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
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Eshel et al. (US 20200292709 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Eshel teaches
A distance measurement apparatus that emits light output from a light source through a transmissive member and detects reflection light from a target object, the distance measurement apparatus comprising: (The systems and methods of the present disclosure are directed towards improving performance of LIDAR systems (paragraph 0005))
a light receiving unit that receives at least internal reflection light including reflection light reflected by the transmissive member; (internal reflections from the window may become incident upon one or more sensors, and from this incident light, the blockage analysis (described in more detail below) may be performed. (paragraph 0255))
and an information generation unit that generates information on a distance measurement property of the distance measurement apparatus by using a light reception result of the internal reflection light by the light receiving unit. (a threshold parameter may include, for example, a temporal parameter, such as the duration of the internal reflection of an internal reflection signal, its rate of ascend and/or descend, and so on. For example, if a detected signal has a greater duration than the threshold, signal processing module 1026 may determine that an obstruction is present. In another example, if the intensity of the detected light signal exceeds a predetermined threshold within a predetermined time window from the emission of the light pulse, and so on. (paragraph 0278))
Regarding claim 2, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the distance measurement apparatus sequentially emits a plurality of pieces of light to perform distance measurement, and the information generation unit generates information on the distance measurement property for each emission of the light. (light source 112 as illustrated throughout the figures, may emit light in differing formats, such as light pulses (paragraph 0105) the signal processing part of the LIDAR system 100 may output semi-points as part of the point cloud data, indicating blocked areas of the FOV. For example, instead of outputting a parameter set (θi, ϕi, distance, reflectivity) for a point, the processor may output (θi, ϕi, obstruction (flag), obstruction parameters (if any)). In another embodiment, a higher level processing module (such as the computer vision processor) may process the point cloud and determine an obstruction. (paragraph 0289))
Regarding claim 3, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the information generation unit is configured to generate information on the distance measurement property for each emission direction of the light, (In another embodiment, the pattern recognition algorithm may include a spatial pattern analysis of the detected obstruction pattern. (paragraph 0272))
and generate a distance measurement property map indicating a distribution of the information on the distance measurement property. (For example, obstruction classification module 1028 may apply a pattern recognition algorithm to compare a hit\miss map, e.g., as shown in FIGS. 10D and 10E, with the spatial data of a reference obstruction pattern. (paragraph 0272))
Regarding claim 4, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:a notification unit that performs notification by using the information on the distance measurement property, (The processor may further output information to alert vehicle operator that an obstruction was detected. (paragraph 0301))
wherein the notification unit is configured to acquire information indicating a notification subject region in the distance measurement property map, and not use information on the distance measurement property outside the notification subject region for the notification. (output may include obstruction location (e.g. with respect to the window/windshield), obstruction location with respect to the point cloud (paragraph 0302) The notification unit would only output information containing the obstruction data. If there was no obstruction data then a notification would not exist.)
Regarding claim 5, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:a control unit that performs control by using the information on the distance measurement property, (In some embodiments, the processor may be configured to cause a change in light flux projected from the at least one light source based on the detected obstruction pattern and the determined cause of the obstruction of the protective window. (paragraph 0287))
wherein the control unit controls at least one of an output intensity of the light source and a multiplication factor of the light receiving unit, based on the information on the distance measurement property. (the processor may be configured to cause a change in a sensitivity of the at least one sensor based on the detected obstruction pattern and the determined cause of the obstruction of the protective window. (paragraph 0287) The changing of sensitivity of the light receiving unit is tantamount to changing the multiplication factor.)
Regarding claim 6, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the information generation unit generates the information on the distance measurement property by using an intensity of the internal reflection light in the light reception result. (The temporal amplitude profile of the signal depends on various factors such as light source intensity and duration, sensing path sensitivity and temporal behavior, reflectivity of the protective window (paragraph 0274))
Regarding claim 7, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the information generation unit generates the information on the distance measurement property by using a length of a time related to saturation of the light receiving unit by the internal reflection light. (The temporal amplitude profile of the signal depends on various factors such as light source intensity and duration, sensing path sensitivity and temporal behavior, reflectivity of the protective window (paragraph 0274))
Regarding claim 8, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the information generation unit is configured to determine an object region corresponding to a region in which an attached-matter exists in the transmissive member, by using a distribution of the light reception result of the internal reflection light for a plurality of emission directions of the light, (a possible way of detecting obstructions is by using internal reflection of light emitted by a light source of the system and reflected back—almost instantaneously—from the protective window. (paragraph 0274))
and generate the information on the distance measurement property based on a position in the object region. (The temporal amplitude profile of the signal depends on various factors such as light source intensity and duration, sensing path sensitivity and temporal behavior, reflectivity of the protective window, incidence angle of the light onto the protective window, and so on. (paragraph 0274))
Regarding claim 9, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the information generation unit generates the information on the distance measurement property by using a trained model based on machine learning. (a matching reference obstruction pattern may be identified using a machine learning algorithm or a neural network 1044. (paragraph 0272))
Regarding claim 10, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the information generation unit performs determination on a rule-based basis by using the light reception result of the internal reflection light and generates the information on the distance measurement property. (Signal processing module 1026 may also determine if an obstruction is present based on one or more threshold parameters. (paragraph 0278))
Regarding claim 11, Eshel teaches
The distance measurement apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the information on the distance measurement property is generated by using a determination rule provided for each configuration of an optical system of the distance measurement apparatus. (based on predetermined testing or on-the-fly calibration procedures, the response of a single calibration sensor may be correlated with multiple different main LIDAR sensor types or multiple different operational settings for different main LIDAR sensors. (paragraph 0242))
Regarding claim 12, Eshel teaches
A model generation apparatus comprising: (obstruction classification module 1028 may compare the obstruction pattern of the detected obstruction to a reference obstruction pattern. (paragraph 0270))
a training data acquisition unit that acquires training data in which a light reception result of receiving internal reflection light including reflection light reflected by a transmissive member by a light receiving unit, in a distance measurement apparatus that emits light output from a light source through the transmissive member and detects reflection light from a target object, and information on a distance measurement property of the distance measurement apparatus are associated with each other; (Information about the obstruction, including its obstruction pattern may be sent to obstruction classification module 1028. Using one or more algorithms, e.g., a temporal or spatial pattern matching algorithm, and/or neural network software, obstruction classification module 1028 may match the obstruction pattern with a reference obstruction pattern stored in a database 1104 (step 1103). The reference obstruction pattern may contain classification information and characterization information about the type of obstruction. Additional input may be used to match the detected obstruction pattern to a reference obstruction pattern. (paragraph 0290))
and a model generation unit that generates a model to which the light reception result of the internal reflection light is to be input and from which the information on the distance measurement property is to be output, by performing machine learning with the training data. (a possible way of detecting obstructions is by using internal reflection of light emitted by a light source of the system and reflected back—almost instantaneously—from the protective window. (paragraph 0274) a matching reference obstruction pattern may be identified using a machine learning algorithm or a neural network 1044. (paragraph 0272))
Regarding claim 13, Eshel teaches
An information generation apparatus that generates information on a distance measurement property of a distance measurement apparatus that emits light output from a light source through a transmissive member and detects reflection light from a target object, the information generation apparatus comprising: (The systems and methods of the present disclosure are directed towards improving performance of LIDAR systems (paragraph 0005))
an information generation unit that generates the information on the distance measurement property of the distance measurement apparatus by using a light reception result of internal reflection light including reflection light reflected by the transmissive member by a light receiving unit that receives at least the internal reflection light. (a threshold parameter may include, for example, a temporal parameter, such as the duration of the internal reflection of an internal reflection signal, its rate of ascend and/or descend, and so on. For example, if a detected signal has a greater duration than the threshold, signal processing module 1026 may determine that an obstruction is present. In another example, if the intensity of the detected light signal exceeds a predetermined threshold within a predetermined time window from the emission of the light pulse, and so on. (paragraph 0278))
Regarding claim 14, Eshel teaches
An information generation method that is executed by a computer to generate information on a distance measurement property of a distance measurement apparatus that emits light output from a light source through a transmissive member and detects reflection light from a target, the method comprising: (The systems and methods of the present disclosure are directed towards improving performance of LIDAR systems (paragraph 0005))
generating the information on the distance measurement property of the distance measurement apparatus by using a light reception result of internal reflection light including reflection light reflected by the transmissive member by a light receiving unit that receives at least the internal reflection light. (a threshold parameter may include, for example, a temporal parameter, such as the duration of the internal reflection of an internal reflection signal, its rate of ascend and/or descend, and so on. For example, if a detected signal has a greater duration than the threshold, signal processing module 1026 may determine that an obstruction is present. In another example, if the intensity of the detected light signal exceeds a predetermined threshold within a predetermined time window from the emission of the light pulse, and so on. (paragraph 0278))
Regarding claim 15, Eshel teaches
A non-transitory storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to function as: (The instructions executed by at least one processor may, for example, be pre-loaded into a memory integrated with or embedded into the controller or may be stored in a separate memory. The memory may comprise a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, a magnetic medium, a flash memory, other permanent, fixed, or volatile memory, or any other mechanism capable of storing instructions. (paragraph 0111))
the information generation apparatus according to claim 13. (See claim 13 rejection above.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ETHAN J SLAUGHTER whose telephone number is (571)388-3021. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Vladimir Magloire can be reached at (571) 270-5144. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ETHAN JAKOB SLAUGHTER/Examiner, Art Unit 3648
/VLADIMIR MAGLOIRE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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