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 § 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) 1-3, 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by McLeod (US 20210190950).
Regarding claims 1 and 20, McLeod teaches (Figs. 1-19) An imaging sensor system and method comprising: one or more light sources (VCSEL); an array (SPD arrays) comprising a plurality of single-photon detectors (SPDs) in a substantial matrix form, the SPDs being configured to detect one or more single photons and register detection of the one or more single photons with a detection signal, wherein the SPDs are grouped in clusters ([0038-0039], [0058], [0060] and figs. 3, 4, 9-11); a plurality of buses (Cluster of SPADs connects to OR gates where there are several clusters and also see figs. 3 and 4), wherein the SPDs in a cluster are coupled to at least one of the plurality of buses for aggregating signals ([0112]) from the SPDs in the cluster; and an evaluation circuit (902) coupled to the plurality of buses, wherein the evaluation circuit is configured to: evaluate the aggregated signals from the plurality of buses against predetermined confirmation patterns (McLeod teaches at least three examples of the aggregated signal compare with a predetermined value see figs. 12-14) to confirm the detection of an incident photon and location-determination thereof, wherein the predetermined confirmation patterns comprise temporal or spatial conditions, wherein the spatial conditions involve detecting an aggregated signal comprising a detection signal from the buses associated with spatially proximate clusters in a predetermined time window, wherein the temporal conditions involve detecting an aggregated signal comprising a detection signal having a temporal overlap (the criteria operate on detection signals sorted by the acquisition interval in which they occur: signal counter 1116 counts OR-tree assertions during the first portion of the frame in which illuminator 106 is illuminating the field of view (e.g., ⅞ of the frame), while ambient counter 1118 counts assertions during the second portion, when the illuminator is off (e.g., ⅛ of the frame), and the counts are scaled by the inverse of the fractional duration to estimate whole-frame totals); register a detection based on compliance of the aggregated signals with at least one of the predetermined confirmation patterns ; and determine a location of the incident photon on the array based on the buses associated with the registered detection. That is, because each cluster drives its own aggregation path to the controller, every registered event is attributed to the particular cluster whose bus asserted, and McLeod uses exactly that attribution to locate incident light on the array: the SPAD maps of Figs. 6B and 15–18 identify the array positions at which photons from the localized source were registered, e.g., the lower-left quadrant of the ROI ([0120]), the lower two quadrants ([0121]), or the lower-right quadrant ([0122]), and Figs. 7A and 8A index the array by cluster row and cluster column. The array-position determination for each registered detection is what drives the per-cluster blocking and the DSS allocation of the following frame ([0074], [0081]).
Regarding claim 2, McLeod teaches ([0038], fig. 3) comprise two or more SPDs.
Regarding claim 3, McLeod teaches the SPDs in a cluster are coupled to one of the plurality of buses: each of the 8 SPADs of cluster 130 is connected to a single OR tree 132 ([0038], Fig. 3), and likewise each cluster 930 feeds one OR tree 932 ([0061], Figs. 9–11) — a one-cluster-to-one-bus coupling, which is narrower than and therefore within claim 1's "at least one."
Regarding claim 16, Mcleod teaches a synchronization component for synchronizing signals from the SPDs. That is, TDC 102 treats each emitted radiation pulse 112 as a start event and each assertion of the cluster's aggregated output as a stop event, referencing all cluster detections to a common emission time base see at least ([0036], [0037], [0038], [0072], [0079], [0086]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-15 and 17-19 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TONY KO whose telephone number is (571)272-1926. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5pm.
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/TONY KO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2878
TK
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