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.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the predetermined transformation" in line 1. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Antecedent basis is found in claim 14, from which claim 15 does not depend.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 2, 13, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bodlovic et al. (2015/0364635).
Regarding claim 1, Bodlovic discloses an image capture apparatus comprising: an image capture element including an avalanche photodiode configured to photoelectrically convert an optical image (Bodlovic, SPAD 607, applications involving imaging discussed at [0080]) and; at least one processor (Bodlovic, controller 650); and a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to: generate an image signal based on an output signal from the image capture element; calculate, based on the image signal, a number of occurrences of avalanche amplification in the image capture element (Bodlovic, [0070]); store a cumulative value of the number of occurrences (id. “providing an output based on the count of avalanche events”); and control a parameter related to exposure when it is determined that a brightness of an image based on the image signal is out of a predetermined range (Bodlovic, [0072]), wherein the predetermined range is decided based on the cumulative value (id., “The controller 650 preferably adjusts the operating parameters of the photon counting apparatus 600 based on the count rate, […]”).
Regarding claim 2, Bodlovic further discloses the number of occurrences is calculated by performing a predetermined transformation on the image signal. (Bodlovic, [0070])
Regarding claim 13, Bodlovic discloses a method comprising: generating an image signal based on an output signal from an image capture element; calculating a number of occurrences of avalanche amplification in the image capture element based on the image signal; storing a cumulative value of the number of occurrences; and controlling a parameter related to exposure when it is determined that a brightness of an image based on the image signal is out of a predetermined range, wherein the predetermined range is decided based on the cumulative value. (Bodlovic, [0070]-[0072])
Regarding claim 20, Bodlovic discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute a method comprising: generating an image signal based on an output signal from an image capture element; calculating a number of occurrences of avalanche amplification in the image capture element based on the image signal; storing a cumulative value of the number of occurrences; and controlling a parameter related to exposure when it is determined that a brightness of an image based on the image signal is out of a predetermined range, wherein the predetermined range is decided based on the cumulative value. (Bodlovic, [0070]-[0072])
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 3-12 and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bodlovic in view of Sfaradi et al. (2015/0373250)
Regarding claims 3-12 and 14-19, the particular methods of measuring scene brightness and the manner of exposure control (beyond diode bias voltage, temperature, and quenching period adjustment) are not discussed. Sfaradi teaches a robust exposure measurement and control system including region of interest identification, region specific exposure control, brightness measurement from either dedicated sensing pixels or selected portions of the scene, wavelength-selective brightness measurement, and responding exposure modification. (Sfaradi, throughout)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the filing date of the claimed invention to use the exposure measurement and control operations of Sfaradi with the SPAD detector system of Bodlovic in order to implement Bodlovic’s directive to adjust the gain of the system (exposure) in response to the incident photon flux on the sensor.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWIN C GUNBERG whose telephone number is (571)270-3107. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/EDWIN C GUNBERG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2884