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 .
Priority
Applicant claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 63/381,122, filed 10/26/2022. Claims 1-20 have been afforded the benefit of this filing date.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 7, 11, 17, and 18 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1, 3-6, 10-12, 14, 15, 18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joshi et al. (US 20240185469 A1, hereinafter "Joshi 1") in view of Ilola et al. (WO 2021136876 A1, hereinafter "Ilola") and Joshi et al. (US 20220094980 A1, hereinafter "Joshi 2").
Regarding claim 1, Joshi 1 teaches: A non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium storing program instructions, that when executed using one or more computing devices ([0010] “Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium… The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory.”), cause the one or more computing devices to:
compress visual volumetric content ([0033] “For example, the server 104 can compress a 3D point cloud or mesh to generate a bitstream and then transmit the bitstream to one or more of the client devices 106-116.”) using a dynamic mesh compression algorithm ([0024] “The point cloud or meshes may be dynamic, i.e., they may vary with time. In these cases, the point cloud or mesh at a particular time instant may be referred to as a point cloud frame or a mesh frame, respectively. Since point clouds and meshes contain a large amount of data, they require compression for efficient storage and transmission. This is particularly true for dynamic point clouds and meshes, which may contain 60 frames or higher per second.”), wherein to compress the visual volumetric content using the dynamic mesh compression the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to:
compress a base mesh to generate a compressed base mesh sub-bitstream (fig. 4 element 404; [0063] “A base mesh 404, which typically has a smaller number of vertices compared to the original mesh, is created and is quantized and compressed in either a lossy or lossless manner, and then encoded as a compressed base mesh bitstream.”);
determine displacement information for displacements that are to be applied to sub-division locations of the base mesh ([0063] “As shown in FIG. 4, a static mesh decoder decodes and reconstructs the base mesh, providing a reconstructed base mesh 406. This reconstructed base mesh 406 then undergoes one or more levels of subdivision and a displacement field is created for each subdivision representing the difference between the original mesh and the subdivided reconstructed base mesh. In inter-coding of a mesh frame, the base mesh 404 is coded by sending vertex motions instead of compressing the base mesh directly. In either case, a displacement field 408 is created.”);
compress attribute information to generate a compressed attribute video sub-bitstream (fig. 4 “Video encoding” step produces compressed attribute bitstream output; described in [0066]); and
generate mapping information for use in mapping vertices of a reconstructed mesh, reconstructed using the base mesh and the displacement information ([0094] “At step 806, the electronic device 300 combines each one of the reconstructed plurality of displacement fields with one of a plurality of subdivided mesh-frames to reconstruct a mesh-frame.”), to portions of the attribute information included in the compressed attribute video sub-bitstream, wherein the mapping information comprises texture coordinates that map vertices of the reconstructed mesh to pixel coordinates ([0023] “Typically, there may be one or more attributes associated with the mesh. In one scenario, one or more attributes may be associated with each vertex in the mesh. For example, a texture attribute (RGB) may be associated with each vertex. In another scenario, each vertex may be associated with a pair of coordinates, (u, v). The (u, v) coordinates may point to a position in a texture map associated with the mesh. For example, the (u, v) coordinates may refer to row and column indices in the texture map, respectively.”;
[0066] teaches including attributes (including color) in a compressed attribute sub-bitstream: “As shown in FIG. 4, the output compressed bitstream can include the compressed base mesh bitstream, the compressed displacements bitstream, and the compressed attribute bitstream.”), and
provide a bitstream representing a compressed version of the visual volumetric content (fig. 4 final output “Compressed Bitstream”), the bitstream comprising the compressed base mesh sub-bitstream (fig. 4 “Compressed Base Mesh Bitstream” input into final Compressed Bitstream), the compressed attribute video sub-bitstream (fig. 4 “Compressed Attribute Bitstream” input into final Compressed Bitstream), the displacement information (fig. 4 “Compressed Displacements Bitstream” input into final Compressed Bitstream).
Joshi 1 does not explicitly teach: attribute information included in one or more video image frames, texture coordinates that map vertices of the reconstructed mesh to pixel coordinates of the one or more video image frames; wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the one or more video frames have a second resolution; or the bitstream comprising the mapping information, information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates, and information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Ilola teaches 3D mesh encoding, including storing texture information in one or more video image frames ([0065] “The padded geometry images and padded texture images may be provided for video compression. The generated images/layers may be stored as video frames and compressed using for example High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Test Model 16 (HM) video codec according to the HM configurations provided as parameters.”); wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the geometry has a second resolution ([0010] “According to an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a resolution of the texture image; and means for determining the number of vertices of the mesh, wherein the ratio between the resolution of the texture image and the number of vertices of the mesh is adjustable.”). It also teaches: the bitstream comprising the mapping information ([0007] “…mapping the number of vertices to two-dimensional (2D) coordinates of the texture image; and signaling said 2D coordinates of the texture image to be applied to the number of vertices of the mesh in or along a bitstream.”; also see paragraphs [0011] to [0017]) and information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates ([0122] to [0124] teaches a flag for signalling different resolutions).
Joshi 1 and Ilola are analogous to the claimed invention because they are both in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 to incorporate the teachings of Ilola to enable the use of different geometry and texture resolutions, and to include this information in the encoded bitstream. The motivation would have been to be able to balance the tradeoff with rendering complexity increasing along with texture quality, as taught by Ilola [0095].
Ilola also teaches that textures may be converted to attribute frames ([0065] “The padded geometry images and padded texture images may be provided for video compression. The generated images/layers may be stored as video frames and compressed using for example High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Test Model 16 (HM) video codec according to the HM configurations provided as parameters.”). However, Ilola does not explicitly teach the relationship between a texture resolution and the resolution of the associated attribute frame. Therefore, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola does not explicitly teach: wherein the one or more video frames have a second resolution, or the bitstream comprising information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Joshi 2 teaches 3D mesh encoding wherein the texture is represented with a 2D attribute frame ([0129] “The attribute frames 520 represents one or more different attributes of the point cloud. For example, for one of the geometry frames 516 there can be zero or more corresponding attribute frames 520. The attribute frame can represent attributes such as color, texture, normal, material properties, reflection, motion, and the like.”), and both the attribute frames and geometry frames have the same resolution ([0132] “In certain embodiments, the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532 can be the same size.”).
Joshi 2 also teaches encoding the resolution of the video frames in the bitstream ([0130] “In certain embodiments, there is a nominal height and width associated with the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532. For example, the nominal height the bitstream 540 can be denoted as vps_frame_height[k] and vps_frame_width[k], where k refers to the atlas index.”).
If the invention of Ilola were to be combined with the invention of Joshi 2, the resolution of the texture coordinates (which may be different from the resolution of the geometry, according to Ilola) would need to be adjusted to match the 2D attribute frame (which may be the same as the resolution of the geometry, according to Joshi 2) before the attribute frame is mapped to the corresponding geometry frame, therefore teaching the limitations: wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the one or more video frames have a second resolution, and the bitstream comprising information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Joshi 2 is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola to incorporate the teachings of Joshi 2 to represent textures using attribute frames, which is a well-known concept in the art which aids in the mapping of attributes from complex 3D surfaces to 2D and vice versa.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 2, wherein the information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled in the bitstream as a texture coordinate height and a texture coordinate width, wherein the texture coordinate height and the texture coordinate width are different (Joshi 2 [0130] to [0131] “In certain embodiments, there is a nominal height and width associated with the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532. For example, the nominal height the bitstream 540 can be denoted as vps_frame_height[k] and vps_frame_width[k], where k refers to the atlas index. Similarly, the height and width of the atlas frames 532 can denoted as asps_frame_height and asps_frame_width, respectively. In certain embodiments, the asps_frame_height is equal to vps_frame_height and asps_frame_width is equal to vps_frame_width. It is noted that occupancy, geometry and attribute components can have different resolutions and frame rates.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the additional teachings of Joshi 2 to enable the use of different height and width dimensions, and to include this information in the encoded bitstream. Furthermore, though the teachings of Joshi 2 are in regard to the frame dimensions, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have also applied these teachings to the texture dimensions taught by Ilola. The motivation would have been to provide a user with more flexibility to select their desired aspect ratio.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches: The non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 1, wherein the mapping information, the information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates, and the information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames are signaled in an atlas data sub-bitstream of the bitstream (Ilola [0099] “The mapping between the vertices of the mesh and the 2D coordinates of the texture image are signalled in or along the bitstream comprising the encoded volumetric 3D data.”;
Ilola [0102] “For example, the following equation may be used to find texture coordinates for a vertex based on vertex position (x,y) on a geometry map. It is assumed that the resolution of the geometry map and the texture map, patch size, or tile group size is known. The equation uses such information to calculate texture coordinates (u,v) for any desired vertex position (x,y) either on atlas, inside tile group or inside patch.”;
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Ilola [0103] “According to an embodiment, syntax elements, which may be referred to as asps uv mapping flag and asps uv mapping type are added to atlas sequence parameter set in extensions fields or any other suitable syntax structure for ISO/IEC 23090-5 (or similar volumetric video coding technology).”;
Ilola [0109] “According to an embodiment, said 2D coordinates of the texture image are signaled per atlas.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the additional teachings of Ilola to encode the mapping and resolution information in an atlas data sub-bitstream of the bitstream. The mapping and resolution information must be included in the encoded bitstream in order for the bitstream to be properly decoded; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to store data pertaining to the atlas in its corresponding sub-bitstream.
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 4, wherein the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled, at least in part, in a sequence parameter set header of the atlas data sub-bitstream (Ilola [0014] “According to an embodiment, the signalling of said 2D coordinates of the texture image to be applied to the number of vertices of the mesh is configured to be included in an atlas sequence parameter set syntax structure.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the additional teachings of Ilola to encode the texture coordinate resolution in a sequence parameter set header of the atlas data sub-bitstream. The texture coordinate resolution must be included in the encoded bitstream in order for the bitstream to be properly decoded; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to store data relevant to the atlas in a data structure of its corresponding sub-bitstream.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 4, wherein the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled, at least in part, in a tile header of the atlas data sub-bitstream (Ilola [0016] “According to an embodiment, the signalling of said 2D coordinates of the texture image to be applied to the number of vertices of the mesh is configured to be included patch metadata or in tile group metadata.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the additional teachings of Ilola to encode the texture coordinate resolution in a tile header of the atlas data sub-bitstream. The texture coordinate resolution must be included in the encoded bitstream in order for the bitstream to be properly decoded; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to store data relevant to the atlas in a data structure of its corresponding sub-bitstream.
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches: The non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 1, wherein the mapping information provides resolution ratios and position values for adjusting the texture coordinates that map the vertices of the reconstructed mesh to the pixel coordinates of the one or more video image frames (Ilola [0102] teaches resolution ratios for adjusting texture coordinates: “For example, the following equation may be used to find texture coordinates for a vertex based on vertex position (x,y) on a geometry map. It is assumed that the resolution of the geometry map and the texture map, patch size, or tile group size is known. The equation uses such information to calculate texture coordinates (u,v) for any desired vertex position (x,y) either on atlas, inside tile group or inside patch.”;
Joshi 2 [0154] teaches mapping information providing both resolution ratios and position values for adjusting tiles relative to each other: “In certain embodiment, some of the V-PCC component (such as the geometry sub-bitstream 524a, the occupancy map sub-bitstream 526a, attribute sub-bitstream 530, and the atlas sub-bitstream 534a) are at different (lower) resolution. When the various sub-bitstreams are at different resolutions, then the tile size and position at nominal resolution is considered for determining the overlap with the volumetric rectangle. For example, if the nominal width and height of the atlas frame is 1024×1024 (such as the frame 600 of FIG. 6) and the geometry component is of size 512×512. Then, for a geometry tile starting at position (128, 128) of size 128×128, the equivalent position and size at the nominal resolution would be a tile starting at position (256, 256) of size 256×256.”;
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to apply the resolution and position data provided by the mapping information of Joshi 2 to the texture coordinate adjustment of Ilola), wherein the texture coordinates have the first resolution and the one or more video frames have the second resolution (previously discussed in claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 with the additional teachings of Ilola and Joshi 2 to include metadata pertaining to the resolution and position of texture coordinates so that textures of various resolutions may be placed accurately on the reconstructed 3D model.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 1 wherein the mapping information further comprises:
information indicating respective patch locations for attribute patches included in the one or more video image frames; and
information indicating respective patch sizes for the attribute patches included in the one or more video image frames (Joshi 2 [0046] “The encoder can also generate atlas frame(s) (also referred to as an atlas sequence). The atlas frame includes information about the patches in the frames (such as the geometry video frames, the attribute video frames, the occupancy map frames, and the like). The atlas frame can include the positioning of the patches within the 2D frame, the offsets for the patch segment in the 3D point cloud space, the plane on which the patch is projected on, and the like. The atlas frame can include information about the position and size of patches and their orientation in atlas frames, the position and size of the patches in the 3D space as well as certain other properties of the patches.”; [0047] contains additional information).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the additional teachings of Joshi 2 to separate textures into multiple patches which are catalogued in an atlas. The use of atlases and patches is a well-known concept in the art which aids in the mapping of attributes from complex 3D surfaces to 2D and vice versa.
Regarding claim 11, Joshi 1 teaches: A non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium storing program instructions, that when executed using one or more computing devices ([0010] “Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented or supported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed from computer readable program code and embodied in a computer readable medium… The phrase “computer readable medium” includes any type of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type of memory.”), cause the one or more computing devices to:
receive a bitstream representing a compressed version of visual volumetric content ([0080] “As described in this disclosure, a compressed bitstream received by an electronic device 300 for decoding includes a compressed displacements bitstream.”), the bitstream comprising:
a compressed base mesh sub-bitstream ([0080] “…the reconstructed base mesh M.sub.b was decoded from the compressed bitstream, similar to that described with respect to FIG. 4.”; compressed bitstream output of fig. 4 is received, which includes a “Compressed Base Mesh Bitstream”);
a compressed attribute sub-bitstream (compressed bitstream output of fig. 4 is received, which includes a “Compressed Attribute Bitstream”);
displacement information for displacements that are to be applied to sub-division locations of the base mesh (compressed bitstream output of fig. 4 is received, which includes a “Compressed Displacements Bitstream”); and
mapping information ([0066] “As also shown in FIG. 4, image unpacking of the LOD signals is performed and an inverse quantization operation and an inverse wavelet transform operation are performed to reconstruct the LOD signals. Another inverse quantization operation is performed on the reconstructed base mesh 406, which is combined with the reconstructed LOD signals to reconstruct a deformed mesh. An attribute transfer operation is performed using the deformed mesh, a static/dynamic mesh, and an attribute map.”);
reconstruct a mesh of the visual volumetric content ([0080] “The decoding electronic device 300 decodes the compressed displacements bitstream from the compressed bitstream, and uses the displacements bitstream to reconstruct the original mesh.”), wherein to reconstruct the mesh the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to:
sub-divide edges of the base mesh to generate the sub-division locations (fig. 6 steps 604 and 608; [0080] “For example, at step 602 of FIG. 6, the electronic device 300 decodes and reconstructs a first reconstructed displacement field d.sub.r.sup.1 at the first subdivision level, corresponding to a first reconstructed displacement field d.sub.r.sup.1 used during encoding, such as described with respect to FIG. 5. At step 604, a first subdivided mesh frame M.sub.s.sup.1 is created by the electronic device 300 from the reconstructed base mesh M.sub.b, where the reconstructed base mesh M.sub.b was decoded from the compressed bitstream, similar to that described with respect to FIG. 4.”); and
apply the displacements to the sub-division locations (fig. 6 steps 606 and 614; [0081] “At step 606, the first reconstructed displacement field d.sub.r.sup.1 is added by the electronic device 300 to the first subdivided mesh frame M.sub.s.sup.1 to create intermediate mesh frame M.sub.r.sup.1, which corresponds to the intermediate mesh frame M.sub.r.sup.1 used during encoding, as described with respect to FIG. 5.”; “Then, at step 614, the electronic device 300 adds the second decoded and reconstructed displacement field, d.sub.r.sup.2 to the vertex positions from the new set of vertex positions V.sub.new.”); and
determine mappings between vertices of the reconstructed mesh and attributes ([0066] “An attribute transfer operation is performed using the deformed mesh, a static/dynamic mesh, and an attribute map.”).
Joshi 1 does not explicitly teach: receiving mapping information indicating a first resolution used for texture coordinates and a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream; or determine mappings between vertices of the reconstructed mesh and attributes of the attribute sub-bitstream, wherein to determine the mappings the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to: adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Ilola teaches: receiving mapping information indicating a first resolution used for texture coordinates ([0010] “According to an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a resolution of the texture image; and means for determining the number of vertices of the mesh, wherein the ratio between the resolution of the texture image and the number of vertices of the mesh is adjustable.”; [0011] to [0017] list several options for including texture mapping information in the metadata), and adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for [the geometry] ([0095] “According to an embodiment, the method further comprises determining a resolution of the texture image; and determining the number of vertices of the mesh, wherein the ratio between the resolution of the texture image and the number of vertices of the mesh is adjustable. Thus, the V-PCC mesh coding may utilize different resolution texture maps to enable low resolution geometry signalling with high resolution textures.”).
Joshi 1 and Ilola are analogous to the claimed invention because they are both in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 to incorporate the teachings of Ilola to enable the use of different geometry and texture resolutions, and to include this information in the encoded bitstream. The motivation would have been to be able to balance the tradeoff with rendering complexity increasing along with texture quality, as taught by Ilola [0095].
As previously discussed for claim 1, Ilola also teaches that textures may be converted to attribute frames ([0065] “The padded geometry images and padded texture images may be provided for video compression. The generated images/layers may be stored as video frames and compressed using for example High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Test Model 16 (HM) video codec according to the HM configurations provided as parameters.”). However, Ilola does not explicitly teach the relationship between a texture resolution and the resolution of the associated attribute frame. Therefore, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola does not explicitly teach: indicating a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream, or to adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Joshi 2 teaches 3D mesh encoding wherein the texture is represented with a 2D attribute frame ([0129] “The attribute frames 520 represents one or more different attributes of the point cloud. For example, for one of the geometry frames 516 there can be zero or more corresponding attribute frames 520. The attribute frame can represent attributes such as color, texture, normal, material properties, reflection, motion, and the like.”), and both the attribute frames and geometry frames have the same resolution ([0132] “In certain embodiments, the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532 can be the same size.”).
Joshi 2 also teaches encoding the resolution of the video frames in the bitstream ([0130] “In certain embodiments, there is a nominal height and width associated with the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532. For example, the nominal height the bitstream 540 can be denoted as vps_frame_height[k] and vps_frame_width[k], where k refers to the atlas index.”).
If the invention of Ilola were to be combined with the invention of Joshi 2, the resolution of the texture coordinates (which may be different from the resolution of the geometry, according to Ilola) would need to be adjusted to match the 2D attribute frame (which may be the same as the resolution of the geometry, according to Joshi 2) before the attribute frame is mapped to the corresponding geometry frame, therefore teaching the limitations: indicating a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream, or to adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Joshi 2 is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola to incorporate the teachings of Joshi 2 to represent textures using attribute frames, which is a well-known concept in the art which aids in the mapping of attributes from complex 3D surfaces to 2D and vice versa.
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 11, wherein the received bitstream further comprises:
information indicating respective patch locations for attribute patches included in one or more video image frames of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream; and
information indicating respective patch sizes for the attribute patches included in the one or more video image frames (Joshi 2 [0046] “The encoder can also generate atlas frame(s) (also referred to as an atlas sequence). The atlas frame includes information about the patches in the frames (such as the geometry video frames, the attribute video frames, the occupancy map frames, and the like). The atlas frame can include the positioning of the patches within the 2D frame, the offsets for the patch segment in the 3D point cloud space, the plane on which the patch is projected on, and the like. The atlas frame can include information about the position and size of patches and their orientation in atlas frames, the position and size of the patches in the 3D space as well as certain other properties of the patches.”; [0047] contains additional information),
wherein to determine the mappings between the vertices of the reconstructed mesh and the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream, the program instructions, when executed using the one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:
adjust the information indicating the respective patch locations and the information indicating the respective patch sizes to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream (Joshi 2 [0049] “In certain embodiments, there is a relationship between the tiles of the video frames and the tiles of the atlas frame(s). For example, a tile of one of the video frames corresponds to similar location as a tile in the atlas frame. Even if the video frames and the atlas frames are different sizes, the relative position of the tile in the video frames is similar to the relative position of the tile in the atlas frame. The size of a tile in the video frames can also be proportional to the size of a tile in the atlas frame. For example, if a video frame is downsized in both the X and Y coordinates, the size of the tiles in the video frame would be the same size as the tiles in the atlas frame if the video frame is scaled to a nominal size. In this example, if the atlas frame is 1024×1024 with tiles that are 256×256, and the geometry frame is 512×512 with tiles that are 128 x 128, if the geometry frame was scaled to be the same size as the atlas frame, then the tiles of the geometry frame would be a similar size (that of 256×256) as the tiles in the atlas frame. A value of a syntax element or message can specify the relationship between tiles of a video frame and tiles of an atlas frame.”; tiles are comprised of patches as stated in [0049], so patch location and size are dependent on tile location and size.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the additional teachings of Joshi 2 to separate textures into multiple patches which are catalogued in an atlas. The use of atlases and patches is a well-known concept in the art which aids in the mapping of attributes from complex 3D surfaces to 2D and vice versa.
Regarding claims 14 and 20, their limitations substantially correspond to the limitations of claim 3; therefore, they are rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivations to combine as claim 3.
Regarding claim 15, its limitations substantially correspond to the limitations of claim 4; therefore, it is rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivations to combine as claim 4.
Regarding claim 17, its limitations substantially correspond to a subset of the limitations of claim 7; therefore, it is rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivation to combine as claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, it reiterates a subset of limitations from claim 11 in the form of a device, and is therefore rejected with the same references, rationales, and motivations to combine as claim 11, with the additional limitation of a device (Joshi 1 [0035] “FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate example electronic devices in accordance with this disclosure.”), comprising:
a memory storing programs instructions (Joshi 1 fig. 2 memory 230, persistent storage 235; [0037] “The processor 210 executes instructions that can be stored in a memory 230.”); and
one or more processors (Joshi 1 fig. 2 processor 210).
Claim(s) 2, 13, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joshi 1 (US 20240185469 A1) in view of Ilola (WO 2021136876 A1) and Joshi 2 (US 20220094980 A1) as applied to claims 1, 11, and 18 above, and further in view of ISO/IEC (“Information technology - Coded Representation of Immersive Media - Part 5: Visual Volumetric Video-based Coding (V3C) and Video-based Point Cloud Compression (V-PCC)” (2021)).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach wherein the information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled in the bitstream as a bit depth value for the texture coordinates.
ISO/IEC teaches wherein the information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled in the bitstream as a bit depth value for the texture coordinates (pg. 42 “asps_geometry_2d_bit_depth_minus1” is a value included in an atlas sequence parameter set RBSP (raw byte sequence payload), which is part of an encoded bitstream; pg. 75 “asps_geometry_2d_bit_depth_minus1 plus 1 indicates the bit depth of the geometry when projected onto 2D images.”).
ISO/IEC and the combination of Joshi 1 and Joshi 2 are analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Joshi 2 to incorporate the teachings of ISO/IEC to represent the resolution of the texture map as a bit depth value. The motivation would have been to adhere to the standards for data formatting established by ISO/IEC and codified in the associated document.
Regarding claims 13 and 19, their limitations substantially correspond to the limitations of claim 2; therefore, they are rejected with the same references, rationale, and motivations to combine as claim 2.
Claim(s) 8, 9, and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Joshi 1 (US 20240185469 A1) in view of Joshi 2 (US 20220094980 A1) as applied to claims 7 and 11 above, and further in view of Rusanovskyy et al. (WO 2013030456 A1, hereinafter "Rusanovskyy").
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 7, but does not explicitly teach: wherein the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled, at least in part, in a sequence parameter set of the compressed base-mesh sub-bitstream.
Rusanovskyy teaches: wherein the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled, at least in part, in a sequence parameter set of the compressed base-mesh sub-bitstream (pg. 51 lines 4-9 “The encoder may use several methods to indicate the different resolutions of the texture images relative to the resolution of the depth images. For example, the resolution of the texture image and the resolution of the depth image can be separately indicated by an encoder in a sequence parameter set coded into the bitstream. In another example, the encoder may encode two sequence parameter sets, one to be used for decoding texture view components and another to be used for decoding depth view components, where each sequence parameter set includes syntax elements indicating a spatial resolution.”, where the sequence parameter set for the depth view taught by Rusanovskyy, as a representation of the geometry of a 3D object encoded into a bitstream, is analogous to the claimed sequence parameter set of the compressed base mesh sub-bitstream).
Rusanovskyy and the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 are analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the teachings of Rusanovskyy to include the texture coordinate resolution in the bitstream encoding the 3D geometry. The texture coordinate resolution must be included in the encoded bitstream in order for the bitstream to be properly decoded; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to store this information in a data structure of one of the associated sub-bitstreams.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 and further in view of Rusanovskyy teaches the non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 8, wherein a particular resolution applicable to a sub-mesh of the reconstructed mesh is further signaled, at least in part, in the compressed base mesh sub-bitstream as a difference in resolution between the first resolution signaled in the sequence parameter set of the compressed base-mesh sub-bitstream and the particular resolution applicable to the sub-mesh of the reconstructed mesh (Joshi 1 [0063] “…a displacement field is created for each subdivision…”; [0064] teaches that the level of detail of each subdivision can be adjusted: “Let the number of 3-D displacement vectors in a displacement 408 of a mesh-frame be N. Let the displacement field be denoted by d(i)=[d.sub.x(i), d.sub.y(i), d.sub.z(i)], 0≤i<N. The displacement fields 408 undergo one or more levels of wavelet transformation 410 to create level of detail (LOD) signals d.sup.k(i), i=0≤i<N.sup.k, 0≤k<numLOD, where k denotes the index of the level of detail, N k denotes the number of samples in the level of detail signal at level k, and numLOD denotes the number of LODs. The LOD signals d.sup.k(i) are scalar quantized.”).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 teaches: The non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium of claim 11, but does not explicitly teach: wherein the mapping information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled in the compressed base mesh sub-bitstream of the bitstream.
Rusanovskyy teaches: wherein the mapping information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates is signaled in the compressed base mesh sub-bitstream of the bitstream (pg. 51 lines 4-9 “The encoder may use several methods to indicate the different resolutions of the texture images relative to the resolution of the depth images. For example, the resolution of the texture image and the resolution of the depth image can be separately indicated by an encoder in a sequence parameter set coded into the bitstream. In another example, the encoder may encode two sequence parameter sets, one to be used for decoding texture view components and another to be used for decoding depth view components, where each sequence parameter set includes syntax elements indicating a spatial resolution.”, where the separate depth view encoding taught by Rusanovskyy, as a representation of the geometry of a 3D object encoded into a bitstream, is analogous to the claimed compressed base mesh sub-bitstream).
Rusanovskyy and the combination of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 are analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the invention of Joshi 1 in view of Ilola and Joshi 2 to incorporate the teachings of Rusanovskyy to include the texture coordinate resolution in the bitstream encoding the 3D geometry. The texture coordinate resolution must be included in the encoded bitstream in order for the bitstream to be properly decoded; one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to store this information in a data structure of one of the associated sub-bitstreams.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 12, and 18 of U.S. Patent No. 12586253 B2 in view of Ilola (WO 2021136876 A1) and Joshi 2 (US 20220094980 A1).
Current application (18/494,686)
US 12586253 B2
Claim 1
Claims 1 and 12
Claim 11
Claim 12
Claim 18
Claim 18
Claim 1 is rejected because the patented claims 1 and 12 recite each of the limitations (or a trivial variation) of the current claim 1, except for the currently-claimed limitations: generate mapping information for use in mapping vertices of a mesh to portions of the attribute information included in one or more video image frames of the compressed attribute video sub-bitstream, wherein the mapping information comprises texture coordinates that map vertices of the mesh to pixel coordinates of the one or more video image frames, wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the one or more video frames have a second resolution, and provide a bitstream comprising the mapping information, information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates, and information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Ilola teaches: generate mapping information for use in mapping vertices of a mesh to portions of the attribute information included in one or more video image frames of the compressed attribute video sub-bitstream, wherein the mapping information comprises texture coordinates that map vertices of the mesh to pixel coordinates of the one or more video image frames ([0093] “The method, which is disclosed in Figure 5, comprises providing (500) a 3D representation of at least one object as an input for an encoder; projecting (502) the 3D representation onto at least one 2D patch; generating (504) at least a geometry image and a texture image from the 2D patch; generating (506), based on the geometry image, a mesh comprising a number of vertices; mapping (508) the number of vertices to two-dimensional (2D) coordinates of the texture image; and signaling (510) said 2D coordinates of the texture image to be applied to the number of vertices of the mesh in or along a bitstream.”)
[0065] teaches storing texture images as video image frames: “The padded geometry images and padded texture images may be provided for video compression. The generated images/layers may be stored as video frames and compressed using for example High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Test Model 16 (HM) video codec according to the HM configurations provided as parameters.”;
wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the geometry has a second resolution ([0010] “According to an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a resolution of the texture image; and means for determining the number of vertices of the mesh, wherein the ratio between the resolution of the texture image and the number of vertices of the mesh is adjustable.”);
the bitstream comprising the mapping information ([0007] “…mapping the number of vertices to two-dimensional (2D) coordinates of the texture image; and signaling said 2D coordinates of the texture image to be applied to the number of vertices of the mesh in or along a bitstream.”; also see paragraphs [0011] to [0017]); and
information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates ([0122] to [0124] teaches a flag for signalling different resolutions).
Ilola is analogous to the patented invention because it is in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the patented invention to incorporate the teachings of Ilola to enable the use of different geometry and texture resolutions, and to include this information in the encoded bitstream. The motivation would have been to be able to balance the tradeoff with rendering complexity increasing along with texture quality, as taught by Ilola [0095].
Ilola also teaches that textures may be converted to attribute frames ([0065] “The padded geometry images and padded texture images may be provided for video compression. The generated images/layers may be stored as video frames and compressed using for example High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Test Model 16 (HM) video codec according to the HM configurations provided as parameters.”). However, Ilola does not explicitly teach the relationship between a texture resolution and the resolution of the associated attribute frame. Therefore, the patented claim 1 in view of Ilola does not explicitly teach: wherein the one or more video frames have a second resolution, or the bitstream comprising information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Joshi 2 teaches 3D mesh encoding wherein the texture is represented with a 2D attribute frame ([0129] “The attribute frames 520 represents one or more different attributes of the point cloud. For example, for one of the geometry frames 516 there can be zero or more corresponding attribute frames 520. The attribute frame can represent attributes such as color, texture, normal, material properties, reflection, motion, and the like.”), and both the attribute frames and geometry frames have the same resolution ([0132] “In certain embodiments, the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532 can be the same size.”).
Joshi 2 also teaches encoding the resolution of the video frames in the bitstream ([0130] “In certain embodiments, there is a nominal height and width associated with the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532. For example, the nominal height the bitstream 540 can be denoted as vps_frame_height[k] and vps_frame_width[k], where k refers to the atlas index.”).
If the invention of Ilola were to be combined with the invention of Joshi 2, the resolution of the texture coordinates (which may be different from the resolution of the geometry, according to Ilola) would need to be adjusted to match the 2D attribute frame (which may be the same as the resolution of the geometry, according to Joshi 2) before the attribute frame is mapped to the corresponding geometry frame, therefore teaching the limitations: wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the one or more video frames have a second resolution, and the bitstream comprising information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Joshi 2 is analogous to the patented invention because it is in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the patented invention in view of Ilola to incorporate the teachings of Joshi 2 to represent textures using attribute frames, which is a well-known concept in the art which aids in the mapping of attributes from complex 3D surfaces to 2D and vice versa.
Current app. (18/494,686) claim 1
US 12586253 B2 claim 1 (unless otherwise noted)
A non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium storing program instructions, that when executed using one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:
A non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium storing program instructions, that when executed using one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:
compress visual volumetric content using a dynamic mesh compression algorithm, wherein to compress the visual volumetric content using the dynamic mesh compression the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to:
compress visual volumetric content using a dynamic mesh compression algorithm, wherein compressing the visual volumetric comprises:
compress a base mesh to generate a compressed base mesh sub-bitstream;
compressing a base mesh to generate a base mesh sub-bitstream to be included in a bitstream for the compressed visual volumetric content;
determine displacement information for displacements that are to be applied to sub-division locations of the base mesh;
determining displacement information for displacements that are to be applied to sub-division locations of the base mesh; and
compress attribute information to generate a compressed attribute video sub-bitstream; and
compressing attribute information, wherein the compressed attribute information is to be included in a video sub-bitstream of the bitstream for the compressed visual volumetric content; and
… a reconstructed mesh, reconstructed using the base mesh and the displacement information…
Claim 12:
reconstruct a mesh of the visual volumetric content, wherein to reconstruct the mesh the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to: sub-divide edges of the base mesh to generate the sub-division locations; parse the bitstream to identify the displacement information; and apply the displacements indicated in the displacement information to the sub-division locations of the base mesh.
generate mapping information for use in mapping vertices of a mesh, to portions of the attribute information included in one or more video image frames of the compressed attribute video sub-bitstream, wherein the mapping information comprises texture coordinates that map vertices of the mesh to pixel coordinates of the one or more video image frames, wherein the texture coordinates have a first resolution and the one or more video frames have a second resolution, and
Combined with Ilola and Joshi 2
provide a bitstream representing a compressed version of the visual volumetric content, the bitstream comprising the compressed base mesh sub-bitstream, the compressed attribute video sub-bitstream, the displacement information,
provide the bitstream for the compressed visual volumetric content, wherein the displacement information is signaled, at least in part, in the bitstream in a sub-bitstream other than the video sub-bitstream, and wherein the sub- bitstream used to signal the displacement information uses a syntax that is independent of other syntaxes used for other ones of the sub-bitstreams of the bitstream.
the mapping information, information indicating the first resolution of the texture coordinates, and information indicating the second resolution of the one or more video image frames.
Combined with Ilola and Joshi 2
Claim 11 is rejected because the patented claim 12 recites each of the limitations (or a trivial variation) of the current claim 11, except for the currently-claimed limitations: mapping information indicating a first resolution used for texture coordinates and a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream; and determine mappings between vertices of the reconstructed mesh and attributes of the attribute sub-bitstream, wherein to determine the mappings the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to: adjust the texture coordinates or coordinates of the attributes to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Ilola teaches: mapping information ([0093] “The method, which is disclosed in Figure 5, comprises providing (500) a 3D representation of at least one object as an input for an encoder; projecting (502) the 3D representation onto at least one 2D patch; generating (504) at least a geometry image and a texture image from the 2D patch; generating (506), based on the geometry image, a mesh comprising a number of vertices; mapping (508) the number of vertices to two-dimensional (2D) coordinates of the texture image; and signaling (510) said 2D coordinates of the texture image to be applied to the number of vertices of the mesh in or along a bitstream.”) indicating a first resolution used for texture coordinates ([0010] “According to an embodiment, the apparatus further comprises means for determining a resolution of the texture image; and means for determining the number of vertices of the mesh, wherein the ratio between the resolution of the texture image and the number of vertices of the mesh is adjustable.”; [0011] to [0017] list several options for including texture mapping information in the metadata), and adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for [the geometry] ([0095] “According to an embodiment, the method further comprises determining a resolution of the texture image; and determining the number of vertices of the mesh, wherein the ratio between the resolution of the texture image and the number of vertices of the mesh is adjustable. Thus, the V-PCC mesh coding may utilize different resolution texture maps to enable low resolution geometry signalling with high resolution textures.”).
Ilola is analogous to the patented invention because it is in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the patented invention to incorporate the teachings of Ilola to enable the use of different geometry and texture resolutions, and to include this information in the encoded bitstream. The motivation would have been to be able to balance the tradeoff with rendering complexity increasing along with texture quality, as taught by Ilola [0095].
Ilola also teaches that textures may be converted to attribute frames ([0065] “The padded geometry images and padded texture images may be provided for video compression. The generated images/layers may be stored as video frames and compressed using for example High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Test Model 16 (HM) video codec according to the HM configurations provided as parameters.”). However, Ilola does not explicitly teach the relationship between a texture resolution and the resolution of the associated attribute frame. Therefore, the combination of the patented claim 12 in view of Ilola does not explicitly teach: indicating a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream, or to adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Joshi 2 teaches 3D mesh encoding wherein the texture is represented with a 2D attribute frame ([0129] “The attribute frames 520 represents one or more different attributes of the point cloud. For example, for one of the geometry frames 516 there can be zero or more corresponding attribute frames 520. The attribute frame can represent attributes such as color, texture, normal, material properties, reflection, motion, and the like.”), and both the attribute frames and geometry frames have the same resolution ([0132] “In certain embodiments, the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532 can be the same size.”).
Joshi 2 also teaches encoding the resolution of the video frames in the bitstream ([0130] “In certain embodiments, there is a nominal height and width associated with the video frames (such as the geometry frames 516, the occupancy map frames 518, and the attribute frames 520) and the atlas frames 532. For example, the nominal height the bitstream 540 can be denoted as vps_frame_height[k] and vps_frame_width[k], where k refers to the atlas index.”).
If the invention of Ilola were to be combined with the invention of Joshi 2, the resolution of the texture coordinates (which may be different from the resolution of the geometry, according to Ilola) would need to be adjusted to match the 2D attribute frame (which may be the same as the resolution of the geometry, according to Joshi 2) before the attribute frame is mapped to the corresponding geometry frame, therefore teaching the limitations: indicating a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream, or to adjust the texture coordinates to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Joshi 2 is analogous to the claimed invention because it is in the same field of 3D video compression and encoding. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the patented invention in view of Ilola to incorporate the teachings of Joshi 2 to represent textures using attribute frames, which is a well-known concept in the art which aids in the mapping of attributes from complex 3D surfaces to 2D and vice versa.
Current app. (18/494,686) claim 11
Copending app. (18/494,679) claim 12
(unless otherwise noted)
A non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium storing program instructions, that when executed using one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:
(Currently amended) A non-transitory, computer-readable, storage medium storing program instructions, that when executed using one or more computing devices, cause the one or more computing devices to:
receive a bitstream representing a compressed version of visual volumetric content, the bitstream comprising:
receive a bitstream representing a compressed version of visual volumetric content, the bitstream comprising:
a compressed base mesh sub-bitstream;
a base mesh sub-bitstream;
a compressed attribute sub-bitstream;
a video sub-bitstream; and
displacement information for displacements that are to be applied to sub-division locations of the base mesh; and
displacement information for displacements that are to be applied to sub- division locations of a base mesh signaled in the base mesh sub-bitstream, wherein the displacement information is signaled, at least in part, in the bitstream in a sub-bitstream other than the video sub-bitstream, and wherein the sub-bitstream used to signal the displacement information uses a syntax that is independent of other syntaxes used for other ones of the sub-bitstreams of the bitstream; and
mapping information indicating a first resolution used for texture coordinates and a second resolution used for attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream;
Combined with Ilola and Joshi 2
reconstruct a mesh of the visual volumetric content, wherein to reconstruct the mesh the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to:
reconstruct a mesh of the visual volumetric content, wherein to reconstruct the mesh the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to:
sub-divide edges of the base mesh to generate the sub-division locations; and apply the displacements to the sub-division locations; and
sub-divide edges of the base mesh to generate the sub-division locations; parse the bitstream to identify the displacement information; and apply the displacements indicated in the displacement information to the sub-division locations of the base mesh.
determine mappings between vertices of the reconstructed mesh and attributes of the attribute sub-bitstream, wherein to determine the mappings the program instructions cause the one or more computing devices to: adjust the texture coordinates or coordinates of the attributes to account for a difference in resolution between the first resolution used for the texture coordinates and the second resolution used for the attributes of the compressed attribute sub-bitstream.
Combined with Ilola and Joshi 2
Claim 18 reiterates a subset of limitations from claim 11, and is therefore rejected using similar references, rationale, and motivations to combine.
The remaining claims are rejected due to their dependency on claims 1, 11, or 18 which are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting.
Conclusion
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/BENJAMIN TOM STATZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2611
/TAMMY GODDARD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2611
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