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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In Claim 1, the last two limitations recite the phrases “cause a portion of a phase difference” and “causing a remaining portion the phase difference”. This phrasing is problematic. What exactly are the phase modulator and phase modulator op amp “causing”? Or is this an output result where “causing” means “creating” or “producing”. Furthermore, it should be made clear that the phase modulation optical amplification unit has two elements, each of which produces a portion of the total phase difference created, as the current claim language is not clear or specific. Correction is required.
Dependent claims 2-14 fail to resolve the issue present in independent Claim 1, and thus are summarily rejected.
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 7-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by LaChapelle (US 2022/0043127).
Regarding Claims 1 and 14, LaChapelle discloses an optical phased array and electronic device [Fig 10, 23] comprising: a light source configured to emit a light in an infrared band [#110, #450 of Fig 23; 0057; 0230; 0234]; a light irradiator spaced apart from the light source and configured to receive the light emitted from the light source and irradiate the light to an outside [#125 of Fig 23; 0069; 0077]; a phase modulation optical amplification unit provided between the light source and the light irradiator [#460, #495 of Fig 23; 0230; 0234]; and an optical splitting portion [#470 of Fig 22, 23; 0210: 0234; 0267] disposed between the light source and the phase modulation optical amplification unit and configured to split the light emitted from the light source [0210: 0234; 0267], the optical splitting portion comprising a plurality of optical splitters [#470 of Fig 22-26; 0210: 0234; 0267], wherein the phase modulation optical amplification unit is configured to amplify the light emitted from the light source while modulating a first phase of the emitted light to a second phase which is a target phase [0230; 0234], and includes: a phase modulator configured to cause a portion of a phase difference between the first phase and the second phase [#495 of Fig 23; 0230; 0234]; and a phase modulation optical amplifier configured to amplify the emitted light while causing a remaining portion of the phase difference [#460 of Fig 23; 0230; 0234].
Regarding Claim 2, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the phase modulator and the phase modulation optical amplifier are aligned in an order named in a direction from the light source to the light irradiator [#460, #495 of Fig 23; 0230; 0234]
Regarding Claim 7, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the phase modulation optical amplifier includes a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) [#460 of Fig 23; 0230; 0234].
Regarding Claim 8, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the light source includes a laser diode configured to emit an infrared light and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) configured to amplify the infrared light [#460 of Fig 23; 0160; 0230; 0234]
Regarding Claim 9, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the light irradiator, the phase modulation optical amplification unit, and the optical splitting portion are provided in one single chip, and wherein the light source is coupled to the one single chip [0064; 0154].
Regarding Claim 10, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the light source is bonded to the one single chip using a flip chip method [0165].
Regarding Claim 11, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the phase modulation optical amplification unit comprises a plurality of phase modulation optical amplification units, and wherein the plurality of phase modulation optical amplification units have different optical amplification rates from each other [#460, #495 of Fig 23; 0160; 0227; 0230-31; 0234].
Regarding Claim 12, LaChapelle also discloses wherein the light irradiator includes an antenna array, the antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements or a mirror type emitting element [0070-77; 0275]
Regarding Claim 13, LaChapelle also discloses light detection and ranging (LiDAR) [0057; 0077; 0082-87] comprising: a light source unit configured to emit a light toward an object [#110, #125, #450 of Fig 23; 0057; 0069; 0077; 0230; 0234], wherein the light source unit includes the optical phased array of claim 1; a receiver configured to receive a light reflected from the object and generate an electrical signal in response to the received light [0117-18; 0160; 0235-37]; a processor configured to process the electrical signal transmitted from the receiver [0069; 0079-82; 0118-19; 0313-14]; and a controller configured to control an operation of the light source unit, the receiver, and/or the processor [0069; 0079-82; 0118-19; 0313-14].
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) 15-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LaChapelle (US 2022/0043127) in view of Khachaturian (US 2022/0400217).
Regarding Claim 15, LaChapelle teaches a method of operating an optical phased array, wherein the optical phased array includes a plurality of phase modulation optical amplification units between a light source and a light irradiator [#110, #125, #450 of Fig 23; 0057; 0069; 0077; 0230; 0234], and the plurality of phase modulation optical amplification units include a plurality of phase modulators and a plurality of phase modulation optical amplifiers [#460, #495 of Fig 23; 0230; 0234]. LaChapelle does not explicitly teach – but Khachaturian does teach performing a first beamforming on a first region of interest by applying currents of different magnitudes to the plurality of phase modulation optical amplifiers [0034; 0057; 0073; 0118; 0122; 0124; 0142-9; 0152; 0158-61; 0173; 0192; 0200-01]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of LaChapelle to include beamforming with adjustable currents to steer the collimated beam onto the different points or regions on the target allowing for higher resolution imaging and improved signal-to-noise ratio in the area of interest.
Regarding Claim 16, LaChapelle does not explicitly teach – but Khachaturian does teach wherein during the first beamforming, a voltage applied to each of the plurality of phase modulators is maintained constant at a same level of magnitude [0034; 0057; 0073; 0118; 0122; 0124; 0142-9; 0152; 0158-61; 0173; 0192; 0200-01]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of LaChapelle to include beamforming with steady voltage to steer the collimated beam onto the different points or regions on the target allowing for higher resolution imaging and improved signal-to-noise ratio in the area of interest.
Regarding Claim 17, LaChapelle does not explicitly teach – but Khachaturian does teach after performing the first beamforming, performing a second beamforming on the first region of interest by applying different voltages to the plurality of phase modulators [0034; 0057; 0073; 0118; 0122; 0124; 0142-9; 0152; 0158-61; 0173; 0192; 0200-01]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of LaChapelle to include beamforming with adjustable voltages to steer the collimated beam onto the different points or regions on the target allowing for higher resolution imaging and improved signal-to-noise ratio in the area of interest.
Regarding Claim 18, LaChapelle, as modified, also teaches after beamforming for the first region of interest is completed, creating a lookup table for beam steering of the plurality of phase modulators and the plurality of phase modulation optical amplifiers based on the voltage data applied to the plurality of phase modulators and the current data applied to the plurality of phase modulation optical amplifiers for the beamforming for the first region of interest [0130].
Regarding Claim 19, LaChapelle does not explicitly teach – but Khachaturian does teach: after performing the second beamforming, acquiring a beam image formed in the first region of interest by the first and second beamformings; and acquiring a beam profile from the beam image [0034; 0057; 0073; 0118; 0122; 0124; 0142-9; 0152; 0158-61; 0173; 0192; 0200-01]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of LaChapelle to include beam images to image different points or regions on the target allowing for higher resolution imaging and improved signal-to-noise ratio in the area of interest.
Regarding Claim 20, LaChapelle does not explicitly teach – but Khachaturian does teach: acquiring the beam image using an infrared camera provided outside an optical phased array chip on which the plurality of phase modulation optical amplification units are provided or a detector formed within the optical phased array chip [0034; 0057; 0073; 0118; 0122; 0124; 0142-9; 0152; 0158-61; 0173; 0192; 0200-01]. It would have been obvious to modify the method of LaChapelle to include beam images to use an imager separate from the optical phased array chip in order to independently control the transmission of the light beams and the receive array during imaging.
Claim(s) 3-6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LaChapelle (US 2022/0043127), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Huwer (US 20200150240).
Regarding Claim 3, LaChapelle does not explicitly teach – but Huwer does teach wherein the phase modulation optical amplifier and the phase modulator are aligned in an order named in a direction from the light source to the light irradiator [0056; 0073] (multiple configurations described which include modulator as either the first or second component, and/or the optical amplifier as the first or second component). It would have been obvious to modify the system of LaChapelle to change the order of the phase modulator (to be after) the phase modulation optical amplifier to ensure proper magnitude of the output signal with sufficient signal to noise ratio.
Regarding Claim 4, LaChapelle, as modified, also teaches wherein an optical amplifier is disposed between at least one optical splitter of the plurality of optical splitters and another at least one optical splitter of the plurality of optical splitters [#470 of Fig 22-26; Fig 34; 0069; 0210; 0217; 0227; 0230-31; 0234; 0267].
Regarding Claim 5, LaChapelle, as modified, also teaches wherein the phase modulation optical amplification unit comprises a plurality of phase modulation optical amplification units spaced apart from each other, and wherein one optical splitter among the plurality of optical splitters is arranged to split the light to be provided to two optical splitters in a next stage among the plurality of optical splitters [#470 of Fig 22-26; Fig 34; 0069; 0210; 0217; 0227; 0230-31; 0234; 0267].
Regarding Claim 6, LaChapelle, as modified, also teaches wherein two to four optical amplifiers are disposed between a portion of the plurality of optical splitters and a remaining portion of the plurality of optical splitters [#470 of Fig 22-26; Fig 34; 0069; 0210; 0217; 0227; 0230-31; 0234; 0267].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES R HULKA whose telephone number is (571)270-7553. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 9am-6pm, F: 10am-2pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Helal Algahaim can be reached at 5712705227. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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JAMES R. HULKA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
