DETAILED ACTION
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 1-10 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.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the thus generated sequence and the modulation sequence" in lines 23-24. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claims 2-10 are dependent from independent claim 1 and are also rejected.
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)(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, 4-7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a2 as being anticipated by US Patent Pub. 2017/0090031 A1 to Bondy et al (“Bondy”).
As to claim 1, Bondy discloses a coherently working lidar system for capturing the surroundings (¶ 0003, 0055, 0067, 0069, 0110, 0117, 0122-0123, 0125, 0136-0139), which
- emits a power-modulated signal which is realized by irregular, pseudo-random switching on and off, wherein the switching off is achieved by a complete shutdown of the power or only by a significant power reduction, and the times of the switching on and off form a subset of an equidistant time raster (See Fig. 1A, ¶ 0003, 0055, 0069; See ¶ 0125, “The code modulation may involve modulating the intensity profile according to one or more coding sequence. FIG. 4E illustrates one such case of the intensity profile 408 of the outgoing light within a light transmission window 401. In this case, the intensity varies over time according to a Barker coding sequence of 11100010010, with a logical 1 represented by an increase (+m) in intensity above the DC component and a logical 0 represented by a decrease (−m) in intensity below the DC component.”),
- receives the signals reflected back from objects, which are delayed with respect to the emitted signal by the distance-dependent transit time and are shifted in frequency by the relative speed-dependent Doppler effect, converts them into a low-frequency signal by mixing and digitizes them in a receive sequence (¶ 0067, 0117, 0122-0123, 0136-0137), and
- determines the variable dimensions time shift and frequency shift of signals reflected by objects from said receive sequence in digital signal processing means (¶ 0122-0123), wherein
a two-dimensional correlation filtering is used for the variable dimensions time shift and frequency shift of signals reflected by objects, realized with the aid of a hardwired digital circuit (¶ 0110, 0117, 0122, 0139), or to reduce the required computing outlay
- a discrete Fourier transform is calculated with the aid of a fast Fourier transform, over the values of the receive sequence, if necessary extended by zeroes,
- the respective frequencies are determined from values of said discrete Fourier transform, in particular of peaks lying above a first detection threshold,
- the receive sequence is turned back in each case in frequency regarding the respective frequencies,
- a correlation is determined in each case between the thus generated sequence and the modulation sequence, in particular formed from the switching values 1 and 0, or the modulation sequence adjusted by its mean value, and
- the respective time shift and, therefore, object distance are determined from values of this respective correlation, in particular of peaks lying above a second detection threshold, and the radial relative speed of the respective object is determined from the respective frequency.
As to claim 4, Bondy discloses in which the power modulation sequence is periodically repeated, wherein in particular during a continual scanning of the laser beam the cyclical property of the modulation and receive sequence is exploited, and a capturing is realized in different directions in each case (¶ 0081-0083, 0110, 0113; See also Fig. 1A, 3A-B).
As to claim 5, Bondy discloses in which the laser beam continually scans and overlapping sections of a long, if necessary, periodic power modulation sequence are utilized for the successive capturing directions (¶ 0081-0083, 0110, 0113, “The processing unit 105 may also be configured to adjust the frame rate by controlling how quickly the light source 102 is tuned from one wavelength channel to the next, and the spatial resolution by tuning to, for example, every second wavelength channel (i.e. λ.sub.1, λ.sub.3, λ.sub.5, λ.sub.7 . . . ) of all the tunable wavelength channels of the light source 102. The refreshing rate for completing a full scan (i.e. determining a distance associated with all desired wavelengths) depends on the desired number of directions, pixels or points within a field of view, and the duration of the light transmission and receiving windows.”; See also Fig. 1A, 3A-B, 6A-B).
As to claim 6, Bondy discloses in which the laser frequency continually changes, at least in some sections, with an at least approximately linear progress, so that the entire modulation is composed of a line modulation and a frequency modulation (See Fig. 6A-B; ¶ 0081-0083, 0113, 0139; 0110 “The processing unit 105 may be configured to control the sequential manner in a predetermined sequence, such as in a wavelength-increasing or wavelength-decreasing order, effectively performing a 2D raster scan of the field of view. To enhance security, the predetermined sequence may hop across different wavelength channels in a manner only known to the system (e.g. λ.sub.1, λ.sub.100, λ.sub.35, λ.sub.150, . . . ).”; See also Fig. 1A, 3A-B).
As to claim 7, Bondy discloses in which it is considered that the frequency is shifted both by the relative speed-dependent Doppler effect and by the distance-dependent transit time due to the linear frequency change, in particular in that the object distance is determined from the established time shift, and the radial relative speed of the object is determined from the established frequency shift less its contribution caused by the time shift (See Fig. 6A, ¶ 0139).
As to claim 10, Bondy discloses in which the frequency change is utilized in order to change the beam direction, in particular continually, at least in some sections, in order to thus be able to capture data for multiple pixels in different directions (¶ 0081-0083, 0110, 0113, “The processing unit 105 may also be configured to adjust the frame rate by controlling how quickly the light source 102 is tuned from one wavelength channel to the next, and the spatial resolution by tuning to, for example, every second wavelength channel (i.e. λ.sub.1, λ.sub.3, λ.sub.5, λ.sub.7 . . . ) of all the tunable wavelength channels of the light source 102. The refreshing rate for completing a full scan (i.e. determining a distance associated with all desired wavelengths) depends on the desired number of directions, pixels or points within a field of view, and the duration of the light transmission and receiving windows.”;).
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 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2017/0090031 A1 to Bondy et al (“Bondy”) in view of DE 10-2021-201-283 A1 to Kern et al (“Kern”), and further in view of US Patent Pub. 2020/0233087 A1 to Sekiguchi et al (“Sekiguchi”).
Bondy discloses a coherently working lidar system for capturing the surroundings (¶ 0003, 0055, 0067, 0069, 0110, 0117, 0122-0123, 0125, 0136-0139), which
- emits a power-modulated signal which is realized by irregular, pseudo-random switching on and off, wherein the switching off is achieved by a complete shutdown of the power or only by a significant power reduction, and the times of the switching on and off form a subset of an equidistant time raster (See Fig. 1A, ¶ 0003, 0055, 0069; See ¶ 0125, “The code modulation may involve modulating the intensity profile according to one or more coding sequence. FIG. 4E illustrates one such case of the intensity profile 408 of the outgoing light within a light transmission window 401. In this case, the intensity varies over time according to a Barker coding sequence of 11100010010, with a logical 1 represented by an increase (+m) in intensity above the DC component and a logical 0 represented by a decrease (−m) in intensity below the DC component.”),
- receives the signals reflected back from objects, which are delayed with respect to the emitted signal by the distance-dependent transit time and are shifted in frequency by the relative speed-dependent Doppler effect, converts them into a low-frequency signal by mixing and digitizes them in a receive sequence (¶ 0067, 0117, 0122-0123, 0136-0137), and
- determines the variable dimensions time shift and frequency shift of signals reflected by objects from said receive sequence in digital signal processing means (¶ 0122-0123), wherein
a two-dimensional correlation filtering is used for the variable dimensions time shift and frequency shift of signals reflected by objects, realized with the aid of a hardwired digital circuit (¶ 0110, 0117, 0122, 0139).
Bondy fails to disclose a two-dimensional correlation filtering is used to reduce the required computing outlay
- a discrete Fourier transform is calculated with the aid of a fast Fourier transform, over the values of the receive sequence, if necessary extended by zeroes,
- the respective frequencies are determined from values of said discrete Fourier transform, in particular of peaks lying above a first detection threshold,
- the receive sequence is turned back in each case in frequency regarding the respective frequencies,
- a correlation is determined in each case between the thus generated sequence and the modulation sequence, in particular formed from the switching values 1 and 0, or the modulation sequence adjusted by its mean value, and
- the respective time shift and, therefore, object distance are determined from values of this respective correlation, in particular of peaks lying above a second detection threshold, and the radial relative speed of the respective object is determined from the respective frequency.
Kern discloses a two-dimensional correlation filtering is used to reduce the required computing outlay
- a discrete Fourier transform is calculated with the aid of a fast Fourier transform, over the values of the receive sequence (¶ 0015, 0098, 0104), if necessary extended by zeroes,
- the receive sequence is turned back in each case in frequency regarding the respective frequencies (¶ 0006),
- a correlation is determined in each case between the thus generated sequence and the modulation sequence, in particular formed from the switching values 1 and 0 (¶ 0110-0112; See also ¶ 0006-0007, 0104), or the modulation sequence adjusted by its mean value, and
- the respective time shift and, therefore, object distance are determined from values of this respective correlation and the radial relative speed of the respective object is determined from the respective frequency (¶ 0006-0007, 0104).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Bondy with the teachings of Kern - a discrete Fourier transform is calculated with the aid of a fast Fourier transform, over the values of the receive sequence, if necessary extended by zeroes, - the respective frequencies are determined from values of said discrete Fourier transform, in particular of peaks lying above a first detection threshold, - the receive sequence is turned back in each case in frequency regarding the respective frequencies, - a correlation is determined in each case between the thus generated sequence and the modulation sequence, in particular formed from the switching values 1 and 0, or the modulation sequence adjusted by its mean value, and - the respective time shift and, therefore, object distance are determined from values of this respective correlation, in particular of peaks lying above a second detection threshold, and the radial relative speed of the respective object is determined from the respective frequency, as suggested by Kern thereby similarly using known configurations for detecting/calculating characteristics of objects in environments using Fourier transforms in LiDAR systems.
Bondy in view of Kern fails to disclose - the respective frequencies are determined from values of said discrete Fourier transform, in particular of peaks lying above a first detection threshold, and in particular of peaks lying above a second detection threshold
Sekiguchi discloses LiDAR system wherein the respective frequencies are determined from values of said discrete Fourier transform, in particular of peaks lying above a detection threshold (¶ 0081, 0097, 0114).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Bondy in view of Kern with the teachings of Sekiguchi wherein the respective frequencies are determined from values of said discrete Fourier transform, in particular of peaks lying above a detection threshold, as suggested by Sekiguchi thereby similarly using known configurations using detection thresholds for detecting objects in an environment in the system of Bondy modified.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2017/0090031 A1 to Bondy et al (“Bondy”) in view of DE 11-2018-007-502 T5 to Onohara et al (“Onohara”).
As to claim 2, Bondy fails to disclose in which the power modulation is realized by a changeover switch between two transmit paths which consequently have inverse power modulation with respect to one another.
Onohara discloses in which the power modulation is realized by a changeover switch between two transmit paths which consequently have inverse power modulation with respect to one another (¶ 0033, 0039, 0041, 0088, 0094).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Bondy with the teachings of Onohara in which the power modulation is realized by a changeover switch between two transmit paths which consequently have inverse power modulation with respect to one another, as suggested by Onohara thereby similarly using known configurations using changeover switching between two transmit paths in Lidar systems.
Claim(s) 3 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2017/0090031 A1 to Bondy et al (“Bondy”) in view of DE 10-2021-201-283 A1 to Kern et al (“Kern”).
As to claim 3, Bondy fails to disclose in which the first detection threshold for peaks of the discrete Fourier transform lies less far above the noise than the second detection threshold for peaks of the respective correlation.
Kern discloses in which the first detection threshold for peaks of the discrete Fourier transform lies less far above the noise than the second detection threshold for peaks of the respective correlation (¶ 0006-0009, 0015, 0019).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Bondy with the teachings of Kern in which the first detection threshold for peaks of the discrete Fourier transform lies less far above the noise than the second detection threshold for peaks of the respective correlation, as suggested by Kern thereby similarly using known configurations
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2017/0090031 A1 to Bondy et al (“Bondy”) in view of US Patent No. 4,928,152 A to Geradin.
As to claim 8, Bondy fails to disclose in which a correct sign determination of the receive frequency and, therefore, the clear determination of the relative speed of objects when using a real-valued mixer are realized in that it is considered that, in particular in the case of objects which are further away, only a relative speed hypothesis is possible or at least more plausible because of the known transit time- dependent component of the frequency shift.
Geradin discloses in which a correct sign determination of the receive frequency and, therefore, the clear determination of the relative speed of objects when using a real-valued mixer are realized in that it is considered that, in particular in the case of objects which are further away, only a relative speed hypothesis is possible or at least more plausible because of the known transit time-dependent component of the frequency shift (col. 7, lines 62 – col. 8, lines 33).
Before the effective filing date, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified Bondy with the teachings of Geradin in which a correct sign determination of the receive frequency and, therefore, the clear determination of the relative speed of objects when using a real-valued mixer are realized in that it is considered that, in particular in the case of objects which are further away, only a relative speed hypothesis is possible or at least more plausible because of the known transit time- dependent component of the frequency shift, as suggested by Geradin thereby similarly using known configurations for measuring speed of objects in Lidar systems.
Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub. 2017/0090031 A1 to Bondy et al (“Bondy”) in view of US Patent Pub. 2021/0293960 A1 to Kreitlinger et al (“Kreitlinger”).
As to claim 9, Bondy fails to disclose in which a correct sign determination of the receive frequency and, therefore, the clear determination of the relative speed of objects when using a real-valued mixer are realized in that the steepness of the frequency change is varied and data regarding different steepness are captured and evaluated for an object and the fact is utilized that the two frequency shift effects of relative speed and transit time then bear a different relation to one another, in particular characterized in that the algebraic sign, but not the amount of the steepness of the frequency change is varied, so that the two frequency shift effects of relative speed and transit time having different algebraic signs are added and thus the algebraic sign of the receive frequency can be determined.
Kreitlinger discloses in which a correct sign determination of the receive frequency and, therefore, the clear determination of the relative speed of objects when using a real-valued mixer are realized in that the steepness of the frequency change is varied and data regarding different steepness are captured and evaluated for an object and the fact is utilized that the two frequency shift effects of relative speed and transit time then bear a different relation to one another (¶ 0033, 0071; See also Fig. 3 and 8; See also claim 9), in particular characterized in that the algebraic sign, but not the amount of the steepness of the frequency change is varied, so that the two frequency shift effects of relative speed and transit time having different algebraic signs are added and thus the algebraic sign of the receive frequency can be determined (¶ 0088-0093, “ The chirp configuration 801 includes a first chirp pair 802 during a first time period t1 and a second chirp pair 803 during a second time period t2. The first chirp pair 802 includes a first chirp 804 from a first laser (e.g., laser 1) and a second chirp 805 from a second laser (e.g., laser 2). The first chirp pair 802 may generally be similar to the chirp configuration 301 of FIG. 3. The first chirp 804 has a chirp rate K.sub.L1C1 and the second chirp 805 has a chirp rate of K.sub.L2C2. In the embodiment of FIG. 8, the first chirp pair 802 may include chirps which are opposite in direction from each other (e.g., one is positive while the other is negative). In particular, the first chirp pair 802 of FIG. 8 may be a divergent chirp pair, where the two chirps 804 and 805 start at frequencies which are closer together than the frequencies they end at.”).
Conclusion
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/NICHOLAS J LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2624
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