DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on April 15, 2024. Claims 1-20 are pending and are examined.
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 .
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0103813 (“Pfaff”), which corresponds to priority applications filed in June 2019 and June 2020, in view of the level of skill in the art.
With respect to claim 8, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed, including
A decoder (see Figs. 3-4, item 54, describing a decoder) comprising:
one or more processors (see ¶¶71, 502-510, describing that the decoder may be embodied by one or more processors); and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (see citations with respect to element above, describing that the decoder may include a memory storing instructions executed by the processor), cause the decoder to:
determine, from a bitstream and for a first block of samples in a video:
an indication of an intra prediction mode (see Abstract, ¶¶62, 400, describing that the decoder may determine from a bitstream an indication of a selected intra-prediction mode for a current block, i.e., first block of samples); and
a residual (see ¶¶56, 60, 62-63, describing that the decoder decodes a residual);
generate, based on the indicated intra prediction mode being a Direct Current (DC) mode or a planar mode and using reference samples of the first block, a prediction of a second block of samples corresponding to the first block being downscaled (see Abstract, Figs. 7.1-7.4, items 18, 811, ¶¶68, 73, 118-120, 241, 286-290, 399-400, 410, describing that the system may determine that prediction mode is an intra prediction mode, e.g., a DC intra prediction mode or planar intra prediction mode, that generates a prediction of the current block/second block of samples based on a reduced set of neighboring samples, i.e., generates a prediction of a second block corresponding to the first block being downscaled using reference samples of the first block); and
decode the first block by upscaling the second block determined based on: the prediction of the second block; and the residual (see Figs. 7.1-7.4, items 18, 813, ¶¶60, 63, 121, 126, 164-166, 231, 233, 243, 286-290, describing that the decoding process may also include subjecting the reduced/downsampled set of sample values to interpolation, i.e., upscaling the second block based on the prediction of the second block, and by use of the residual).
Pfaff does not explicitly describe “downscaling” and “upscaling”, rather it describes downsampling and upsampling, using reduction and interpolation. However, one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing would have understood subsampling/downsampling to be a form of downscaling and upsampling to be a form of upscaling (see, e.g., Applicant’s Specification at 92, 108, 122). Accordingly, to such a person, modifying Pfaff to describe its subsampling/downsampling and upsampling as downscaling and upscaling would have been obvious. Accordingly, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses each and every element of claim 1 abve.
With respect to claim 9, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed. As described above, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses all the elements of independent claim 8. Pfaff additionally discloses:
wherein the decoding of the first block by the upscaling is based on the indicated intra prediction mode being the DC mode or the planar mode (see citations and arguments with respect to claim 8 above, describing that decoding the current/first block using the upsampling/upscaling/interpolation process is based on ALWIP intra prediction which may be DC mode intra prediction or planar mode intra prediction).
The reasons for combining the cited prior art with respect to claim 8 also apply to claim 9.
With respect to claim 10, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed. As described above, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses all the elements of independent claim 8. Pfaff additionally discloses:
wherein the decoder is further caused to:
determine an indication of downscaling based on the indicated intra prediction mode being the DC mode or the planar mode, wherein the generating the prediction of the second block is based on the determined indication of downscaling (see citations and arguments with respect to claim 8 above and ¶96, describing that the ALWIP mode may be the DC mode or planar mode and that generating the prediction of the second/reference block may be based on a flag indicating downscaling).
The reasons for combining the cited prior art with respect to claim 8 also apply to claim 10.
With respect to claim 11, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed. As described above, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses all the elements of independent claim 8. Pfaff additionally discloses:
wherein the decoder is further caused to:
reconstruct a residual block of samples based on the residual and the indicated intra prediction mode being the DC mode or the planar mode, wherein the second block is determined based on the prediction of the second block and the reconstructed residual block (see citations and arguments with respect to claim 8 above and Fig. 4, items 34, 34’, 34’’, 42’, ¶¶ 60, 63, describing that the second block, i.e., current block is determined based on a prediction and reconstructed residual and that the residual may be reconstructed based on the residual and the intra prediction mode, which may be DC intra prediction mode or planar intra prediction mode).
The reasons for combining the cited prior art with respect to claim 8 also apply to claim 11.
With respect to claim 12, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed. As described above, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses all the elements of independent claim 8. Pfaff additionally discloses:
wherein to generate the prediction of the second block, the decoder is further caused to:
downscale the reference samples of the first block; and generate the prediction based on applying the indicated intra prediction mode to the downscaled reference samples (see citations and arguments with respect to claim 8 above, describing that the reference samples of the current/first block are downscaled/downsampled and that the prediction is generated by applying the intra prediction mode to those downscaled/downsampled reference samples).
The reasons for combining the cited prior art with respect to claim 8 also apply to claim 12.
With respect to claim 13, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed. As described above, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses all the elements of independent claim 8. Pfaff additionally discloses:
wherein the upscaling of the second block comprises one of bicubic, bilinear, or average upsampling of samples of the determined second block (see citations and arguments with respect to claim 8 above and Figs. 7.1-7.4, item 813, ¶¶126, 244, 275-283, describing that the interpolation may be linear interpolation in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, i.e., may be bilinear and/or may include averaging).
The reasons for combining the cited prior art with respect to claim 8 also apply to claim 13.
With respect to claim 14, Pfaff discloses the invention substantially as claimed. As described above, Pfaff in view of the level of skill in the art discloses all the elements of independent claim 8. Pfaff additionally discloses:
wherein the decoder is further caused to:
determine, from the bitstream and for a third block of samples in the video, a second residual and an indication of a second intra prediction mode; generate, based on the indicated second intra prediction mode not being either of the DC mode or the planar mode, a prediction of the third block using reference samples of the third block; and decode the third block by combining the second residual with the prediction of the third block (see citations and arguments with respect to claim 8 above, including Fig. 4, item 42’ and ¶¶407-410, describing that other intra prediction modes may be used that are not DC or planar and that additional blocks may be predicted using such modes and by combining residuals and predictions).
The reasons for combining the cited prior art with respect to claim 8 also apply to claim 14.
With respect to claim 1, claim 1 recites the elements of claim 8 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 8 also applies to claim 1.
With respect to claim 2, claim 2 recites the elements of claim 9 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 9 also applies to claim 2.
With respect to claim 3, claim 3 recites the elements of claim 10 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 10 also applies to claim 3.
With respect to claim 4, claim 4 recites the elements of claim 11 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 11 also applies to claim 4.
With respect to claim 5, claim 5 recites the elements of claim 12 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 12 also applies to claim 5.
With respect to claim 6, claim 6 recites the elements of claim 13 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 13 also applies to claim 6.
With respect to claim 7, claim 7 recites the elements of claim 14 in method form rather than apparatus form. Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 14 also applies to claim 7.
With respect to claim 15, claim 15 recites the elements of claim 8 in non-transitory computer-readable medium form rather than apparatus form. Pfaff discloses that its decoder may be embodied by a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a decoder (see ¶¶71, 502-510). Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 8 also applies to claim 15.
With respect to claim 16, claim 16 recites the elements of claim 10 in non-transitory computer-readable medium form rather than apparatus form. Pfaff discloses that its decoder may be embodied by a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a decoder (see ¶¶71, 502-510). Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 10 also applies to claim 16.
With respect to claim 17, claim 17 recites the elements of claim 11 in non-transitory computer-readable medium form rather than apparatus form. Pfaff discloses that its decoder may be embodied by a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a decoder (see ¶¶71, 502-510). Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 11 also applies to claim 17.
With respect to claim 18, claim 18 recites the elements of claim 12 in non-transitory computer-readable medium form rather than apparatus form. Pfaff discloses that its decoder may be embodied by a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a decoder (see ¶¶71, 502-510). Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 12 also applies to claim 18.
With respect to claim 19, claim 19 recites the elements of claim 13 in non-transitory computer-readable medium form rather than apparatus form. Pfaff discloses that its decoder may be embodied by a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a decoder (see ¶¶71, 502-510). Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 13 also applies to claim 19.
With respect to claim 20, claim 20 recites the elements of claim 14 in non-transitory computer-readable medium form rather than apparatus form. Pfaff discloses that its decoder may be embodied by a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executed by one or more processors of a decoder (see ¶¶71, 502-510). Accordingly, the disclosure cited with respect to claim 14 also applies to claim 20.
Conclusion
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LINDSAY J UHL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2481
/LINDSAY J UHL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481