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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/31/2024, 10/24/2024 and 06/06/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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 1, 2 and 4-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murata et al. (US 2021/0314475 A1) in view of Saito (US 2018/0338102 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Murata discloses an imaging system (Fig. 2 and par. [0043]) comprising:
a plurality of pixels (within imaging unit 12), each of which includes a sensor unit (Fig. 2 and par. [0045])
a control unit configured to perform an accumulating operation in a first accumulation period (short exposure time) and a second accumulation period (long exposure time) within one full frame period, in which the first accumulation period is shorter than the second accumulation period (see par. [0046] in which a short-exposure image and a long-exposure image are generated within a full frame period for 60fps at 120fps) and
a recognition unit configured to perform recognition processing on the basis of the generated signal (par. [0059], [0112], [0162], [0168], wherein the image signals are used for visual recognition inside and outside of a tunnel when a vehicle is moving) and determine a reliability of a recognition result based on the signal in the first accumulation period and a reliability of a recognition result based on the signal in the second accumulation period on the basis of driving condition information related to driving conditions of a movable apparatus (par. [0059], [0162], [0175], [0139] in which both short-exposure image and long-exposure image are used for determining reliability of a recognition result related to driving conditions of a moving vehicle).
Murata fails to teach the sensor unit emitting pulses in accordance with photons, and
a counter that counts the number of the pulses, and at least one processor or circuit configured to function as a control unit configured to generate a signal on the basis of a difference between count values of the counter at the time of a start and an end of an accumulation period, output the signal generated in the first accumulation period between an end of the first accumulation period and an end of the second accumulation period. However, as taught by Saito, avalanche photodiodes are used in an image sensor in which a sensor unit emits pulses in accordance with photons (par. [0033]-[0034]), and a counter that counts a number of pulses and a controller that generates a signal on the basis of a difference between count values of the counter at the time of a start and an end of an accumulated period (see par. [0036]-[0037]). As mentioned in those paragraphs, Saito teaches that multiple images with overlapping exposure periods (short exposure and long exposure periods) are obtained to provide advantage that continuous imaging is possible even in low light conditions, thereby improving image quality and dynamic range (see par. [0058]).
For that reason, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Murata and Saito to arrive at the Applicant’s invention to provide the benefit of continuous imaging even in low light conditions for improvement of image quality and dynamic range.
Regarding claim 2, as discussed in claim 1 above, the first accumulation period and the second accumulation period overlap each other (note Saito, par. [0058]).
Regarding claim 4, it is also seen in the combined teaching of Murata and Saito that a timing when the second accumulation period ends coincide with a timing when a frame ends (note Murata, par. [0046] and Saito, par. [0058]. It is noted that the second accumulation period must end at the end of each frame period in order for the frame rate to function as disclosed).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Murata and Saito also discloses a display unit that displays at least the signal generated in the second accumulation period as an image (see Murata, par. [0069]).
Regarding claim 6, as discussed in claim 1 above, the sensor unit includes an avalanche photodiode (see Saito, par. [0033]).
Regarding claim 7, also clearly disclosed by Murata, the driving condition information includes at least one of a traveling speed of the movable apparatus, an acceleration of the movable apparatus, a steering angle of the movable apparatus, vibration of the movable apparatus, and the amount of rainfall or snowfall around the movable apparatus (see Murata, par. [0205]).
Regarding claims 8-10, the subject matter of these claims are also met by the combined teaching of Murata and Saito as discussed in claim 1. Note that “a movable apparatus” is the moving vehicle mentioned above, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program is also disclosed in Murata, par. [0006], [0230]-[0231], and Saito, par. [0118].
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murata et al. and Saito and in further view of Sakato et al. (US 2020/0195855 A1).
Regarding claim 3, although Murata and Saito do not explicitly disclose that the first accumulation period and the second accumulation period start at the same time, this configuration is well recognized by Sakato in Fig. 5 in which a first accumulation period T512 and a second accumulation period T505 (the main exposure period) start at the same time at t501 (see Fig. 5 and par. [0051]-[0052]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to configure the modified imaging system in view of Sakato to arrive at the Applicant’s claimed feature so as to improve dynamic range by enabling both accumulation periods at the same time.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NHAN T TRAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7371. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/NHAN T TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2638