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, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14-16, 19, 21-24, 27, 35, 37, and 38 are pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/25/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement was considered and attached by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 19 recites “optionally performed”. There is ambiguity whether the steps recited in the claim should be performed “upon detection of a transient”. Therefore, the scope of the claim cannot be ascertained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 37 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the limitation of “a program comprising instructions” as drafted, is not directed to a statutory subject matter. The claimed model does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter recited in 35 U.S.C. 101 (process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter). The program can be interpreted as software per se. Claims are not patent eligible if they are not directed to any of the statutory categories and are products that do not have a physical or tangible form. Products without physical or tangible form are information or a computer program per se when claimed as a product without any structural recitations. Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
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 1-4, 6, 7, 27, 35, 37, and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuch et al (U.S. PG Pub No. 20210343300), hereinafter Kuch, in view of Bruhn et al. (WO/2020/010064), hereinafter Bruhn.
Regarding claim 1 Kuch teaches:
A method of encoding Higher Order Ambisonics, HOA, audio, the method including: (P0014, The encoder side of the DirAC-based spatial audio coding supporting different audio formats is illustrated in FIG. 1b. An acoustic/electrical input is input into an encoder interface, where the encoder interface has a specific functionality for first-order Ambisonics (FOA) or high order Ambisonics (HOA) illustrated in. Furthermore, the encoder interface has a functionality for multichannel (MC) data such as stereo data, 5.1 data or data having more than two or five channels.)
receiving an input HOA audio signal having more than four Ambisonics channels; (P0014, An acoustic/electrical input 1000 is input into an encoder interface 1010, where the encoder interface has a specific functionality for first-order Ambisonics (FOA) or high order Ambisonics (HOA). … Furthermore, the encoder interface has a functionality for multichannel (MC) data such as stereo data, 5.1 data or data having more than two or five channels.)
encoding the HOA audio signal using a SPAR coding framework and a core audio encoder; and (P0097, Encoding a spatial audio representation indicated as a spatial audio signal.)
providing the encoded HOA audio signal to a downstream device, the encoded HOA audio signal including core encoded SPAR downmix channels and encoded SPAR metadata. (P0116, It is proposed to compute Pref,j(k,n) from the down-mix signals Dm(k,n) using the additional down-mix metadata. In this embodiment, the down-mix signals Dm(k,n) consist of specifically selected components of an FOA or HOA signal, and the down-mix metadata describes which FOA/HOA components have been transmitted to the decoder.)
Kuch does not specifically teach:
encoding the HOA audio signal using a SPAR coding framework and a core audio encoder; and
Bruhn, however, teaches:
encoding the HOA audio signal using a SPAR coding framework and a core audio encoder; and (The encoding unit further comprises a joint coding module (notably a SPAR module), which is configured to determine joint coding metadata (notably SPAR, Spatial Audio Resolution Reconstruction, metadata).)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to use SPAR coding framework. It would have been obvious to combine the references because the spatial audio reconstruction (SPAR) tool is a coding tool for improved coding of a relatively large number of audio channels and objects to output a lower number of joint input audio channels and low overhead side information. (Bruhn)
Regarding claim 2 Kuch in view of Bruhn teach claim 1.
Kuch further teaches:
wherein the encoding includes: generating, based on some or all of the Ambisonics channels, a representation of a W channel and a set of ntotal prediction residuals along with computing in SPAR metadata respective prediction coefficients; and selecting, out of the set of ntotal prediction residuals, a subset of nres prediction residuals to be directly coded to obtain a number of ndmx=nres+1 downmix channels to be provided to the downstream device. (Fig. 3, Downmix generation block.; P0109, The down-mix signals of the proposed flexible down-mix are generated in the “down-mix generation” block, which is explained below in more detail. The generated down-mix signals are referred to as Dm(k,n), where m is the index of the down-mix channel. … The down-mix parameters, i.e., the parameters that describe the relevant information about how the down-mix was created or other directional properties of the down-mix signal, are encoded in the metadata encoder together with the spatial parameters.; P0188, Generating down-mix parameters describing directional properties of the down-mix signals (e.g. down-mix coefficients or directivity patterns).)
Kuch does not specifically teach:
wherein the encoding includes: generating, based on some or all of the Ambisonics channels, a representation of a W channel and a set of ntotal prediction residuals along with computing in SPAR metadata respective prediction coefficients; and selecting, out of the set of ntotal prediction residuals, a subset of nres prediction residuals to be directly coded to obtain a number of ndmx=nres+1 downmix channels to be provided to the downstream device.
Bruhn, however, teaches:
wherein the encoding includes: generating, based on some or all of the Ambisonics channels, a representation of a W channel and a set of ntotal prediction residuals along with computing in SPAR metadata respective prediction coefficients; and selecting, out of the set of ntotal prediction residuals, a subset of nres prediction residuals to be directly coded to obtain a number of ndmx=nres+1 downmix channels to be provided to the downstream device. (The method may comprise determining a residual signal based on the IA signal and based on the one or more audio objects. The residual signal may describe the original I A signal from which the one or more audio objects have been extracted and/or removed. The residual signal may be the SR signal comprised within the IA signal. Alternatively, or in addition, the residual signal may comprise or may be a multi-channel audio signal and/or a bed of audio signals.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to generate prediction residuals. It would have been obvious to combine the references because generating prediction residuals is a known technique to yield a predictable result of reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed.
Regarding claim 3 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 2.
Kuch further teaches:
wherein the selection of the subset of nres prediction residuals is based on a threshold number for directly coded channels indicating a maximum number of directly coded channels. (P0140, The audio down-mix signals are generated by selecting a subset of the available input microphone signals. The selection can be done manually (e.g., based on presets) or automatically. For example, if the microphone signals of a uniform circular array with M spaced omnidirectional microphones are used as input to the spatial audio encoder and two audio down-mix transport channels are used for transmission, a manual selection could consist e.g. of selecting a pair of signals corresponding to the microphones at the front and at the back of the array, or a pair of signals corresponding to the microphones at the left and right side of the array.)
Regarding claim 4 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 3.
Kuch further teaches:
wherein the threshold number for directly coded channels is determined based on one or more of: information indicative of one or more of a bitrate limitation, a metadata size, a core codec performance, and an audio quality; and a predetermined set of threshold numbers for directly coded channels. (P0140, The audio down-mix signals are generated by selecting a subset of the available input microphone signals. The selection can be done manually (e.g., based on presets) or automatically. For example, if the microphone signals of a uniform circular array with M spaced omnidirectional microphones are used as input to the spatial audio encoder and two audio down-mix transport channels are used for transmission, a manual selection could consist e.g. of selecting a pair of signals corresponding to the microphones at the front and at the back of the array, or a pair of signals corresponding to the microphones at the left and right side of the array.)
Regarding claim 6 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 2.
Kuch further teaches:
wherein the subset of nres prediction residuals is selected in accordance with a channel ranking of the Ambisonics channels starting from high-ranked to low-ranked channels. (P0140, Selecting the front and back microphone as down-mix signals enables a good discrimination between frontal sounds and sounds from the back when synthesizing the spatial sound at the decoder. Similarly, selecting the left and right microphone would enable a good discrimination of spatial sounds along the y-axis when rendering the spatial sound at the decoder side. For example, if a recorded sound source is located at the left side of the microphone array, there is a difference in the time-of-arrival of the source's signal at the left and right microphone, respectively. In other words, the signal reaches the left microphone first, and then the right microphone.; P0141, The selection of the appropriate microphone signals can be done by considering the Cartesian plane that contains most of the acoustic energy, or which is expected to contain most relevant sound energy. To carry out an automatic selection, one can perform e.g. a state-of-the-art acoustic source localization, and then select the two microphones that are closest to the axis corresponding to the source direction.)
Regarding claim 7 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 6.
Kuch further teaches:
wherein the channel ranking of the Ambisonics channels is based on one or more of: a perceptual importance of the Ambisonics channels, with Ambisonics channels being higher in the channel ranking having higher perceptual importance; a channel ranking agreement between encoder and decoder; and spherical harmonics Ylm(θ, φ) of a given order l forms a subset of the channel ranking of the Ambisonics channels corresponding to spherical harmonics Yl+1m(θ, φ) of an (l+1)-th order, the channel ranking of the Ambisonics channel of the (l+1)-th order staring with the channel ranking of the Ambisonics channels of the lth order. (P0140, Selecting the front and back microphone as down-mix signals enables a good discrimination between frontal sounds and sounds from the back when synthesizing the spatial sound at the decoder. Similarly, selecting the left and right microphone would enable a good discrimination of spatial sounds along the y-axis when rendering the spatial sound at the decoder side. For example, if a recorded sound source is located at the left side of the microphone array, there is a difference in the time-of-arrival of the source's signal at the left and right microphone, respectively. In other words, the signal reaches the left microphone first, and then the right microphone.; P0141, The selection of the appropriate microphone signals can be done by considering the Cartesian plane that contains most of the acoustic energy, or which is expected to contain most relevant sound energy. To carry out an automatic selection, one can perform e.g. a state-of-the-art acoustic source localization, and then select the two microphones that are closest to the axis corresponding to the source direction.)
Regarding claim 27 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 7.
Kuch further teaches:
wherein the received input HOA audio signal consists of Ambisonics channels that are ranked to have a relatively high perceptual importance. (P0141, The selection of the appropriate microphone signals can be done by considering the Cartesian plane that contains most of the acoustic energy, or which is expected to contain most relevant sound energy.)
Regarding claim 35 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 1.
Kuch further teaches:
An apparatus including memory and one or more processor configured to perform the method according to claim 1. (P0213, Methods are advantageously performed by any hardware apparatus.)
Regarding claim 37 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 1.
Kuch further teaches:
A program comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processor, to carry out the method according to claim 1. (P0206, Present invention can be implemented as a computer program product with a program code.)
Regarding claim 38 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 1.
Kuch further teaches:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the operations of claim 1. (P0204, The implementation can be performed using a digital storage medium.)
Claims 15, 22, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kuch in view of Bruhn and further view of Sen et al. (U.S. PG Pub No. 20230360661), hereinafter Sen.
Regarding claim 15 Kuch in view of Brahn teach claim 2.
Kuch in view of Brahn does not specifically teach:
wherein the encoding further includes representing parametric channels based on computing in SPAR metadata respective coefficients from the remaining ndec=ntotal−nres prediction residuals.
Sen, however, teaches:
wherein the encoding further includes representing parametric channels based on computing in SPAR metadata respective coefficients from the remaining ndec=ntotal−nres prediction residuals. (P0006, Based on the priority ranking and the target bitrate, a channel and object spatial encoder may encode only the high priority channels and objects to generate high quality bit streams of high spatial resolution. The remaining low priority channels and objects may be converted into a lower quality content type such as HOA and spatially encoded by a HOA spatial encoder.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to represent remaining parametric channels. It would have been obvious to combine the references because representing remaining parametric channels reduce degradation in the audio quality of transport streams. (Sen P0026)
Regarding claim 22 Kuch in view of Brahn and further view of Sen teach claim 15.
Kuch in view of Brahn does not specifically teach:
wherein the encoding further includes obtaining a bitrate limitation value, selecting, out of a set of SPAR quantization modes, a SPAR quantization mode to meet the bitrate limitation value and applying the selected SPAR quantization mode to the SPAR metadata.
Sen, however, teaches:
wherein the encoding further includes obtaining a bitrate limitation value, selecting, out of a set of SPAR quantization modes, a SPAR quantization mode to meet the bitrate limitation value and applying the selected SPAR quantization mode to the SPAR metadata. (P0027, The number of frequency sub-bands and the quantization of the encoded parameters may be adjusted as a function of the target bitrate. In one aspect, the channel/object spatial encoder may cluster channels/objects and the metadata to accommodate reduced target bitrate.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to select quantization mode to meet bit rate limitation. It would have been obvious to combine the references because selecting quantization mode to meet bitrate limitation reduce degradation in the audio quality of transport streams. (Sen P0026)
Regarding claim 22 Kuch in view of Brahn and further view of Sen teach claim 22.
Kuch in view of Brahn does not specifically teach:
wherein some or all of the modes in the set of SPAR quantization modes include re-allocating bits to coefficients relating to Ambisonics channels being ranked higher in the channel ranking from coefficients relating to Ambisonics channels being ranked lower in the channel ranking.
Sen, however, teaches:
wherein some or all of the modes in the set of SPAR quantization modes include re-allocating bits to coefficients relating to Ambisonics channels being ranked higher in the channel ranking from coefficients relating to Ambisonics channels being ranked lower in the channel ranking. (P0026, To reduce the degradation to the overall audio quality of the channels/objects when the target bitrate is reduced, audio quality expressed as the spatial resolution of the higher ranked channels/objects may be maintained while that of the lower ranked channels/objects may be reduced.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to reallocate bits to channels that are higher ranked. It would have been obvious to combine the references because reallocating bits to higher ranked channels reduce degradation in the audio quality of transport streams. (Sen P0026)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9, 11, 14, 16, 19, 21, and 24 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 9, none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches or makes obvious the ranking of Ambisonics channels based on different overlaps of spherical harmonic.
Regarding claim 11, none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches or makes obvious the ranking of Ambisonics channels based spherical harmonics for a given order.
Regarding claim 14, none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches or makes obvious the selection of prediction residuals based on ranking of Ambisonics channels “corresponding to a spherical harmonic; Yl±l(θ, φ) over Ambisonics channels corresponding to a spherical harmonic Ylθ(θ, φ) ahead of Ambisonics channels corresponding to a spherical harmonic Ylm (θ, φ), where 0<|m|<l.”.
Regarding claim 16, none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches or makes obvious the computing of cross-prediction coefficients to be used by a decoder to reconstruct parametric channels, computing of decorrelator coefficients for use by decoder to reconstruct remaining energy not accounted for, and computing prediction coefficients, the cross-prediction coefficients and the decorrelator coefficients.
Regarding claim 19, the claim is dependent on claim 16 and none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches the claim limitation.
Regarding claim 21, none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches or makes obvious the “normalization term for channels corresponding to a given Ambisonics order” and “using only covariance estimates of channels corresponding to the order”.
Regarding claim 24, none of the prior art either alone or in combination, teaches or makes obvious the computing of cross-prediction coefficients to be used by a decoder to reconstruct parametric channels, computing of decorrelator coefficients for use by decoder to reconstruct remaining energy not accounted for, and computing prediction coefficients, the cross-prediction coefficients and the decorrelator coefficients.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL WONSUK CHUNG whose telephone number is (571)272-1345. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday (7am-4pm)[PT].
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, PIERRE-LOUIS DESIR can be reached at (571)272-7799. 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.
/DANIEL W CHUNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2659
/PIERRE LOUIS DESIR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2659
Prosecution Insights