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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4, 7, 8, and 11, 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Aubie, US 2021/0058582 A1.
Regarding claim 1, Aubie discloses: one or more processors comprising:
one or more circuits to:
capture, from data generated by an application, a plurality of partial frames according to a sampling rate (See [0098], disclosing spatially sub-sampling the frame sequence shown in figure 2 at a temporal frequency less than or equal to the original frame rate. Spatial subsampling is depicted in figure 2, E22. Spatial subsampling generates a partial frame because it represents a spatial portion of the original frame.);
generate, based on the plurality of partial frames, a plurality of packet groups, each packet group comprising one or more packets storing a respective partial frame of the plurality of partial frames and respective location metadata for the partial frame (See [0183], disclosing an output container C received by a client implements a method for reconstructing a frame from its output container. See also [0130], disclosing a temporal position information is an index contained in the output container for a corresponding frame of a sub-sequence.);
transmit the plurality of packet groups to a receiver system accessing the application (See [0049], “output container” is a packet which is transmitted over a network.).
Regarding claim 2, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the one or more circuits are to capture the plurality of partial frames at respective temporal positions (See E21, “temporal subsampling” in figure 2).
Regarding claim 3, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the one or more circuits are to transmit each of the plurality of packet groups based at least on the sampling rate (See [0098], disclosing spatial sampling rate equal to predetermined fraction 1/N, temporal sampling rate comprised between 1 and predetermined fraction 1/N, where is integer at least equal to 2.)
Regarding claim 4, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the one or more circuits are to capture the plurality of partial frames according to a sampling pattern (See [0108], disclosing spatial sampling frequency (reduction by two in horizontal direction.).
Regarding claim 7, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the plurality of partial frames are captured for a video stream to be presented at a refresh rate, and wherein the one or more circuits are to determine the sampling rate based at least on the refresh rate at which the video stream is to be presented (See abstract: “The output sequence has an output temporal resolution equal to the input temporal resolution and an output spatial resolution equal to a predetermined fraction 1/N of the input spatial resolution by an integer number N higher than or equal to 2.” The temporal sampling rate and spatial sampling rate are correlated.).
Regarding claim 8, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 7, wherein the sampling rate is at least twice the refresh rate at which the video stream is to be presented (See figure 2, showing temporal up-sampling T=4/f at SSE23 and SSE33).
Regarding claim 11, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are comprised in at least one of:
a control system for an autonomous or semi-autonomous machine;
a perception system for an autonomous or semi-autonomous machine;
a system for performing simulation operations;
a system for performing digital twin operations;
a system for performing light transport simulation;
a system for performing collaborative content creation for 3D assets;
a system for performing deep learning operations;
a system implemented using an edge device (See “energy or power-constrained client appliance such as a mobile phone” in [0216].);
a system implemented using a robot;
a system for performing conversational AI operations;
a system for performing generative AI operations;
a system implemented using a large language model (LLM);
a system implemented using a vision language model (VLM);
a system for generating synthetic data;
a system incorporating one or more virtual machines (VMs);
a system implemented at least partially in a data center; or
a system implemented at least partially using cloud computing resources.
System claim 12 is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as given above with respect to claim 1.
Method claims 18-20 are rejected as corresponding, respectively, to processor claims 1-3.
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 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Aubie, US 2021/0058582 A1, in view of Mikami, US 2009/0210756 A1.
Regarding claims 13, Aubie discloses the limitations of claim 12, upon which depends claim. Aubie does not disclose: system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are to generate the frame using an accumulator buffer.
However, Mikami discloses in an analogous art a frame restoration method
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the applicant’s effective filing date to incorporate into the temporal and spatial subsampling encoder of Aubie the accumulator buffer disclosed in Mikami, in order to facilitate frame restoration of partial frames/downsampled frames into their full resolution frame units.
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Aubie in view of Mikami discloses the limitations of claim 13, upon which depends claim 14. This combination, specifically Mikami, further discloses: the system of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are to clear the accumulator buffer responsive to rendering the frame (“The split frame accumulation buffer unit is then cleared when the split frames are not inputted within a fixed monitoring time.”).
Regarding claim 15, Aubie discloses the limitations of claim 12, upon which depends claim 15. Aubie does not disclose: the system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are to update the frame responsive to receiving a packet comprising a partial frame.
Mikami discloses this limitation in an analogous art. See figures 5a and 5b, showing accumulation of split frame elements over time. See [0027].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the time of the applicant’s effective filing date to incorporate the feature of updating a partial frame upon receipt of further partial frame elements, as disclosed in Mikami, in order to facilitate frame restoration.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, 9, and 10, 16 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 5, Aubie does not disclose: the one or more processors of claim 4, wherein the one or more circuits are to:
capture a first partial frame according to the sampling pattern and a first position; and
capture a second partial frame according to the sampling pattern and a second position that is different from the first position.
Regarding claim 6, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 5, wherein the one or more circuits are to shift the sampling pattern to determine the second position (S).
While Aubie disclosing spatial subsampling of frames, as in [0108], it does so using the same spatial sampling pattern for each frame, not by using a shifted sampling pattern from one frame to the next, as claimed in claims 5 and 6.
Regarding claim 9, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the one or more circuits are to capture the plurality of partial frames according to at least one of a temporal zig zag pattern or a temporal Halton sequence.
Aubie does not disclose a zigzag pattern or Halton sequence for partial frame capture, instead relying on spatial sub-sampling to reduce the pixel resolution.
Regarding claim 10, Aubie discloses: the one or more processors of claim 1, wherein the location metadata comprises a rendering position for the partial frame.
Aubie does not disclose location metadata for partial frames because the spatial sampling pattern follows a regular pixel subsampling; no re-assembly of partial frames is required in the prior art, that would necessitate specifying partial frame positions.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KYLE M LOTFI whose telephone number is (571)272-8762. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Brian Pendleton can be reached at 571-272-7527. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KYLE M LOTFI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2425
Prosecution Insights