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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/28/2024, 03/13/2025 and 08/12/2025 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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) 1-4, 6 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Pacala et al. (US. Pub. No. 2022/0043128, hereinafter “Pacala”).
As to claims 1 and 9, Pacala discloses a lidar apparatus [figure 2, lidar device 200], associated with its control method of the lidar apparatus, comprising:
a transmission and reception module [figure 2, light transmission module 240 and light sensing module 230 for transmitting a laser signal 249 and receiving a reflected signal 239 from an object, paragraph 75, Ranging data can be generated by the light ranging device by transmitting one or more light pulses 249 from the light transmission module 240 to objects in a field of view surrounding the light ranging device. Reflected portions 239 of the transmitted light are then detected by the light sensing module 230 after some delay time. Based on the delay time, the distance to the reflecting surface can be determined] transmitting a laser signal and receiving a reflected signal reflected from an object;
an output module [figure 2, an output module to communicated with user interface 215 and vehicle control unit 217];
a memory [figure 2, memory 254, paragraphs 8-9, The system may additionally include a plurality of registers configured to accumulate photon counts from the photosensor received during the one or more time intervals to represent an unfiltered histogram of photon counts received during the one or more time intervals. The system may further include a filter circuit configured to provide a filtered histogram of the photon counts from the plurality of registers. The system may also include a peak detection circuit configured to detect a location of a peak in the filtered histogram, and identify, using the location of the peak in the filtered histogram, locations in the plurality of registers storing an unfiltered representation of the peak, The system may also include a processor configured to receive the unfiltered representation of the peak and calculate a distance to the object in the environment surrounding the optical measurement system using the unfiltered representation of the peak] storing a measurement count allocated for each distance range; and
a processor [figure 2, processor 258, operatively coupled to 230, 240, 254 and output module] operatively coupled to the transmission and reception module, the output module, and the memory,
wherein after the processor repeats a process of generating a histogram by accumulating the reflected signals received through the transmission and reception module for a set measurement count, the processor is configured to determine an object distance based on a peak value of the histogram and to output the determined object distance through the output module [figures 8-10, repeat a process of generating a histogram by accumulating the reflected photons received through the transmission and reception module for a set measurement count, calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004, paragraph 146, from any calculations performed on the histogram memory to calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004].
As to claim 2, Pacala discloses the lidar apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify the set measurement count based on the determined object distance and the measurement count allocated for each distance range, and then to repeat the process of determining the object distance [paragraph 149, Each of the one or more first time intervals may represent a “shot” that is repeated multiple times in the measurement. Each of the first time intervals may include one or more pulse trains that are encoded and transmitted by the light sources such that the pulse trains can be recognized as they are reflected off of objects in the surrounding environment. Each of the time intervals may be subdivided into a plurality of time bins such that each of the time bins represents a bin in a histogram of received photon counts during the optical measurement.].
As to claim 3, Pacala discloses the lidar apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measurement count allocated for each distance range is an optimized measurement count based on a magnitude of an output of the transmission and reception module, and the measurement count allocated for each distance range increases as the object distance increases [paragraph 165, assuming that the size of the reflected peak is within the saturation limit of the histogram memory, certain measurements may be made based on the magnitude of the peak reflected off the housing to characterize portions of the housing itself, paragraph 175, The blockage threshold 1506 may represent a magnitude for the peak 1502 that may indicate a blockage in front of the optical measurement system. The blockage threshold 1506 may be set to be a predetermined distance and/or percentage above the magnitude of the initial peak 1502, such that it is only crossed when an object is in front of the optical measurement system].
As to claim 4, Pacala discloses the lidar apparatus of claim 1, wherein in response that the peak value of the histogram is greater than or equal to a limit peak value of the histogram, the processor is further configured to determine the object distance based on the peak value of the histogram and to output the determined object distance through the output module [figures 8-10, repeat a process of generating a histogram by accumulating the reflected photons received through the transmission and reception module for a set measurement count, calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004, paragraph 106, a binary value indicating a triggering can be sent to the histogram circuitry when the respective signal is greater than the threshold. The histogram circuitry can aggregate binary values across the plurality of photodetectors to determine a number of photodetectors that triggered during a particular time bin, paragraph 146, from any calculations performed on the histogram memory to calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004].
As to claim 6, Pacala discloses a lidar apparatus [figure 2, lidar device 200] comprising:
a transmission and reception module [figure 2, light transmission module 240 and light sensing module 230 for transmitting a laser signal 249 and receiving a reflected signal 239 from an object, paragraph 75, Ranging data can be generated by the light ranging device by transmitting one or more light pulses 249 from the light transmission module 240 to objects in a field of view surrounding the light ranging device. Reflected portions 239 of the transmitted light are then detected by the light sensing module 230 after some delay time. Based on the delay time, the distance to the reflecting surface can be determined] transmitting a laser signal and receiving a reflected signal reflected from an object;
an output module [figure 2, an output module to communicated with user interface 215 and vehicle control unit 217];
a memory storing [figure 2, memory 254, paragraphs 8-9, The system may additionally include a plurality of registers configured to accumulate photon counts from the photosensor received during the one or more time intervals to represent an unfiltered histogram of photon counts received during the one or more time intervals. The system may further include a filter circuit configured to provide a filtered histogram of the photon counts from the plurality of registers. The system may also include a peak detection circuit configured to detect a location of a peak in the filtered histogram, and identify, using the location of the peak in the filtered histogram, locations in the plurality of registers storing an unfiltered representation of the peak, The system may also include a processor configured to receive the unfiltered representation of the peak and calculate a distance to the object in the environment surrounding the optical measurement system using the unfiltered representation of the peak] a limit peak value of the histogram; and
a processor [figure 2, processor 258, operatively coupled to 230, 240, 254 and output module] operatively coupled to the transmission and reception module, the output module, and the memory,
wherein the processor is configured to repeat a process of generating the histogram by accumulating the reflected signals received through the transmission and reception module, and in response that a peak value of the histogram is greater than or equal to the limit peak value of the histogram [figures 8-10, repeat a process of generating a histogram by accumulating the reflected photons received through the transmission and reception module for a set measurement count, calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004, paragraph 106, a binary value indicating a triggering can be sent to the histogram circuitry when the respective signal is greater than the threshold. The histogram circuitry can aggregate binary values across the plurality of photodetectors to determine a number of photodetectors that triggered during a particular time bin, paragraph 146, from any calculations performed on the histogram memory to calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004], the processor is further configured to determine an object distance based on the peak value of the histogram and output the determined object distance through the output module [figures 8-10, repeat a process of generating a histogram by accumulating the reflected photons received through the transmission and reception module for a set measurement count, calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004, paragraph 146, from any calculations performed on the histogram memory to calculate distances to the external object corresponding to peak 1004].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 7-8 and 10-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: None of the prior art, made of record, singularly or in combination, teaches or fairly suggests the features presented in the combination limitations of dependent claims 5, 7-8 and 10-13, such as “the processor is further configured to compare the peak value with the limit peak value after the processor repeats the process of generating the histogram for the set measurement count”, recited by claim 5; “the processor is further configured to compare the peak value with the limit peak value after the processor repeats the process of generating the histogram for at least a set measurement count”, recited by claim 7; and “after repeating, by the processor, the generating of the histogram for the set number of measurement, comparing, by the processor, the peak value of the histogram with a limit peak value of the histogram; and determining, by the processor, the object distance based on the peak value of the histogram and outputting, by the processor, the determined object distance through the output module in response that the peak value is greater than or equal to the limit peak value in the comparing of the peak value and the limit peak value”, recited by claim 10.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Binder et al. (US. Pub. No. 2019/0154439) is considered as pertinent art regarding LIDAR system measuring distances of an object as seen in figure 5.
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/NAN-YING YANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2629
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