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 .
Claims 1, 4-7, 13, 17, and 19 have been amended. Claims 2-3, 10-12, 18, and 20 have been canceled. Claims 21-27 have been added.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 09/16/2025, with respect to the rejections of claims 1 and 17 under 35 U.S.C. have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Zhang (US 10939128 B2).
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, and 7-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qualcomm (US 20160286232 A1) in view of Zhang (US 10939128 B2).
Regarding claim 1, Qualcomm teaches a method of video decoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors (a memory configured to store a current block of video data, and one or more processors [0013]), the method comprising:
receiving a video bitstream comprising a plurality of blocks ("A video encoder typically partitions each picture of an original video sequence into rectangular regions referred to as video blocks or coding units (described in greater detail below). These video blocks may be encoded using a particular prediction mode," para [0037]; "Video decoder 30 may receive a bitstream generated by video encoder 20," para [0080]);
deriving a set of subblock motion vectors for a current subblock of a current block of the plurality of blocks ("the video coder may split a block of video data into sub-blocks when deriving motion information. For example, the video coder may separately derive motion information for each sub-block of a larger block. In some instances, the video coder may initially determine motion information for the block and use the derived motion information as candidate motion information for each of the subblocks. The video coder may then further refine the derived motion information for ea.ch of the sub-blocks, e.g., using a motion information derivation mode (e.g., a bilateral matching technique, a template matching technique, or another technique, as described in greater detail below)," para [0046]; "The video coder may, in some instances, further refine the candidate, e.g., by performing an additional motion search in an area indicated by the selected candidate, to determine a derived motion vector using the motion information derivation process," para [0133]);
deriving a set of refined subblock motion vectors for the current subblock using bilateral matching with the extended subblock (("The video coder may then further refine the derived motion information for each of the sub-blocks, e.g., using a motion information derivation mode (e.g., a bilateral matching technique, a template matching technique, or another technique, as described in greater detail below)," para [0046]; "motion vector candidates, such as the motion vectors associated with the neighboring blocks shown in FIGS. 4A and 48 may be used to derive a motion vector for a block. For example, the video coder may generate a candidate list that includes motion vector candidates from the neighboring blocks shown in FIGS. 4A and 48. In this example, the video coder may use one or more of the candidates of the candidate list as an initial motion vector in a motion information derivation process (e.g., bilateral matching, template matching, or the like) ... The video coder may, in some instances, further refine the candidate, e.g., by performing an additional motion search in an area indicated by the selected candidate, to determine a derived motion vector using the motion information derivation process," para [0133]); and
reconstructing the current subblock using the derived set of refined subblock motion vectors ("in instances in which the video coder comprises a video decoder, the video decoder may determine a reference block in a reference picture based on the derived motion vector, decode residual data from an encoded bitstream, and combine. the decoded residual and the determined reference block to reconstruct the current block," para [0236]).
Qualcomm does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however, in an analogous art, Zhang teaches identifying an extended subblock comprising the current subblock and respective sets of two samples on each side of the current subblock ([Col 19] forms an extended block region consisting of the current block plus two samples on each side).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to take the teachings of Zhang and apply them to Qualcomm. One would be motivated as such as to improve bilateral matching accuracy.
Regarding claim 6, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Zhang teaches wherein the respective sets of two samples on each side of the current subblock are selected from a set of N adjacent lines to the current subblock, wherein N is a positive integer ([Col 19] forms an extended block region consisting of the current block plus two samples on each side). The same motivation used to combine Qualcomm in view of Zhang in claim 1 is applicable.
Regarding claim 7, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Qualcomm teaches wherein the respective sets of two samples on each side of the current subblock are used in a distortion computation of the bilateral matching (Fig. 10).
Regarding claim 8, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 6. Qualcomm teaches wherein N is equal to a preset value (e.g., the selected candidate based on the matching cost) may be performed within a predefined or signaled search window instead of always using a small window, e.g., within a 2x2 window (here the unit is pixel and fractional motion vectors can be searched out within a window) to achieve a more efficient yet low complexity search. In this example, the range of a search window (e.g., with a size of 16x16) may be predefined or signaled in the bitstream," para (0209])
Regarding claim 9, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 6. Qualcomm teaches wherein a value for N is signaled in the video bitstream (para (0209]).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qualcomm in view of Zhang further in view of MediaTek (US 20190238883 A1).
Regarding claim 4, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Qualcomm in view of Zhang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however, in an analogous art, MediaTek teaches subsampling the current subblock, wherein the extended subblock comprises the subsampled current subblock ("In order to reduce the computation complexity of DMVR for large CUs, the inter-prediction module (#0540 or #0740) may perform the MV refinement process by sub-sampling pixel data when computing distortion cost. For example, the inter-prediction module may use only the differences in the odd rows or even rows to select the best MV for the current CU," para [0092]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to take the teachings of MediaTek and apply them to Qualcomm. One would be motivated as such to allow for deriving motion data from areas beyond a current subblock (MediaTek: para (0041]).
Claims 5, 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI (US 20220030226 A1).
Regarding claim 5, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1.
Qualcomm in view of Zhang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however, in an analogous art, ETRI teaches applying a first interpolation filter for the one or more samples from within the current subblock ("the motion prediction unit 111 and the motion compensation unit 112 may generate the prediction block by applying an interpolation filter to a partial to region of the reference picture," para [0136]); and
applying a second interpolation filter for the one or more samples outside of the current subblock, the second interpolation filter different than the first interpolation filter ("A number of intra-prediction modes may be M, which is larger than including the non-angular and the angular mode. In order to intra-predict a current block, a step of determining whether or not samples included in a reconstructed neighbor block may be used as reference samples of the current block may be performed. When a sample that is not usable as a reference sample of the current block is present, a value obtained by duplicating or performing interpolation on at least one sample value among samples to included in the reconstructed neighbor block or both may be used to replace with a non-usable sample value of a sample, thus the replaced sample value is used as a reference sample of the current block," para [0210]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to take the teachings of ETRI and apply them to Qualcomm in view of Zhang. One would be motivated as such to allow for obtaining sample values whether within or outside a determined sample position (ETRI: para (0210], (0212], (0282]).
Regarding claim 13, Qualcomm in view of Zhang teaches the method of claim 1. Qualcomm in view of Zhang does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however, in an analogous art, ETRI teaches
determining a sample position for a sample of the respective sets of two samples on each side of the current subblock ("The predetermined position may refer to a corner sample (e.g., upper left sample) position in the chroma block or a center sample position in the chroma block. The center sample position may be determined based on an upper-left position of a luma/chroma block, half horizontal size of a luma/chromes block, half vertical size a luma/chromes block," para [0282]);
when the sample position is outside of a predefined fetching area, obtaining a padded value for the sample ("As shown in FIG. 7, at least one of the reference sample line Oto the reference sample line 3 may be used for intra prediction of the current block. In FIG. 7, the samples of a segment A and a segment F may be padded with the samples closest to a segment B and a segment E, respectively, instead of retrieving from the reconstructed neighboring block," para (0212]); and
when the sample position is inside of the predefined fetching area, obtaining a value from the sample position ("The intra-prediction mode may be expressed by at least one of a mode number, a mode value, a mode numeral, a mode angle, and mode direction. A number of intra-prediction modes may be M, which is larger than including the non-angular and the angular mode. In order to intra-predict a current block, a step of determining whether or not samples included in a reconstructed neighbor block may be used as reference samples of the current block may be performed," para [0210]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to take the teachings of ETRI and apply them to Qualcomm in view of Zhang. One would be motivated as such to allow for obtaining sample values whether within or outside a determined sample position (ETRI: para (0210], (0212], (0282]).
Regarding claim 14, Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI teaches the method of claim 13. ETRI teaches wherein the predefined fetching area corresponds to an area of the current block plus a set of N samples used for an N-tap interpolation technique, wherein N is a positive integer ("When performing the directional prediction, prediction may be performed by applying at least one type of an interpolation filter. The filter type may represent at least one of a number of filter taps, a filter coefficient, and a filter shape. An N-tap filter may be applied to a reference sample. Herein, a number N of filter taps may be a predetermined integer. For example, filter types according to a number of filter taps may include a 2-tap bilinear filter, a 4-tap filter, a 6-tap filter, etc. Herein, a filter coefficient value may have a value of a cubic or Gaussian shape," para [0474]). The same motivation used to combine Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI in claim 13 is applicable.
Regarding claim 15, Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI teaches the method of claim 13. ETRI teaches wherein the predefined fetching area corresponds to an area of the current subblock plus a set of N samples used for an N-tap interpolation technique, wherein N is a positive integer (para (0474]). The same motivation used to combine Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI in claim 13 is applicable.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI further in view of LG (US 20220279165 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI teaches the method of claim 13.
Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI does not explicitly teach the following limitations, however, in an analogous art, LG teaches wherein: when an optical flow mode is disabled for the current subblock, the predefined fetching area corresponds to an area of the current subblock plus a set of N samples, N being a positive integer ("in order to perform BDOF, rows/columns extending around the boundary of a CU may be used. In order to control computational complexity for generating prediction samples outside the boundary, prediction samples in an extended region (white region in FIG. 17) may be generated using a bilinear filter, and prediction samples in a CU (gray region in FIG. 17) may be generated using a normal 8-tap motion compensation interpolation filter," para [0259]); and
when the optical flow mode is enabled for the current subblock, the predefined fetching area corresponds to the area of the current subblock plus a set of M samples, M being a positive integer different from N (para [0259]).
It would have been obvious for a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, to take the teachings of LG and apply them to Qualcomm and Zhang in view of ETRI. One would be motivated as such to allow for the use of an optical flow mode depending on the size of an adjacent fetching area (LG: para [0259]).
Regarding claims 17, 19, 21-27, Claims 17, 19, 21-27 are rejected under the same arts used to reject claims 1, 4-9, 13-16.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HESHAM K ABOUZAHRA whose telephone number is (571)270-0425. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jamie Atala can be reached at 57127227384. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HESHAM K ABOUZAHRA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486
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