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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This is a first office action in response to application filed, with the above serial number, on 01 October 2022 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination. Claims 1-20 are therefore pending in the application.
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.
Claims 5, 14, 19 is/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. The claim(s) recites ‘the fill data comprises one or more of: spatial quality data, temporal quality data, zero fill, and/or a portion of a predictive frame’ to be sent, however the independent claim from which each respective claim depends recites that the fill data provided is ‘based on unavailability of media data’. The scope of ‘unavailability’ is not clear from the specification, but the definition suggests no media data being available, and thus it is indefinite how the fill data can be some form of media data when media data is unavailable. In other words, it is indefinite how when no media data is available to be sent, that higher quality media data and/or more media frames are sent, in contrast to the specification reciting the more general ‘insufficient media data’ for example in par. 19.
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, 4-11, 13-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Willars et al (hereinafter “Willars”, 2022/0394076).
As per Claim 1, Willars discloses an apparatus (at least paragraph 66; apparatus, 800) comprising:
an interface (at least paragraph 66; apparatus, 800, may include a processing circuitry (one or more than one processor), 802, coupled to an interface, 806) and
circuitry coupled to the interface (at least paragraph 66; processing circuitry (one or more than one processor), 802, coupled to an interface, 806), the circuitry to:
based on increased available bandwidth to transmit media data to a receiver device (at least paragraph 26, 28, 35, 43, 55; increasing the bitrate (and in consequence improving quality of the streamed media) when the conditions improve; rate adaptation upwards at improving conditions. Probing for a higher media rate; using a network congestion control algorithm at the sender side to only send as much data as can be transferred without buffering in the network. In this implementation there may be a buffer at the transmitting side, buffer B4, and detecting the need to adapt is done based on when this buffer starts to increase):
based on unavailability of media data, provide fill data into a network data buffer (at least paragraph 62-63; monitoring of the transmitting buffer shows that the buffer-fill level remains below a certain value or is not increasing; the bitrate may be increased by at least one of: added redundancy (for example by using forward error correction), insertion of dummy data, reduction of compression, increase of frame rate, increase of resolution and increase of colour depth) and
based on availability of media data, provide the media data into the network data buffer (at least paragraph 56-57, 65, 89; network supporting ECN indicating improved conditions so that media can be sent to the receiving buffer; the improvement of traffic conditions on the second bearer may be detected by detecting that the second bearer can sustain an increased bitrate of the non-essential part of the media stream; transmit the essential part of the media stream on a first bearer and the non-essential part of the media stream on a second bearer; probing for higher media rate with the lower priority bearer, the absence of ECN/L4S marking on packets indicates that it is safe to increase the media rate also on the higher priority bearer).
As per Claim 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fill data is to permit utilization of increased available bandwidth to transmit media data to prevent a burst and backoff scenario (at least paragraph 21-23, 54, 58-64; preventing burst of packets and buffers being drained; configured at a level that balances the risk of buffer overflow when set too high (when the transmitting end attempts to transmit more data than the network can handle packets will be lost at buffer overflow) with the risk of triggering bitrate adaptation too early when the second threshold is set too low; keeping fill level of buffer between two thresholds with bitrate increase by redundancy, dummy insertion etc).
As per Claim 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fill data comprises one or more of: spatial quality data, temporal quality data, zero fill, and/or a portion of a predictive frame (at least paragraph 62-63; monitoring of the transmitting buffer shows that the buffer-fill level remains below a certain value or is not increasing; the bitrate may be increased by at least one of: added redundancy (for example by using forward error correction), insertion of dummy data, reduction of compression, increase of frame rate, increase of resolution and increase of colour depth).
As per Claim 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the media comprises one or more of: video, image, and/or audio (at least paragraph 47-49; video).
As per Claim 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is to transmit a higher quality level of media based on availability of increased available bandwidth for N number of transmitted packets (at least paragraph 28, 43, 56; increasing the bitrate (and in consequence improving quality of the streamed media) of packets when the conditions improve).
As per Claim 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the increased available bandwidth is identified based on information conveyed in-network telemetry (INT) (at least paragraph 24, 87-89, 84; ECN and L4S).
As per Claim 9. The apparatus of claim 1, comprising: a server communicatively the circuitry, wherein the server is to provide the media for transmission (at least paragraph 42, 49; Fig. 10).
As per Claim 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receiver device comprises a client device that executes a media player (at least Fig. 10; par. 44, 80-81; App client of player; AR/VR “XR” applications with remote rendering to a head-mounted display (HMD)).
As per Claim 11, Willars discloses at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, that if executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
based on increased available bandwidth to transmit media data to a receiver device (at least paragraph 26, 28, 35, 43, 55; increasing the bitrate (and in consequence improving quality of the streamed media) when the conditions improve; rate adaptation upwards at improving conditions. Probing for a higher media rate; using a network congestion control algorithm at the sender side to only send as much data as can be transferred without buffering in the network. In this implementation there may be a buffer at the transmitting side, buffer B4, and detecting the need to adapt is done based on when this buffer starts to increase):
based on unavailability of media data, provide fill data into a network data buffer (at least paragraph 62-63; monitoring of the transmitting buffer shows that the buffer-fill level remains below a certain value or is not increasing; the bitrate may be increased by at least one of: added redundancy (for example by using forward error correction), insertion of dummy data, reduction of compression, increase of frame rate, increase of resolution and increase of colour depth) and
based on availability of media data, provide the media data into the network data buffer (at least paragraph 56-57, 65, 89; network supporting ECN indicating improved conditions so that media can be sent to the receiving buffer; the improvement of traffic conditions on the second bearer may be detected by detecting that the second bearer can sustain an increased bitrate of the non-essential part of the media stream; transmit the essential part of the media stream on a first bearer and the non-essential part of the media stream on a second bearer; probing for higher media rate with the lower priority bearer, the absence of ECN/L4S marking on packets indicates that it is safe to increase the media rate also on the higher priority bearer).
As per Claim 13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the fill data is to permit utilization of increased available bandwidth to transmit media data to prevent a burst and backoff scenario (at least paragraph 21-23, 54, 58-64; preventing burst of packets and buffers being drained; configured at a level that balances the risk of buffer overflow when set too high (when the transmitting end attempts to transmit more data than the network can handle packets will be lost at buffer overflow) with the risk of triggering bitrate adaptation too early when the second threshold is set too low; keeping fill level of buffer between two thresholds with bitrate increase by redundancy, dummy insertion etc).
As per Claim 14. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the fill data comprises one or more of: spatial quality data, temporal quality data, zero fill, and/or portion of a predictive frame (at least paragraph 62-63; monitoring of the transmitting buffer shows that the buffer-fill level remains below a certain value or is not increasing; the bitrate may be increased by at least one of: added redundancy (for example by using forward error correction), insertion of dummy data, reduction of compression, increase of frame rate, increase of resolution and increase of colour depth).
As per Claim 15. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the media comprises one or more of: video, image, and/or audio (at least paragraph 47-49; video).
As per Claim 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, comprising instructions stored thereon, that if executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: cause transmission of a higher quality level of media based on availability of increased available bandwidth for N number of transmitted packets (at least paragraph 28, 43, 56; increasing the bitrate (and in consequence improving quality of the streamed media) of packets when the conditions improve).
As per Claim 17, Willars discloses a method comprising:
based on increased available bandwidth to transmit media data to a receiver device (at least paragraph 26, 28, 35, 43, 55; increasing the bitrate (and in consequence improving quality of the streamed media) when the conditions improve; rate adaptation upwards at improving conditions. Probing for a higher media rate; using a network congestion control algorithm at the sender side to only send as much data as can be transferred without buffering in the network. In this implementation there may be a buffer at the transmitting side, buffer B4, and detecting the need to adapt is done based on when this buffer starts to increase):
based on unavailability of media data, providing fill data into a network data buffer (at least paragraph 62-63; monitoring of the transmitting buffer shows that the buffer-fill level remains below a certain value or is not increasing; the bitrate may be increased by at least one of: added redundancy (for example by using forward error correction), insertion of dummy data, reduction of compression, increase of frame rate, increase of resolution and increase of colour depth) and
based on availability of media data, providing the media data into the network data buffer (at least paragraph 56-57, 65, 89; network supporting ECN indicating improved conditions so that media can be sent to the receiving buffer; the improvement of traffic conditions on the second bearer may be detected by detecting that the second bearer can sustain an increased bitrate of the non-essential part of the media stream; transmit the essential part of the media stream on a first bearer and the non-essential part of the media stream on a second bearer; probing for higher media rate with the lower priority bearer, the absence of ECN/L4S marking on packets indicates that it is safe to increase the media rate also on the higher priority bearer).
As per Claim 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fill data is to permit utilization of increased available bandwidth to transmit media data to prevent a burst and backoff scenario (at least paragraph 21-23, 54, 58-64; preventing burst of packets and buffers being drained; configured at a level that balances the risk of buffer overflow when set too high (when the transmitting end attempts to transmit more data than the network can handle packets will be lost at buffer overflow) with the risk of triggering bitrate adaptation too early when the second threshold is set too low; keeping fill level of buffer between two thresholds with bitrate increase by redundancy, dummy insertion etc).
As per Claim 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the fill data comprises one or more of: spatial quality data, temporal quality data, zero fill, and/or portion of a predictive frame (at least paragraph 62-63; monitoring of the transmitting buffer shows that the buffer-fill level remains below a certain value or is not increasing; the bitrate may be increased by at least one of: added redundancy (for example by using forward error correction), insertion of dummy data, reduction of compression, increase of frame rate, increase of resolution and increase of colour depth).
As per Claim 20. The method of claim 17, comprising: causing transmission of a higher quality level of media based on availability of increased available bandwidth for N number of transmitted packets (at least paragraph 28, 43, 56; increasing the bitrate (and in consequence improving quality of the streamed media) of packets when the conditions improve).
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.
Claim(s) 2 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Willars in view of Terzis et al (hereinafter “Terzis”, 10,075,877).
Willars fails to explicitly disclose wherein the circuitry is to adjust transmission bandwidth for media data by adjusting a size of a congestion window. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Terzis. Terzis discloses, in an analogous art, it being well known that the transmission protocol TCP calculates and adjusts a congestion window in order to adjust data rate according to available bandwidth (at least col. 9:57-10:39). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Terzis’ congestion window with Willars as Terzis discloses TCP data transmission from a sending device incorporating congestion window calculation and adjustment in order to achieve an optimal data rate to send packets over the network, and this would be used in Willars TCP (at least paragraph 55, 22) feedback packets with acknowledgments from the receiver to monitor the round-trip delay and reduce the sending bitrate in response to any increase in that delay.
Claim(s) 3, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Willars in view of Tourrilhes et al (hereinafter “Tourrilhes”, 2023/0198910).
As per Claim 3, 12. Willars fails to explicitly disclose wherein the provide fill data is to cause burst token accumulation to not accumulate based on increased available bandwidth to transmit media data. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Tourrilhes. Tourrilhes discloses, in an analogous art, rate limiting using a shaper and corresponding queue such that a scheduler can process packets no faster than the committed rate such that when a token bucket is full, new tokens are discarded to prevent burst of packets being transmitted (at least paragraph 60-74, 82). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the use of Tourrilhes token discarding from full bucket with Willars as Tourrilhes teaches optimizing a burst size or bucket size for TCP congestion control so as to not exceed a packet commit rate when there are too many tokens in the bucket and would result in excess traffic, and using token bucket with active queue management in order to average out congestion, combined with Willars bitrate increase would be an obvious TCP congestion avoidance and transmission optimization with Tourrilhes’ token use.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure is indicated in PTO form 892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY G TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Nicholas Taylor can be reached on (571)272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GREGORY TODD/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443