-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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Pages 7-9, filed 02/11/2026, with respect to claims 1-20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of has been made.
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, 2 and 4-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abediasi (US PGPUB 20230417985), Takiguchi (US PGPUB 20170259374) and in further view of Schmalenberg (US PGPUB 20200249350).
[Claim 1]
Abediasi teaches a method of capturing one or more images using an imaging device comprising:
generating, by one or more processors (control circuit 125, fig. 1) of an imaging device (e.g. figs. 1 and 16), one or more control wavelengths (col. 16 lines 24-24-27, fig. 16, the transmitter (1605) can flash light in single or multiple wavelength configurations in an omni-directional way instead of using spatially targeted beams) ;
receiving, at an optical phased array (OPA) (fig. 16, OPA), light from an environment of the imaging device (col. 16 lines 28-30, The transmitted light (1615) is reflected by an object (1620) and received (1620) by a receiver (1610) based on an optical phased array which has spatial reflectivity) ;
driving, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, a plurality of phase FIG. 3, phase modulator 320) and amplitude modulators (315) of the OPA (col. 7 lines 46, The optical phased array of the present disclosure allows independent control of the phase and amplitude of each emitter inside each scanner, thus allowing beam forming. Independent control of phase shift and amplitude of optical field at each element enables creation of arbitrary radiation patterns); and
capturing, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, an image based on the processed received light (col. 14 line 59-col. 15 line 4, FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary receiver architecture. For example, the signal processing may comprise: a digital signal processing unit (1105), which may sync with circuitry at the transmitter; an n-bit analog to digital converter (ADC,1110), a plurality of decoders (1120), a clock (1130) and an analog receiver (1125). Light reflected from the environment after emission by the transmitter is received as illustrated in (1145), for example by an optical receiver with wide field of view, to maximize captured power (1140). The receiver may comprise a single photodiode, such as an avalanche photodiode (APD), with a large aperture, or an array of detectors to increase the received signal to noise ratio (SNR), or a phased array. Photodetectors are used for converting light into electrical signals for imaging).
Abediasi teaches generating wavelength but fails to teach applying the one or more control wavelengths to process the received light. However Takiguchi teaches that when a temporal waveform of the focused pulsed light is adjusted to have a desired shape, it is necessary to adjust both or any one of the phase spectrum and the intensity spectrum of the pulsed light. Therefore, the control unit 40 calculates the computer-generated hologram for phase modulation and the computer-generated hologram for intensity modulation, on the basis of information of the temporal waveform of the pulsed light output from the light source 10 and information of a temporal waveform of pulsed light to be formed in the focusing region, and displays a computer-generated hologram based on the calculated computer-generated hologram for phase modulation and the calculated computer-generated hologram for intensity modulation on the spatial light modulator 30 (Paragraph 29). When the drive signal is generated in the control unit 40, preferably, a look-up table according to a wavelength, in which a relationship of a drive signal value and a modulation amount (pixel value) in each pixel is stored, is prepared in advance, and the drive signal value according to the modulation amount is obtained by referring to the look-up table (Paragraph 30).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Abediasi in view of Takiguchi, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have applied the one or more control wavelengths to process the received light in order to focus light with a desired temporal waveform in the focusing region, and therefore, correction of an internal absorption effect is enabled.
Abediasi in view of Takiguchi fails to teach user inputs for to generate one or more wavelengths. However Schmalenberg teaches a comb generator module 303 that receives the laser input 301, and may filter and “channelize” the laser input 301 to divide the laser input 301 into a plurality of peaks. Each peak may be associated with a discrete wavelength of a plurality of discrete wavelength across the range of the laser input 301. For example, FIG. 4 shows a graph 401 of power vs. wavelength for the laser input 301. FIG. 4 further shows a graph 403 of power vs. wavelength for the laser input 301 after having passed through the comb generator 303. As can be seen the graph 403 includes various peaks around different discrete wavelengths. The particular discrete wavelengths may be selected by a user or administrator or may be based on properties of the antenna module 305 (Paragraph 25). It further teaches that the modules can be implemented as computer-readable program code that, when executed by a processor 110, implement one or more of the various processes described herein. One or more of the modules can be a component of the processor(s) 110, or one or more of the modules can be executed on and/or distributed among other processing systems to which the processor(s) 110 is operatively connected. The modules can include instructions (e.g., program logic) executable by one or more processor(s) 110. Alternatively, or in addition, one or more data store 115 may contain such instructions (Paragraph 65).
Therefore taking the combined teachings of Abediasi, Takiguchi and Schmalenberg, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been have motivated to have user inputs for to generate one or more wavelengths and a processor that controls the various functions of the imaging device to generate one or more wavelengths in order to give the user freedom to experiment by using different wavelengths depending upon the type of transceiver and a quicker response times for applications and overall system performance by implementing a processor that controls the overall system.
[Claim 2]
Abediasi teaches wherein generating, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, the one or more control wavelengths includes generating a first control wavelength and a second control wavelength (col. 16 lines 24-24-27, fig. 16, the transmitter (1605) can flash light in single or multiple wavelength configurations in an omni-directional way instead of using spatially targeted beams)
receiving, at the OPA, light from the environment of the imaging device includes receiving light at a first time step and a second time step ((col. 16 lines 28-30, The transmitted light (1615) is reflected by an object (1620) and received (1620) by a receiver (1610) based on an optical phased array which has spatial reflectivity) ; col. 4 lines 28-45, Wavelength tuning is used to steer the beam in one direction. With current laser technology, it may be difficult to have wide tunability in a single laser, therefore a plurality of lasers may be used to allow the use of different wavelengths. The wavelength parameter can therefore be controlled, together with other parameters. Switches can be used to switch between lasers having a different wavelength, in order to select one or more wavelengths to be transmitted at any one time. For example, the system may switch ON one laser and OFF the remaining lasers, allowing the beam from that laser to enter the waveguides towards the phased array scanners. After a specified amount of time, the switch may cut off the beam and activate another beam.);
driving, by the imaging device, the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators of the OPA to apply the one or more control wavelengths to process the received light includes driving the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators at the first time and driving the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators (OPA (col. 7 lines 46, The optical phased array of the present disclosure allows independent control of the phase and amplitude of each emitter inside each scanner, thus allowing beam forming. Independent control of phase shift and amplitude of optical field at each element enables creation of arbitrary radiation patterns. col. 4 lines 28-45, Wavelength tuning is used to steer the beam in one direction. With current laser technology, it may be difficult to have wide tunability in a single laser, therefore a plurality of lasers may be used to allow the use of different wavelengths. The wavelength parameter can therefore be controlled, together with other parameters. Switches can be used to switch between lasers having a different wavelength, in order to select one or more wavelengths to be transmitted at any one time. For example, the system may switch ON one laser and OFF the remaining lasers, allowing the beam from that laser to enter the waveguides towards the phased array scanners. After a specified amount of time, the switch may cut off the beam and activate another beam.);; and
capturing, by the imaging device, an image based on the processed received light includes capturing a first image at the first time step based on the processed light received at the first time step and capturing a second image at the second time step based on the processed light received at the second time step (col. 14 line 59-col. 15 line 4, FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary receiver architecture. For example, the signal processing may comprise: a digital signal processing unit (1105), which may sync with circuitry at the transmitter; an n-bit analog to digital converter (ADC,1110), a plurality of decoders (1120), a clock (1130) and an analog receiver (1125). Light reflected from the environment after emission by the transmitter is received as illustrated in (1145), for example by an optical receiver with wide field of view, to maximize captured power (1140). The receiver may comprise a single photodiode, such as an avalanche photodiode (APD), with a large aperture, or an array of detectors to increase the received signal to noise ratio (SNR), or a phased array. Photodetectors are used for converting light into electrical signals for imaging).
Abediasi teaches generating wavelength but fails to teach applying the one or more control wavelengths to process the received light. However Takiguchi teaches that when a temporal waveform of the focused pulsed light is adjusted to have a desired shape, it is necessary to adjust both or any one of the phase spectrum and the intensity spectrum of the pulsed light. Therefore, the control unit 40 calculates the computer-generated hologram for phase modulation and the computer-generated hologram for intensity modulation, on the basis of information of the temporal waveform of the pulsed light output from the light source 10 and information of a temporal waveform of pulsed light to be formed in the focusing region, and displays a computer-generated hologram based on the calculated computer-generated hologram for phase modulation and the calculated computer-generated hologram for intensity modulation on the spatial light modulator 30 (Paragraph 29). When the drive signal is generated in the control unit 40, preferably, a look-up table according to a wavelength, in which a relationship of a drive signal value and a modulation amount (pixel value) in each pixel is stored, is prepared in advance, and the drive signal value according to the modulation amount is obtained by referring to the look-up table (Paragraph 30).
Abediasi fails to teach user inputs for to generate one or more wavelengths. However Schmalenberg teaches a comb generator module 303 that receives the laser input 301, and may filter and “channelize” the laser input 301 to divide the laser input 301 into a plurality of peaks. Each peak may be associated with a discrete wavelength of a plurality of discrete wavelength across the range of the laser input 301. For example, FIG. 4 shows a graph 401 of power vs. wavelength for the laser input 301. FIG. 4 further shows a graph 403 of power vs. wavelength for the laser input 301 after having passed through the comb generator 303. As can be seen the graph 403 includes various peaks around different discrete wavelengths. The particular discrete wavelengths may be selected by a user or administrator or may be based on properties of the antenna module 305 (Paragraph 25). It also teaches that the modules can be implemented as computer-readable program code that, when executed by a processor 110, implement one or more of the various processes described herein. One or more of the modules can be a component of the processor(s) 110, or one or more of the modules can be executed on and/or distributed among other processing systems to which the processor(s) 110 is operatively connected. The modules can include instructions (e.g., program logic) executable by one or more processor(s) 110. Alternatively, or in addition, one or more data store 115 may contain such instructions (Paragraph 65) in order to give the user freedom to experiment by using different wavelengths depending upon the type of transceiver and a quicker response times for applications and overall system performance by implementing a processor that controls the overall system.
[Claim 4]
Abediasi teaches transmitting, by the OPA of the imaging device, the one or more control wavelengths and reflecting, by the OPA of the imaging device, the one or more control wavelengths back; and receiving, by OPA of the imaging device, the one or more control wavelengths (col. 16 lines 24-38).
[Claim 5]
Schmalenberg teaches wherein the one or more user inputs are received from a user interface (Paragraph 25, there would be some kind of user interface to enter the wavelength values) in order to give the user freedom to experiment by using different wavelengths depending upon the type of transceiver.
[Claims 6-8]
Abediasi teaches wherein driving, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators of the OPA to apply the one or more control wavelengths (col. 8 lines 8-13, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary transmitter according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A number of lasers with tunable wavelengths (110), numbered from 1 to K, are driven by an electronic circuit, e.g. a CMOS chip (105). The wavelength range for each laser is indicated as λ.sub.1-λ.sub.2 up to λ.sub.m-λ.sub.n) to process the received light includes measuring, by one or more photodiodes, one or more measurements associated with the one or more control wavelengths and the received light; and driving, the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators based on the one or more measured values associated with the one or more control wavelengths and the received light (col. 8 line 60-col. 9 line 8, In the example of FIG. 1, the scanners are 2D scanners (150,155) which can each encode in a different spatial direction determined by two parameters. Each 2D scanner is fabricated on the same chip to emit in a fixed direction, for a given wavelength and setting of amplitude and/or phases of the active components within the scanner. The output beam generated by each scanner can be steered in different directions by tuning the phase and/or amplitude of the emitters inside each scanner and wavelength. In the example of FIG. 1, the two parameters controlled by the 2D scanners are the angles θ and φ (145). The system of FIG. 1 can also vary other parameters as discussed above, such as the wavelength, the wavelength bands for each laser, what lasers are switched ON or OFF at any given time, as well as encoding different signal patterns for each 2D scanner and col. 10 lines 57-67).
[Claim 9]
Abediasi teaches wherein the one or more measurements are relative phase (col. 7 lines 41-56, The optical phased array of the present disclosure allows independent control of the phase and amplitude of each emitter inside each scanner, thus allowing beam forming. Independent control of phase shift and amplitude of optical field at each element enables creation of arbitrary radiation patterns).
[Claim 10]
Abediasi teaches transmitting, by the OPA, the processed received light to a second OPA (col. 7 lines 47-53, In some embodiments, the receiver may use multiple orthogonal receivers to detect multiple beams emitted by the plurality of scanners. Therefore, in some embodiments a phased array may be implemented at the transmitter only, at the receiver only, or at both transmitter and receiver.); and
transmitting, by the second OPA, the processed received light to a focal plane array (FPA)
of the imaging device (col. 16 lines 1-10, Fast tuning of optical beam scanners using carrier injection modulators; an on-chip calibration scheme for the beam scanner using photodetectors; a high sampling rate for imaging; a combination of wavelength, time and frequency coding to increase throughput; all-semiconductor-based optical imaging system (a cheap and highly manufacturable solution); increasing field of view by sending multiple beams from the transmitter and using multiple receivers to scan spatially orthogonal regions; emitter design can be different for 2D scanners to optimize radiation efficiency).
[Claim 11]
Abediasi teaches adjusting, by an amplitude modulator array of the FPA, an amount of light received at one or more elements of the FPA (col. 11 lines 4-10, In some embodiments, the signal output by the LiDAR system may have side lobes which can create confusion in the 3D imaging if one of the objects in the system's environment has a reflected signal that falls in amplitude within the same range of one of the side lobes. One way to solve this problem is to increase the peak to peak ratio for the main and side lobe peaks, by doing beamforming.).
[Claim 12]
Abediasi teaches driving, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, a plurality of phase and amplitude modulators of the second OPA to apply the one or more control wavelengths to further process the processed received light (col. 15 lines 29-37, FIG. 14 illustrates a way to increase the field of view by generating multiple beams at the transmitter and using a multi-receiver architecture. For example, a phased array transmitter (1405), with architecture similar to that of FIG. 1, may emit multiple beams, e.g. two beams (1420) and (1425), in different directions simultaneously. Two receivers (1410,1415) are illustrated. Multiple receivers can be located relatively orthogonal to each other to create spatial selectivity on the receive path, to increase the effective field of view).
[Claim 13]
Abediasi teaches wherein the one or more control wavelengths are a plurality of control
Wavelengths (col. 16 lines 24-27, FIG. 16 illustrates other embodiments of LiDAR configurations. For example, the transmitter (1605) can flash light in single or multiple wavelength configurations in an omni-directional way instead of using spatially targeted beams.).
[Claim 14]
Abediasi teaches driving, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators of the OPA to apply the plurality of control wavelengths to process the received light includes applying a first control wavelength of the plurality of control wavelengths; and wherein, driving, by the one or more processors of the imaging device, the plurality of phase and amplitude modulators of the second OPA to apply the one or more control wavelengths to further process the processed received light includes applying a second control wavelength of the plurality of control wavelengths, wherein the second control wavelength is different from the first control wavelength (Paragraph 88, As a particular example of this, one modulator 902 or 904 may provide higher or lower amplitude changes at one or more wavelengths or wavelength bands than the other modulator 904 or 902 provides at the same wavelength(s) or wavelength band(s). As another particular example of this, the modulators 902 and 904 may provide different phase shifts at one or more wavelengths or wavelength bands. Providing multiple modulators 902 and 904 with different response characteristics can therefore support effective control of both phase and frequency dispersion of optical signals flowing through the signal pathway 506. Knowledge of the response characteristics of the modulators 902 and 904 can therefore be used (such as by the electronic control board 408) to control the modulators 902 and 904 in order to achieve a desired phase-frequency relationship 844. Paragraph 30 for different wavelengths).
Claim(s) 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abediasi (US PGPUB 20230417985), Takiguchi (US PGPUB 20170259374), Schmalenberg (US PGPUB 20200249350), and in further view of Mazed (US Patent # 11,320,588).
[Claim 3]
Schmalenberg teaches that the modules can be implemented as computer-readable program code that, when executed by a processor 110, implement one or more of the various processes described herein (Paragraph 65) but Abediasi, Takiguchi in view of Schmalenberg fail to teach generating, by the imaging device, a composite image of the first image and the second image. However Mazed teaches that signals from the two-dimensional array of receivers can be coupled with a processor to recreate an image of the object. The output signals of the two-dimensional array of receivers can be used to calculate the distance of the object and combining/steering the output signals of the two-dimensional array of receivers can be used to image the object, wherein the Super System on Chip 400A/400B/400C/400D is coupled with the detection system (col. 38 lines 17-24). Therefore taking the combined teachings of Abediasi, Takiguchi Schmalenberg and Mazed, it would be obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have been motivated to have the one or more processors of the imaging device, a composite image of the first image and the second image in order to image the object by calculating distances and recreating the image faithfully.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 15-20 are allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art fails to teach or suggest “an optical phased array (OPA) receiver, the OPA receiver comprising: a plurality of emitters configured to transmit and receive light, a plurality of phase and amplitude modulations configured to modulate light propagating through the imaging device, and one or more photodiodes configured to measure one or more values associated with light propagating through the imaging device, a focal plane array (FPA) OPA, the FPA OPA comprising: a plurality of emitters configured to transmit and receive light, a plurality of phase and amplitude modulations configured to modulate light propagating through the imaging device, and one or more photodiodes configured to measure one or more values associated with light propagating through the imaging device; a control unit, the control unit comprising: one or more processors, and one or more light sources configured to generate light; and a FPA configured to receive light from the FPA OPA and record an image based on the received light; wherein the OPA receiver, the FPA OPA, and the control unit are disposed on a photonics integrated circuit (PIC)”. Claims 16-20 are dependent from claim 15.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOGESH K AGGARWAL whose telephone number is (571)272-7360. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:30-6.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sinh Tran can be reached at 5712727564. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/YOGESH K AGGARWAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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