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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in regards to application # 18/708,084 that was filed on 05/07/2024. Claims 1-26 are currently pending and are under examination.
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) 1-4 and 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Moore et al. (US 2021/0302917) in view of Honda (US2019/0364235).
Regarding Claim 1, Moore discloses a light detection element (Fig. 1, 100, para. [0030]) comprising: a pixel (104, Fig. 1)including a light receiving element that receives reflected light (114, Fig. 1) obtained by reflecting emission light (112, Fig. 1) emitted from a light source device (106, Fig. 1) by a target object, and generates a light reception signal based on reception of the reflected light (para. [0030], [0031], Fig. 1);
a reflected light signal generation section (102, Fig. 1) that generates a reflected light signal that is a signal having a predetermined pulse width on the basis of the light reception signal (para. [0038]-[0040], Fig. 1-3);
Moore is silent, but Honda teaches a light detection element (21, Fig. 1) comprising
a time code generation section (26, Fig. 1) that generates a time code that is a time-series code according to an elapsed time from emission of the emission light for each specific cycle (abstract, “…a time code of a predetermined number of bits for use in converting into a digital signal a pixel signal reflecting the intensity of light received by a pixel….”); and
a time code holding section that includes a latch circuit (71, Fig. 2) that has a data input terminal to which the time code generated is input and an enable terminal to which the reflected light signal is input and holds the time code input, outputs the time code input from an output terminal during a period in which the reflected light signal is input (Fig. 2, para. [0067], [0069]), and holds the time code input when input of the reflected light signal is stopped (para. [0067], Fig. 2, ‘…the latch control circuit 71 stops writing (updating) the supplied time code and causes the latch storage section 72 to hold the time code most recently stored therein…’).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the light detection element disclosed in Moore with the time code generation and time code holding sections taught in Honda with a reasonable expectation of success because it improves measuring precision by tracking the exact moment a reflected photon arrives relative to the light source as well as reduce power consumption (i.e. the circuitry performs active storage operations when a photon is actually detected),and minimized noise contamination.
Regarding Claim 2, modified Moore discloses a light detection element (Fig. 1, 100, para. [0030]) wherein the light receiving element includes an avalanche photo diode (Moore, para. [0030], Fig. 1).
Regarding Claim 3, modified Moore discloses a light detection element (Fig. 1, 100, para. [0030]) further comprising a histogram generation section that generates a histogram representing a detection frequency of a time-of-flight from emission of the emission light to reception of the reflected light as a frequency for each class of a width of the specific cycle on the basis of the time code held (Moore, para. [0046], Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 4, modified Moore discloses a light detection element (Fig. 1, 100, para. [0030]) wherein the histogram generation section includes a plurality of counters corresponding to each class, and generates the histogram by updating a count value of the counter corresponding to the class according to the time code held(Moore, para. [0046], Fig. 5).
Regarding Claim 7, modified Moore discloses a light detection element (Fig. 1, 100, para. [0030]) further comprising a plurality of the pixel, wherein the reflected light signal generation section generates the reflected light signal on the basis of a result of a logical sum calculation of light reception signals of the plurality of the pixel (Moore, para. [0038]-[0040], Fig. 3).
Claim(s) 5-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Moore et al. (US 2021/0302917) above in further view of Hirono (WO2020031496) (submitted on IDS dated 05/07/2024).
Regarding Claim 5, modified Moore is silent, but Hirono teaches a time measurement device wherein the reflected light signal generation section includes a signal delay section (50, ‘signal delay unit’, Fig. 4, para. [0011], that delays the light reception signal, and generates the reflected light signal having a pulse width corresponding to a delay time of the signal delay section (para. [0095], [0114], Fig. 4).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the light signal generation section disclosed in modified Moore with the signal delay section taught in Hirono with a reasonable expectation of success because it helps isolate measurements, compensate for physical propagation latencies, and optimize the sensor's timing control and ultimately improves measurement precision and stability.
Regarding Claim 6, modified Moore is silent, but Hirono teaches a time measurement device wherein the reflected light signal generation section further includes a delay time adjustment section (para. [0011], [0019], Fig. 4) that adjusts a delay time of the signal delay section.
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the light signal generation section disclosed in modified Moore with the delay time adjustment section taught in Hirono with a reasonable expectation of success because it provides precise control over signal timing and phase as well as noise and background rejection.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Moore et al. (US 2021/0302917) above in further view of Hata et al. (US 2020/0018853).
Regarding Claim 8, modified Moore is silent, but Hirono teaches a photodetector comprising a plurality of the pixel, wherein the reflected light signal generation section generates the reflected light signal when a predetermined number of the light reception signal is generated by the plurality of the pixel within a certain period (para. [0036], wherein if the number of pulse signals P.sub.1 to P.sub.M simultaneously output from the light reception array unit 31, is equal to or higher than a trigger threshold TH, a trigger signal TG representing the light reception timing is outputted, para. [014], [0019]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the reflected light signal generation section disclosed in modified Moore with the generation of the reflected light signal when a predetermined number of the light reception signal is generated by the plurality of the pixel within a certain period as taught in Hata with a reasonable expectation of success because it helps to filter ambient noise and confirm valid signals and in turn improve the signal to noise ratio.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Moore et al. (US 2021/0302917) above in further view of Sato et al. (US 2017/0237917).
Regarding Claim 9-10, modified Moore is silent, but Sato teaches an imaging element/light detection element (Fig. 1) with measurement units wherein the time code measurement including a binary code and gray code (para. [0209], “…the measurement unit obtains all bits of a measured value in binary codes at the time of measurement of the length of the period from a signal input start to a change of the value of the signal…”, binary code and gray code; Fig. 13).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the time code generation section disclosed in modified Moore to generate the binary and gray codes as taught in Sato with a reasonable expectation of success because it eliminates spurious errors, enables accurate time multiplexing as well as provides robust, high-speed tracking by eliminating transitional reading errors.
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Moore et al. (US 2021/0302917) above in further view of Muto et al. (US2021/0227154).
Regarding Claim 11, modified Moore is silent, but Muto teaches a light detection element comprising a decoder circuit that converts the digital data into a one-hot code representing the class corresponding to the digital data(para. [0031]), wherein the histogram generation section generates the histogram on the basis of the one-hot code (para. [0031]-[0032]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the light detection element disclosed in modified Moore with the time code conversion section/decoding circuit as taught in Muto with a reasonable expectation of success because it instantly asserts a single logic level indicating the correct time-bin class for zero decoding latency and optimized histogram building.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Moore et al. (US 2021/0302917) above in further view of Kobayashi et al. (US 2019/0068909).
Regarding Claim 12, modified Moore is silent, but Kobayashi teaches an light detection element comprising: a first semiconductor chip including the pixel (301, Fig. 3A, para. [0059] ); and a second semiconductor chip (302, Fig. 3A, para. [0059]) including the reflected light signal generation section (104, Fig. 3A), the time code generation section (102, Fig. 3A), and the time code holding section (103, Fig. 3A), the second semiconductor chip being stacked on the first semiconductor chip (Fig. 3A).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the light detection element disclosed in modified Moore with the stacked first semiconductor chip and second semiconductor chip as taught in Kobayashi with a reasonable expectation of success because it offers significantly faster communication speeds, reduced power consumption, a smaller physical footprint, and the flexibility to mix different chip technologies together.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 13-26 are allowed.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Ogawa et al. (US2020/0228738) discloses a solid-state imaging apparatus and electronic equipment that can reduce power consumption. In an AD converter for each unit pixel or each shared pixel unit, a pixel signal is compared with a reference signal temporally changing. In addition, a magnitude of a pixel signal of a pixel of interest is compared with a magnitude of each of pixel signals of neighboring pixels located in a neighborhood of the pixel of interest using the reference signal, and a result of comparison of the magnitudes is held in a data storage section.
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Assres H. Woldemaryam
Primary Examiner (Aeronautics and Astronautics)
Art Unit 3642
/ASSRES H WOLDEMARYAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3642
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