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 .
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 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.
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.
Claims 1-5, 10-15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mellot US 20210063240 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Mellot teaches a control for a line scanning LiDAR device ([0016, 43-45]), comprising circuitry (CTRL 104 in Fig. 1) configured to:
set, for each row of a first set of rows of a light detection pixel array, a first binning of light detection pixels for acquiring a signal contribution of reflected illumination light to obtain distance information (individual pixel binning or clustering and macropixels for iToF or dToF operation, Figs. 5-12, [0021, 61-91];); and
set, for each row of a second set of rows of the light detection pixel array, a second binning of light detection pixels for acquiring a crosstalk contribution of reflected illumination light to obtain crosstalk information (dToF operation to determine crosstalk, Figs. 11-13, [0080-91]),
wherein the first and the second set of rows are either the same or disjunct (all pixels considered for iToF or just those illuminated, [0060-62]; different groupings for dToF but could still consider all pixels, [0061, 67]).
Regarding claim 2, Mellot teaches the control according to claim 1, wherein, when the first and the second set of rows are the same, the first and the second binning are set in subsequent data acquisitions (all pixels considered for iToF or just those illuminated, [0060-62]; different groupings for dToF but could still consider all pixels, [0061, 67]; dToF after other iToF frames in Fig. 12, [0022, 80-93]).
Regarding claim 3, Mellot teaches the control according to claim 2, wherein the first binning includes a first macroblock of light detection pixels and the second binning includes a second macroblock of light detection pixels (clustering an macro pixels, Figs. 5 and 8, [0062, 67]).
Regarding claim 4, Mellot teaches the control according to claim 3, wherein the second macroblock is shifted with respect to the first macroblock (dToF using macro pixels would require macro pixels shifted throughout the array to form the cross-talk grid points 1101 in Fig. 11, [0080-91]; examiner notes that at least some dToF macropixels are shifted from some groupings of pixels in the iToF, [0061-62, 67]).
Regarding claim 5, Mellot teaches the control according to claim 3, wherein the second macroblock is larger than the first macroblock (larger groupings of detectors in dToF than in iToF, [0061-62, 67], see also Fig. 12 with different resolutions).
Regarding claim 10, Mellot teaches the control according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
generate, based on the first binning of light detection pixels, first histogram data ([0022, 62-65, 84-85]);
generate, based on the second binning of light detection pixels, second histogram data (Fig. 12, [0067-93]); and
generate, based on the first and the second histogram data, third histogram data to improve the distance information ([0084-85]).
Regarding claim 11, Mellot teaches a control method for a line scanning LiDAR device ([0016, 43-45]), comprising:
setting, for each row of a first set of rows of a light detection pixel array, a first binning of light detection pixels for acquiring a signal contribution of reflected illumination light to obtain distance information (individual pixel binning or clustering and macropixels for iToF or dToF operation, Figs. 5-12, [0021, 61-91]); and
setting, for each row of a second set of rows of the light detection pixel array, a second binning of light detection pixels for acquiring a crosstalk contribution of reflected illumination light to obtain crosstalk information (dToF operation to determine crosstalk, Figs. 11-13, [0080-91]),
wherein the first and the second set of rows are either the same or disjunct (all pixels considered for iToF or just those illuminated, [0060-62]; different groupings for dToF but could still consider all pixels, [0061, 67]).
Regarding claim 12, see rejection to claim 2.
Regarding claim 13, see rejection to claim 3.
Regarding claim 14, see rejection to claim 4.
Regarding claim 15, see rejection to claim 5.
Regarding claim 20, see rejection to claim 10.
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 6-9 and 16-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mellot US 20210063240 A1 in view of Pacala US 20200116558 A1.
Regarding claim 6, Mellot teaches the control according to claim 1,
Mellot does not explicitly teach wherein, when the first and the second set of rows are disjunct, the first and the second binning are set in a same data acquisition .
Pacala teaches disjunct detectors to measure noise (ambient light sensors 406 in Fig. 4, [0124]; see also Fig. 2, [0116-8]; Figs. 5-6, [0133-146]; can measure at same or different times ([0115])
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 Mellot such that when the first and the second set of rows are disjunct, the first and the second binning are set in a same data acquisition similar to Pacala with a reasonable expectation of success. This would have the predictable result of ensuring that any noise measurements were present during the distance measurements.
Regarding claim 7, Mellot as modified above teaches the control according to claim 6, wherein the first binning includes a first macroblock of light detection pixels and the second binning includes a second macroblock of light detection pixels (clustering an macro pixels, Figs. 5 and 8, [0062, 67]).
Regarding claim 8, Mellot as modified above teaches the control according to claim 7, wherein the second macroblock is shifted with respect to a predetermined position (clustering and macro pixels, Figs. 5 and 8, [0062, 67]; examiner notes the different macro pixels (e.g. 802 in Fig. 8) are shifted to form all the crosstalk information in [0080-93]).
Regarding claim 9, Mellot as modified above teaches the control according to claim 7, wherein the second macroblock is larger than a predetermined macroblock of light detection pixels (e.g. macro pixel 802 is larger than any macro pixel (including single pixels) with a smaller size in Fig. 8, [0067]).
Regarding claim 16, see rejection to claim 6.
Regarding claim 17, see rejection to claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, see rejection to claim 8.
Regarding claim 19, see rejection to claim 9.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Greiner US 20230236290 A1 teaches overlapping or non-overlapping macropixels and histograms for each (Figs. 2-3)
Bogatscher US 20230194665 A1 teaches comparing row and column data at different times to remove crosstalk (Figs. 2-3)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH C FRITCHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5533. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Isam Alsomiri can be reached on 571-272-6970. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/J.C.F./Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/ISAM A ALSOMIRI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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