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.
1. Claims 1 & 11 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.
2. Claims 1 & 11 recite the limitation " the power supply component " in Claim 1, line 12, & Claim 11, line 14. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. There is a first and second “power component” however, it is unclear if this is the same as “the power supply component” in the Claims.
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.
3. Claims 1-4, 9-14, & 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White (US 20230044157 A1), in view of Liisberg (US 10089195 B2).
4. Regarding Claims 1 & 11: White teaches a LiDAR system for providing target data to external devices, ([0002]: The disclosure relates to systems provided for use in autonomous vehicles. More particularly, the disclosure relates to providing a lidar system which includes redundancy). White further teaches, ([0023] In yet another embodiment, an autonomous vehicle comprises a lidar and one or more computing systems. The lidar is configured to capture point cloud data associated with an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle). White teaches a LiDAR device, including a first LiDAR component to generate a first sensing signal, and a second LiDAR component to generate a second sensing signal, ([0060]: FIG. 9 is a block diagram representation of another example of a fault-tolerant lidar, in accordance with embodiments. According to embodiments, the fault-tolerant lidar 900 is configured with two sets of electronic and/or software components that provide redundancy and fault-tolerance. In this manner, when one set of electronic and/or software components fails or experiences a fault, the other set of electronic and/or software components may continue to operate the fault-tolerant lidar 900 to provide point cloud data. In particular, at least some of the electronic and/or software components of the fault-tolerant lidar 900 may be arranged into two or more modules: a first module 940a and a second module 940b. In the event that one or more components in the first module 940a fails, components of second module 940b may continue operating and the fault-tolerant lidar 900 may continue to provide point cloud data, and vice versa). White teaches a data processing device, including a first data processor, and a second data processor, a power assembly, including a first power component, and a second power component, the first power component being electrically connected to the LiDAR device and the data processing device respectively, and the second power component being electrically connected to the LiDAR device and the data processing device respectively, ([Fig. 9]: Shows data processors 918(a) and 918(b), power components 924(a) and 924(b). The power components are connected to the data processing devices as well as the lidar devices). White teaches when either the first power supply component or the second power supply component is working abnormally, or both the first power supply component and the second power supply component are working normally, the power supply component provides power to ensure normal operations of the LiDAR device and data processing device, ([0063]: According to embodiments, the fault-tolerant lidar 900 may be powered (e.g., receive power) from two separate power supplies 934a and 934b and/or two separate power domains. The power supplies 934a and 934b may be low-voltage power distribution units (LVPDUs) of an autonomous vehicle and may supply direct current (DC) power in the range of 3 to 40 volts (e.g., 12 volts). Generally, power supply 934a may provide power to components within Module A 940a and power supply 934b may provide power to components within Module B 940b. The power supplies 934a and 934b may be configured to be in separate power domains 945a and 945b, respectively, of the autonomous vehicle. That is, the power domain 945a that includes the power supply 934a may be electrically insulated from the power domain 945b that includes the power supply 934b. Although the first and second power domains may both be powered using a common high-voltage power source (e.g., a high-voltage battery) of the autonomous vehicle, the first and second power domains of the autonomous vehicle may be configured such that failures in power supply components such as LVPDUs and DC-DC converters within one power domain does not affect the provision of electrical power within the other power domain. By configuring the fault-redundant lidar 900 to receive power from two separate power domains in the manner described in this disclosure, the fault-tolerant lidar 900 may be able to operate even when one of the power domains 945a or 945b fails. For instance, if the power supply 934a (e.g., an LVPDU) or another component (e.g., a DC-DC converter) within the power domain 945a fails, the components of Module B, which receives power from power supply 934b and power domain 945b, may continue to operate. And fault-tolerant lidar 900 may continue to provide lidar point cloud data (e.g., in a fail-safe mode). Additional details regarding the operation of the fault-tolerant lidar 900 in the event of a power supply failure and/or a power domain failure is illustrated in and described with respect to FIGS. 11A-E). White teaches when either the first LiDAR component or the second LiDAR component is working abnormally, the data processing device receives and processes the first sensing signal or the second sensing signal to obtain first sensing data or second sensing data; when both the first and second LiDAR components are working normally, the data processing device receives and processes the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal to obtain the third sensing data, the data processing device receives and processes the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal to obtain the third sensing data when both the first data processor and the second data processor are working normally, ([Figs. 9 & 11A-E]: Shows when either the first LiDAR component or the second LiDAR component is working abnormally, the data processing device receives and processes the first sensing signal or the second sensing signal to obtain first sensing data or second sensing data; when both the first and second LiDAR components are working normally, the data processing device receives and processes the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal to obtain the third sensing data). The third sensing data is the combined data from module A and module B. White teaches the LiDAR system uses each of the first sensing data, second sensing data, and third sensing data to provide the target data to the external device. ([Claim 17]: An autonomous vehicle comprising: a lidar configured to capture point cloud data associated with an environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle). White further teaches, ([0072]: The plurality of beams may include a first beam 1011_1, a second beam 1011_2, a third beam 1011_3, a fourth beam 1011 4, etc. As illustrated in FIGS. 10A-B, the first beam 1011_1 may have the highest elevation angle within the distribution pattern and the last beam 1011_m may have the lowest elevation angle. According to embodiments, the lidar 1000 may be configured such that adjacent beams within the plurality of beams are controlled by different modules and/or powered by different power domains. For instance, odd channels of the plurality of beams 1011 (e.g., 1011_1, 1011_3, 1011_5, etc.) may be controlled by the first module 940a (or may be a part of the first module 940a) and even channels of the plurality of beams 1011 (e.g., 1011_2, 1011_4, 1011_6, etc.) may be controlled by the second module 940b (or may be a part of the second module 940b). In addition, the odd channels of the plurality of beams 1011 may be powered by the first power domain 945a (e.g., via first power supply 934a) and the even channels of the plurality of beams 1011 may be powered by the second power domain 945b (e.g., via second power supply 934b). Referring back to FIG. 9, the first set of light sources 914a may generate light beams that correspond to the odd channels and the second set of light sources 914b may generate light beams that correspond to the even channels, or vice versa. In other words, the plurality of light beams generated by the lidar 1000 may be interleaved). White further teaches, ([0061]: The lidar 900 may generate status signals to inform the autonomous vehicle on which the lidar 900 is installed that it is operating in the failsafe mode. Alternatively, systems of the autonomous vehicle may monitor and/or analyze point cloud data generated by the fault-tolerant lidar 900 to determine that the fault-tolerant lidar 900 has entered failsafe mode operations).
White does not teach when either the first data processor or the second data processor is working abnormally, one of the first data processing device and the second data processor attempts to obtain and process the first sensing signal or the second sensing signal from the other of the first data processing device and the second data processor, to obtain the first sensing data, the second sensing data, or the third sensing data.
However, Liisberg teaches a system with redundant data processing for LiDAR applications, ([Col. 5, Lines 28-34]: One preferred application of the above-described method for redundant data processing may be used in the field of surroundings detection, for example, in highly automated driving. In this case the processed data may originate from sensor measurements, for example, in the form of radar, Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) LIDAR, ultrasound measurements or video recordings). Liisberg further teaches ([Col. 1, Lines 40-51]: It is provided that, in a system having multiple processing units, which receive the same input data and process them in the same way, i.e., carry out redundant processing of data, one of the processing units, after a restart or reset, receives a portion of the data for processing from one or multiple of the other redundantly operating processing units. Such a system is thus capable of independently replicating data lost or missed due to a restart (for example, triggered by an error), which, however, may be needed for processing. In this way, in such a distributed system having multiple processing units the availability of the system is largely preserved in the event of failure of one or multiple processing units). Liisberg goes on to teach, ([Col. 2, Lines 50-67]: FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system for redundant calculation of data. The system includes a first processing unit 120, a second processing unit 130, and a third processing unit 140. Processing units 120, 130, 140 are preferably separate hardware units, i.e., in particular not different cores of a processor. Processing units 120, 130, and 140 have computing means 121, 131, and 141, and memories 122, 132, and 142. In memories 122, 132, and 142 data may be stored, which are processed in computing means 121, 131, and 141. Data processing of processing units 120, 130, and 140 is preferably used for safety-relevant functions of the system. The data to be processed are received by processing units 120, 130, and 140 for example, via communication links 126, 136, and 146. In the preferred exemplary embodiment, processing units 120, 130, and 140 receive identical data via communication links 126, 136, and 146 and carry out a mutually redundant (i.e., the same) processing of these identical data).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify White with Liisberg to include when either the first data processor or the second data processor is working abnormally, one of the first data processing device and the second data processor attempts to obtain and process the first sensing signal or the second sensing signal from the other of the first data processing device and the second data processor, to obtain the first sensing data, the second sensing data, or the third sensing data, since it is the same field of endeavor and results would have been predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to modify White with Liisberg, since such a configuration allows the autonomous vehicle to continue operating safely even when there is a fault or failure in the processing modules. This “fail-operational” functionality is a crucial safety feature for higher level autonomous vehicles. In addition, such configurations allow for maximized data availability, further enabling any required verification of data classification or validation of calibration parameters.
6. Regarding Claim 11:
White teaches a vehicle, the vehicle, comprising: a body, ([0006]: FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation of a side of an autonomous vehicle in accordance with an embodiment). White further teaches, ([Fig. 2]: Shows a vehicle with a body).
7. Regarding Claims 2 & 12:
White teaches the first LiDAR component comprises a plurality of first transceivers, the second LiDAR component comprises a plurality of second transceivers, the LiDAR system has a predetermined field of view(FOV), the first transceivers include a plurality of first transceiver channels, the second transceiver includes a plurality of second transceiver channels, and the first transceiver channels and the second transceiver channels are arranged in a predetermined longitudinal angle distribution within the predetermined field of view, (([0072]: The plurality of beams may include a first beam 1011_1, a second beam 1011_2, a third beam 1011_3, a fourth beam 1011 4, etc. As illustrated in FIGS. 10A-B, the first beam 1011_1 may have the highest elevation angle within the distribution pattern and the last beam 1011_m may have the lowest elevation angle. According to embodiments, the lidar 1000 may be configured such that adjacent beams within the plurality of beams are controlled by different modules and/or powered by different power domains. For instance, odd channels of the plurality of beams 1011 (e.g., 1011_1, 1011_3, 1011_5, etc.) may be controlled by the first module 940a (or may be a part of the first module 940a) and even channels of the plurality of beams 1011 (e.g., 1011_2, 1011_4, 1011_6, etc.) may be controlled by the second module 940b (or may be a part of the second module 940b). In addition, the odd channels of the plurality of beams 1011 may be powered by the first power domain 945a (e.g., via first power supply 934a) and the even channels of the plurality of beams 1011 may be powered by the second power domain 945b (e.g., via second power supply 934b). Referring back to FIG. 9, the first set of light sources 914a may generate light beams that correspond to the odd channels and the second set of light sources 914b may generate light beams that correspond to the even channels, or vice versa. In other words, the plurality of light beams generated by the lidar 1000 may be interleaved)). See figures 11D-E.
8. Regarding Claims 3 & 13:
White teaches the first transceiver channels and second transceiver channels are arranged alternately, or the first transceiver channels and second transceiver channels are arranged above or below the second transceiver channels, or first transceiver channel clusters and second transceiver channel clusters are arranged alternately, each first transceiver channel cluster consists of multiple adjacent first transceiver channels; each second transceiver channel cluster consists of multiple adjacent second transceiver channels. See Claims 2 & 12.
9. Regarding Claims 4 & 14:
White teaches the plurality of the first transceivers and the plurality of the second transceivers are arranged in a straight line in the longitudinal direction, the plurality of the first transceivers and the plurality of the second transceivers are alternately arranged, or if the first transceivers are located at the upper or lower part of the second transceivers, or if the first transceivers and the second transceivers are alternately arranged, wherein each transceiver group consists of several adjacent first transceiver components; each second transceiver group consists of several adjacent second transceiver components, (Figs. 10 B & 11 D-E]: Show the LiDAR channels arranged in a straight line in the longitudinal direction).
10. Regarding Claims 9 & 19:
White teaches the first LiDAR component further comprises a first signal converter, and the second LiDAR component further comprises a second signal converter, the first signal converter and the second signal converter are respectively connected to the first data processor and the second data processor in corresponding communication, and the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal are respectively sent to the first data processor and the second data processor, ([Figs. 11 A-C]: Show the signal converters (916a/b) connected to the data processors (918a/b)).
White does not teach each of the first data processor and the second processor communicate to receive the first sensing signal or send the second sensing signal to the other.
However, Liisberg teaches, ([Col. 2, Lines 50-67]: FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system for redundant calculation of data. The system includes a first processing unit 120, a second processing unit 130, and a third processing unit 140. Processing units 120, 130, 140 are preferably separate hardware units, i.e., in particular not different cores of a processor. Processing units 120, 130, and 140 have computing means 121, 131, and 141, and memories 122, 132, and 142. In memories 122, 132, and 142 data may be stored, which are processed in computing means 121, 131, and 141. Data processing of processing units 120, 130, and 140 is preferably used for safety-relevant functions of the system. The data to be processed are received by processing units 120, 130, and 140 for example, via communication links 126, 136, and 146. In the preferred exemplary embodiment, processing units 120, 130, and 140 receive identical data via communication links 126, 136, and 146 and carry out a mutually redundant (i.e., the same) processing of these identical data).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify White with Liisberg to include each of the first data processor and the second processor communicate to receive the first sensing signal or send the second sensing signal to the other, since it is the same field of endeavor and results would have been predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to modify White with Liisberg, since such a configuration provides synchronization and fault-tolerance which enhances passenger safety for autonomous vehicles.
11. Regarding Claims 10 & 20:
White teaches the LiDAR system further comprises a first communication component and a second communication component, the first communication component and the second communication component respectively transmit the sensing data generated by the first data processor and the second data processor to external devices for providing the target data to the external devices, ([0061]: The lidar 900 may generate status signals to inform the autonomous vehicle on which the lidar 900 is installed that it is operating in the failsafe mode. Alternatively, systems of the autonomous vehicle may monitor and/or analyze point cloud data generated by the fault-tolerant lidar 900 to determine that the fault-tolerant lidar 900 has entered failsafe mode operations). White further teaches, ([Fig. 9]: Shows data interface (920 a & b)).
12. Claims 5 & 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White (US 20230044157 A1), in view of Liisberg (US 10089195 B2), as applied to Claims 1 & 11 above, and further in view of Higashitani (US 20200017115 A1).
13. Regarding Claims 5 & 15:
White as modified by Liisberg does not teach the first power component is electrically connected to both the first data processor and second data processor, and the second power component is electrically connected to both the first data processor and second data processor; the first power component is also electrically connected to both the first LiDAR component and second LiDAR component, and the second power component is also electrically connected to both the first LiDAR component and second LiDAR component.
However, Higashitani teaches, an autonomous driving control system which includes LiDAR, ([0038]: The assistance information acquiring unit 400 is provided to acquire various types of assistance information for assisting autonomous driving. The assistance information acquiring unit 400 includes a front-side detector 410, a rear-side detector 420, a GPS device 430, a navigation device 440 and a wireless communication device 450. The navigation device 440 has a function of determining a scheduled travel route for autonomous driving on the basis of a destination and the location of the own vehicle 50 detected by the GPS device 430. To determine or alter the scheduled travel route, any other sensor such as a gyroscope sensor may be employed in addition to the GPS device 430. The front-side detector 410 acquires information regarding a situation of objects and road facilities (traffic lanes, traffic intersections, traffic signals and the like) present in front of the own vehicle 50. The rear-side detector 420 acquires information regarding objects and road facilities present behind the own vehicle 50. Each of the front-side detector 410 and the rear-side detector 420 may be implemented by at least one detecting device selected from a variety of detecting devices such as a camera, a laser radar and a millimeter-wave radar). Higashitani further teaches, ([0046]: The electric power supply lines 641 and 642 of the two systems supply electric power to a plurality of specific accessories. In FIG. 2, there are depicted, as the specific accessories, the brake controller 320, the steering controller 330 and the front-side detector 410. The front-side detector 410 includes a camera 411 and a laser radar 412. The specific accessories are particularly important machines and devices among those for control of autonomous driving. For example, the specific accessories may include at least one of the autonomous driving control unit 210, the situation recognition unit 220, the brake controller 320, the steering controller 330, the front-side detector 410, the rear-side detector 420 and the electric power supply ECU 610. In addition, the term “accessories” denotes auxiliary machines and devices necessary for causing the vehicle 50 to travel with the drive unit (internal combustion engine and/or electric motor) driving the wheels of the vehicle 50. Any accessory other than the specific accessories may be connected to the electric power supply systems shown in FIG. 2 or alternatively to other electric power supply systems. It should be noted that connection of the autonomous driving ECU 200 and the electric power supply ECU 610 to the electric power supply lines 641 and 642 is not shown in FIG. 2. In a normal connection state of the electric power supply circuit 620, the electric power supplies 621 and 622 are connected to the plurality of specific accessories in parallel as shown in FIG. 2. Specifically, in the normal connection state, of the relays 631-635 included in the relay device 630, the relay 634 is in an OFF state whereas the other relays 631-633 and 635 are in an ON state. In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the first electric power supply 621 is a main electric power supply and the second electric power supply 622 is an auxiliary electric power supply; the various accessories are normally supplied with electric power mainly by the first electric power supply 621. Although the two electric power supplies 621 and 622 are included in the electric power supply unit 600 in this embodiment, three or more electric power supplies may be included in the electric power supply unit 600. The same applies to the electric power supply lines 641 and 642. In this case, it is preferable that the number of the electric power supplies be equal to the number of the electric power supply lines). See figures 1-18.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify White with Liisberg and Higashitani to include the first power component is electrically connected to both the first data processor and second data processor, and the second power component is electrically connected to both the first data processor and second data processor; the first power component is also electrically connected to both the first LiDAR component and second LiDAR component, and the second power component is also electrically connected to both the first LiDAR component and second LiDAR component, since it is the same field of endeavor and results would have been predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to modify White with Liisberg and Higashitani, since such a configuration provides a high level of availability to safety critical data during component failure, simplified hot-swapping and maintenance, as well as load balancing and thermal management.
14. Claims 6-8 & 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over White (US 20230044157 A1), in view of Liisberg (US 10089195 B2), and Higashitani (US 20200017115 A1), as applied to Claims 5 & 15 above, and further in view of Song (KR 20230027543 A).
15. Regarding Claims 6 & 16:
White as modified by Liisberg and Higashitani do not teach the first power component comprises a first main power supply and a first wireless power supply, the second power component comprises a second main power supply and a second wireless power supply, and the first main power supply is electrically connected to both the first data processor and the second data processor; the second main power supply is electrically connected to both the first data processor and the second data processor; the first wireless power supply is electrically connected to both the first LiDAR component and the second LiDAR component, and the second wireless power supply is electrically connected to both the first LiDAR component and the second LiDAR component.
However, Song teaches a detection system with redundant power supplies,
([0040]: The power supply unit 150 supplies power to each component of the device 100 for detecting an emergency. According to one embodiment, the power supply unit 150 may be implemented to be mechanically and electrically separable from the device 100 for detecting an emergency situation. The separated power supply unit 150 may be replaced with another redundant power supply unit 150 (not shown). According to another embodiment, the power supply unit 150 may be implemented integrally with the device 100 for detecting an emergency. In this case, the power supply unit 150 may be charged by receiving power from a separately prepared charging device (not shown) according to wired power transmission technology or wireless power transmission technology). Song further teaches, ([0084]: First, the device 100 for detecting an emergency acquires data through the data acquisition unit 110 including different types of sensors (S510). The data obtained in step S510 is data obtained from one or more sensors selected from among a microphone, a CCD sensor, a CMOS sensor, a lidar sensor, a radar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and an infrared sensor, and includes one or more of sound data, image data, and 3D point cloud data). See figure 2.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify White as modified by Liisberg and Higashitani with Song to include a redundant wireless power supply, since it is the same field of endeavor and results would have been predictable. One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to modify White as modified by Liisberg and Higashitani with Song, since such a configuration provides a unique balance of mechanical freedom, longevity, and fail-safe operation. This is especially true for a mechanical rotating LiDAR since bridging power between the stationary base and the spinning rotor head is a significant engineering challenge. Using a wireless power supply would overcome most of these challenges associated with the physical contact load on mechanical parts. The resulting system would be more robust and reliable, even in the case of a failure in one or more power sub-systems. This is a critical passenger safety feature for autonomous vehicles.
In addition, regarding the use of 2 separate, redundant, wired and wireless power supply sub-systems, connecting to both the LiDAR sub-systems and the data processing sub-systems: It has been held that the mere duplication of parts has no patentable significance unless a new and unexpected result is produced, see MPEP 2144.04 VI B.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to include 2 power supply sub-systems, each including a wired and wireless power transmission means, since this would further enhance the robustness and safety of the system as well as the autonomous vehicle and the passengers in it.
16. Regarding Claims 7 & 17:
White teaches when both the first power supply component and the second power supply component are working normally, the first and second main power supplies together provide power for normal operations of the LiDAR devices and the data processing devices, See Claims 1 & 11 as well as figure 9.
White as modified by Liisberg and Song does not teach when either the first power component or the second power component works abnormally, the other of the first power component and the second power component provides power consumption for the LiDAR device and the data processing device.
However, Higashitani teaches this, see Claims 5 & 15.
17. Regarding Claims 8 & 18:
White teaches when both the first power component and the second power component are working normally, the first power component and the second power component respectively provide the same power, and the value of the power is half of the value of the power consumption, ([0063]: According to embodiments, the fault-tolerant lidar 900 may be powered (e.g., receive power) from two separate power supplies 934a and 934b and/or two separate power domains. The power supplies 934a and 934b may be low-voltage power distribution units (LVPDUs) of an autonomous vehicle and may supply direct current (DC) power in the range of 3 to 40 volts (e.g., 12 volts). Generally, power supply 934a may provide power to components within Module A 940a and power supply 934b may provide power to components within Module B 940b. The power supplies 934a and 934b may be configured to be in separate power domains 945a and 945b, respectively, of the autonomous vehicle. That is, the power domain 945a that includes the power supply 934a may be electrically insulated from the power domain 945b that includes the power supply 934b. Although the first and second power domains may both be powered using a common high-voltage power source (e.g., a high-voltage battery) of the autonomous vehicle, the first and second power domains of the autonomous vehicle may be configured such that failures in power supply components such as LVPDUs and DC-DC converters within one power domain does not affect the provision of electrical power within the other power domain. By configuring the fault-redundant lidar 900 to receive power from two separate power domains in the manner described in this disclosure, the fault-tolerant lidar 900 may be able to operate even when one of the power domains 945a or 945b fails. For instance, if the power supply 934a (e.g., an LVPDU) or another component (e.g., a DC-DC converter) within the power domain 945a fails, the components of Module B, which receives power from power supply 934b and power domain 945b, may continue to operate. And fault-tolerant lidar 900 may continue to provide lidar point cloud data (e.g., in a fail-safe mode). Additional details regarding the operation of the fault-tolerant lidar 900 in the event of a power supply failure and/or a power domain failure is illustrated in and described with respect to FIGS. 11A-E). White further teaches ([Fig. 9]: Shows module A and module B are identical and supplied by power supplies 934 a & b respectively).
While White does not explicitly state the first power component and the second power component respectively provide the same power, and the value of the power is half of the value of the power consumption, it is clear from the text and at least figure 9 shows that the 2 separate power supply units are supplying power to identical components. Thus, it stands to reason that the power supplied to each module is the same and since there are 2 modules it also stands to reason that each power supply unit supplies half of the power consumed. It has been held, when considering the disclosure of a reference, it is proper to take into account not only specific teachings of the reference but also the inferences which one skilled in the art would reasonably be expected to draw therefrom. Examiner relies on the implicit disclosure of White in this case. See MPEP 2144.01.
One of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date would have been motivated to include power supply units supplying the same power, with each supplying half of the total power consumed, since such a configuration allows for simplicity in the redundant power supply chain. The voltage for both modules can be the same while each module is capable of supplying at least twice the current required for a single module, in this way a simple switching configuration can be used to implement the desired redundancy, further improving the safety of the autonomous vehicle and its passengers.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20210146939 A1: Discloses a device and method for controlling a vehicle with redundant power supplies.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES W NAPIER whose telephone number is (571)272-7451. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:00 pm.
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/J.W.N./Examiner, Art Unit 3645
/JAMES R HULKA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3645
