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 1-8 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.
Regarding Claim 1, ai is clear from the description on page 3 that feature "In an embodiment, the optical stage of the double stage single-sideband Weaver mixer comprises a quadrature optical mixer, which is connected to the first arm and the second arm and is configured to produce in-phase and quadrature shifted radio beat frequencies from optical signals guided in the first arm and the second arm. The two arms and the optical stage of the Weaver mixer thus form a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that is used as discriminator" is essential to the definition of the invention. For the definition of the "double stage single sideband Weaver mixer', which is defined by its characteristics, it appears that the features of claims 2-4 are essential to Claim 1. Correction is required.
Claims 2-7 lack improper antecedent basis, as the "The light source" is missing from Claim 1. Claim 1 defines "A tunable light source". Correction is required.
In Claim 3 the phrase ‘each photodetector' is unclear. Does this phrase only refer to the two first photodetectors and the two second photodetectors, or also to other photodetectors? Correction is required.
In Claim 4, the phrases "the in-phase radio beat frequency' and "the quadrature shifted beat frequency'' is lacking proper antecedent basis, in case the claim is read with its direct dependency from claim 2. Since "the in-phase radio beat frequency' and "the quadrature shifted beat frequency'' are not defined in claim 2, and the subject matter of claim 3 is essential to their definition, claim 4 is interpreted to depend on claim 3.
In Claim 6 the phrase “FMCW LIDAR device” is lacking proper antecedent basis in the body of either Claim 1 or Claim 2. Correction is required.
Claims 5-8 fail to remedy the issues present from Claim 1 which they depend, thus are summarily rejected. Correction is required.
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.
(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 and 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Isaac (IEEE – 2019).
Regarding Claim 1, Isaac discloses a tunable light source for frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LiDAR devices [Abstract], comprising: an external cavity laser [Fig 1] that comprises: a laser gain medium having a light output facet configured to emit laser light [Fig 1]; a reflector [Back Mirror of Fig 1]; and an external cavity waveguide extending between the light output facet and the reflector [see “Back Mirror” and “Gain’ of Fig 1]; a variable phase shifter arranged in the external cavity waveguide [see “Back Mirror” and “Gain’ of Fig 1]; an optical splitter configured to split off a portion of the laser light [2x1 splitter of Fig 1]; and an optical phase-locked loop that is optically coupled to the optical splitter and electrically coupled to the laser gain medium [Frequency Discriminator, 2x1, PD of Fig 1], wherein the optical phase-locked loop comprises a first arm, a second arm [Frequency Discriminator, 2x1, PD of Fig 1; Page 2, Col 2, Par. 3], a double stage single-sideband Weaver mixer comprising an optical stage and an electrical stage [Frequency Discriminator, 2x1, PD of Fig 1], a phase detector and a loop filter [Filter of Fig 1] that are electrically connected in series [Page 5, Col. 2, Section C], wherein the first arm and the second arm have different optical path lengths [Page 2, Col 2, Par. 3].
Regarding Claim 8, Isaac discloses frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) LiDAR device for measuring a range to an external object [Detected Object of Fig 1], comprising the tunable light source of claim 1 [Tunable Laser of Fig 1], a detector configured to detect a superposition of a portion of the laser light that was reflected at the external object with a portion of the laser light that was not reflected at the external object [Tunable Laser, Detector, Detected Object , Frequency Discriminator of Fig 1] and a calculation unit configured to determine the range to the object based on the superposition detected by the detector [Abstract; Page 3, Section B].
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) 2-3, 5-7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isaac (IEEE – 2019), as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tzuang (US 2023/0014034)
Regarding Claim 2, Isaac also teaches wherein the optical stage of the double stage single-sideband Weaver mixer comprises a quadrature optical mixer, which is connected to the first arm and the second arm [see 2x1 of Fig 1; Page 2, Col 2, Par. 3]. Isaac does not explicitly teach – but Tzuang teaches to produce in-phase and quadrature shifted radio beat frequencies from optical signals guided in the first arm and the second arm [Fig 1; 0003; 0044]. It would have been obvious to modify the light source of Isaac to include in-phase and quadrature shifted radio beat frequencies to improve chirp linearization.
Regarding Claim 3, Isaac does not explicitly teach – but Tzuang teaches: a quadrature hybrid coupler comprising: a first input connected to the first arm [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44]; a second input connected to the second arm [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44]; and four exits that combine light from the first arm and light from the second arm with different phase delays [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44]; and two first photodetectors and two second photodetectors [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44], wherein: each photodetector has an electrical output and is connected to one of the exits of the quadrature hybrid coupler [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44]; the electrical outputs of the first photodetectors are combined to produce the in-phase radio beat frequency [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44]; and the electrical outputs of the second photodetectors are combined to produce the quadrature shifted radio beat frequency [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44].
Regarding Claim 5, Isaac also teaches a waveform generator; a laser driver connected to the loop filter and the waveform generator; wherein the laser driver is configured to produce a laser injection current that is applied to the laser gain medium; and a phase shifter driver that is connected to the waveform generator and configured to produce a control signal that is applied to the variable phase shifter [Filter, Tunable Laser of Fig 1; Page 2, Col 1. Section A].
Regarding Claim 6, Isaac also teaches a further optical splitter configured to split off a portion of the laser light, said portion forming a signal that is emitted by the FMCW LiDAR device [see Front Mirror, Tunable Laser of Fig 1; Page 3 Section B].
Regarding Claim 7, Isaac also teaches an optical isolator arranged in a light path downstream of the further optical splitter [see 2x2 and Tunable Laser of Fig 1].
Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Isaac (IEEE – 2019), in view of Tzuang (US 2023/0014034), as applied to claim 3 above, and further in view of Rakuljic ‘311 (US 2013/0044311) and Rakuljic ‘992 (US 2010/0085992).
Regarding Claim 4, Isaac does not explicitly teach wherein the electrical stage of the double stage single-sideband Weaver mixer: comprises a local oscillator that is configured to produce a first oscillator signal and a second oscillator signal that is phase shifted relative to the first oscillator signal; a first mixer that is configured to mix the first oscillator signal with the in-phase radio beat frequency so that a first lower side band signal is obtained; and a second mixer that is configured to mix the second oscillator signal with the quadrature shifted beat frequency so that a second lower side band signal shifted in quadrature is obtained. Tzuang teaches a local oscillator that is configured to produce a first oscillator signal [Fig 1, 2; 0032; 0042-44]. Rakuljic ‘311 teaches wherein the electrical stage of the double stage single-sideband Weaver mixer: comprises a local oscillator … a second oscillator signal that is phase shifted relative to the first oscillator signal [0036; 0056-59]. Rakuljic ‘992 teaches a first mixer that is configured to mix the first oscillator signal with the in-phase radio beat frequency so that a first lower side band signal is obtained [0040; 0051; 0065]; and a second mixer that is configured to mix the second oscillator signal with the quadrature shifted beat frequency so that a second lower side band signal shifted in quadrature is obtained [0040; 0051; 0065]. It would have been obvious to modify the light source of Isaac to include phase shifted local oscillator signals and mixers thus providing enhanced broadband tunability.
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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JAMES R. HULKA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
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