (¶13|8: “Thus, the quantum lidar system 100 can be configured to determine a range to the target 102 and/or generate image data associated with the target 102.”)
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 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fitelson in view of IDS entry Zhao et al. - "Light Detection and Ranging with Entangled Photons," Opt. Express 30, 3675-3683 (2022); 20 Jan 2022 +_+_+
As for Claim 7, which depends on Claim 5, Fitelson does not explicitly teach the claim limitations.
But Zhao teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to: receive another information including flight time information based on another reflection light of third light of classical light reflected from the object; and output the analysis results based on the information and said another information (P3677: “(a) An object O1 placed in the far field of a 1-mm-thick β-Barium Borate (BBO) nonlinear crystal is illuminated by spatially entangled photon pairs produced via type-I spontaneous parametric down conversion (SPDC), while an object O2 is illuminated by diffused classical light.” Further, (P3678) “[t]o acquire depth information and distinguish classical interference, the spatially-averaged intensity and correlation peak values represented in function of the gate position in Fig. 2(c) are analyzed. The two-step average intensity profile represents the double reflections from O1 and O2, while the correlation peak profile only reveals the trend of quantum light over the given time range. By locating the falling edges of the intensity profile, the arrival time information of all the objects can be obtained [18,39].”)
It 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 to combine Fitelson and Zhao because combining classic light with entangled light in a LiDAR system allows for comparing and contrasting the results of the two techniques, including being able to identify spoofed LiDAR signals in order to enhance system integrity and security.
As for Claim 8, which depends on Claim 5, Fitelson teaches further comprising: a light emitter to emit the first light and the second light; a light receiver to receive the reflection light; and another circuitry configured to control the light emitter and the light receiver (Fig. 1, ¶14|1: “The quantum lidar system 100 includes a beam generator 104 and a beam combiner 106. The beam generator 104 is configured to generate a signal beam and an idler beam that can be implemented in a quantum entangled beam (e.g., via a nonlinear device). The beam combiner 106 is thus configured to combine the signal beam and the idler beam to generate the quantum entangled beam, described hereinafter as a "combined optical beam".”) Fitelson does not explicitly teach the remaining claim limitations.
But Zhao teaches wherein the circuitry is further configured to: calculate driving conditions for the light emitter and the light receiver, based on the analysis results; and output a driving signal corresponding to the driving conditions, to said another circuitry (P3679: “One may then enhance the removal of temporally overlapping interferences by increasing the number of frames (e.g. up to ∼ 106 8-bit frames) for each gate delay so as to retrieve a spatially-resolved correlation image instead of a spatially-averaged correlation image [24,25,28,34].”)
It 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 to combine Fitelson and Zhao because combining classic light with entangled light in a LiDAR system allows for comparing and contrasting the results of the two techniques, including being able to identify spoofed LiDAR signals in order to enhance system integrity and security.
As for Claim 9, which depends on Claim 8, Zhao teaches wherein the driving conditions include a number of frames to capture a captured-light image with light including the reflection light received by the light receiver (P3679: “One may then enhance the removal of temporally overlapping interferences by increasing the number of frames (e.g. up to ∼ 106 8-bit frames) for each gate delay so as to retrieve a spatially-resolved correlation image instead of a spatially-averaged correlation image [24,25,28,34].”)
As for Claim 10, which depends on Claim 8, Zhao teaches further comprising another light emitter to emit third light of classical light, wherein the light receiver further receives both of: the reflection light; and another reflection light of the third light reflected from the object, and the circuitry is further configured to: receive another information including flight time information based on said another reflection light; and output the analysis results based on the information and said another information (P3678: “To acquire depth information and distinguish classical interference, the spatially-averaged intensity and correlation peak values represented in function of the gate position in Fig. 2(c) are analyzed. The two-step average intensity profile represents the double reflections from O1 and O2, while the correlation peak profile only reveals the trend of quantum light over the given time range. By locating the falling edges of the intensity profile, the arrival time information of all the objects can be obtained [18,39].”)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CLINT THATCHER whose telephone number is (571)270-3588. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5:30pm ET and generally keeps a daily 2:30pm timeslot open for interviews.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuqing Xiao, can be reached at (571) 270-3603.
Though not relied on, the Office considers the additional prior art listed in the Notice of Reference Cited form (PTO-892) pertinent to Applicant's disclosure.
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/Clint Thatcher/
Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/YUQING XIAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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