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 .
Status of Claims
This office action is a response to an amendment filed on 01/22/2026. Claims 1-20 are currently pending, of which claims 1, 5-7, 10, 11 and 14 are amended.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/28/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s remarks, see pages 6-7, with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 112(a) have been fully considered. Applicant has amended the claims to comply with the written description requirement, therefore the rejections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s remarks, see pages 7-8, with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 112(b) have been fully considered. The claims have been amended to clarify the claimed subject matter; therefore, the rejections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s remarks, see pages 8-13, with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 101 have been fully considered. In view of the amended claim language and Applicant’s remarks, the claims are not maintained as being directed to judicial exception without significantly more; therefore, the rejections are withdrawn.
Applicant’s remarks, see pages 13-19, with respect to the rejections under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered but are not persuasive. The rejections are therefore maintained, with the mapping and rationale clarified and updated in view of Applicant’s amendment.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant argues that Katsumata and Zhang do not teach “determining, for at least representation of the plurality of representations, that at least one segment of the plurality of segments is unavailable for the at least one representation” and “generating a manifest file comprising, for the at least one representation, at least one representation element, wherein the at least one representation element indicates that the at least one segment and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments, are unavailable for the at least one representation”. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Katsumata discloses determining when the x-th Media Segment file is corrupted/unavailable (Katsumata, [0180]). Katsumata also discloses that the hierarchy in an MPD file (manifest file) is formed using elements such as period, adaptation set and representation (Katsumata, [0185]), and that an adaptation set element groups representation element (plurality of representations) (Katsumata, [0186]). An EssentialProperty element may be set at the position of one of (1) to (4) of the MPD file (manifest file) (Katsumata, [0187]). Fig. 22 discloses that position (4) is within (and therefore, applies to) a Representation (at least one representation); an EssentialProperty placed at this position is the claimed “at least one representation element”. EssentialProperty (at least one representation element) indicates that at least one Segment file corresponding to the representation element (at least one representation) is a corrupted file (unavailable) (Katsumata, [0188]). Therefore, Katsumata discloses “determining, for at least representation of the plurality of representations, that at least one segment of the plurality of segments is unavailable for the at least one representation” and “generating a manifest file comprising, for the at least one representation, at least one representation element, wherein the at least one representation element indicates that the at least one segment of the plurality of segments, are unavailable for the at least one representation”.
Katsumata does not explicitly disclose “and a quantity of additional segments”, however, this deficiency is addressed by Zhang. Zhang discloses MPD (manifest) file elements including ContentRange Type that specifies a media content part comprising at least one segment (Zhang, [0057]), “Range” that specifies a group of consecutive segments, @startNum that specifies the first segment, @length that specifies the total number of segments (Zhang, [0060]), and @representation specifies the representation in which the media content part is defined in the MPD (manifest) file (Zhang, [0059]). Therefore, the combination of Katsumata and Zhang discloses the claimed limitations.
Regarding claim 14, applicant argues that the cited references do not teach “sending, to a user device, the manifest file, wherein the manifest file comprises, for a first representation of the plurality of representations, at least one representation element indicating that at least one segment, of the plurality of segments for the first representation, and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the first representation, are unavailable for the first representation”. Again, Examiner respectfully disagrees.
Denoual discloses sending a manifest file a client (Denoual, [0122]). Denoual further discloses in Fig. 10, an MPD (manifest) file comprising representations 1002 and 1003 (plurality of representations). Representation 1002 (first representation) includes “< Representation id=”h264bl_low” …” (representation element) indicating a plurality of segments “<SegmentURL media= … “). Therefore, Denoual discloses “sending, to a user device, the manifest file, wherein the manifest file comprises, for a first representation of the plurality of representations, at least one representation element indicating that at least one segment, of the plurality of segments for the first representation”.
Denoual does not explicitly disclose “and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the first representation, are unavailable for the first representations”. Katsumata and Zhang are relied upon to address this deficiency.
Katsumata discloses that in an MPD (manifest) file, an adaptation set element groups representation elements (plurality of representations) of broadcast data (Katsumata, [0186]). EssentialProperty may be set at positions (1) to (4) of the MPD (manifest file) (Katsumata, [0187]). EssentialProperty indicates that at least one corresponding Segment file is corrupted (unavailable) (Katsumata, [0188]). When set at position (3) or (4), the video.mp4 Segment file corresponding to the representation element is corrupted (unavailable) (Katsumata, [0189]). Fig. 22 shows position (4) inside a Representation (first representation); EssentialProperty placed at position (4) is “the at least one representation element”. Therefore, Katsumata discloses “wherein the manifest file comprises, for a first representation of the plurality of representations, at least one representation element indicating that at least one segment, of the plurality of segments for the first representation, are unavailable for the first representations”.
The combination of Denoual and Katsumata does not explicitly disclose “and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the first representation”. This deficiency is addressed by Zhang.
As discussed above, Zhang discloses MPD (manifest) file elements including ContentRange Type that specifies a media content part comprising at least one segment (Zhang, [0057]), “Range” that specifies a group of consecutive segments, @startNum that specifies the first segment, @length that specifies the total number of segments (Zhang, [0060]), and @representation specifies the representation in which the media content part is defined in the MPD (manifest) file (Zhang, [0059]). Therefore, the combination of Denoual, Katsumata and Zhang discloses the claimed limitations.
Applicant’s arguments regarding the motivation to combine Katsumata and Zhang have been considered but are not persuasive. First, Applicant argues that Katsumata and Zhang are directed to different problems. However, the rejection does not rely on Zhang to solve Katsumata’s corrupted data recovery problem. Katsumata is relied upon for the MPD corrupted/unavailable indication, while Zhang is relied upon for the known MPD ContentRange/Range structure for identifying a media content part by representation, first segment, and segment count (Katsumata, [0187]-[0189]; Zhang, [0057], [0059], [0060]).
Second, to the extent Applicant challenges the prior rationale regarding “hierarchical relationships within the corrupted data”, the rationale is clarified. Zhang is not relied upon to organize corrupted data; rather, Zhang is relied upon for its disclosed range/count structure for identifying a group of consecutive segments in an MPD (Zhang, [0057], [0060]).
Third, Applicant’s argument that the combination would require substantial modification is not persuasive because the proposed combination uses each reference for its disclosed functions. Katsumata’s EssentialProperty remains the corrupted/unavailable segment indication, and Zhang’s ContentRange/Range remains the segment range identification structure (Katsumata, [00187]-[0189]; Zhang, [0057], [0059], [0060]). The rejection does not require Zhang itself to detect corruption or unavailability.
Finally, Applicant’s hindsight argument is not persuasive because the reason to combine is based on the references own DASH/MPD teachings, not Applicant’s disclosure. It would have been obvious to use Zhang’s known MPD range/count structure with Katsumata’s MPD corrupted segment indication to identify, for the corresponding representation, the affected segment and the quantity/count of additional consecutive affected segments.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-3, 6-8 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katsumata et al. (US 2018/0232287), hereinafter Katsumata, in view of Zhang et al. (US 2016/0006785), hereinafter Zhang.
Regarding claim 1, Katsumata discloses a method comprising:
determining, for a content item associated with a plurality of representations, a plurality of segments for each representation, of the plurality of representations, associated with the content item (Katsumata, [0178]: broadcast data (content item) includes one or more Media Segment files (plurality of segments); [0186]: an adaptation set element groups representation elements (plurality of representations) of broadcast data (content item));
determining, for at least one representation of the plurality of representations, that at least one segment of the plurality of segments is unavailable for the at least one representation (Katsumata, [0180]: determining the x-th Media Segment file is corrupted (unavailable); Fig. 22, [0189]: when EssentialProperty is set at position (3) or (4), the Segment file, video.mp4, corresponding to the representation element is a corrupted file (unavailable segment); [Fig. 22, position (4) is within “at least one representation”]));
generating a manifest file comprising, for the at least one representation, at least one representation element (Katsumata, [0185]: the hierarchy in an MPD file (manifest file) is formed using elements such as period, adaptation set and representation; [0187]: setting EssentialProperty at the position of one of (1) to (4) of the MPD file (manifest file); Fig. 22: EssentialProperty placed at position (4) is within a Representation and is “the at least one representation element”)), wherein the at least one representation element indicates that the at least one segment of the plurality of segments, are unavailable for the at least one representation (Katsumata, [0188]: EssentialProperty (representation element) indicates at least one Segment file corresponding to the representation element is a corrupted file (unavailable)); and
sending the manifest file to a user device (Katsumata, [0239]: DASH client (user device) receives the MPD file (manifest file)).
Katsumata does not explicitly disclose and a quantity of additional segments.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the at least one representation element indicates that the at least one segment and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the at least one representation (Zhang, [0057]: ContentRange Type is specified to a media content part comprising at least one segment; [0060]: “Range” specifies a group of consecutive segments; @startNum specifies the first segment; @length specifies the total number of segments; [0059]: @representation specifies the representation in which the media content part is defined in the MPD file).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata and Zhang before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) which uses an EssentialProperty element for indicating when at least one segment file for a representation is corrupted as taught by Katsumata, to include utilizing a segment range structure that identifies a first segment and a quantity of consecutive segments as taught by Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to more precisely and compactly identify the corrupted/unavailable consecutive segment range for the affected representation, thereby improving the usefulness of the MPD/manifest file corruption information for client retrieval/recovery decisions.
Regarding claim 2, Katsumata does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one representation element comprises a parent element and a child element, wherein the parent element identifies the at least one segment, and wherein the child element identifies the additional segments.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the at least one representation element comprises a parent element and a child element, wherein the parent element identifies the at least one segment, and wherein the child element identifies the additional segments (Zhang, [0057]: “ContentRange Type” (parent element) is specified to a media content part; [0060]: “Range” (child element) specifies a group of consecutive segments; @startNum specifies the first segment [therefore, parent element (ContentRange Type via Range) identifies the first segment via @startNum]; @length specifies the total number of segments [therefore, child element (Range) identifies additional segments via the segment count]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata and Zhang before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) which uses an EssentialProperty element for indicating when at least one segment file for a representation is corrupted as taught by Katsumata, to include utilizing a segment range structure that identifies a first segment and a quantity of consecutive segments as taught by Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to more precisely and compactly identify the corrupted/unavailable consecutive segment range for the affected representation, thereby improving the usefulness of the MPD/manifest file corruption information for client retrieval/recovery decisions.
Regarding claim 3, Katsumata does not explicitly discloses wherein the additional segments are subsequent to the at least one segment in the at least one representation.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the additional segments are subsequent to the at least one segment in the at least one representation (Zhang, Table 2, [0057], [0060]: parent element “ContentRange Type” identifies a subset of content in a media presentation (i.e., at least one segment); child element “Range” identifies a group of consecutive segments).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata and Zhang before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) which uses an EssentialProperty element for indicating when at least one segment file for a representation is corrupted as taught by Katsumata, to include utilizing a segment range structure that identifies a first segment and a quantity of consecutive segments as taught by Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to more precisely and compactly identify the corrupted/unavailable consecutive segment range for the affected representation, thereby improving the usefulness of the MPD/manifest file corruption information for client retrieval/recovery decisions.
Regarding claim 6, Katsumata discloses wherein determining that the at least one segment is unavailable comprises determining that at least a portion of the at least one representation is corrupted (Katsumata, [0187]-[0188]).
Regarding claim 7, Katsumata discloses a method comprising:
determining that at least one portion of a content item has not been received (Katsumata, [0180]: determining there is corrupted data (i.e., portion of data is not received) in broadcast data (content item)), wherein the content item is associated with a plurality of representations (Katsumata, [0186]: an adaptation set element groups representation elements (plurality of representations) of the broadcast data (content item));
generating a manifest file comprising, for at least one representation of the plurality of representations, at least one representation element (Katsumata, [0185]: the hierarchy in the MPD file (manifest file) is formed using elements such as period, adaptation set and representation; [0187]: setting EssentialProperty at the position of (1) to (4) of the MPD file (manifest file); Fig. 22: position (4) is within a Representation (i.e., the at least one representation); EssentialProperty placed at position (4) is “the at least one representation element”), wherein the at least one representation element indicates that the at least one portion of the content item are not available for the at least one representation (Katsumata, [0188]: EssentialProperty indicates at least one of the Segment files (portions) corresponding to the representation element is a corrupted file (not available); [0189]: when set at position (3) or (4), the Segment file (portion) corresponding to the representation element is a corrupted file (not available); Fig. 22: position (4) is within a Representation (i.e., the at least one representation); EssentialProperty placed at position (4) is “the at least one representation element”); and
sending the manifest file to a user device (Katsumata, [0239]: DASH client (user device) receives the MPD file (manifest file)).
Katsumata does not explicitly disclose and a quantity of additional portions.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the at least one representation element indicates that the at least one portion and a quantity of additional portions of the content item (Zhang, [0057]: ContentRange Type is specified to a media content part comprising at least one segment (portion); [0060]: “Range” specifies a group of consecutive segments (portions); @startNum specifies the first segment (portion); @length specifies the total number of segments (portions); [0059]: @representation specifies the representation in which the media content part is defined in the MPD file).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata and Zhang before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) which uses an EssentialProperty element for indicating when at least one segment file for a representation is corrupted as taught by Katsumata, to include utilizing a segment range structure that identifies a first segment and a quantity of consecutive segments as taught by Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to more precisely and compactly identify the corrupted/unavailable consecutive segment range for the affected representation, thereby improving the usefulness of the MPD/manifest file corruption information for client retrieval/recovery decisions.
Regarding claim 8, Katsumata discloses wherein the manifest file comprises an MPEG DASH manifest file (Katsumata, [0176]).
Regarding claim 9, Katsumata discloses wherein the at least one representation element is included in a same Period element of the manifest file (Katsumata, Fig. 22, [0185]-[0186]: adaptation set elements groups representation elements corresponding to the same period element).
Regarding claim 10, Katsumata does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one representation element identifies the at least one portion of the content item as one or more segments associated with the at least one representation.
However, Zhang discloses wherein the at least one representation element identifies the at least one portion of the content item as one or more segments associated with the at least one representation (Zhang, Table 2, [0057]: element “ContentRange Type” is specified to a media content part (content item) comprising at least one segment; [0059]: attribute @representation specifies the representation in which the media content part (content item) is defined in the MPD file).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata and Zhang before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) which uses an EssentialProperty element for indicating when at least one segment file for a representation is corrupted as taught by Katsumata, to include utilizing a segment range structure that identifies a first segment and a quantity of consecutive segments as taught by Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to more precisely and compactly identify the corrupted/unavailable consecutive segment range for the affected representation, thereby improving the usefulness of the MPD/manifest file corruption information for client retrieval/recovery decisions.
Claims 4, 5, 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katsumata in view of Zhang, further in view of Ricker et al. (US 2018/0137208), hereinafter Ricker.
Regarding claim 4, Katsumata and Zhang do not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one representation element comprises a text string that is renderable by the user device.
However, Ricker discloses wherein the at least one representation element comprises a text string that is renderable by the user device (Ricker, [0102]: a manifest file includes elements for concealing missing segments by displaying a message such as “Locating your video”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) for indicating when representations of a broadcast data contain corrupted data as taught by Katsumata and Zhang, to include displaying a message to conceal missing segments as taught by Ricker. The motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate maintaining user experience by providing transparency about playback issues. A simple message can be less distracting than sudden visual or audio glitches, providing a smoother viewing experience.
Regarding claim 5, Katsumata and Zhang do not explicitly disclose wherein determining that the at least one segment is unavailable comprises determining that at least a portion of the at least one representation was not received.
However, Rickers discloses wherein determining that the at least one segment is unavailable comprises determining that at least a portion of the at least representation was not received (Rickers, [0102]: determining and concealing missing segments).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) for indicating when representations of a broadcast data contain corrupted data as taught by Katsumata and Zhang, to include displaying a message to conceal missing segments as taught by Ricker. The motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate maintaining user experience by providing transparency about playback issues. A simple message can be less distracting than sudden visual or audio glitches, providing a smoother viewing experience.
Regarding claim 11, Katsumata and Zhang do not explicitly disclose wherein the content item comprises an attribute associated with content that is displayable by the user device.
However, Ricker discloses wherein the content item comprises an attribute associated with content that is displayable by the user device (Ricker, [0102]: quality control check is associated with an asset (content item); the quality control process updates manifest file to provide for any corrections (attributes) associated with the asset (content item), e.g., including a concealer segment (attribute) for displaying a message such as “Locating your video” when there are missing segments in the content).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) for indicating when representations of a broadcast data contain corrupted data as taught by Katsumata and Zhang, to include displaying a message to conceal missing segments as taught by Ricker. The motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate maintaining user experience by providing transparency about playback issues. A simple message can be less distracting than sudden visual or audio glitches, providing a smoother viewing experience.
Regarding claim 12, Katsumata and Zhang do not explicitly disclose wherein the attribute comprises a text string displayable by the user device.
However, Ricker discloses wherein the attribute comprises a text string displayable by the user device (Ricker, [0102]: a concealer segment (attribute) for displaying a message such as “Locating your video” when there are missing segments in the content).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) for indicating when representations of a broadcast data contain corrupted data as taught by Katsumata and Zhang, to include displaying a message to conceal missing segments as taught by Ricker. The motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate maintaining user experience by providing transparency about playback issues. A simple message can be less distracting than sudden visual or audio glitches, providing a smoother viewing experience.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker, further in view of DASH Industry Forum, “Thumbnails with still images #119”, Nov. 22, 2016, hereinafter DASH Industry Forum.
Regarding claim 13, Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker do not explicitly disclose wherein the attribute comprises an image identifier.
However, DASH Industry Forum discloses wherein the attribute comprises an image identifier (DASH Industry Forum, pg. 1, see “LloydW93 commented on Nov 22, 2016”: e.g., in the displayed line “<Representation id="thumbnail_224x126" height="126" width="224">” attribute “Representation id” comprises the image identifier "thumbnail_224x126").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Katsumata, Zhang, Ricker and DASH Industry Forum before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method that generates an MPD file (manifest file) for indicating when representations of a broadcast data contain corrupted data as taught by Katsumata, Zhang and Ricker, to include utilizing a manifest file with representations that have the capability to show associated thumbnails as taught by DASH Industry Forum. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable a user to quickly locate content using the visual cues of thumbnails.
Claims 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denoual et al. (US 2017/0230442), hereinafter Denoual, in view of Katsumata, further in view of Zhang.
Claims 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Denoual et al. (US 2017/0230442), hereinafter Denoual, in view of Katsumata, further in view of Zhang.
Regarding claim 14, Denoual discloses a method comprising:
generating, for a content item associated with a plurality of representations, a manifest file comprising a template element for each representation of the plurality of representations (Denoual, [0125]: generating a manifest file for several representations of a media presentation (content item); Fig. 10, [0261]-[0263]: Fig. 10 provides an MPD (manifest) file with two alternative representations 1002, 1003; URI templates 1005 and 1006 (template elements) are included in the parent representations), wherein each template element comprises a plurality of segment elements corresponding to a plurality of segments for the corresponding representation, of the plurality of representations of the content item (Denoual, Fig. 10: within template elements 1005 and 1006, a plurality of segments "<SegmentURL..." that represent the parent representation is shown), wherein each segment element of the plurality of segment elements comprises: an identifier for a corresponding segment of the plurality of segments and a string value identifying the corresponding segment (Denoual, Fig. 10: e.g., in Representation 1002, for each line beginning with "<SegmentURL...", part of the segment file name "mp4-main-multi-h264bl" which exists within every segment is "identifier" as claimed, and "low-1.m4s" or "low-2.m4s" or any other similar postfix that follows is "string value identifying the corresponding segment" as claimed);
sending, to a user device, the manifest file (Denoual, [0122]: manifest sent to client), wherein the manifest file comprises, for a first representation of the plurality of representations, at least one representation element (Denoual, Fig. 10, item 1002: < Representation id=”h264bl_low” … (representation element)) indicating at least one segment of the plurality of segments for the first representation (Denoual, Fig. 10, item 1002: <SegmentURL media= … (segments)), and
receiving a request for a first segment of the plurality of segments, wherein the request comprises an identifier for the first segment (Denoual, [0122]-[0123], [0374]: client parses the manifest file and sends request for downloading the first segment of the media content described in the manifest file (i.e., using the identifier in the manifest file)), wherein the identifier comprises: the identifier of the segment element for the first segment and at least a portion of the string value of the segment element for the first segment (Denoual, Fig. 7b, item 758; [0374]: e.g., “GET mp4-live- h264bl_low -1.m4s” comprises “mp4-live- h264bl” (identifier of the segment element) and “low -1.m4s” (string value of the segment element)).
Denoual does not explicitly disclose and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the first representation, are unavailable for the first representations.
However, Katsumata discloses wherein the manifest file comprises, for a first representation of the plurality of representations, at least one representation element indicating that at least one segment, of the plurality of segments for the first representation, are unavailable for the first representations (Katsumata, [0186]: in an MPD (manifest) file, an adaptation set element groups representation elements (plurality of representations) of broadcast data; [0187]: EssentialProperty may be set at positions (1) to (4) of the MPD (manifest file); [0188]: EssentialProperty indicates that at least one corresponding Segment file is corrupted (unavailable); [0189]: when set at position (3) or (4), the video.mp4 Segment file corresponding to the representation element is corrupted (unavailable); Fig. 22 shows position (4) inside a Representation (first representation); EssentialProperty placed at position (4) is “the at least one representation element”)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Denoual and Katsumata before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method in which a manifest file is sent to a client for requesting segments of media content as taught by Denoual, to include an element in the manifest file for identifying when there is corrupted/unavailable segment information for a particular representation as taught by Katsumata. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the client/reproduction apparatus with representation level information identifying affected segment file(s), thereby allowing the apparatus to recognize affected segment file(s) and avoid needlessly reading corrupted segment file(s) for which recovery has not been completed.
Furthermore, the combination of Denoual and Katsumata does not explicitly disclose and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the first representation.
However, Zhang discloses at least one representation element indicating that at least one segment, of the plurality of segments for the representation, and a quantity of additional segments, of the plurality of segments for the first representation(Zhang, Table 2, [0057]: parent element “ContentRange Type” specifies a media content part; [0060]: child element Range specifies a group of consecutive segments; @startNum specifies the first segment (at least one segment); @length specifies the total number of segments (quantity/count of consecutive segments); [0059]: @representation specifies the representation in which the media content part is being defined).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Denoual, Katsumata and Zhang before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method in which a manifest file with an element for identifying corrupted data is sent to a client for requesting segments of media content as taught by Denoual and Katsumata, to include utilizing a range structure to identify a first segment and consecutive segments as taught by Zhang. The motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate compactly identifying an affected segment range in the manifest for the corresponding representation.
Regarding claim 15, Denoual discloses wherein the template element further comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) template comprising a first variable corresponding to the identifier of the segment element for the first segment and a second variable corresponding to the string value of the segment element for the first segment (Denoual, Fig. 10: template element/URL template 1005 comprises “mp4-main-multi-h264bl” (first variable corresponding to identifier of the segment element) and “low-{nb}.m4s” (second variable corresponding to string value of the segment element)).
Regarding claim 16, Denoual discloses wherein the string value identifying the segment element for the first segment comprises a plurality of substrings separated by a delimiter character (Denoual, Fig. 10, item 1002: e.g., in <SegmentURL media=”mp4-main-multi-h264bl_low-1.m4s”, string value “low-1.m4s” comprises substrings “low” and “1.m4s” separated by the delimiter “-’’).
Regarding claim 17, Denoual discloses wherein the template element further comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) template comprising an index identifier facilitating a selection of a substring of the plurality of substrings (Denoual, Fig. 10, item 1005: template element/URL template comprises “{nb}” (index identifier)).
Regarding claim 18, Denoual discloses wherein the URL template further comprises a third variable corresponding to a variant identifier for the first segment (Denoual, Fig. 10: {level} variable denotes different variant - in this case, bandwidth requirements as evidenced by the keywords "low" and "hd" as shown in 1005 and 1006).
Regarding claim 19, Denoual does not explicitly disclose wherein generating the manifest file comprises: determining that the at least one segment is unavailable.
However, Katsumata discloses wherein generating the manifest file comprises: determining that the at least one segment is unavailable (Katsumata, [0187]: determining at least one segment file is corrupted).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Denoual and Katsumata before him or her before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify a method in which a manifest file is sent to a client for requesting segments of media content as taught by Denoual, to include an element in the manifest file for identifying when there is corrupted/unavailable segment information for a particular representation as taught by Katsumata. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide the client/reproduction apparatus with representation level information identifying affected segment file(s), thereby allowing the apparatus to recognize affected segment file(s) and avoid needlessly reading corrupted segment file(s) for which recovery has not been completed.
Regarding claim 20, Denoual discloses wherein the template element further comprises a placeholder parameter, and wherein the user device determines the identifier for the first segment based on the placeholder parameter and the string value of the segment element for the first segment in the manifest file (Denoual, Fig. 7a: item 701 (template element) comprises “$RepresentationID$-$Number$.m4s” (placeholder parameter) and “startNumber=”1”” (string value of segment element for the first segment); [0131]: Representation ID can be “h264bl_lw” or “h264bl_full”).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
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The examiner also requests, in response to this Office Action, support be shown for language added to any original claims on amendment and any new claims. That is, indicate support for newly added claim language by specifically pointing to page(s) and line no(s) in the specification and/or drawing figure(s). This will assist the examiner in prosecuting the application.
/LESA M KENNEDY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
Prosecution Insights