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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 3rd February, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the amendment filed on 3rd February, 2026. Claims 1, 21, and 26 have been amended. Claims 11-20 have been cancelled. Claims 1-10 and 21-30 remain rejected in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to Claims 1, 21, and 26 filed on 3rd February, 2026, with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103, regarding that the prior art does not teach the limitation(s): "obtaining, after decoding the first frame and from a second variable for a second frame of the groups of frames in the bitstream, a second displacement vector of the second frame of the 3D visual content, at least one of the first variable and the second variable indicating a motion field for a submesh of the mesh according to a frame payload included with the bitstream and indicating:
displ_layer_rbsp(){
displ_header()
displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize )
rbsp_trailing_bits()
}"
and "a syntax of displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize ) is included in the frame payload" have been fully considered, but are moot because of new grounds for rejection. It has now been taught by the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74.
Regarding arguments to Claims 2-10, 22-25, and 27-30, they directly/indirectly depend on independent Claims 1, 21, and 26 respectively. Applicant does not argue anything other than independent Claims 1, 21, and 26. The limitations in those claims, in conjunction with combination, was previously established as explained.
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.
Claims 1-10 and 21-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hannuksela (US 20220239949 A1, previously cited) in view of Ramasubramonian et al. (US 20150373374 A1), hereinafter referenced as Ramasubramonian-74.
Regarding Claim 1, Hannuksela discloses a method for video decoding, the method performed by at least one processor (Hannuksela, [0687]: teaches a method of obtaining an order of a coded picture sequence, which uses a processor, where "identifier values of the independently decodable <read on video decoding> picture region sequences of the subset are then obtained (152)") and comprising:
obtaining, from a bitstream, a concatenation of groups of frames comprising encoded volumetric data of at least one three-dimensional (3D) visual content (Hannuksela, [0121]: teaches "a bitstream portion may be defined as a contiguous subset of a bitstream," where "a bitstream portion consists of one or more entire syntax structures and no incomplete syntax structures"; [0124]: teaches "images can be split into independently codable and decodable image segments (e.g. slices and/or tiles and/or tile groups) <read on concatenation of groups of frames>," where "such image segments may enable parallel processing, “Slices” in this description may refer to image segments constructed of certain number of basic coding units that are processed in default coding or decoding order, while “tiles” may refer to image segments that have been defined as rectangular image regions along a tile grid"; [0124]: further teaches "a tile group may be defined as a group of one or more tiles" and "image segments may be coded as separate units in the bitstream, such as VCL NAL units in H.264/AVC and HEVC and VVC," where "coded image segments may comprise a header and a payload, wherein the header contains parameter values needed for decoding the payload"; [0313]: teaches "a volumetric video frame <read on 3D visual content> may be regarded as a complete sparse voxel octree that models the world at a specific point in time in a video sequence," where "voxel attributes contain information <read on encoded volumetric data> like colour, opacity, surface normal vectors, and surface material properties"; Note: a bitstream is a continuous sequence of bits, which is used for data transmission for audio and video data),
the volumetric data comprising a mesh sequence of a plurality of meshes of the 3D visual content (Hannuksela, [0308]: teaches volumetric content <read on volumetric data> including triangle meshes, point clouds, and voxels, where "temporal information <read on mesh sequence> about the content may comprise individual capture instances, i.e. frames or the position of objects <read on plurality of meshes> as a function of time");
obtaining, from a first variable for a first frame of the groups of frames in the bitstream, a first displacement vector of the first frame of the 3D visual content (Hannuksela, [0167]: teaches video codecs that support motion compensated prediction from two sources (bi-prediction) using two motion vectors <read on first displacement vector of first frame> that are "signaled and the motion compensated predictions from two sources <read on first variable for first frame> are averaged to create the final sample prediction"; [0179]: teaches "a reference picture set (RPS) syntax structure of HEVC is an example of a syntax structure for reference picture marking"; [0180]: teaches "in some coding formats and codecs, a distinction is made between so-called short-term and long-term reference pictures," where "this distinction may affect some decoding processes such as motion vector scaling" and "syntax structure(s) for marking reference pictures may be indicative of marking a picture as 'used for long-term reference' or 'used for short-term reference'"; Note: a displacement vector is a vector quantity that represents the change in position of an object from its initial to its final position; in addition, syntax element is being interpreted as a set of rules of a subject on screen);
decoding the first frame of the 3D visual content based on the first displacement vector (Hannuksela, [0172]: teaches codecs using "a concept of picture order count (POC)," where "POC may be used in the decoding process for example for implicit scaling of motion vectors <read on first displacement vector of first frame> and for reference picture list initialization");
obtaining, after decoding the first frame and from a second variable for a second frame of the groups of frames in the bitstream, a second displacement vector of the second frame of the 3D visual content (Hannuksela, [0167]: teaches video codecs that support motion compensated prediction from two sources (bi-prediction) using two motion vectors <read on second displacement vector of second frame> that are "signaled and the motion compensated predictions from two sources <read on second variable for second frame> are averaged to create the final sample prediction"; [0179]: teaches "a reference picture set (RPS) syntax structure of HEVC is an example of a syntax structure for reference picture marking"; [0180]: teaches "in some coding formats and codecs, a distinction is made between so-called short-term and long-term reference pictures," where "this distinction may affect some decoding processes such as motion vector scaling" and "syntax structure(s) for marking reference pictures may be indicative of marking a picture as 'used for long-term reference' or 'used for short-term reference'"),
[[at least one of the first variable and the second variable indicating a motion field for a submesh of the mesh according to a frame payload included with the bitstream and indicating:
displ_layer_rbsp(){
displ_header()
displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize )
rbsp_trailing_bits()
}; and]]
decoding the second frame of the 3D visual content based on the second displacement vector (Hannuksela, [0172]: teaches codecs using "a concept of picture order count (POC)," where "POC may be used in the decoding process for example for implicit scaling of motion vectors <read on second displacement vector of second frame> and for reference picture list initialization"),
the second displacement vector being different from the first displacement vector (Hannuksela, [0088]: teaches "a motion vector may be predicted from spatially adjacent motion vectors and only the difference relative to the motion vector predictor may be coded <read on second displacement vector being different from first displacement vector>"), and
[[a syntax of displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize ) is included in the frame payload.]]
However, Hannuksela does not expressly disclose
at least one of the first variable and the second variable indicating a motion field for a submesh of the mesh according to a frame payload included with the bitstream and indicating:
displ_layer_rbsp(){
displ_header()
displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize )
rbsp_trailing_bits()
}; and
a syntax of displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize ) is included in the frame payload.
Ramasubramonian-74 discloses
at least one of the first variable and the second variable indicating a motion field for a submesh of the mesh according to a frame payload included with the bitstream and indicating:
displ_layer_rbsp(){
displ_header()
displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize )
rbsp_trailing_bits()
} (Ramasubramonian-74, [0102]: teaches the video decoder 30 receiving an encoded video bitstream that represents video blocks of an encoded video slice and associated syntax elements from video encoder 20, where an entropy decoding unit 70 of video decoder 30 entropy decodes the bitstream to generate quantized coefficients, motion vectors <read on motion field for submesh>, and other syntax elements; FIG. 4 teaches a SEI NAL unit <read on frame payload>, which includes a sei_rbsp() <read on displ_layer_rbsp()>, a sei_message() <read on displ_header()>, a sei_payload( type, payloadSize ) <read on displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize )>, and rbsp_trailing_bits()); and
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a syntax of displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize ) is included in the frame payload (Ramasubramonian-74, FIG. 4 teaches the SEI NAL unit <read on frame payload> including a sei_payload( type, payloadSize) <read on displ_data_unit( dfh_displ_type, DisplUnitSize )>, which is a type of syntax code).
Ramasubramonian-74 is analogous art with respect to Hannuksela because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely video encoding and decoding techniques. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to implement a Supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI) Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) unit to store payload data as taught by Ramasubramonian-74 into the teaching of Hannuksela. The suggestion for doing so would allow for optional and supported payload extensions to be added to the bitstream, such as additional video information, thereby yielding predictable results. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Ramasubramonian-74 with Hannuksela.
Regarding Claim 21, it recites the limitations that are similar in scope to Claim 1, but in a method for video encoding. As shown in the rejection, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Additionally, Hannuksela discloses a method for video encoding, the method comprising (Hannuksela, [0687]: teaches a method of determining an order of independently decodable picture regions on pictures of a coded picture sequence, where "the order is encoded <read on video encoding> into a bitstream as a separate data unit (154)"):…
encoding the first frame of the 3D visual content based on the first displacement vector (Hannuksela, [0172]: teaches codecs using "a concept of picture order count (POC)," where "POC may be used in the decoding process for example for implicit scaling of motion vectors <read on first displacement vector of first frame> and for reference picture list initialization"; [0174]: teaches an encoder including "a CPB as specified in the HRD for verifying and controlling that buffering constraints are obeyed in the encoding <read on encoding first frame of 3D visual content>");
encoding the second frame of the 3D visual content based on the second displacement vector (Hannuksela, [0172]: teaches codecs using "a concept of picture order count (POC)," where "POC may be used in the decoding process for example for implicit scaling of motion vectors <read on second displacement vector of second frame> and for reference picture list initialization"; [0174]: teaches an encoder including "a CPB as specified in the HRD for verifying and controlling that buffering constraints are obeyed in the encoding <read on encoding first frame of 3D visual content>"),
the second displacement vector being different from the first displacement vector (Hannuksela, [0088]: teaches "a motion vector may be predicted from spatially adjacent motion vectors and only the difference relative to the motion vector predictor may be coded <read on second displacement vector being different from first displacement vector>"), and…
Thus, Claim 21 is met by Hannuksela according to the mapping presented in the rejection of Claim 1, given the method for video decoding corresponds to a method for video encoding.
Regarding Claim 26, it recites the limitations that are similar in scope to Claim 21, but in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. As shown in the rejection, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the limitations of Claim 21. Additionally, Hannuksela discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a video bitstream that is generated by a video encoding method, the video encoding method comprising (Hannuksela, [0696]: teaches computer program code residing in memory 102 <read on non-transitory computer readable medium>, which is accessible by a main processing unit 100 of an apparatus 1200; [0695]: teaches apparatus 1200 being an apparatus for encoding and decoding bitstream data <read on video encoding method that generates video bitstream>):…
Thus, Claim 26 is met by Hannuksela according to the mapping presented in the rejection of Claim 21, given the method for video encoding corresponds to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding of Claim 1. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein
decoding the first frame and the second frame are both based on arithmetic coding-based displacement coding (Hannuksela, [0089]: teaches context-based coding for video frames <read on decoding first and second frames> being context adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) <read on arithmetic coding-based displacement coding>).
Regarding Claims 22 and 27, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video encoding and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Claims 21 and 26 respectively. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein
encoding the first frame and the second frame are both based on arithmetic coding-based displacement coding (Hannuksela, [0089]: teaches context-based coding for video frames <read on encoding first and second frames> being context adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) <read on arithmetic coding-based displacement coding>).
Regarding Claims 3, 23, and 28, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding, the method for video encoding, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Claims 1, 21, and 26 respectively. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein a first displacement vector of the first frame comprises
a frame header and a frame payload (Hannuksela, [0115]: teaches NAL units <read on first displacement vector> consisting of a header <read on frame header> and a payload <read on frame payload>).
Regarding Claims 4, 24, and 29, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding, the method for video encoding, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Claims 3, 23, and 28 respectively. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein the frame header comprises
a frame index followed by a frame type (Hannuksela, [0130]: teaches a slice either containing "a number of tiles of a picture or a number of bricks of a tile," where "a slice is a VCL NAL unit, which comprises a slice header <read on frame header> and slice data"; [0133]: teaches "the slice header comprises a slice_address syntax element, which is directly or indirectly indicative of the slice address of the slice, where the slice address may be regarded as a spatial location or position within the picture" and "when raster-scan-order slices are in use, the slice_address syntax element indicates the tile index <read on frame index> in picture raster scan order"; [0181]: teaches a "reference picture for inter prediction <read on frame type> may be indicated with an index to a reference picture list"; Note: it should be noted that the reference picture can be either an inter prediction or intra prediction, which are being interpreted as a frame type).
Regarding Claims 5, 25, and 30, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding, the method for video encoding, and the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of Claims 4, 24, and 29 respectively. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein,
in a case that the frame type indicates an inter type, the frame header further comprises a reference frame index (Hannuksela, [0181]: teaches a "reference picture for inter prediction may be indicated <read on case that frame type indicates inter type> with an index to a reference picture list <read on reference frame index>," where "in some codecs, two reference picture lists (reference picture list 0 and reference picture list 1) are generated for each bi-predictive (B) slice, and one reference picture list (reference picture list 0) is formed for each inter-coded (P) slice"; [0166]: teaches a reference index being predicted "from adjacent blocks and/or co-located blocks in temporal reference picture," where "high efficiency video codecs may employ an additional motion information coding/decoding mechanism, often called merging/merge mode, where all the motion field information, which includes motion vector and corresponding reference picture index for each available reference picture list, is predicted and used without any modification/correction").
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding of Claim 5. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein,
in the case that the frame type indicates the inter type, the frame index consists of 6 bits (Hannuksela, [0181]: teaches a "reference picture for inter prediction may be indicated <read on case that frame type indicates inter type> with an index to a reference picture list <read on reference frame index>," where "in some codecs, two reference picture lists (reference picture list 0 and reference picture list 1) are generated for each bi-predictive (B) slice, and one reference picture list (reference picture list 0) is formed for each inter-coded (P) slice"; [0486]: teaches 4 to 6 bits <read on frame index consisting of 6 bits> being reserved for layer identifiers in the NAL unit header),
the frame type consists of 2 bits (Hannuksela, [0202]: teaches "a picture having TemporalId equal to tid_value does not use any picture having a TemporalId greater than tid_value <read on 2 bits> as inter prediction <read on frame type> reference"), and
the reference frame index consists of 8 bits (Hannuksela, [0184]: teaches using a decoded base-layer picture as a prediction reference for an enhancement layer, which is also referred to as an inter-layer reference picture <read on reference frame index>; [0185]: teaches layer pictures being coded at a lower bit-depth, such as 8 bits, than enhancement layer pictures).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding of Claim 6. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein the frame header consists of
the frame index (Hannuksela, [0130]: teaches a slice either containing "a number of tiles of a picture or a number of bricks of a tile," where "a slice is a VCL NAL unit, which comprises a slice header <read on frame header> and slice data"; [0133]: teaches "the slice header comprises a slice_address syntax element, which is directly or indirectly indicative of the slice address of the slice, where the slice address may be regarded as a spatial location or position within the picture" and "when raster-scan-order slices are in use, the slice_address syntax element indicates the tile index <read on frame index> in picture raster scan order"),
the frame type (Hannuksela, [0181]: teaches a "reference picture for inter prediction <read on frame type> may be indicated with an index to a reference picture list"), and
the reference frame index (Hannuksela, [0181]: teaches a "reference picture for inter prediction may be indicated with an index to a reference picture list <read on reference frame index>").
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding of Claim 3. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein the frame payload comprises
a T-bit integer followed by a coded bitstream (Hannuksela, [0201]: teaches NAL units consisting of a header and a payload <read on frame payload>; [0202]: teaches a NAL unit including a TemporalId variable <read on T-bit integer>, where "the bitstream <read on coded bitstream> created by excluding all VCL NAL units having a TemporalId greater than or equal to a selected value and including all other VCL NAL units remains conforming"), wherein
the T-bit integer specifies a byte size of the coded bitstream (Hannuksela, [0202]: teaches a NAL unit including a TemporalId variable <read on T-bit integer>, where "the bitstream <read on coded bitstream> created by excluding all VCL NAL units having a TemporalId greater than or equal to a selected value <read on byte size> and including all other VCL NAL units remains conforming"), and wherein
the coded bitstream comprises a coded representation of displacement vectors, including the first displacement vector, of the first frame (Hannuksela, [0183: teaches "in order to improve coding efficiency for the enhancement layers, the coded representation <read on coded representation of displacement vectors of first frame> of that layer may depend on the lower layers. E.g. the motion and mode information of the enhancement layer can be predicted from lower layers").
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding of Claim 8. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein the frame payload consists of
the T-bit integer and the coded bitstream (Hannuksela, [0201]: teaches NAL units consisting of a header and a payload <read on frame payload>; [0202]: teaches a NAL unit including a TemporalId variable <read on T-bit integer>, where "the bitstream <read on coded bitstream> created by excluding all VCL NAL units having a TemporalId greater than or equal to a selected value and including all other VCL NAL units remains conforming"), and wherein
T is 32 (Hannuksela, [0231]: teaches bitstreams and coded video sequences being encoded to be temporally scalable, where each picture can be assigned to a particular temporal sub-layer such that "temporal sub-layers may be enumerated e.g. from 0 upwards <read on T being 32>").
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Hannuksela and Ramasubramonian-74 discloses the method for video decoding of Claim 1. Additionally, Hannuksela further discloses wherein the first frame of the groups of frames comprises
a first sequence header bitstream (Hannuksela, [0115]: teaches NAL units consisting of a header <read on first sequence header bitstream> and a payload for captured frames <read on first frame of groups of frames>),
a first base mesh bitstream (Hannuksela, [0311]: teaches 3D video representations being captured "by each multicamera device may be used as input streams <read on first base mesh bitstream> for creating a 3D volumetric representation of the scene, said 3D volumetric representation comprising a plurality of voxels," where "voxels may be formed from the captured 3D points e.g. by merging the 3D points into voxels comprising a plurality of 3D points such that for a selected 3D point, all neighbouring 3D points within a predefined threshold from the selected 3D point are merged into a voxel without exceeding a maximum number of 3D points in a voxel"),
a first displacement bitstream (Hannuksela, [0115]: teaches NAL units <read on first displacement bitstream> consisting of a header and a payload), and
a first texture bitstream (Hannuksela, [0185]: teaches certain bitstream layers representing texture views <read on first texture bitstream>), and wherein
the second frame of the groups of frames comprises a second sequence header bitstream (Hannuksela, [0115]: teaches NAL units consisting of a header <read on second sequence header bitstream> and a payload and a payload for captured frames <read on second frame of groups of frames>),
a second base mesh bitstream (Hannuksela, [0311]: teaches 3D video representations being captured "by each multicamera device may be used as input streams <read on second base mesh bitstream> for creating a 3D volumetric representation of the scene, said 3D volumetric representation comprising a plurality of voxels," where "voxels may be formed from the captured 3D points e.g. by merging the 3D points into voxels comprising a plurality of 3D points such that for a selected 3D point, all neighbouring 3D points within a predefined threshold from the selected 3D point are merged into a voxel without exceeding a maximum number of 3D points in a voxel"),
a second displacement bitstream (Hannuksela, [0115]: teaches NAL units <read on second displacement bitstream> consisting of a header and a payload; Note: it should be noted that the plurality of NAL units are being interpreted as both the first and second displacement bitstreams), and
a second texture bitstream (Hannuksela, [0185]: teaches certain bitstream layers representing texture views <read on second texture bitstream>; Note: it should be noted that the plurality of bitstream layers are being interpreted as both the first and second texture bitstreams).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Wang et al. (US 20140192149 A1) discloses obtaining, from a bitstream, a non-nested Supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI) message that is not nested within another SEI message in the bitstream; and
Wang (US 20220217391 A1) discloses Supplemental Enhancement Information (SEI) encoded messages in a bitstream performed by a Network Abstraction Layer (NAL) unit.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARL TRUONG whose telephone number is (703)756-5915. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 AM - 7:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kent Chang can be reached at (571) 272-7667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.D.T./Examiner, Art Unit 2614
/KENT W CHANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2614
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