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 the Application
Claims 1-20 are currently pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/10/2025 was filed. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 02/17/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 PARK et al. (Hereafter, “Park”) [US 2018/0332293 A1] in view of Sohoni et al. (Hereafter, “Sohoni”) [US 2015/0264391 A1] in further view of LUO et al. (Hereafter, “Luo”) [US 2008/0095246 A1].
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PARK et al. (Hereafter, “Park”) [US 2018/0332293 A1] in view of Sohoni et al. (Hereafter, “Sohoni”) [US 2015/0264391 A1] in further view of LUO et al. (Hereafter, “Luo”) [US 2008/0095246 A1].
In regards to claim 1, Park discloses a reception device in an image processing system ([0026 and Fig. 1] An image processing system 10 shown in FIG. 1 may include an image transmitting device 100 and an image receiving device 200 as the image processing device according to at least one example embodiment. [Fig. 16] image receiving device), comprising: a communication unit comprising communication circuitry ([0027] As an example, the image transmitting device 100 and the image receiving device 200 may transmit and receive information including an image to and from each other via a wireless and/or wired network. In a case that the image processing system 10 is a wireless communication system.); memory storing a program including at least one instruction ([0044] In the case that elements shown in FIG. 2 are implemented in software, a memory (e.g., a working memory) stores programs that cause at least one processor to perform functions of the modules and the packetizer may be provided in the image transmitting device 100, and the processor(s) (not shown) may execute the programs stored in the memory to perform the functions of the elements shown in FIG. 2.); and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, connected to the communication unit and the memory and configured to execute the at least one instruction of the program stored in the memory, wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively ([0032] Meanwhile, the image receiving device 200 may process the image by performing the processing operations performed in the image transmitting device 100 in reverse order.), is configured to control the reception device to: receive, from a transmission device, at least one data packet including data of a first frame ([0031] The packetizer 130 may perform a variety of packetization operations according to various example embodiments on the compressed slice, and transmit at least one packet to the image receiving device 200 through a network.); perform decoding on the first frame based on the at least one data packet ([0032] Meanwhile, the image receiving device 200 may process the image by performing the processing operations performed in the image transmitting device 100 in reverse order. For example, the depacketizer 210 may extract an actual information portion (e.g., payload) from the packet received through the network and provide the extracted information to the decoder 220. The decoder 220 may decompress the slices by performing a decoding operation associated with the encoding and/or compression method used to compress the slices using the provided information to decompress the frame image, and provide the decompressed frame image to the renderer 230.); identify whether a failure in decoding on the first frame occurs ([0100] FIGS. 15 and 16 are views showing an example of an error recovery operation in an image processing device according to at least one example embodiment. [0101] When the image receiving device fails to receive a packet or a decoding error occurs when decoding a received packet, the image receiving device may transmit a signal (e.g., an error signal).; and based on identifying that the failure in decoding on the first frame occurs, transmit, to the transmission device, first information related to a first block where the decoding failure occurs ([0101] When the image receiving device fails to receive a packet or a decoding error occurs when decoding a received packet, the image receiving device may transmit a signal (e.g., an error signal), the signal indicates that a decoding error, such as an error that occurred during the decoding process and/or an error that occurred during the transmission/reception of a packet including data to be decoded, etc., has occurred in or related to a slice positioned at a specific position, to the image transmitting device for error recovery.), wherein the first information includes ([0102] According to at least one example embodiment, the image transmitting device may receive a signal NACK, indicating that a decoding error has occurred in a specific slice, from the image receiving device), and
Sohoni discloses a reception device in an image processing system ([Fig. 1] decoder 104 in system 100), comprising: a communication unit comprising communication circuitry ([Fig. 1 and 0040] the data communications network 106); memory storing a program including at least one instruction ([0121] The computer executable instructions may be provided using any computer-readable media that is accessible by computing based device 1100. Computer-readable media may include, for example, computer storage media such as memory 1118 and communications media.); and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, connected to the communication unit and the memory and configured to execute the at least one instruction of the program stored in the memory ([0119] The computing-based device 1100 comprises one or more processors 1102 which may be microprocessors, controllers or any other suitable type of processors for processing computer executable instructions to control the operation of the device.), wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to control the reception device to: receive, from a transmission device, at least one data packet including data of a first frame ([0040] The decoder 104 receives the encoded video data from the encoder 102 via the data communications network 106.); perform decoding on the first frame based on the at least one data packet ([0040] decodes the received encoded video data); identify whether a failure in decoding on the first frame occurs ([0043] When the encoded video frame N 202 is subsequently received and decoded by the decoder 104, the decoder 104 may be unable to decode one or more blocks 204 of the video frame N 202.); based on identifying that the failure in decoding on the first frame occurs ([0043] As described above, this may be because the packets containing the encoded data for those blocks were lost, or there was an error in the received encoded data for those blocks that inhibited the decoder from being able to decode those blocks. The blocks that are not properly decoded appear as visual artifacts in the output video.), transmit, to the transmission device, first information related to a first block where the decoding failure occurs ([0048] When the decoder 312 attempts to decode encoded frame N 304 it identifies an error in encoded frame N 304. In response to detecting the error the decoder 312 sends an error notification message 314 to the encoder 302 to notify the encoder 302 of the error in frame N 304.), wherein the first information includes block identifier (ID) information indicating a block ID of the first block where the decoding failure occurs and frame ID information indicating a frame ID of the first frame to which the first block belongs ([0059] If the decoder 404 encounters an error while decoding the encoded video data the decoder 404 transmits an error notification message to the encoder 402 via the data communications network 406. The notification message comprises information identifying the frame and the portion(s) of that frame with an error. The notification message may be in any suitable form. For example, in some cases the notification message may comprise a standard macroblock error bitmap which explicitly identifies the block(s) with errors. In other cases, the notification message may comprise information that identifies the column(s) and row(s) with errors.), and wherein the first information is used by the transmission device to ([0010] tracing the error, at an encoder, to a frame immediately preceding a next frame to be encoded in accordance with the first aspect; modifying the reference frame to identify the blocks in the identified rectangular region as being unusable for inter-frame encoding).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the block level error and the specific information for identifying the frame and portion of the frame (i.e., block) being transmitted to the encoder as the error notification message as taught by Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
Sohoni discloses the marking of the error affected blocks of the reference frame as unusable for compression. However, Sohoni fails to explicitly disclose that the error affected blocks in the encoded frame where the error was detected during decoding are marked as unusable for compression.
Luo discloses based on identifying that the failure in decoding on the first frame occurs, transmit, to the transmission device, first information related to a first block where the decoding failure occurs ([0016] In an error propagation suppression method based on identification, a macro-block influenced by an error is identified. The receiver feeds the information of the lost data back to the transmitter.), wherein the first information includes block identifier (ID) information indicating a block ID of the first block where the decoding failure occurs and frame ID information indicating a frame ID of the first frame to which the first block belongs ([Abstract] An error is detected and statistics of error information, such as position of lost data, is obtained by sequence numbers of NALUs and information for carrying slices.), and wherein the first information is used by the transmission device to process the first block such that the first block is prevented from being used as a reference block referenced by at least one block in a second frame encoded after the first information is received ([0015] In an error propagation suppression method based on intra-coding, intra-coding is applied to a macro-block influenced by an error, in other words, a precise error tracking is conducted using forward dependency of motion vectors. Applying intra-coding to the macro-block influenced by the error can effectively prevent the error from propagating. [0016] The transmitter identifies all the pixels following the error macro-block in the same block group with certain value. So, the identified area will not be referenced when encoding the several following pictures. In this way, the error is prevented from propagating in the receiver.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park and Sohoni with the error suppression method of error macro-blocks in the error detected frame as taught by Luo in order for the error identified macro-blocks to not be referenced in the encoding of the following frames. The motivation behind this modification would have been to eliminating errors in compressed video transmission by suppressing the error propagation [See Luo].
In regards to claim 2, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to, based on identifying that one or more data packets among a plurality of data packets including data of the first frame transmitted from the transmission device are not obtained at a time when processing on the one or more data packets is required, identify that the failure in decoding on the first frame occurs, and wherein the one or more data packets include the data of the first block ([0042] an error in transmission (e.g., transmission failure, packet loss, data corruption of the packet being transmitted, etc.) [0101] When the image receiving device fails to receive a packet or a decoding error occurs when decoding a received packet, the image receiving device may transmit a signal (e.g., an error signal), the signal indicates that a decoding error, such as an error that occurred during the decoding process and/or an error that occurred during the transmission/reception of a packet including data to be decoded, etc., has occurred in or related to a slice positioned at a specific position, to the image transmitting device for error recovery. In particular, when the decoding error occurs due to a failure of normal reception of the I-frame (or the I-slice), a probability of an error occurring in the decoding operation performed on frames (or slices) received after the I-frame increases.).
Sohoni discloses wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to, based on identifying that one or more data packets among a plurality of data packets including data of the first frame transmitted from the transmission device are not obtained at a time when processing on the one or more data packets is required, identify that the failure in decoding on the first frame occurs, and wherein the one or more data packets include the data of the at least one first block ([0043] When the encoded video frame N 202 is subsequently received and decoded by the decoder 104, the decoder 104 may be unable to decode one or more blocks 204 of the video frame N 202. As described above, this may be because the packets containing the encoded data for those blocks were lost, or there was an error in the received encoded data for those blocks that inhibited the decoder from being able to decode those blocks.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the block level error as taught by Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
In regards to claim 3, the limitations of claim 2 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the one or more data packets are identified as not obtained at the time when the processing on the one or more data packets is required as the one or more data packets are received after the time when the processing on the one or more data packets is required due to being dropped or a jitter ([0101] the image receiving device fails to receive a packet).
Sohoni discloses wherein the one or more data packets are identified as not obtained at the time when the processing on the one or more data packets is required as the one or more data packets are received after the time when the processing on the one or more data packets is required due to being dropped or a jitter ([0043] When the encoded video frame N 202 is subsequently received and decoded by the decoder 104, the decoder 104 may be unable to decode one or more blocks 204 of the video frame N 202. As described above, this may be because the packets containing the encoded data for those blocks were lost.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the teachings of Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
In regards to claim 4, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to initiate decoding on the first frame after receiving some of a plurality of data packets including data of the first frame transmitted from the transmission device ([0032] Meanwhile, the image receiving device 200 may process the image by performing the processing operations performed in the image transmitting device 100 in reverse order. For example, the depacketizer 210 may extract an actual information portion (e.g., payload) from the packet received through the network and provide the extracted information to the decoder 220. The decoder 220 may decompress the slices by performing a decoding operation associated with the encoding and/or compression method used to compress the slices using the provided information to decompress the frame image, and provide the decompressed frame image to the renderer 230.).
In regards to claim 5, the limitations of claim 1 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the first frame includes a frame referenced by at least one frame subsequent to the first frame ([0029] As an example, the image receiving device 200 may decode the I-frame without reference to another frame, but the compressed frame image (e.g., a P-frame) compressed by the inter-prediction may be decoded with reference to another I-frame and/or the P-frame. The image transmitting device 100 may transmit the encoded image in the form of, for example, streaming video to the image receiving device 200, but the example embodiments are not limited thereto. [0110] In addition, the packetizer 630 may generate a packet including one or more slices, and the I-slice S_I and/or the P-slice S_P may be included in the packet. As another example, the I-slice S_I and the P-slice S_P may be included together in the packet.).
In regards to claim 6, the limitations of claim 5 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the first frame includes an intra frame (I frame), a predictive frame (P frame), or a bidirectional frame (B frame) of a first group of pictures (GOP), and the at least one frame includes a P frame or a B frame of the first GOP referencing the first frame ([0110] In addition, the packetizer 630 may generate a packet including one or more slices, and the I-slice S_I and/or the P-slice S_P may be included in the packet. As another example, the I-slice S_I and the P-slice S_P may be included together in the packet.).
In regards to claim 7, the limitations of claim 6 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the first GOP is a long GOP or an infinite GOP ([0063] Referring to FIG. 7A, first, second, third, and fourth I-slices I1, I2, I3, and I4 used to represent the one picture may be transmitted in one or more initial frame sections of an initial I-frame period Period 1. For instance, the first and second I-slices I1 and I2 may be transmitted in a first frame section, and the third and fourth I-slices I3 and I4 may be transmitted in a second frame section, but the example embodiments area not limited thereto.), and wherein the first frame and the at least one frame are encoded using the same bit rate ([0067] Meanwhile, FIG. 7B shows a variable example embodiment, and all the first to fourth I-slices I1 to I4 used to represent the one picture may be transmitted in the first frame section of the initial I-frame period Period 1 so that at least one reference frame is transmitted in a desirable and/or preferential manner when the video streaming starts. In transmitting all of the first to fourth I-slices I1 to I4 in the one frame section, a compression ratio of the first to fourth I-slices I1 to I4 may be set to a large value by taking into account the bandwidth of the network.).
In regards to claim 8, Park discloses a transmission device in an image processing system ([Fig. 1 and 0026] An image processing system 10 shown in FIG. 1 may include an image transmitting device 100), comprising: a communication unit comprising communication circuitry ([0027] As an example, the image transmitting device 100 and the image receiving device 200 may transmit and receive information including an image to and from each other via a wireless and/or wired network. In a case that the image processing system 10 is a wireless communication system.); memory storing a program including at least one instruction ([0044] In the case that elements shown in FIG. 2 are implemented in software, a memory (e.g., a working memory) stores programs that cause at least one processor to perform functions of the modules and the packetizer may be provided in the image transmitting device 100, and the processor(s) (not shown) may execute the programs stored in the memory to perform the functions of the elements shown in FIG. 2.); and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, connected to the communication unit and the memory and configured to execute the at least one instruction of the program stored in the memory ([0091] Referring to FIG. 13, an image processing device 300 may include at least one processor 310 and a working memory 320. The processor 310 may execute programs stored in the working memory 320. The working memory 320 may store various programs for the slicing operation, the compression operation, and the packetization operation, etc., according to at least one of the above-mentioned example embodiments, and the programs may include a slice control module 321, a compression module 322, and a packet control module 323, etc., in accordance with a function thereof.), wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to control the transmission device to: transmit, to a reception device, at least one data packet including data of a first frame ([0031] The packetizer 130 may perform a variety of packetization operations according to various example embodiments on the compressed slice, and transmit at least one packet to the image receiving device 200 through a network.); receive, from the reception device, first information related to a first block where a decoding failure in the first frame occurs, the first information including ([0102] According to at least one example embodiment, the image transmitting device may receive a signal NACK, indicating that a decoding error has occurred in a specific slice, from the image receiving device, generate the I-slice (e.g., re-generate and/or select the previously generated I-slice) with respect to the specific slice in response to the signal NACK, and transmit (e.g., re-transmit) the I-slice with respect to the specific slice to the image receiving device. That is, the image transmitting device may selectively compress the slice positioned at the specific position of the frame image as the I-slice in response to the signal NACK.).
Sohoni discloses a transmission device in an image processing system ([0035] a data communications network 106 for transmitting the encoded video data from the encoder 102 to the decoder 104), comprising: a communication unit comprising communication circuitry ([0035] a data communications network 106 for transmitting the encoded video data from the encoder 102 to the decoder 104); memory storing a program including at least one instruction ([0121] The computer executable instructions may be provided using any computer-readable media that is accessible by computing based device 1100. Computer-readable media may include, for example, computer storage media such as memory 1118 and communications media. [0124] Those skilled in the art will realize that storage devices utilized to store program instructions can be distributed across a network.); and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, connected to the communication unit and the memory and configured to execute the at least one instruction of the program stored in the memory ([0119] The computing-based device 1100 comprises one or more processors 1102 which may be microprocessors, controllers or any other suitable type of processors for processing computer executable instructions to control the operation of the device.), wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to control the transmission device to: transmit, to a reception device, at least one data packet including data of a first frame ([0120] The computing device 1100 also comprises a communication interface 1116 which may be used to transmit the encoded frames to the decoder 404 and/or receive error notification messages from the decoder 404.); receive, from the reception device, first information related to a first block where a decoding failure in the first frame occurs, the first information including block identifier (ID) information indicating a block ID of the first block where the decoding failure occurs and frame ID information indicating a frame ID of the first frame to which the first block belongs ([0079] At step 702, the encoder 402 receives an error notification message from the decoder 404. As described above, the error notification message comprises information that indicates the frame and the portion (i.e. blocks) of that frame with an error.; identify the first block in the first frame based on the first information ([0080] At step 704, the encoder 402 analyses the error notification message to identify the origin of the error. The origin of the error is defined as the particular frame and portion(s) (i.e. blocks) of that frame with an error. The frame in which the error occurred will be referred to as the erroneous frame and the blocks within the erroneous frame in which the error occurred will be referred to herein as the erroneous blocks.); ([0081] Specifically, the encoder 402 uses the dependency information to identify blocks of the frame immediately preceding the next frame to be encoded that are likely to have been affected by the error. In other words the encoder 402 uses the dependency information to identify the propagation of the error from the erroneous frame to the reference frame for the next frame to be encoded. [0086] At step 708, the blocks in the frame immediately preceding the next frame to be encoded that were identified in step 706 as likely being affected by the error are marked or otherwise identified as being unusable for inter-frame encoding.); and perform encoding on the second frame ([0045] To mitigate or reduce the effect of the error on subsequent frames the decoder 104 notifies the encoder 102 of the error in video frame N 202. The encoder then encodes video frame N+2 210 as an intra-coded frame. Specifically, it encodes video frame N+2 210 using only information within that frame. This removes the temporal dependency and thus stops the spreading and propagation of the error, but it does so at the cost of increasing the data sent between the encoder 102 and the decoder 104. [0087] At step 710, the next frame to be encoded is encoded using a block motion compensated-based compression technique. Since a number of blocks of the reference frame have been marked as being unusable for inter-frame encoding any block in the next frame to be encoded that corresponds to (or refers to) a block in the reference frame that has been marked as unusable for inter-frame encoding is encoded using other techniques. In some cases the blocks that correspond (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame are encoded based on the last successfully delivered frame (i.e. the frame immediately preceding the erroneous frame). In other cases (e.g. where the compression technique used does not support multiple reference frames or no reference region is available) the blocks that correspond to (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame are intra-frame encoded (i.e. encoded using only information from the frame itself). For example, the blocks that correspond to (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame may be classified into contiguous runs of blocks in raster scan order (or block encoding order) which are encoded as independently decodable intra slices.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the block level error as taught by Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
Sohoni discloses the marking of the error affected blocks of the reference frame as unusable for compression. However, Sohoni fails to explicitly disclose that the error affected blocks in the encoded frame where the error was detected during decoding are marked as unusable for compression.
Luo discloses receive, from the reception device, first information related to a first block where a decoding failure in the first frame occurs ([0016] In an error propagation suppression method based on identification, a macro-block influenced by an error is identified. The receiver feeds the information of the lost data back to the transmitter.), the first information including block identifier (ID) information indicating a block ID of the first block where the decoding failure occurs and frame ID information indicating a frame ID of the first frame to which the first block belongs ([Abstract] An error is detected and statistics of error information, such as position of lost data, is obtained by sequence numbers of NALUs and information for carrying slices.); identify the first block in the first frame based on the first information ([0016] The receiver feeds the information of the lost data back to the transmitter. The transmitter identifies all the pixels following the error macro-block in the same block group with certain value.); process the first block such that the first block is prevented from being used as a reference block referenced by at least one block in a second frame encoded after the first information is received ([0015] In an error propagation suppression method based on intra-coding, intra-coding is applied to a macro-block influenced by an error, in other words, a precise error tracking is conducted using forward dependency of motion vectors. Applying intra-coding to the macro-block influenced by the error can effectively prevent the error from propagating. [0016] The transmitter identifies all the pixels following the error macro-block in the same block group with certain value. So, the identified area will not be referenced when encoding the several following pictures. In this way, the error is prevented from propagating in the receiver.); and perform encoding on the second frame ([0016] encoding the several following pictures).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park and Sohoni with the error suppression method of error macro-blocks in the error detected frame as taught by Luo in order for the error identified macro-blocks to not be referenced in the encoding of the following frames. The motivation behind this modification would have been to eliminating errors in compressed video transmission by suppressing the error propagation [See Luo].
In regards to claim 9, the limitations of claim 8 have been addressed. Park fails to explicitly disclose wherein to process the first block, at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: identify at least one second block configured to reference the first block in the second frame encoded after the first information is received; and process the identified at least one second block as an intra block including an independent block not dependent on another block.
Sohoni discloses wherein to process the first block, at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: identify at least one second block configured to reference the first block in the second frame encoded after the first information is received; and process the identified at least one second block as an intra block including an independent block not dependent on another block ([0045] To mitigate or reduce the effect of the error on subsequent frames the decoder 104 notifies the encoder 102 of the error in video frame N 202. The encoder then encodes video frame N+2 210 as an intra-coded frame. Specifically, it encodes video frame N+2 210 using only information within that frame. This removes the temporal dependency and thus stops the spreading and propagation of the error, but it does so at the cost of increasing the data sent between the encoder 102 and the decoder 104. [0081] Specifically, the encoder 402 uses the dependency information to identify blocks of the frame immediately preceding the next frame to be encoded that are likely to have been affected by the error. In other words the encoder 402 uses the dependency information to identify the propagation of the error from the erroneous frame to the reference frame for the next frame to be encoded. [0086] At step 708, the blocks in the frame immediately preceding the next frame to be encoded that were identified in step 706 as likely being affected by the error are marked or otherwise identified as being unusable for inter-frame encoding. [0087] At step 710, the next frame to be encoded is encoded using a block motion compensated-based compression technique. Since a number of blocks of the reference frame have been marked as being unusable for inter-frame encoding any block in the next frame to be encoded that corresponds to (or refers to) a block in the reference frame that has been marked as unusable for inter-frame encoding is encoded using other techniques. In some cases the blocks that correspond (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame are encoded based on the last successfully delivered frame (i.e. the frame immediately preceding the erroneous frame). In other cases (e.g. where the compression technique used does not support multiple reference frames or no reference region is available) the blocks that correspond to (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame are intra-frame encoded (i.e. encoded using only information from the frame itself). For example, the blocks that correspond to (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame may be classified into contiguous runs of blocks in raster scan order (or block encoding order) which are encoded as independently decodable intra slices.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the block level error and intra-frame encoding of the block in the reference frame that refers to the unusable block as taught by Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
In regards to claim 10, the limitations of claim 8 have been addressed. Park fails to explicitly disclose wherein to process the first block, at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: identify at least one third block referencing the first block in at least one third frame encoded before the first information is received; identify at least one second block configured to reference the first block or the at least one third block in the second frame encoded after the first information is received; and process the identified at least one second block as an intra block including an independent block not dependent on another block.
Sohoni discloses wherein to process the first block, at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: identify at least one third block referencing the first block in at least one third frame encoded before the first information is received ([Fig. 9 and 0088] the corresponding region 918 in the last successfully delivered frame (i.e. frame N-1 920)); identify at least one second block configured to reference the first block or the at least one third block in the second frame encoded after the first information is received ([Fig. 9 and 0088] The encoder 402 uses the dependency information (i.e. maximum and minimum vertical and horizontal motion vector components) for frame N+1 906 to identify columns 908 and rows 910 of frame N+1 906 that are likely to have been affected by the error 902 (i.e. it is likely the error has propagated to these columns and rows).); and process the identified at least one second block as an intra block including an independent block not dependent on another block ([0087] In other cases (e.g. where the compression technique used does not support multiple reference frames or no reference region is available) the blocks that correspond to (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame are intra-frame encoded (i.e. encoded using only information from the frame itself). For example, the blocks that correspond to (or refer to) an unusable block in the reference frame may be classified into contiguous runs of blocks in raster scan order (or block encoding order) which are encoded as independently decodable intra slices.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the block level error and intra-frame encoding of the block in the reference frame that refers to the unusable block as taught by Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
In regards to claim 11, the limitations of claim 8 have been addressed. Park fails to explicitly disclose wherein to process the first block, at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to mask the first block in the first frame stored in a buffer.
Sohoni discloses wherein to process the first block, at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to mask the first block in the first frame stored in a buffer ([0061] Once the encoder 402 has traced the error to one or more rectangular areas in the frame immediately preceding the next frame to be encoded, the encoder 402 marks any blocks of the immediately preceding frame that have been identified as likely to have been affected by the error as unusable for encoding purposes.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Park with the block level error and marking the unusable blocks as taught by Sohoni in order to improve tracking and mitigating the propagation of errors in video compression [See Sohoni].
In regards to claim 12, the limitations of claim 10 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the first frame includes a frame referenced by at least one frame subsequent to the first frame ([0029] As an example, the image receiving device 200 may decode the I-frame without reference to another frame, but the compressed frame image (e.g., a P-frame) compressed by the inter-prediction may be decoded with reference to another I-frame and/or the P-frame. The image transmitting device 100 may transmit the encoded image in the form of, for example, streaming video to the image receiving device 200, but the example embodiments are not limited thereto. [0110] In addition, the packetizer 630 may generate a packet including one or more slices, and the I-slice S_I and/or the P-slice S_P may be included in the packet. As another example, the I-slice S_I and the P-slice S_P may be included together in the packet.).
In regards to claim 13, the limitations of claim 12 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the first frame includes an I frame, a P frame, or a B frame of a first GOP, the second frame includes the P frame or the B frame of the first GOP referencing the first frame or the third frame, and the third frame includes the P frame or the B frame of the first GOP referencing the first frame ([Fig. 15 and 16 and 0110] In addition, the packetizer 630 may generate a packet including one or more slices, and the I-slice S_I and/or the P-slice S_P may be included in the packet. As another example, the I-slice S_I and the P-slice S_P may be included together in the packet.).
In regards to claim 14, the limitations of claim 13 have been addressed. Park discloses wherein the first GOP is a long GOP or an infinite GOP ([0063] Referring to FIG. 7A, first, second, third, and fourth I-slices I1, I2, I3, and I4 used to represent the one picture may be transmitted in one or more initial frame sections of an initial I-frame period Period 1. For instance, the first and second I-slices I1 and I2 may be transmitted in a first frame section, and the third and fourth I-slices I3 and I4 may be transmitted in a second frame section, but the example embodiments area not limited thereto.), and wherein the first frame, the second frame, and the third frame are encoded using the same bit rate ([0067] Meanwhile, FIG. 7B shows a variable example embodiment, and all the first to fourth I-slices I1 to I4 used to represent the one picture may be transmitted in the first frame section of the initial I-frame period Period 1 so that at least one reference frame is transmitted in a desirable and/or preferential manner when the video streaming starts. In transmitting all of the first to fourth I-slices I1 to I4 in the one frame section, a compression ratio of the first to fourth I-slices I1 to I4 may be set to a large value by taking into account the bandwidth of the network.).
Claim 15 lists all the same elements of claim 1, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 1 applies equally as well to claim 15.
Claim 16 lists all the same elements of claim 2, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 2 applies equally as well to claim 16.
Claim 17 lists all the same elements of claim 6, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 6 applies equally as well to claim 17.
Claim 18 lists all the same elements of claim 8, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 8 applies equally as well to claim 18.
Claim 19 lists all the same elements of claim 9, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 9 applies equally as well to claim 19.
Claim 20 lists all the same elements of claim 10, but in method form rather than device form. Therefore, the supporting rationale of the rejection to claim 10 applies equally as well to claim 20.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kaitlin A Retallick whose telephone number is (571)270-3841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm.
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, Chris Kelley can be reached at (571) 272-7331. 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.
/KAITLIN A RETALLICK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
Prosecution Insights