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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-11 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-12 of U.S. Patent No. 12,081,881 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-11 are obvious variants and encompassed by claims 1-12 of U.S. U.S. Patent No. 12,081,881 B2, as shown in the table below.
Instant Application
U.S. Patent No. 12,081,881 B2
1. A sensor, comprising:
a plurality of optical filters configured to pass a plurality of types of light;
a plurality of pixels configured to:
receive the plurality of types of light; and
perform, based on the received plurality of types of light, photoelectric conversion to generate a plurality of electric signals; and
circuitry configured to:
detect, as an event, a change in the plurality of electric signals;
adjust, for each type of light of the plurality of types of light, a gain of the event; and
set, for each type of light of the plurality of types of light, a different threshold for the detection of the event.
1. A sensor, comprising:
pixels configured to:
receive light; and
perform photoelectric conversion based on the received light to generate electric signals; and
circuitry configured to:
detect an event that is a change in the electric signals of the pixels, wherein the electric signals correspond to a photocurrent of the pixels;
convert the photocurrent of the pixels into a voltage corresponding to the photocurrent;
detect, as the event, a change in the voltage that exceeds a specific threshold;
adjust, for each of the pixels, a gain of the event; and
switch, based on the adjustment of the gain of the event, a circuit configuration between a first configuration in which transistors form a cascade connection and a second configuration in which the transistors do not form the cascade connection.
2. The sensor according to claim 1, further comprising:
optical filters configured to pass specific light, wherein
the pixels are further configured to receive the specific light that passes through the optical filters, and
the circuitry is further configured to adjust, for each type of the specific light transmitted by the optical filters, the gain of the event.
3. The sensor according to claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set, for each type of the specific light received by the pixels, the specific threshold for the detection of the event.
2. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical filters includes a plurality of color filters.
4. The sensor according to claim 3, wherein the optical filters include color filters.
3. The sensor according to claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set the different threshold for a color of each of the plurality of types of light received by the plurality of pixels and passed through the plurality of color filters.
5. The sensor according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set the specific threshold for each color of the specific light received by the pixels and transmitted by the color filters.
4. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical filters includes a plurality of polarizing filters.
6. The sensor according to claim 3, wherein the optical filters include polarizing filters.
5. The sensor according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set the different threshold for a polarization direction of each of the plurality of types of light received by the plurality of pixels and passed through the plurality of polarizing filters.
7. The sensor according to claim 6, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set the specific threshold for each polarization direction of the specific light received by the pixels and transmitted by the polarizing filters.
6. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
convert a photocurrent of the plurality of pixels into a voltage corresponding to the photocurrent;
detect, as the event, a change in the voltage that exceeds a specific threshold; and
switch a circuit configuration between a first configuration in which transistors form a cascade connection and a second configuration in which the transistors do not form the cascade connection.
1. A sensor, comprising:
pixels configured to:
receive light; and
perform photoelectric conversion based on the received light to generate electric signals; and
circuitry configured to:
detect an event that is a change in the electric signals of the pixels, wherein the electric signals correspond to a photocurrent of the pixels;
convert the photocurrent of the pixels into a voltage corresponding to the photocurrent;
detect, as the event, a change in the voltage that exceeds a specific threshold;
adjust, for each of the pixels, a gain of the event; and
switch, based on the adjustment of the gain of the event, a circuit configuration between a first configuration in which transistors form a cascade connection and a second configuration in which the transistors do not form the cascade connection.
7. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein
the circuitry includes a first capacity and a second capacity, and
the circuitry is further configured to:
determine a difference signal corresponding to a difference between voltages at different timings of a voltage corresponding to a photocurrent of the plurality of pixels; and
change a capacity ratio of the first capacity and the second capacity based on the determined difference signal.
8. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
include a first capacity and a second capacity;
determine a difference signal corresponding to a difference between voltages at different timings of the voltage corresponding to the photocurrent of the pixels; and
change a capacity ratio of the first capacity and the second capacity based on the determined difference signal.
8. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to perform a coarse adjustment to coarsely adjust the gain of the event and a fine adjustment to finely adjust the gain of the event.
9. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to perform a coarse adjustment to coarsely adjust the gain of the event and a fine adjustment to finely adjust the gain of the event.
9. The sensor according to claim 8, wherein
the circuitry includes a first capacity and a second capacity, and
the circuitry is further configured to:
determine a difference signal corresponding to a difference between voltages at different timings of a voltage corresponding to a photocurrent of the plurality of pixels;
set the specific threshold;
compare the difference signal and the specific threshold to detect the event;
change a capacity ratio of the first capacity and the second capacity;
perform the coarse adjustment based on at least one of
a switch of the circuit configuration between a first configuration in which transistors form a cascade connection and a second configuration in which the transistors do not form the cascade connection, or
the change in the capacity ratio; and
perform the fine adjustment based on the specific threshold.
1. A sensor, comprising:
pixels configured to:
receive light; and
perform photoelectric conversion based on the received light to generate electric signals; and
circuitry configured to:
detect an event that is a change in the electric signals of the pixels, wherein the electric signals correspond to a photocurrent of the pixels;
convert the photocurrent of the pixels into a voltage corresponding to the photocurrent;
detect, as the event, a change in the voltage that exceeds a specific threshold;
adjust, for each of the pixels, a gain of the event; and
switch, based on the adjustment of the gain of the event, a circuit configuration between a first configuration in which transistors form a cascade connection and a second configuration in which the transistors do not form the cascade connection.
10. The sensor according to claim 9, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:
include a first capacity and a second capacity;
determine a difference signal corresponding to a difference between voltages at different timings of the voltage corresponding to the photocurrent of the pixels;
compare the difference signal and the specific threshold to detect the event;
change a capacity ratio of the first capacity and the second capacity;
set the specific threshold;
perform the coarse adjustment based on one or both the switch of the circuit configuration and the change in the capacity ratio; and
perform the fine adjustment based on the set specific threshold.
10. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein
the plurality of optical filters include a plurality of color filters, and
the circuitry is further configured to adjust, for a color of each of the plurality of types of light received by the plurality of pixels and passed through the plurality of color filters, the gain of the event based on an environment for capture of an image of a subject.
11. The sensor according to claim 2, wherein
the optical filters include color filters, and
the circuitry is further configured to adjust, for each color of the specific light received by the pixels and transmitted by the color filters, the gain of the event based on an environment for imaging a subject.
11. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate, as a pixel signal, a signal of a voltage corresponding to a photocurrent of the plurality of pixels in which the event is detected.
12. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate, as a pixel signal, a signal of the voltage corresponding to the photocurrent of the pixels in which the event is detected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-3 and 10-11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finateu et al. (US 2019/0273884 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2016/0187196 A1).
As to claim 1, Finateu et al. discloses a sensor ([0070]: vision sensor), comprising:
a plurality of pixels (Fig.1: photo-sensing device 2) configured to:
receive light; and perform, based on the received plurality of types of light, photoelectric conversion to generate a plurality of electric signals ([0071]: photo-sensing device 2 detects the intensity of the light and generates a signal representing the light intensity); and
circuitry (Fig.1: logic module 41, voltage amplifier 3, hysteresis comparing module 4, feedback control module 5 and logarithmic converter 21) configured to:
detect, as an event, a change in the plurality of electric signals ([0090]: “The logic module 41 further generates at least one event signal ev+, ev− representing that an event has occurred, i.e. that the intensity of the light at the pixel circuit 1 has changed by a given relative amount”);
adjust, for each type of light of the plurality of types of light, a gain of the event ([0014-0017]: the voltage amplifier 3 amplifies the signal representing the detected light intensity and generates an amplified signal, the amplified signal being generated by taking into account a control signal from the feedback control module 5; the hysteresis compares module 4 compares the amplified signal to at least one threshold value and to a reference value, and generates at least one output signal based on the comparison; the feedback control module 5 generates the control signal of the voltage amplifier based on said at least one output signal generated by the hysteresis comparing module 4. Thus, the voltage amplifier, the hysteresis comparing module and the feedback control module operate in such a way to modify the amplified signal. Fig.4; [0081]: “Variations on control signal VqDC shift the high gain region A along the X-axis in order to track the signal Vph at the input of the amplifier module 3”).
Finateu et al. fails to disclose a plurality of optical filters configured to pass a plurality of types of light; set, for each type of light of the plurality of types of light, a different threshold for the detection of the event.
However, Kim et al. teaches a plurality of optical filters configured to pass a plurality of types of light (Figs.1 and 2: filtering module 110. [0027]: “The plurality of filters may be configured to filter light incident to the sensing module 120”); set, for each type of light of the plurality of types of light, a different threshold for the detection of the event ([0081]: “The illumination information generator 1320 may calculate the level of illumination by comparing an intensity of light that has propagated through a predetermined color filter to a predetermined threshold.” A threshold setting unit is inherently included, in order to determine the predetermined threshold).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Finateu et al. with the teaching of Kim et al. to have a plurality of optical filters configured to pass a plurality of types of light; set, for each type of light of the plurality of types of light, a different threshold for the detection of the event, so as to accurately detect occurrence of an event based on different characteristics of different colors of light.
As to claim 2, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. discloses the sensor according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical filters includes a plurality of color filters (Kim et al.: [0028]: the plurality of filters may include a color filter).
As to claim 3, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. discloses the sensor according to claim 2, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set the different threshold for a color of each of the plurality of types of light received by the plurality of pixels and passed through the plurality of color filters (Kim et al.: [0081]: “The illumination information generator 1320 may calculate the level of illumination by comparing an intensity of light that has propagated through a predetermined color filter to a predetermined threshold.” In other words, each color filter has a corresponding predetermined threshold).
As to claim 10, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. discloses the sensor according to claim 1, wherein
the plurality of optical filters include a plurality of color filters (Kim et al.: [0028]: the plurality of filters may include a color filter), and
the circuitry is further configured to adjust, for a color of each of the plurality of types of light received by the plurality of pixels and passed through the plurality of color filters, the gain of the event based on an environment for capture of an image of a subject (Kim et al. teaches comparing the intensity of light that propagated through a predetermined color filter to a predetermined threshold. In Finateu et al., the gain adjustment is determined by the comparison result. Therefore, in the combination of Finateu et al. and Kim et al., the gain adjustment mechanism would adjust the gain for each color of light correspondingly. Please note that light is part of the environment).
As to claim 11, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. discloses the sensor according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate, as a pixel signal, a signal of a voltage corresponding to a photocurrent of the plurality of pixels in which the event is detected (Finateu et al.: [0072-74]: the photodiode 20 generates a current based on the detected light intensity; the logarithmic converter 21 converts the current into the voltage signal V-ph representing the detected light intensity).
Claim(s) 4-5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finateu et al. (US 2019/0273884 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2016/0187196 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Sambongi et al. (US 2016/0163752 A1).
As to claim 4, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. discloses the sensor according to claim 1, but fails to disclose the plurality of optical filters includes a plurality of polarizing filters.
However, Sambongi et al. teaches the plurality of optical filters includes polarizing filters (Figs.1 and 2: polarizing filter 4).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Finateu et al. and Kim et al. with the teaching of Sambongi et al. such that the plurality of optical filters includes polarizing filters, so as to reduce reflection and increase contrast.
As to claim 5, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. and Sambongi et al. discloses sensor according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry is further configured to set the different threshold for a polarization direction of each of the plurality of types of light received by the plurality of pixels and passed through the plurality of polarizing filters (as discussed in rejection of claim 1, Kim et al. teaches setting the threshold for each type of color. The combination of Finateu et al., Kim et al. and Sambongi et al. would teach setting the threshold for each polarization direction).
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Finateu et al. (US 2019/0273884 A1) in view of Kim et al. (US 2016/0187196 A1) as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Masuyama et al. (US 2009/0310001 A1).
As to claim 8, Finateu et al. in view of Kim et al. discloses the sensor according to claim 1, but fails to disclose the circuitry is further configured to perform a coarse adjustment to coarsely adjust the gain of the event and a fine adjustment to finely adjust the gain of the event.
However, Masuyama et al. teaches gain adjustment mechanism performing a coarse adjustment to coarsely adjust the gain of the event and a fine adjustment to finely adjust the gain of the event ([0057]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed inventio to modify the combination of Finateu et al. and Kim et al. with the teaching of Masuyama et al. to perform a coarse adjustment to coarsely adjust the gain of the event and a fine adjustment to finely adjust the gain of the event, so as to optimize the gain adjustment result.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 and 9 would be allowable if the double patenting rejection set forth in this Office action is overcome and rewritten to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/ZHENZHEN WU/Examiner, Art Unit 2637
/SINH TRAN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2637
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