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 .
Prior arts cited in this office action:
Alshin et al. (US 20200029090 A1, hereinafter “Alshin”)
Kimura (US 20070116371 A1, hereinafter “Kimura”)
Saitou et al. (US 20250156613 A1, hereinafter “Saitou”)
Vella et al. (US 20060013314 A1, hereinafter “Vella”)
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-14, 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshin et al. (US 20200029090 A1, hereinafter “Alshin”) in view of Kimura (US 20070116371 A1, hereinafter “Kimura”) and in view of Saitou et al. (US 20250156613 A1, hereinafter “Saitou”).
Regarding claims 1, 10 and 17:
Alshin teaches an image processing device comprising:
an interface configured to receive compressed data obtained by compressing image
data corresponding to an output of at least one pixel (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0290], fig 1B and 1E where Alshin discloses Receiving a bit stream where the bit stream comprises at least one pixel of an image compress data); and
a decoder configured to:
generate at least two different pieces of compensation data based on loss data
included in the compressed data, and generate decompressed data by decompressing the compressed data based on any one piece of compensation data among the at least two different pieces of compensation data (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F, where Alshin discloses, Data of a spatial domain with respect to a block of a current image 605 may be reconstructed by adding prediction data and the residue data of each block generated by the intra predictor 640 or the inter predictor 635, and a deblocking unit 645 and a sample-adaptive offset (SAO) performer 650 may output a filtered reconstructed image 660 by performing loop filtering on the reconstructed data of the spatial domain. Also, reconstructed images stored in the reconstructed picture buffer 630 may be output as a reference image).
wherein the loss data corresponds to data lost due to compression of the image data (Alshin [0003]-[0024], a video codec splits an image into blocks having a predetermined size, performs discrete cosine transform (DCT) transformation on each of the blocks, and thus encodes frequency coefficients in each block unit. Compared to the image data in the spatial domain, the coefficients in the frequency domain are easily compressed. Because an image pixel value in the spatial domain is expressed as a prediction error via inter prediction or intra prediction by the video codec, when the frequency transform is performed on prediction errors, much data may be transformed into 0. The video codec decreases an amount of data by changing data, which occurs sequentially and repeatedly, into small-sized data).
Alshin fails to teach a number generator for generating the random number.
However, Alshin discloses a selector for selecting one of the compensation values to apply for correcting the pixel, pixel block or pixel group. Furthermore, Kimura teaches a decoding apparatus, inverse quantization method and computer readable medium wherein a decoder contains a random number generator that generates random number based on decoded lossy data or decoded data with frequency shifted or deviated from the original data. The random number generated is used for selected the data to be outputted in the inverse quantization value output selection (Kimura [0090]-[0096]). Saitou Further teaches a linear bit sift multiplier including a two’s complement circuit and a selector for selecting one of the two values to output (Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Therefore, taking the teachings of Alshin, Kimura and Saitou as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use a random number generator to control the selection of the two compensation values that the compensation value looks more random avoiding over compensation in one area one way while other areas get compensated in other ways making the compensation uneven.
Regarding claim 2:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the decoder is further configured to:
generate a random number, and select the one piece of compensation data based on the random number (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Regarding claim 3:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the decoder comprises:
a random number generation module configured to generate the random number; and
a selection module configured to: receive the at least two different pieces of compensation data and the random number; and output one piece of compensation data from among the at least two different pieces of compensation data based on the random number (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Regarding claim 4:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the random number generation module comprises a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Regarding claims 5 and 11:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the at least two different pieces of compensation data are complementary (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Regarding claim 6:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein a difference between values indicated by the at least two different pieces of compensation data is 1 (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F; Saitou [0500], fig. 33, where the difference between a bit data and its two’s complement is 1).
Regarding claim 7:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the decoder is further configured to generate even-numbered pieces of compensation data, and wherein the even-numbered pieces of compensation data are comprise complementary data pairs (Alshin abstract [0090], [0204], [0288]-[0295], [0498], fig 1B, 1E and 1F and 9K; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Regarding claims 8 and 16:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the decoder is further configured to generate a random number based on the number of the even-numbered pieces of compensation data (Alshin abstract [0090], [0204], [0288]-[0295], [0498], fig 1B, 1E and 1F and 9K; Saitou [0500], fig. 33, where 1 bit selection is generated for two bits of information. In case of 4 bits (or streams) of information 2 bit selection is logically needed to perform the selection).
Regarding claims 9, 12 and 20:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the interface is further configured to receive a plurality of pieces of compressed data, wherein the decoder is further configured to generate a plurality of pieces of decompressed data by decompressing each of the plurality of pieces of compressed data, and wherein an average offset of the plurality of pieces of decompressed data is less than 0.5 (Alshin abstract [0090], [0204], [0288]-[0295], [0498], fig 1B, 1E and 1F and 9K; Saitou [0500], fig. 33, wherein using random number to select between, for example two compensation values, logically would ensure that the average compensation value is less than 0.5).
Regarding claim 14:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein each of the plurality of pieces of compressed data comprises compressed image data corresponding to at least two adjacent pixels (Alshin abstract [0090], [0204], [0288]-[0295], [0498], fig 1B, 1E and 1F and 9K; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Regarding claim 13:
The combination fails to explicitly teach wherein the generating of the decompressed data further comprises:
generating, based on different pieces of compensation data, two pieces of decompressed data comprising the same loss data and respectively corresponding to two adjacent pieces of compressed data (Alshin abstract [0090], [0204], [0288]-[0295], [0498], fig 1B, 1E and 1F and 9K; Saitou [0500], fig. 33, where Adjacent pixel information (9K) can be used to generate compensation values the same way as in figure 1F).
However, the combination teaches generating the compress data for either one of them at any particular time. As a result, generating for both would instead of one at any particular time by using a decoding branch for each compensation data would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application, to improve decoding accuracy because it does not involve any undue process since decompressed data for both compensation data are generated albeit one at a time is selected.
Regarding claim 18:
The combination fails to teach wherein the first compensation data is complementary to the second compensation data, and wherein the decoder is further configured to generate a first piece of decompressed data based on the first compensation data, and generate a second piece of decompressed data based on the second compensation data.
However, the combination teaches generating the compress data for either one of them at any particular time. As a result, generating for both would instead of one at any particular time by using a decoding branch for each compensation data would have obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application, to improve decoding accuracy, because it does not involve any undue process since decompressed data for both compensation data are generated albeit one at a time is selected.
Regarding claim 19:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou teaches wherein the random number comprises a 1 bit value (Alshin abstract [0204], [0288]-[0295], fig 1B, 1E and 1F; Saitou [0500], fig. 33).
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alshin et al. (US 20200029090 A1, hereinafter “Alshin”) in view of Kimura (US 20070116371 A1, hereinafter “Kimura”), in view of Saitou et al. (US 20250156613 A1, hereinafter “Saitou”) and in view of Vella et al. (US 20060013314 A1, hereinafter “Vella”).
Regarding claim 15:
Alshin in view of Kimura and in view of Saitou fails to explicitly teach wherein the at least two adjacent pixels comprise pixels of a same color.
However, Vella teaches A method of decompressing image Bayer pattern pixel data split into three channels of pixel data including a channel for each basic color filtered pixels of the image, the method comprising for each color channel: evaluating a multibit code representative of a quantized predictor vector of an input vector based upon a compression ratio; decoding a calculated predictor vector quantized according to one of a heavier and lighter degree of quantization depending on whether the predictor vector is representative of an area of relatively uniform color of the image or an area of relatively abrupt changes of colors of the image; and reconstructing an input vector based upon addition of the decoded quantized prediction errors and a pair of prediction values representing a prediction error, the input vector indicating a pair of values including two successive pixels belonging to a same channel along an image pixel scanning direction (Claim 17).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to use pixels that are adjacent to each other in the same color channel, since the vector created by the two pixels in the same color channel allow for better representation of error when compare to the expected vector value generated by expected pair pixels of the same color.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WEDNEL CADEAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7843. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00.
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/WEDNEL CADEAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632 January 29, 2026
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