DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 1-5 are objected to because the claims contain numerous formatting issues that are not commonly utilized in the prosecution of US patent applications. The claims contain numerous portions which are entirely capitalized, as well as other limitations, in the middle of a claim, which utilize a capitalized letter. Appropriate 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.
Claim(s) 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by US Publication 2023/0086455 to Liu et al.
In regards to claims 1-5, Liu discloses and shows in Figures 1-5, a dual comb sensing method (par. 4, 26) comprising:
dual comb generation (par. 26-28, 42; wherein first and second photonic comb generators (12, 14) are utilized to generate a signal comb and a local oscillator LO comb),
dual comb detection (par. 30-32; wherein a plurality of balanced detectors are utilized to obtain quadrature and in-phase measurements for a plurality of sub-bands), and
signal processing (par. 4, 31, 38; wherein digital signal processing is utilized to obtain full-field information of a signal),
the method characterized in that:
in the dual comb generation, a first optical frequency comb (OFC) is intensity modulated by an analog radio frequency (RF) comb generator (16) while a second OFC is phase-modulated by another analog RF comb generator (56) (par. 27, 30-32, 36, 42-43; wherein analog modulation signals, of intensity and/or phase, are provided to the signal comb and the LO comb; par. 46-47; wherein a phase shifter may operate on the signal and/or LO comb; and wherein an optical grating or wave-shaper may also be utilized on either comb portion);
[claim 2] wherein detection of two optical frequency combs is performed using a coherent receiver with phase diversity and/or polarization diversity (par. 30-32, 50; wherein a plurality of balanced detectors are utilized to obtain in-phase and quadrature measurements (applicant’s phase diversity) for a plurality of measurement sub-bands);
[claim 3] wherein the intensity modulated OFC is used as a probe while the phase modulated OFC serves as a local oscillator (par. 4, 26-28);
[claim 4] wherein the phase difference between the two combs are π/4 and π/2, respectively (par. 28, 30-32, 38-39; wherein either or both of the combs may be modulated by amplitude or phase; further the reference explicitly discloses that the system may utilize a π/4 and/or π/2 phase offset);
[claim 5] wherein the intensity modulated OFC is modulated by an RF comb generator selected from the group consisting of: step recovery diode (SRD) and nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs) (par. 42-42; wherein the modulator 16 is explicitly disclosed as “an appropriate nonlinear medium” or a lithium niobate “Mach-Zehnder modulator”).
Conclusion
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JONATHAN M. HANSEN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2877
/JONATHAN M HANSEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2877
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