Patent Publication Number: US-2023138784-A1

Title: Hybrid lidar and vehicle

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 from Chinese Patent Application No. 202111302540.1 filed on Nov. 4, 2021, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to the technical field of lidars, in particular to a hybrid lidar and a vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The working principle of lidars is to transmit optical signals to the target object, receive echo signals reflected from the target object, process the transmitted optical signals and echo signals to form point clouds, so as to obtain relevant information of the target object, such as distances, orientations, heights, speeds and even shape parameters. However, different types of lidars form different point clouds and can get different information about the target object. For example, the point cloud formed by TOF (Time of flight) lidar has good quality, low noise, high density and high accuracy in identifying the target object. However, the speed information of the target object cannot be obtained from the point cloud. A frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar has a small field of view, so it can not form a full point cloud, but it can get the speed information of the target object from the point cloud. 
     Therefore, there is room for promotion in lidar technology. 
     SUMMARY 
     In a first aspect, a hybrid lidar is provided. the hybrid lidar includes a laser transceiver and a signal processor. The laser transceiver includes a first laser transceiver and a second laser transceiver, the first laser transceiver is configured to transmit first transmitted signals and receive first echo signals reflected back by a target object of the first transmitted signals, the first transmitted signals are frequency modulated continuous waves, the second laser transceiver is configured to transmit second transmitted signals and receive second echo signals reflected back by the target object of the second transmitted signals, the second transmitted signals are pulse wave. The signal processor is configured to generate point cloud data according the first transmitted signals and the first echo signals, and the second transmitted signals and the second echo signals. The point cloud data includes a plurality of point cloud sets, each point cloud sets correspond to one target object, each the point cloud set includes first point cloud sets and second point cloud sets, the first point cloud sets are generated according to the first transmitted signals and the first echo; the first point cloud sets includes speed information; the second point cloud sets are generated according to the second transmitted signals and the second echo signals. 
     In a second aspect, a vehicle installed with the hybrid lidar is provided. The vehicle further includes a main body, the hybrid lidar is positioned on the main body, 
     As described above, the hybrid lidar and vehicle includes the first laser transceiver transmitting frequency modulated continuous wave and the second laser transceiver transmitting pulse wave. The point cloud data includes a plurality of point cloud sets and each point set includes the first point sets and the second point sets. The first point sets corresponds to the first laser transceiver, and the second point sets corresponds to the second laser transceiver, so that the point cloud data can have the advantages of both the first point sets and the second point sets. That is to say, point cloud data has low noise, good quality and speed information, which is conducive to the recognition of target objects, so as to effectively improve the recognition accuracy of the hybrid lidar, making the hybrid lidar with high practicability and a wide range of application scenarios. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to illustrate the technical solution in the embodiments of the disclosure or the prior art more clearly, a brief description of drawings required in the embodiments or the prior art is given below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some of the embodiments of the disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in these drawings without any creative effort. 
         FIG.  1    illustrates a diagram of a hybrid lidar in accordance with a first embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a schematic diagram of the hybrid lidar in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG.  3    illustrates a schematic diagram of an internal structure of the hybrid lidar in accordance with a first embodiment. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates a schematic diagram of an internal structure of the hybrid lidar in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a first arrangement of a laser transceiver of the hybrid lidar as shown in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  6    illustrates a second arrangement of the laser transceiver of the hybrid lidar shown in the  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  7    illustrates a third arrangement of the laser transceiver of the hybrid lidar as shown in  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  8    illustrates a schematic diagram of a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the disclosure more clearly, the disclosure is further described in detail in combination with the drawings and embodiments. It is understood that the specific embodiments described herein are used only to explain the disclosure and are not configured to define it. On the basis of the embodiments in the disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without any creative effort are covered by the protection of the disclosure. 
     The terms “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth”, if any, in the specification, claims and drawings of this application are configured to distinguish similar objects but need not be configured to describe any particular order or sequence of priorities. It should be understood that the data used here are interchangeable where appropriate, in other words, the embodiments described can be implemented in order other than what is illustrated or described here. In addition, the terms “include” and “have” and any variation of them, can encompass other things. For example, processes, methods, systems, products, or equipment that comprise a series of steps or units need not be limited to those clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, systems, products, or equipment. 
     It is to be noted that the references to “first”, “second”, etc. in the disclosure are for descriptive purpose only and neither be construed or implied the relative importance nor indicated as implying the number of technical features. Thus, feature defined as “first” or “second” can explicitly or implicitly include one or more such features. In addition, technical solutions between embodiments may be integrated, but only on the basis that they can be implemented by ordinary technicians in this field. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to be realized, such combination of technical solutions shall be deemed to be non-existent and not within the scope of protection required by the disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG.  1    and  FIG.  3   , a schematic diagram of a hybrid lidar in accordance with a first embodiment is illustrated in  FIG.  1   , and a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the hybrid lidar in accordance with an embodiment is illustrated in  FIG.  3   . The hybrid lidar  100  is capable of being installed on the external device to detect surrounding environment of the external device to form point cloud data about the surrounding environment of the external device. The external device can be a vehicle, and a hybrid lidar  100  is configured to detect the surroundings of the vehicle to assist the vehicle in driving. The vehicle includes but are not limited to cars, motorcycles, trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), recreational vehicles (RVs), aircraft, etc. In some embodiments, the external device can also be robots, aircraft and other devices that need to detect the surrounding environment. 
     The hybrid lidar  100  includes a laser transceiver  10  transmitting and receiving signals, and a signal processor  20  forming point cloud data based on the transmitted and received signals. 
     The laser transceiver  10  includes a first laser transceiver  11 , and a second laser transceiver  12 . The first laser transceiver  11  is configured to transmit first transmitted signals and receive first echo signals that are the first transmitted signals reflected back by a target object (not shown). The first transmitted signals are frequency modulated continuous waves. The second laser transceiver  12  is configured to transmit second transmitted signals and receive second echo signals that are the first transmitted signals reflected back from by the target object. The second transmitted signals are pulse wave. In this embodiment, the first laser transceiver  11  is a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar, and the second laser transceiver  12  is the time of flight (TOF) lidar. 
     The laser transceiver  10  includes N first laser transceivers  11 , and M second laser transceivers  12 . The N first laser transceivers  11  and the M second laser transceivers  12  are arranged adjacent each other. The N is equal to the M, or the N is not equal to the M, and the N and the M are positive integers. When the N is equal to the M, the first laser transceivers  11  and the second laser transceivers  12  correspond one to one. For an example, one first laser transceiver  11  and one second laser transceiver  12  are arranged adjacent to each other to form a laser transceiver module (as shown in  FIG.  5   ), and the hybrid lidar  100  includes either N or M laser transceiver modules. When N is not equal to M and N is greater than M, the plurality of first laser transceivers  11  correspond to one second laser transceiver  12 . For an example, the plurality of first laser transceivers  11  and the one second laser transceiver  12  are adjacent to each other to form a laser transceiver module, and the hybrid lidar  100  includes M laser transceiver modules. The number of the first laser transceiver  11  in each laser transceiver module can be the same or different. the plurality of first laser transceivers  11  can be set around a second laser transceiver  12  (as shown in  FIG.  6   ) and the plurality of first laser transceivers  11  can also be set on the same side of a second laser transceiver  12  (as shown in  FIG.  7   ). When N is not equal to M and N is less than M, a first laser transceiver  11  corresponds to the plurality of second laser transceivers  12 . For an example, a first laser transceiver  11  and the plurality of second laser transceivers  12  are set adjacent to each other to form a laser transceiver module, and the hybrid lidar  100  includes N laser transceiver modules. The number of the second laser transceiver  12  in each laser transceiver module can be the same or different. the plurality of second laser transceivers  12  can be set around a first laser transceiver  11 , and the plurality of second laser transceivers  12  can also be positioned on the same side of a first laser transceiver  11 . In some embodiments, the plurality of first laser transceivers  11  corresponding the plurality of second laser transceivers  12  and may be positioned adjacent to each other to form a single laser transceiver module, and the amount of the plurality of first laser transceivers  11  are different from the amount of the plurality of second laser transceivers  12 . In other words, a quantity of the first laser transceivers  11  and a quantity of the second laser transceivers  12  are not limited herein. 
     The hybrid lidar  100  further includes a rotatable rotating body  30 . In some embodiments, the rotating body  30  is in a cylindrical shape, and the rotating body  30  rotates uniformly around a central axis of the rotating body  30 . A rotation rate of the rotating body  30  can be determined according to a real demand. For example, when the surrounding environment to be detected is relatively simple and the target objects are few, the rotation rate of the rotating body  30  can be set low to form the point cloud data with sparse point clouds. When the surrounding environment to be detected is complex and there are many target objects, the rotating body  30  can be set with a higher rotation rate to form point cloud data with dense point clouds. 
     The rotating body  30  has a transferring window  31 . In this embodiment, the transferring window  31  is arranged on one side of the rotating body  30 . The transferring window  31  is positioned on an outer surface of the rotating body  30 . The transferring window  31  can be a cambered surface, and matches the outer surface of the rotating body  30 . The transferring window  31  may also be planar and parallel to a section of a side wall of the rotating body  30 . When the hybrid lidar  100  is installed on the external device, an orientation of transferring window  31  is the same as a movement direction of the external device in an initial state. When the rotating body  30  is rotated for a circle, that is, 360 degrees, the orientation of transferring window  31  is still the same as the motion direction of the external device. 
     In this embodiments, there are the plurality of laser transceivers  10 . the plurality of laser transceivers  10  are positioned at the rotating body  30  and can rotate 360 degrees with the rotating body  30 . the plurality of laser transceivers  10  are arranged on the same side of the rotating body  30  and transmit signals toward the same side. A mounting plate  32  is positioned inside of the rotating body  30  and faced to the transferring window  31 . The mounting plate  32  is parallel to the section of transferring window  31 , or mounting plate  32  is parallel to transferring window  31 . the plurality of laser transceivers  10  are arranged on a side of mounting plate  32  facing transferring window  31 . The first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12  form the plurality of laser transceiver modules, and the plurality of laser transceiver modules are arranged on the mounting plate  32  in a straight, a array, or an irregular shape. the plurality of laser transceivers  10  transmit and receive corresponding signals from transferring window  31 . The transmitter and receiver of the plurality of laser transceivers  10  are oriented toward transferring window  31 . In detail, the first transmitted signals transmitted by the first laser transceiver  11  is transmitted outside the rotating body  30  through transferring window  31 , and the first echo signals reflected back from the object is transmitted into the rotating body  30  through transferring window  31  and received by the first laser transceiver  11 . The second transmitted signals transmitted by the second laser transceiver  12  is transmitted outside the rotating body  30  through transferring window  31 , and the second echo signals transmitted back from the target object is transmitted into the rotating body  30  through transferring window  31  and received by the second laser transceiver  12 . 
     The signal processor  20  is configured to generate point cloud data based on the signals transmitted and received by the first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12 . The point cloud data includes the plurality of point cloud sets, and each point cloud sets corresponds to a target object. That is to say, the point cloud data includes the point cloud sets corresponding to the plurality of target objects. In this embodiment, each point cloud sets includes a first point cloud sets and second point cloud sets. The first point cloud is generated based on the first transmitted signals and the first echo signals of the first laser transceiver  11 . The second point cloud sets is generated based on the second transmit signal and second echo signals of the second laser transceiver  12 . It is understandable that the first point cloud sets and the second point of the same point cloud sets are generated respectively according to the first transmitted signals and the first echo signals, or the second transmitted signals and the second echo signals corresponding to the same target object. 
     The signal processor  20  includes a data generation unit  21  and a data cleaning unit  22 . The data generation unit  21  is configured to generate the first-point and second-point clouds based on the signals transmitted and received by the first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12 . In detail, the data generation unit  21  generates the first point cloud according to the first transmitted signals and the first echo signals of the first laser transceiver  11 . The data generation unit  21  generates the second point cloud according to the second transmitted signals and the second echo signals of the second laser transceiver  12 . the first point cloud sets includes several first subsets, and the second point cloud sets includes several second subsets. The first subset and the second subset correspond one to one. The first and second subsets are generated from the signals transmitted and received by the first and second laser transceivers  11  and  12  of the same laser transceiver module, respectively. One or more attributes of the point cloud of the first point cloud sets are corresponding with one or more attributes of the point cloud of the second point cloud sets one to one. The data cleaning unit  22  is configured to select best point cloud of the same attribute from the first and second point cloud sets according to the same attribute. In detail, the data cleaning unit  22  selects the best cloud according to the same attribute from the first subset and second subset of one-to-one correspondence respectively to form the point cloud sets corresponding to the target object, thus forming the point cloud data. The attributes include but are not limited to three-dimensional coordinates, color, reflection intensity, echo times, etc. 
     The first point cloud sets of the cloud includes speed information. The data cleaning unit  22  is also configured to select the point cloud including velocity information from the first point cloud to form the point cloud corresponding to the target object, thus forming the point cloud data. It is understandable that the point cloud sets of each target object includes the best point cloud of the same attribute in the first point cloud sets and the second point cloud sets and the point cloud including the velocity information. 
     The first point cloud sets of the cloud also includes directional information. The data cleaning unit  22  is also configured to select the point cloud including orientation information from the first point cloud to form the point cloud corresponding to the target object, thus forming the point cloud data. Accordingly, the point cloud sets of each object also includes a point cloud with directional information. 
     When the data cleaning unit  22  selects point clouds from the first and second point clouds respectively to form point clouds, the number of point clouds selected by the data cleaning unit  22  from the first point cloud is smaller than that selected from the second point cloud. That is, in each point cloud sets, the number of point clouds from the first point cloud sets is less than the number from the second point cloud sets. . 
     In this embodiment, when the rotating body is rotated by  30  for a circle, that is, 360 degrees, the data generation unit  21  generates the first point cloud sets and the second point cloud sets respectively according to the first transmitted signals and the first echo signals, the second transmitted signals and the second echo signals obtained by the rotation. The data cleaning unit  22  collect the best point cloud of the point clouds with same attributes, and collect point cloud including speed information and/or direction of point cloud to form a point cloud sets, and the point cloud sets includes the point cloud related to panoramic images of environment about the hybrid laser radar  100 . 
     In the above embodiment, a hybrid lidar is formed by setting the first laser transceiver transmitting frequency modulated continuous wave and the second laser transceiver transmitting pulse wave. The point cloud data includes the plurality of point cloud sets, and each point cloud sets includes the first point cloud sets and the second point cloud sets. the first point cloud sets corresponds to the first laser transceiver, and the second point cloud sets corresponds to the second laser transceiver, so that the point cloud can have the advantages of both the first point cloud sets and the second point cloud sets. Since the first point cloud sets is generated by FMCW and the corresponding first echo signals, and the second point cloud sets is generated by a pulse wave and the corresponding second echo signals, the point cloud in the first point cloud sets includes the velocity information of the target object, and the contour point cloud of the target object in the second point is clear and of good quality. Accordingly, less point clouds of the first point cloud sets can know the moving speed of the target object, and more point clouds of the second point can know the clear contour of the target object. Therefore, the number of point clouds from the first point cloud sets in each point cloud sets is less than the number of point clouds from the second point cloud sets. It is understandable that the final point cloud data has low noise, good quality and speed information, which is conducive to the recognition of target objects, so as to effectively improve the recognition accuracy of hybrid lidar. At the same time, the plurality of laser transceivers are set on a rotatable rotating body, which can drive the laser transceiver to rotate 360 degrees, so as to form a full scenic spot cloud about the surrounding environment of the hybrid lidar, which makes the hybrid lidar have high practicability and a wide range of application scenarios. 
     Referring to  FIG.  2    and  FIG.  4   ,  FIG.  2    illustrates a schematic representation of the hybrid lidar in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention, and  FIG.  4    illustrates a schematic representation of the internal structure of the hybrid lidar in accordance with a second embodiment. The difference between the hybrid lidar  200  in second embodiment and the hybrid lidar  100  in the first embodiment is that the hybrid lidar  200  in the second embodiment, there are the plurality of laser transceivers  10 , and the plurality of laser transceivers  10  cooperate together to form a 360 degree field of view. 
     The hybrid lidar  200  further includes a housing  40 , which is cylindrical in shape. The housing  40  defines a ring scanning window  41 , which is arranged on the outer surface of housing  40 . the plurality of laser transceivers  10  are arranged on different sides of the housing  40  respectively, and emit signals toward different sides, so that the plurality of laser transceivers  10  cooperates together to form a 360 degree field of view. In this embodiment, a plurality of mounting plates  42  are arranged inside the housing  40 , and the plurality of mounting plates  42  are arranged around the central shaft of the housing  40  at intervals. A plurality of laser transceiver modules formed by the first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12  are respectively arranged on the side of a plurality of mounting plates  42  towards the opening scanning window  41 . A plurality of laser transceiver modules are arranged on each mounting plate  42  in a linear, array, or irregular shape. The number of laser transceiver modules installed on each mounting plate  42  may be the same or different. The number of the first laser transceiver  11  and the number of the second laser transceiver  12  positioned on each mounting plate  42  may be the same or different. 
     In some embodiments, the housing  40  includes a ring mounting plate  42  compatible with a ring scanning windows  41 , and the plurality of laser transceiver modules formed by the first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12  are arranged on the mounting plate  42  in straight, array, or irregularly spaced shapes. 
     In some other embodiments, the housing  40  defines a plurality of scanning windows  41  with the plurality of interval, and the number of scanning windows  41  is the same as the number of mounting plate  42  and the mounting plates  42  corresponds to the scanning windows  41  one-to-one. 
     The signal processor  20  in the hybrid lidar  200  includes a data generation unit  21  and a data combining unit  23 . In this embodiment, the data generation unit  21  is configured to generate a point cloud subset based on the signals transmitted and received by the first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12  arranged on the same side. In detail, the data generation unit  21  generates a point cloud subset corresponding to the mounting plate  42  based on the signals transmitted and received by the first laser transceiver  11  and the second laser transceiver  12  of each mounting plate  42 . It is understood that the number of copies of the point cloud subset is the same as the number of mounting plates  42 , and each point cloud subset includes at least one point cloud sets. The data combining unit  23  is configured to combine the plurality of point cloud subsets to form point cloud data. It is understood that the plurality of the point cloud subsets are the point clouds of the surrounding environment of different sides of the hybrid lidar  200 , and the point cloud data formed by combining relates to the panoramic image of the surrounding environment of the hybrid lidar  200 . The data generation unit  21  and the data combining unit  23  may be two independent sub-processor cooperate together to form the signal processor  20 , and also may be integrated in the signal processor  20 . 
     In some implementation examples, the data generation unit  21  generate the first point cloud subset of data according to the first transmitted signals and the first echo signals of the same laser transceiver module. And the generation unit  21  generate the second point cloud subsets according to the second signals and the second echo signals of the same laser transceiver module. The signal processor  20  also includes a data cleaning unit  22 . The data cleaning unit  22  selects best point cloud from the first point cloud subset and the second point cloud subset according to the same attribute to form optimal point cloud subsets corresponding to the laser transceiver module. The optimal point cloud subsets corresponding to at least one laser transceiver module of the same mounting plate  42  forms the point cloud subsets corresponding to the mounting plate  42 . The data generation unit  21  and the data cleaning unit  22  may be two independent sub-processors cooperate together to form the signal processor  20 , and also may be integrated in the signal processor  20 . 
     Other structures of the hybrid lidar  200  in the second embodiment are basically the same as those of the hybrid lidar  100  in the first embodiment, and will not be described in detail herein. 
     In the above embodiments, the plurality of laser transceivers are respectively positioned on different sides of the housing, so that the plurality of the laser transceivers together constitute a 360 degree field of view, and the signal processor can generate point cloud forming panoramic images about the surrounding environment of the hybrid lidar according to the signals transmitted and received by the plurality of laser transceivers. The hybrid lidar has high practicability and can be applied to a wide variety of scenarios. 
     Further referring to  FIG.  4   , a diagram of the vehicle is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment. The vehicle  1000  includes a main body  300  and a hybrid lidar  100 / 200  positioned in the main body  300 . In this embodiment, the vehicle  1000  includes a hybrid lidar  100 / 200 . In detail, hybrid lidar  100 / 200  is positioned on top of body  300 . The specific structure of hybrid lidar  100  is referred to the first embodiment, and the specific structure of hybrid lidar  200  is referred to the second embodiment. Since Vehicle  1000  adopts all the technical solutions of all the above embodiments, it has at least all the beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions of the above embodiments, and will not be repeated here. When vehicle  1000  includes the hybrid lidar  100 , the hybrid lidar  100  can be fixed to body  300  by rotating body  30 , or directly formed on body  300  and arranged in one with body  300 . When the vehicle  1000  includes the hybrid lidar  200 , the hybrid lidar  200  can be fixed to the body  300  through the housing  40 , or directly formed in the body  300  that the hybrid lidar  200  and the body  300  are made into one 
     The Vehicle  1000  includes but is not limited to cars, motorcycles, trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), recreational vehicles (RVs), aircrafts, etc. The vehicle  1000  can be either a non-autonomous vehicle or an autonomous vehicle. When the hybrid lidar  100 / 200  is set in a non-autonomous vehicle, the point cloud data formed by the hybrid lidar  100 / 200  can be configured to assist human drivers to better understand the environment around the vehicle  1000 . When the hybrid lidar  100 / 200  is installed in the autonomous vehicle, the point cloud data formed by the hybrid lidar  100 / 200  can be used to help the vehicle  1000  to predict the surrounding objects, make decisions and plan own motion trajectory. The autonomous vehicles have what are called level 4or level 5 autonomous system. The level 4 autonomous system refers to “high automation”. In principle, a vehicle with level 4 automation system no longer requires the participation of a human driver within its functional scope. Even if the human driver does not respond properly to the intervention request, the vehicle has the ability to automatically reach the minimum risk state. Level 5 automation refers to “full automation”. A vehicle with level 5 automation can drive itself in any legal, drivable road environment. The human driver only needs to set the destination and turn on the system, and the vehicle can take the optimal route to the specified location. 
     In the above embodiment, because the hybrid lidar can generate point cloud forming panoramic images about the surrounding environment of the hybrid lidar, the vehicle only needs to installed with a hybrid lidar, and it will clearly learn 360 degree environmental information around the vehicle and resulting in significant cost savings. The hybrid lidar is fixed on the top of the vehicle body, the speed information of the objects around the vehicle can be obtained, so as to help the vehicle to predict the motion of the objects, and according to the prediction results, the decision-making and planning of a more suitable trajectory, which makes the vehicle driving more safe and secure. 
     It should be noted that the embodiments number of this disclosure above is for description only and do not represent the advantages or disadvantages of embodiments. And in this disclosure, the term “including”, “include” or any other variants is intended to cover a non-exclusive contain. So that the process, the devices, the items, or the methods includes a series of elements not only include those elements, but also include other elements not clearly listed, or also include the inherent elements of this process, devices, items, or methods. In the absence of further limitations, the elements limited by the sentence “including a . . . ” do not preclude the existence of other similar elements in the process, devices, items, or methods that include the elements. 
     The above are only the preferred embodiments of this disclosure and do not therefore limit the patent scope of this disclosure. And equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made by the specification and the drawings of this disclosure, either directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, shall be similarly included in the patent protection scope of this disclosure.