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 .
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 12/30/2024. Claims 1-12 are pending for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12 June 2024, 12 June 2024, and 19 November 2025 filed in accordance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, it is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C.
102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction
of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35
U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness
Claims 1, 3, and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OH et al. (US-20210005006-A1) hereinafter “OH” in view of Visharam et al (US-20070016594-A1) hereinafter “Visharam”.
Regarding Claim 1 OH-Visharam
OH discloses 1. A method performed by a reception device of point cloud data (OH, [0015] “….a method of receiving point cloud data in accordance with embodiments may include receiving a bitstream containing point cloud data and metadata, and/or decoding the point cloud data.” ), the method comprising:
obtaining a geometry-based point cloud compression (G-PCC) file including the point cloud data; (OH, [0368] “The encapsulation or encapsulator in accordance with some embodiments may divide the G-PCC/V-PCC bitstream into one or multiple tracks and store the same in a file, and may also encapsulate signaling information for this operation. In addition, the atlas stream included on the G-PCC/V-PCC bitstream may be stored as a track in the file, and related signaling information may be stored. Furthermore, an SEI message present in the G-PCC/V-PCC bitstream may be stored in a track in the file and related signaling information may be stored.”)
obtaining temporal level number information indicating the number of temporal levels in a track within the G-PCC file from the G-PCC file; (OH, [0283] “The inter-predictor 15090 may derive a predicted block for the current block based on a reference block (reference sample array) specified by a motion vector on the reference picture.…In the case of inter-prediction, the neighboring blocks may include a spatial neighboring block, which is present in the current picture, and a temporal neighboring block, which is present in the reference picture.”) and
obtaining sample group information of samples in the track from the G-PCC file based on the temporal level number information, (OH, [0589] “numOfSetupUnits specifies the number of setup units that are division units of a sample entry. The number of sample units means the number of setup units signaled in the sample group description. The number of setup units indicates the number of V-PCC parameter sets signaled in the decoder configuration record.”)
OH’006 does not disclose
wherein the sample group information is obtained based on the temporal level number information indicating that there is a plurality of temporal levels in the track.
However, in the same field of endeavor Visharam discloses more explicitly the following:
wherein the sample group information is obtained based on the temporal level number information indicating that there is a plurality of temporal levels in the track. (Visharam, [0047] “Description Entry syntax” … “unsigned int (8) temporal_level;” [0049] “The lowest temporal level is numbered as zero and the enhancement layers in the temporal direction are numbered as one or higher.” [0051] “…The grouping information is provided by means of a group_description_index, which associates each NAL unit with its description information present in the SVCDependencyDescriptionEntry. …NAL units within the access units that are assigned to a determined group_description_index value, are extracted from the…video stream.” The description entry incudes the temporal_level_field (¶[0047]) The group_descrption_index associates NAL units with the description entry (¶(0051). Accordingly, grouping and extraction based on the group_description_index rely on the description entry including the temporal_level field. This discloses obtaining sample group information based on the temporal level number information.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the application to modify the teachings of OH with Visharam to create the system of OH as outlined above such that “the sample group information is obtained based on the temporal level number information indicating that there is a plurality of temporal levels in the track.” as suggested by Visharam.
The reasoning is that “for an efficient method of reading, parsing and skipping any un-needed data” (Visharam, [0077])
Regarding Claim 3 OH-Visharam
OH-Visharam discloses 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the track includes geometry information of the point cloud data. (OH, [0016] “Further, in accordance with embodiments, the point cloud data may include one or more samples carrying geometry data and attribute data.”)
Regarding Claim 10 OH-Visharam
OH discloses 10. A method performed by a transmission device of point cloud data, (OH, [0004] “… to provide a point cloud data transmission device, a point cloud data transmission method,…”) the method comprising:
The remaining limitations of independent claim 10 recite features that are substantially similar to those set forth in independent claim 1. Accordingly, the reasoning and analysis provided with respect to claim 1 apply equally to claim 10.
Regarding Claim 11 OH-Visharam
OH discloses 11. A reception device of point cloud data, (OH, [0086] “A point cloud data reception device 10005..”) the reception device comprising:
a memory (OH, [1010] “..a memory..”); and
at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor [1010] “Each of the above-described parts, modules, or units may be a software part, a processor or a hardware part that executes successive procedures stored in a memory (or storage unit).” is configured to:
The remaining limitations of independent claim 11 recite features that are substantially similar to those set forth in independent claim 1. Accordingly, the reasoning and analysis provided with respect to claim 1 apply equally to claim 11.
Regarding Claim 12 OH-Visharam
OH discloses 12. A transmission device of point cloud data, (OH, figure 1, “10000” [0079] “A point cloud data transmission device 10000 in accordance with embodiment may include a point cloud video..” the transmission device comprising:
a memory (OH, Fig, 15 “Memory”); and
at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor (OH, “…FIG. 15, or perform some/all of the operations thereof. Each component of the transmission device may correspond to software, hardware, a processor and/or a combination thereof.”) is configured to:
The remaining limitations of independent claim 12 recite features that are substantially similar to those set forth in independent claim 1. Accordingly, the reasoning and analysis provided with respect to claim 1 apply equally to claim 12.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 2, 4, 5-7, and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OH-Visharam in view of Gudumasu et al (US-20230281923-A1) hereinafter “Gudumasu’923”.
Regarding Claim 2 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923
OH-Visharam discloses 2. The method of claim 1,
OH-Visharam does not disclose
wherein the sample group information includes identifier information of the temporal levels.
However, in the same field of endeavor Gudumasu’923 discloses more explicitly the following:
wherein the sample group information includes identifier information of the temporal levels. (Gudumasu’923, [0298] “num_temporal_layers indicates the number of temporal layers present in the samples of the respective track.”[0299] “temporal_layer_id indicates a temporal layer identifier of the samples signaled in the respective track.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the application to modify the teachings of OH-Visharam with Gudumasu’923 to create the system of OH-Visharam as outlined above “wherein the sample group information includes identifier information of the temporal levels” as suggested by Gudumasu’923)
The reasoning is that in order “ to support efficient and interoperable storage and transmission of 3D point clouds” (Gudumasu’923 [0003])
Regarding Claim 4 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923
OH-Visharam discloses 4. The method of claim 1,
wherein, based on the track having a first sample entry type, the number of temporal levels is included in a G-PCC decoder configuration record (GPCCDecoderConfigurationRecord). (Gudumasu’923 [0306] “The GPCCDecoderConfigurationRecord … may be extended to indicate the number of temporal layers present in the data file. The syntax and semantics of the extended decoder configuration record are shown below… for all the temporal level tracks may advantageously be the same.”)
Regarding Claim 5 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923
OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’9 discloses 5. The method of claim 4,
wherein the first sample entry type is at least one of a gpel sample entry type, a gpeg sample entry type, a gpcl sample entry type or a gpcg sample entry type. (Gudumasu, [0301] “The sample entry of G-PCC geometry track is as … (‘gpcl’ or ‘gpcg’)…” [0302] “…, a G-PCC track of type ‘gpel’ or ‘gpeg’ may signal…”)
Regarding Claim 6 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923
OH-Visharam discloses 6. The method of claim 1,
wherein, based on the track having a second sample entry type, the number of temporal levels is included in a G-PCC temporal scalability information box (GPCCScalabilitylnfoBox). (Gudumasu’923, [0276] “…, a GPCCScalabilityl nfoBox box indicates the scalability information present in the data file. When this box is present in a sample entry of tracks representing the main G-PCC data, the box indicates whether the scalability is supported. If scalability is supported, this box provides the maximum number of temporal layers present in the G-PCC data file.”)
Regarding Claim 7 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923
OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923 discloses 6.The method of claim 6,
wherein the second sample entry type is at least one of a gpcb sample entry type or a gpeb sample entry type. (Gudumasu’923 [0300] “A sample entry of G-PCC tile base track or G-PCC geometry track may contain the…. (‘gpcb’ or ‘gpeb’)”)
Regarding Claim 9 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923
OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’923 discloses 9. The method of claim 4,
wherein a sample description for temporal levels signaled in the G-PCC decoder configuration record (Gudumasu’923 [0306] “The GPCCDecoderConfigurationRecord … may be extended to indicate the number of temporal layers present in the data file.”) is included in a sample description box (SampleDescriptionBox). (Gudumasu, [0119] “Container: Sample Description Box (‘stsd’)” [0284] “A sample entry describes media samples of a G-PCC component tile track.” [0286] “Container: Sample Description Box (‘stsd’)” [0302] “A GPCCScalabilityInfoBox box may be present in the sample entry to signal the temporal layer identifiers information present in that track. A G-PCC track of type ‘gpe1’ or ‘gpeg’ may signal all the temporal layers present in the data file.”)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over OH-Visharam in view of GUDUMASU SRINIVAS (WO-2022032161-A1) hereinafter “Gudumasu’161”.
Regarding Claim 8 OH-Visharam-Gudumasu’161
OH-Visharam discloses 8. The method of claim 1,
OH-Visharam does not disclose
wherein, based on the sample group information being present in the track, a sample belonging to a temporal level identifier is mapped to a sample group description index, and wherein the sample group description index is equal to the temporal level identifier plus 1.
However, in the same field of endeavor Gudumasu’161 discloses more explicitly the following:
wherein, based on the sample group information being present in the track, a sample belonging to a temporal level identifier is mapped to a sample group description index, and wherein the sample group description index is equal to the temporal level identifier plus 1. (Gudumasu’161, [0207] “…, the temporal level sample group 'tele' specified in ISO/IEC 14496- 12 is used to indicate a Temporalld value. When the 'tele' sample group is present in a G-PCC tracks that carry geometry and/or attribute data, the sample with temporal level Temporalld is mapped to the sample group description index Temporalld + 1. The sample group description box signals the sample group descriptions for all the layers signaled in the decoder configuration record.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before
the effective filing date of the application to modify the teachings of OH-Visharam with Gudumasu’161 to create the system of OH-Visharam as outlined above “wherein, based on the sample group information being present in the track, a sample belonging to a temporal level identifier is mapped to a sample group description index, and wherein the sample group description index is equal to the temporal level identifier plus 1.” as suggested by Gudumasu’161
The reasoning is that in order to have “ efficient coding algorithms” (Gudumasu’923 [0004])
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ASTEWAYE GETTU ZEWEDE whose telephone number is (703)756-1441. The examiner can normally be reached Mo-Fr 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.
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/ASTEWAYE GETTU ZEWEDE/Examiner, Art Unit 2481 /WILLIAM C VAUGHN JR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2481