DETAILED ACTIONNotice 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 .
Applicant Response to Official Action
The response filed on 11/24/2025 has been entered and made of record.
Acknowledgment
Claims 2, 6-7, 15, canceled on 11/24/2025, are acknowledged by the examiner.
Claims 1, 9, 14, and 16, amended on 11/24/2025, are acknowledged by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 14, 16, and their dependent claims have been considered but they are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by amendments initiated by the applicant. Examiner addresses the main arguments of the Applicant as below.
Regarding the drawing objection, the Remarks filed on 11/24/2025 addresses the issue. As a result, the drawing objection is withdrawn.
Regarding the U.S.C. 102 rejection, the amendment filed on 11/24/2025 addresses the issue. As a result, the U.S.C. 102 rejection is withdrawn.
Claim Rejection – 35 U.S.C. § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1, 3-5, 8-14, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, first paragraph because of a new matter. The amended claims include the following claim limitation “searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector”. It is noted that the “first motion vector difference” are mentioned 15 times in the specification. However, none of these occasions describes of “searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector”. Therefore, the claim limitation “searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector” is a new matter, which is not described in the application as originally filed. The new matter is required to be canceled from the claims (Please see MPEP 608.04).
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 of this title, 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.
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 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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claims 1, 3-5, 12-14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US Patent US 11,025,944 B2), (“Lee”), in view of Zhang et al. (US Patent 11,936,899 B2), (“Zhang”), in view of Liu et al. (US Patent 11,284,069 B2), (“Liu”).
Regarding claim 1, Lee meets the claim limitations as follows:
A video decoding method comprising (decoding method) [Lee: col. 1, line 16]: determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a first base motion vector of a current block ((mvL0 represents an L0 motion vector of a current block) [Lee: col. 61, line 49-50]; (Hereinafter, a candidate block including a neighboring base sample among candidate blocks is referred to as a neighboring block) [Lee: col. 16, line 48-50]) for a first reference picture (an L0 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 58-59] and a second base motion vector of the current block (mvL1 represents an L1 motion vector of a current block) [Lee: col. 61, line 50-51]; (Hereinafter, a candidate block including a neighboring base sample among candidate blocks is referred to as a neighboring block) [Lee: col. 16, line 48-50]) for a second reference picture (an L1 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 60];
searching (a full search-based block matching algorithm) [Lee: col. 6, line 44-45] a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector in response to a first distance between a current picture including the current block and the first reference picture and a second distance between the current picture and the second reference picture being different ((When a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture is different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture, an updated affine seed vector may be derived by adding or subtracting an offset vector to or from each affine seed vector as in the following Equation 17. In an example, when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a negative number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture are a positive number, or when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a positive number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture is a negative number, a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture may be determined to be different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture.) [Lee: col. 56, line 44 – col. 63, line 23; Equation 17]; (set a range of motion vector offset magnitude candidates to be different) [Lee: col. 56, line 44-45] – Note: The application specifies in paragraph [0158] that the temporal distance from L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture is not the same. In his invention, Lee discloses that L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture is not the same in term that they can have a different temporal direction and a different offset. Moreover, the difference is also indicated by their POC are different);determining a second motion vector difference based on the first motion vector difference (Equation 13 represents an L0 offset vector and an L1 offset vector when a sign of an L0 difference value and an sign of a L1 difference value are the same) [Lee: col. 60, line 1-63];determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a first refinement motion vector by refining the first base motion vector by the first motion vector difference (a refine vector may be added to or subtracted from a derived motion vector. In an example, a motion vector of the first prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting the first refine vector to or from the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 54-58] and the second refinement motion vector by refining the second base motion vector by the second motion vector difference (a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting the second refine vector to or from the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 59-62]; determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] first and second prediction blocks of the current block (blocks B0 and B1 adjacent to the second prediction unit may be determined to be available for the second prediction unit) [Lee: col. 44, line 62-64] based on the first refinement motion vector and the second refinement motion vector (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27]; and determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a final prediction block for the current block based on a weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block (a prediction sample is derived based on a weighted sum operation of the first prediction sample and the second prediction sample) [Lee: col. 48, line 21-23; Figs. 32-33],wherein the first refinement motion vector (the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 58-59] and the second refinement motion vector are determined (the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 61-62] to minimize distortion between the first prediction block indicated by the first refinement motion vector and the second prediction block indicated by the second refinement motion vector (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27]; (Alternatively, information for determining a search range of an offset vector may be signaled in a bitstream. At least one of the number of vector magnitude candidates, the minimum value of vector magnitude candidates may be determined based on a search range. In an example, a flag, merge_offset_vector_flag, for determining a search range of an offset vector may be signaled in a bitstream. The information may be signaled in a sequence header, a picture header or a slice header) [Lee: col. 57, line 30-33].
Lee does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector.
However, in the same field of endeavor Zhang further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector in response to a first distance between a current picture including the current block and the first reference picture and a second distance between the current picture and the second reference picture being different (the search points are surrounding the initial MV and the MV offset obey the MV difference mirroring rule. In other words, any points that are checked by DMVR, denoted by candidate MV pair (MV0, MV1) obey the following two equations MV0' = MV0 + MV_offset (2-2), MV1’ = MV1-MV_offset (2-3)
where MV offset represents the refinement offset between the initial MV and the refined MV in one of the reference pictures. The refinement search range is two integer luma samples from the initial MV. The searching includes the integer sample offset search stage and fractional sample refinement stage) [Zhang: col. 20, line 38-52]; (FIG. 7 shows an example of merge mode motion with vector difference (MMVD) search points.) [Zhang: col. 3, line 27-28; Fig. 7]).
wherein the first motion vector difference is selected, based on a distortion between the first and second prediction blocks, obtained using the first motion vector difference within the search range, being minimal (1. Motion derivation process in template DMVD AMVP mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated and the candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the starting point for further block level refinement. Then a local search based on template matching around the starting point is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. 2. Alternatively, motion derivation process in template DMVD AMVP mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated. Then a local search based on template matching around each Motion candidate is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the refined Motion candidate and the refined Motion candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. 3. Motion derivation process in template DMVD merge mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated and the candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the starting point for further block level refinement. Then a local search based on template matching around the starting point is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. For template DMVD merge mode, the motion derivation process is performed for each reference picture list, respectively) [Zhang: col. 20, line 30-58].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee with Zhang to program the system to implement of Zhang’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee with Zhang will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Zhang: col. 1, line 32-41].
In the same field of endeavor Liu further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
determining a first base motion vector of a current block ((base predictor) [Liu: col. 28, line 19]; (If the inter prediction is bi-directional, the signaled distance offset is applied on the signaled offset direction for control point predictor's L0 motion vector; and the same distance offset with opposite direction is applied for control
point predictor's L1 motion vector.) [Liu: col. 28, line 29-31]) for a first reference picture and a second base motion vector of the current block for a second reference picture ((If the inter prediction is bi-directional, the signaled distance offset is applied on the signaled offset direction for control point predictor's L0 motion vector; and the same distance offset with opposite direction is applied for control
point predictor's L1 motion vector.) [Liu: col. 28, line 29-31]; (Here, τ0 and τ1 denote the distances to the reference frames as shown in FIG. 31. Distances τ0 and τ1 are calculated based on POC for Ref0 and Ref1: τ0 = POC(current) - POC(Ref0), τ1 = POC(Ref1) - POC(current)) [Liu: col. 29, line 1-4]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee, Zhang, with Liu to program the system to implement of Liu’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee, Zhang with Liu will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Liu: col. 6, line 1-7].
Regarding claim 3, Lee meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Lee further meets the claim limitations as follow.
wherein the weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block is determined (the third prediction block may be generated based on a weighted sum operation of the first prediction block and the second prediction block. The third prediction block may be set as a final prediction block of a current block) [Lee: col. 67, line 1-5] by a weight determined (A prediction direction indicates any one of uni-directional L0 prediction, uni-directional L1 prediction, or bi-directional prediction (L1 prediction and L1 prediction). At least one of L0 directional motion information and L1 directional motion information may be used according to a prediction direction of a current block. A bidirectional weighting factor index specifies a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block and a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 18-26] according to a distance between a current picture and the first reference picture and the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture ((When a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture is different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture, an updated affine seed vector may be derived by adding or subtracting an offset vector to or from each affine seed vector as in the following Equation 17. In an example, when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a negative number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture are a positive number, or when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a positive number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture is a negative number, a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture may be determined to be different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture.) [Lee: col. 56, line 44 – col. 63, line 23; Equation 17]; (set a range of motion vector offset magnitude candidates to be different from an example shown in Table 6. In an example, a size of a horizontal directional component or a vertical directional component of an offset vector may be set to be not larger than a sample distance 2) [Lee: col. 56, line 44-48; Table 6].
In the same field of endeavor, Liu further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
a distance between a current picture and the first reference picture and the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture (Here, τ0 and τ1 denote the distances to the reference frames as shown in FIG. 31. Distances τ0 and τ1 are calculated based on POC for Ref0 and Ref1: τ0 = POC(current) - POC(Ref0), τ1 = POC(Ref1) - POC(current)) [Liu: col. 29, line 1-4].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee with Liu to program the system to implement of Liu’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee with Liu will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Liu: col. 6, line 1-7].
Regarding claim 4, Lee meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Lee further meets the claim limitations as follow.
a first weight (a weighting factor) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] applied to the first prediction block (a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] is proportional to the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture ((a distance between a current block and a candidate block) [Lee: col. 16, line 53-54]; (Motion information on a current block may be determined on the basis of a neighboring block neighboring the current block or information obtained by parsing a bitstream) [Lee: col. 15, line 45-48]; (Motion information may include at least one of a motion vector, a reference picture index, a prediction direction, and a bidirectional weighting factor index) [Lee: col. 15, line 12-14]); and a second weight (a weighting factor) [Lee: col. 15, line 25] applied to the second prediction block (a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 25] is proportional to the distance between the current picture and the first reference picture ((a distance between a current block and a candidate block) [Lee: col. 16, line 53-54]; (Motion information on a current block may be determined on the basis of a neighboring block neighboring the current block or information obtained by parsing a bitstream) [Lee: col. 15, line 45-48]; (Motion information may include at least one of a motion vector, a reference picture index, a prediction direction, and a bidirectional weighting factor index) [Lee: col. 15, line 12-14]).
Lee does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
a first weight applied to the first prediction block is proportional to the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture; and a second weight applied to the second prediction block is proportional to the distance between the current picture and the first reference picture.
However, in the same field of endeavor Liu further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
a first weight applied to the first prediction block is proportional to the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture ((the motion vectors MV0 and MV1 pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD1, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61]; (Generalized Bi-prediction (GBI) is proposed to allow applying different weights to predictors from L0 and L1. The predictor generation is shown in Eq. (32). PGBi = ((1-wi)*PL0 + wi*PL1 +
RoundingOffsetGBi) >> shiftNumGBi Eq. (33). In Eq. (33), PGBi is the final predictor of GBi, (1-wi) and wi are the selected GBI weights applied to the predictors of L0 and L1, respectively. RoundingOffsetGBi and shiftNumGBi are used to normalize the final predictor in GBi) [Liu: col. 24, line 18-27]); and a second weight applied to the second prediction block is proportional to the distance between the current picture and the first reference picture ((the motion vectors MV0 and MVI pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD!, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61]; (Generalized Bi-prediction (GBI) is proposed to allow applying different weights to predictors from L0 and L1. The predictor generation is shown in Eq. (32). PGBi = ((1-wi)*PL0 + wi*PL1 +
RoundingOffsetGBi) >> shiftNumGBi Eq. (33). In Eq. (33), PGBi is the final predictor of GBi, (1-wi) and wi are the selected GBI weights applied to the predictors of L0 and L1, respectively. RoundingOffsetGBi and shiftNumGBi are used to normalize the final predictor in GBi) [Liu: col. 24, line 18-27]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee with Liu to program the system to implement of Liu’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee with Liu will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Liu: col. 6, line 1-7].
Regarding claim 5, Lee meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Lee further meets the claim limitations as follow.
wherein in the determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] of the first refinement motion vector (the first refine vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 57-58] and the second refinement motion vector (the second refine vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 61-62], a ratio of a magnitude ((a shifting parameter may be adaptively determined based on at least one of a size, a shape, an aspect ratio or an affine motion model of a current block) [Lee: col. 57, line 44-46]; (a magnitude of an offset vector may be set not to exceed a sample distance) [Lee: col. 57, line 44-46]) of the first motion vector difference and a magnitude of the second motion vector difference ((a shifting parameter may be adaptively determined based on at least one of a size, a shape, an aspect ratio or an affine motion model of a current block) [Lee: col. 57, line 44-46]; (Information for determining at least one of the first refine vector or the second refine vector may be signaled in a bitstream. The information may include at least one of information for determining a magnitude of a refine vector or information for determining a sign of a refine vector) [Lee: col. 46, line 63-67]) is proportional to a ratio of the distance (a scaled motion vector obtained by scaling the first refine vector may be set as the second refine vector) [Lee: col. 47, line 11-13]; (a magnitude of an offset vector may be set not to exceed a sample distance) [Lee: col. 57, line 44-46]; (a symmetric motion vector may mean a motion vector which has the same magnitude as a motion vector of the first prediction unit, but has at least one opposite sign of an x-axis or a y-axis component, or a motion vector which has the same magnitude as a scaled vector obtained by scaling a motion vector of the first prediction unit, but has at least one opposite sign of an x-axis or a y-axis component. In an example, when a motion vector of the first prediction unit is (MVx, MVy), a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be set to be (MVx, -MVy), (-MVx, MVy) or (-MVx, -MVy) which is a symmetric motion vector of the motion vector) [Lee: col. 57, line 44-46]) between the current picture and the first reference picture and the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture (In an example, when a reference picture of a prediction unit to which a merge mode is applied is selected from a L0 reference picture list, a reference picture that a difference value with a current picture in a L1 reference picture list is the same as or similar to a difference value between a reference picture of a prediction unit to which a merge mode is applied and a current picture may be selected as a reference picture of a prediction unit to which a merge mode is not applied) [Lee: col. 46, line 33-41].
Lee does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
a ratio of a magnitude of the first motion vector difference and a magnitude of the second motion vector difference is proportional to a ratio of the distance between the current picture and the first reference picture and the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture
However, in the same field of endeavor Liu further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
a ratio of a magnitude of the first motion vector difference and a magnitude of the second motion vector difference is proportional to a ratio of the distance between the current picture and the first reference picture and the distance between the current picture and the second reference picture ((the motion vectors MV0 and MV1 pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD1, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee with Liu to program the system to implement of Liu’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee with Liu will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Liu: col. 6, line 1-7].
Regarding claim 12, Lee meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Lee further meets the claim limitations as follow.
wherein the weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block is determined ((When a first prediction block and a second prediction block are generated, a final prediction block may be generated by calculating an average or weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block) [Lee: col. 12, line 43-46; Figs. 32-33]; (a prediction sample is derived based on a weighted sum operation of the first prediction sample and the second prediction sample) [Lee: col. 48, line 21-23; Figs. 32-33]) by a weight determined (A prediction direction indicates any one of uni-directional L0 prediction, uni-directional L1 prediction, or bi-directional prediction (L1 prediction and L1 prediction). At least one of L0 directional motion information and L1 directional motion information may be used according to a prediction direction of a current block. A bidirectional weighting factor index specifies a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block and a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 18-26] based on a picture type of a current picture ((an L0 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 58-59]; (an L1 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 60]) including the current block (A prediction direction indicates any one of uni-directional L0 prediction, uni-directional L1 prediction, or bi-directional prediction (L1 prediction and L1 prediction). At least one of L0 directional motion information and L1 directional motion information may be used according to a prediction direction of a current block. A bidirectional weighting factor index specifies a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block and a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 18-26] generated by parsing a bitstream ((Motion information on a current block may be determined on the basis of a neighboring block neighboring the current block or information obtained by parsing a bitstream) [Lee: col. 15, line 45-48]; (Motion information may include at least one of a motion vector, a reference picture index, a prediction direction, and a bidirectional weighting factor index) [Lee: col. 15, line 12-14]).
Regarding claim 13, Lee meets the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Lee further meets the claim limitations as follow.
wherein the weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block is determined ((When a first prediction block and a second prediction block are generated, a final prediction block may be generated by calculating an average or weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block) [Lee: col. 12, line 43-46; Figs. 32-33]; (a prediction sample is derived based on a weighted sum operation of the first prediction sample and the second prediction sample) [Lee: col. 48, line 21-23; Figs. 32-33]) by a weight determined based on weight information (A prediction direction indicates any one of uni-directional L0 prediction, uni-directional L1 prediction, or bi-directional prediction (L1 prediction and L1 prediction). At least one of L0 directional motion information and L1 directional motion information may be used according to a prediction direction of a current block. A bidirectional weighting factor index specifies a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block and a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 18-26] generated by parsing a bitstream ((Motion information on a current block may be determined on the basis of a neighboring block neighboring the current block or information obtained by parsing a bitstream) [Lee: col. 15, line 45-48]; (Motion information may include at least one of a motion vector, a reference picture index, a prediction direction, and a bidirectional weighting factor index) [Lee: col. 15, line 12-14]).
Regarding claim 14, Lee meets the claim limitations as follows:
A video encoding method comprising (encoding: determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a first base motion vector of a current block ((mvL0 represents an L0 motion vector of a current block) [Lee: col. 61, line 49-50]; (Hereinafter, a candidate block including a neighboring base sample among candidate blocks is referred to as a neighboring block) [Lee: col. 16, line 48-50]) for a first reference picture (an L0 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 58-59] and a second base motion vector of the current block (mvL1 represents an L1 motion vector of a current block) [Lee: col. 61, line 50-51]; (Hereinafter, a candidate block including a neighboring base sample among candidate blocks is referred to as a neighboring block) [Lee: col. 16, line 48-50]) for a second reference picture (an L1 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 60];
searching (a full search-based block matching algorithm) [Lee: col. 6, line 44-45] a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector in response to a first distance between a current picture including the current block and the first reference picture and a second distance between the current picture and the second reference picture being different ((When a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture is different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture, an updated affine seed vector may be derived by adding or subtracting an offset vector to or from each affine seed vector as in the following Equation 17. In an example, when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a negative number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture are a positive number, or when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a positive number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture is a negative number, a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture may be determined to be different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture.) [Lee: col. 56, line 44 – col. 63, line 23; Equation 17]; (set a range of motion vector offset magnitude candidates to be different) [Lee: col. 56, line 44-45] – Note: The application specifies in paragraph [0158] that the temporal distance from L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture is not the same. In his invention, Lee discloses that L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture is not the same in term that they can have a different temporal direction and a different offset. Moreover, the difference is also indicated by their POC are different);determining a second motion vector difference based on the first motion vector difference (Equation 13 represents an L0 offset vector and an L1 offset vector when a sign of an L0 difference value and an sign of a L1 difference value are the same) [Lee: col. 60, line 1-63];determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a first refinement motion vector by refining the first base motion vector by the first motion vector difference (a refine vector may be added to or subtracted from a derived motion vector. In an example, a motion vector of the first prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting the first refine vector to or from the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 58-59]) [Lee: col. 46, line 54-58] and determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a second refinement motion vector by refining the second base motion vector by the second motion vector difference (a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting the second refine vector to or from the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 59-62]; determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] first and second prediction blocks of the current block (blocks B0 and B1 adjacent to the second prediction unit may be determined to be available for the second prediction unit) [Lee: col. 44, line 62-64] based on the first refinement motion vector and the second refinement motion vector (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27]; and determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a final prediction block for the current block based on a weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block ((When a first prediction block and a second prediction block are generated, a final prediction block may be generated by calculating an average or weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block) [Lee: col. 12, line 43-46; Figs. 32-33]; (a prediction sample is derived based on a weighted sum operation of the first prediction sample and the second prediction sample) [Lee: col. 48, line 21-23; Figs. 32-33]),
wherein the first motion vector difference is selected, based on a distortion between the first and second prediction blocks, obtained using the first motion vector difference within the search range, being minimal (Alternatively, information for determining a search range of an offset vector may be signaled in a bitstream. At least one of the number of vector magnitude candidates, the minimum value of vector magnitude candidates may be determined based on a search range. In an example, a flag, merge_offset_vector_flag, for determining a search range of an offset vector may be signaled in a bitstream. The information may be signaled in a sequence header, a picture header or a slice header) [Lee: col. 57, line 30-33].
Lee does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector.
However, in the same field of endeavor Zhang further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector in response to a first distance between a current picture including the current block and the first reference picture and a second distance between the current picture and the second reference picture being different (the search points are surrounding the initial MV and the MV offset obey the MV difference mirroring rule. In other words, any points that are checked by DMVR, denoted by candidate MV pair (MV0, MV1) obey the following two equations MV0' = MV0 + MV_offset (2-2), MV1’ = MV1-MV_offset (2-3)
where MV offset represents the refinement offset between the initial MV and the refined MV in one of the reference pictures. The refinement search range is two integer luma samples from the initial MV. The searching includes the integer sample offset search stage and fractional sample refinement stage) [Zhang: col. 20, line 38-52]; (FIG. 7 shows an example of merge mode motion with vector difference (MMVD) search points.) [Zhang: col. 3, line 27-28; Fig. 7]).
wherein the first refinement motion vector (the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 58-59] and the second refinement motion vector are determined (the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 61-62] to minimize distortion between the first prediction block indicated by the first refinement motion vector and the second prediction block indicated by the second refinement motion vector (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27]; (1. Motion derivation process in template DMVD AMVP mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated and the candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the starting point for further block level refinement. Then a local search based on template matching around the starting point is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. 2. Alternatively, motion derivation process in template DMVD AMVP mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated. Then a local search based on template matching around each Motion candidate is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the refined Motion candidate and the refined Motion candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. 3. Motion derivation process in template DMVD merge mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated and the candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the starting point for further block level refinement. Then a local search based on template matching around the starting point is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. For template DMVD merge mode, the motion derivation process is performed for each reference picture list, respectively) [Zhang: col. 20, line 30-58].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee with Zhang to program the system to implement of Zhang’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee with Zhang will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Zhang: col. 1, line 32-41].
In the same field of endeavor Liu further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
determining a first base motion vector of a current block ((base predictor) [Liu: col. 28, line 19]; (If the inter prediction is bi-directional, the signaled distance offset is applied on the signaled offset direction for control point predictor's L0 motion vector; and the same distance offset with opposite direction is applied for control
point predictor's L1 motion vector.) [Liu: col. 28, line 29-31]) for a first reference picture and a second base motion vector of the current block for a second reference picture ((If the inter prediction is bi-directional, the signaled distance offset is applied on the signaled offset direction for control point predictor's L0 motion vector; and the same distance offset with opposite direction is applied for control
point predictor's L1 motion vector.) [Liu: col. 28, line 29-31]; (Here, τ0 and τ1 denote the distances to the reference frames as shown in FIG. 31. Distances τ0 and τ1 are calculated based on POC for Ref0 and Ref1: τ0 = POC(current) - POC(Ref0), τ1 = POC(Ref1) - POC(current)) [Liu: col. 29, line 1-4]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee, Zhang, with Liu to program the system to implement of Liu’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee, Zhang with Liu will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Liu: col. 6, line 1-7].
Regarding claim 16, Lee meets the claim limitations as follows:
A method of transmitting a bitstream generated by a video encoding method (encoding method) [Lee: col. 1, line 15-16; Fig. 1], the method (method) [Lee: col. 1, line 16] comprising: encoding an image based on the video encoding method (encoding a video signal and a device for performing the method) [Lee: col. 1, line 47-48]; and transmitting a bitstream including the encoded image ((an original block is encoded as it is and transmitted to a decoding unit) [Lee: col. 6, line 19-20; Figs. 1-2]; (information used for prediction, motion vector information, etc. may be encoded using a residual value by the entropy encoding unit 165 and may be transmitted to the decoder) [Lee: col. 6, line 15-16; Figs. 1-2]), wherein the video encoding method comprises (encoding method) [Lee: col. 1, line 15-17]:determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a first base motion vector of a current block ((mvL0 represents an L0 motion vector of a current block) [Lee: col. 61, line 49-50]; (Hereinafter, a candidate block including a neighboring base sample among candidate blocks is referred to as a neighboring block) [Lee: col. 16, line 48-50]) for a first reference picture (an L0 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 58-59] and a second base motion vector of the current block (mvL1 represents an L1 motion vector of a current block) [Lee: col. 61, line 50-51]; (Hereinafter, a candidate block including a neighboring base sample among candidate blocks is referred to as a neighboring block) [Lee: col. 16, line 48-50]) for a second reference picture (an L1 reference picture) [Lee: col. 62, line 60];
searching (a full search-based block matching algorithm) [Lee: col. 6, line 44-45] a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector in response to a first distance between a current picture including the current block and the first reference picture and a second distance between the current picture and the second reference picture being different ((When a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture is different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture, an updated affine seed vector may be derived by adding or subtracting an offset vector to or from each affine seed vector as in the following Equation 17. In an example, when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a negative number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture are a positive number, or when a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L0 reference picture is a positive number, but a picture order count (POC) difference between a current picture and an L1 reference picture is a negative number, a temporal direction of an L0 reference picture may be determined to be different from a temporal direction of an L1 reference picture.) [Lee: col. 56, line 44 – col. 63, line 23; Equation 17]; (set a range of motion vector offset magnitude candidates to be different) [Lee: col. 56, line 44-45] – Note: The application specifies in paragraph [0158] that the temporal distance from L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture is not the same. In his invention, Lee discloses that L0 reference picture and L1 reference picture is not the same in term that they can have a different temporal direction and a different offset. Moreover, the difference is also indicated by their POC are different);determining a second motion vector difference based on the first motion vector difference (Equation 13 represents an L0 offset vector and an L1 offset vector when a sign of an L0 difference value and an sign of a L1 difference value are the same) [Lee: col. 60, line 1-63];determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a first refinement motion vector by refining the first base motion vector by the first motion vector difference (a refine vector may be added to or subtracted from a derived motion vector. In an example, a motion vector of the first prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting the first refine vector to or from the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 54-58] and determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a second refinement motion vector by refining the second base motion vector by the second motion vector difference (a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting the second refine vector to or from the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 59-62]; determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] first and second prediction blocks of the current block (blocks B0 and B1 adjacent to the second prediction unit may be determined to be available for the second prediction unit) [Lee: col. 44, line 62-64] based on the first refinement motion vector and the second refinement motion vector (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27]; and determining (a method of effectively determining) [Lee: col. 1, line 53-54] a final prediction block for the current block based on a weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block ((When a first prediction block and a second prediction block are generated, a final prediction block may be generated by calculating an average or weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block) [Lee: col. 12, line 43-46; Figs. 32-33]; (a prediction sample is derived based on a weighted sum operation of the first prediction sample and the second prediction sample) [Lee: col. 48, line 21-23; Figs. 32-33]),
wherein the first refinement motion vector (the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 58-59] and the second refinement motion vector are determined (the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 61-62] to minimize distortion between the first prediction block indicated by the first refinement motion vector and the second prediction block indicated by the second refinement motion vector (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27]; (Alternatively, information for determining a search range of an offset vector may be signaled in a bitstream. At least one of the number of vector magnitude candidates, the minimum value of vector magnitude candidates may be determined based on a search range. In an example, a flag, merge_offset_vector_flag, for determining a search range of an offset vector may be signaled in a bitstream. The information may be signaled in a sequence header, a picture header or a slice header) [Lee: col. 57, line 30-33].
Lee does not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector.
However, in the same field of endeavor Zhang further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
searching a first motion vector difference within a search range centered on the first base motion vector in response to a first distance between a current picture including the current block and the first reference picture and a second distance between the current picture and the second reference picture being different (the search points are surrounding the initial MV and the MV offset obey the MV difference mirroring rule. In other words, any points that are checked by DMVR, denoted by candidate MV pair (MV0, MV1) obey the following two equations MV0' = MV0 + MV_offset (2-2), MV1’ = MV1-MV_offset (2-3)
where MV offset represents the refinement offset between the initial MV and the refined MV in one of the reference pictures. The refinement search range is two integer luma samples from the initial MV. The searching includes the integer sample offset search stage and fractional sample refinement stage) [Zhang: col. 20, line 38-52]; (FIG. 7 shows an example of merge mode motion with vector difference (MMVD) search points.) [Zhang: col. 3, line 27-28; Fig. 7]).
wherein the first motion vector difference is selected, based on a distortion between the first and second prediction blocks, obtained using the first motion vector difference within the search range, being minimal (1. Motion derivation process in template DMVD AMVP mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated and the candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the starting point for further block level refinement. Then a local search based on template matching around the starting point is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. 2. Alternatively, motion derivation process in template DMVD AMVP mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated. Then a local search based on template matching around each Motion candidate is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the refined Motion candidate and the refined Motion candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. 3. Motion derivation process in template DMVD merge mode has two steps. First, the Motion candidate set is generated and the candidate which leads to the minimum matching cost is selected as the starting point for further block level refinement. Then a local search based on template matching around the starting point is performed and the MV resulting in the minimum matching cost is taken as the TM-DMVD Motion candidate for the whole block. For template DMVD merge mode, the motion derivation process is performed for each reference picture list, respectively) [Zhang: col. 20, line 30-58].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee with Zhang to program the system to implement of Zhang’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee with Zhang will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Zhang: col. 1, line 32-41].
In the same field of endeavor Liu further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
determining a first base motion vector of a current block ((base predictor) [Liu: col. 28, line 19]; (If the inter prediction is bi-directional, the signaled distance offset is applied on the signaled offset direction for control point predictor's L0 motion vector; and the same distance offset with opposite direction is applied for control
point predictor's L1 motion vector.) [Liu: col. 28, line 29-31]) for a first reference picture and a second base motion vector of the current block for a second reference picture ((If the inter prediction is bi-directional, the signaled distance offset is applied on the signaled offset direction for control point predictor's L0 motion vector; and the same distance offset with opposite direction is applied for control
point predictor's L1 motion vector.) [Liu: col. 28, line 29-31]; (Here, τ0 and τ1 denote the distances to the reference frames as shown in FIG. 31. Distances τ0 and τ1 are calculated based on POC for Ref0 and Ref1: τ0 = POC(current) - POC(Ref0), τ1 = POC(Ref1) - POC(current)) [Liu: col. 29, line 1-4]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee, Zhang, with Liu to program the system to implement of Liu’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee, Zhang with Liu will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Liu: col. 6, line 1-7].
Claims 8-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US Patent US 11,025,944 B2), (“Lee”), in view of Zhang et al. (US Patent 11,936,899 B2), (“Zhang”), in view of Liu et al. (US Patent 11,284,069 B2), (“Liu”), in view of Lee et al. (US Patent 11,575,925 B2), (“Lee_925”).
Regarding claim 8, Lee and Liu meet the claim limitations as set forth in claim 1. Lee and Liu further meet the claim limitations as follow.
wherein the first refinement motion vector (the first motion vector derived based on the first merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 58-59] and the second refinement motion vector are determined (the second motion vector derived based on the second merge candidate) [Lee: col. 46, line 61-62] to minimize distortion between a first template of the first prediction block indicated by the first refinement motion vector, a second template of the second prediction block indicated by the second refinement motion vector and a current template of the current block ((the two motion vectors of the bi-prediction are further refined by a bilateral template matching process. The bilateral template matching applied in the decoder to perform a distortion-based search between a bilateral template and the reconstruction samples in the reference pictures in order to obtain a refined MV without transmission of additional motion information. In DMVR, a bilateral template is generated as the 60
weighted combination (i.e. average) of the two prediction blocks, from the initial MV0 of list0 and MV1 of list1, respectively, as shown in FIG. 34. The template matching operation consists of calculating cost measures between the generated template and the sample region (around the initial prediction block) in the reference picture. For each of the two reference pictures, the MV that yields the minimum template cost is considered as the updated MV of that list to
replace the original one.) [Liu: col. 31, line 53 – col. 32, line 2]; (In an example, a motion vector and a reference picture index of the first prediction unit may be derived based on a partitioning mode merge candidate, and a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by refining a motion vector of the first prediction unit. In an example, a motion vector of the second prediction unit may be derived by adding or subtracting a refine motion vector {Rx, Ry} to or from a motion vector of the first prediction unit, {mvD1LXx, mvD1LXy}. A reference picture index of the second prediction unit may be set the same as a reference picture index of the first prediction unit) [Lee: col. 45, line 17-27].
Lee and Liu do not explicitly disclose the following claim limitations (Emphasis added).
wherein the first refinement motion vector and the second refinement motion vector are determined to minimize distortion between a first template of the first prediction block indicated by the first refinement motion vector, a second template of the second prediction block indicated by the second refinement motion vector and a current template of the current block.
However, in the same field of endeavor Lee_925 further discloses the deficient claim limitations as follows:
wherein the first refinement motion vector and the second refinement motion vector are determined to minimize distortion ((Referring to FIG. 32, the encoder or the decoder searches for a motion vector indicating a template that minimizes an error with a neighboring template of the current block in a search area in a reference picture indicated by an initial motion vector, and determines the motion vector as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 49, line 63 – col. 50, line 3]; (calculates the distortion value using an inter-sample distortion calculation method such as SAD, SATD, SSE, or MSE. In addition, when comparing the template samples values
between the current block and the reference picture, an inter-sample distortion calculation method and a rate calculation method of calculating a rate included in motion information are used. Thus, the position of a reconstructed sample in a reference picture, which exhibits the minimum rate-distortion value is used as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 51, line 12-22; Fig. 34]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 to program the system to implement of Lee_925’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Lee_925: col. 1, line 48-52].
Regarding claim 9, Lee and Liu meet the claim limitations as set forth in claim 8. Liu further meets the claim limitations as follow.
wherein the distortion is calculated based on a final template determined by a weighted average of the first template the second template and the current template ((the two motion vectors of the bi-prediction are further refined by a bilateral template matching process. The bilateral template matching applied in the decoder to perform a distortion-based search between a bilateral template and the reconstruction samples in the reference pictures in order to obtain a refined MV without transmission of additional motion information. In DMVR, a bilateral template is generated as the weighted combination (i.e. average) of the two prediction blocks, from the initial MV0 of list0 and MV1 of list1, respectively, as shown in FIG. 34. The template matching operation consists of calculating cost measures between the generated template and the sample region (around the initial prediction block) in the reference picture. For each of the two reference pictures, the MV that yields the minimum template cost is considered as the updated MV of that list to replace the original one) [Liu: col. 31, line 53 – col. 32, line 2].
In the same field of endeavor Lee_925 further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
wherein the distortion is calculated based on a final template determined by a weighted average of the first template the second template and the current template ((Referring to FIG. 32, the encoder or the decoder searches for a motion vector indicating a template that minimizes an error with a neighboring template of the current block in a search area in a reference picture indicated by an initial motion vector, and determines the motion vector as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 49, line 63 – col. 50, line 3]; (calculates the distortion value using an inter-sample distortion calculation method such as SAD, SATD, SSE, or MSE. In addition, when comparing the template samples values between the current block and the reference picture, an inter-sample distortion calculation method and a rate calculation method of calculating a rate included in motion information are used. Thus, the position of a reconstructed sample in a reference picture, which exhibits the minimum rate-distortion value is used as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 51, line 12-22]; (a statistic value for at least one among a variable, an encoding parameter, a constant value, etc. which have a computable specific value may be one or more among an average value, a weighted average value, a weighted sum value, the minimum value, the maximum value, the most frequent value, a median value, an interpolated value of the corresponding specific values) [Lee_925: col. 12, line 35-41]).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 to program the system to implement of Lee_925’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Lee_925: col. 1, line 48-52].
Regarding claim 10, Lee and Liu meet the claim limitations as set forth in claim 9. Lee and Liu further meet the claim limitations as follow.
wherein in the weighted average of the first template and the second template (When a first prediction block and a second prediction block are generated, a final prediction block may be generated by calculating an average or weighted sum of the first prediction block and the second prediction block) [Lee: col. 12, line 43-46; Figs. 32-33], a first weight (a weighting factor) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] applied to the first template (a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] is proportional to a distance between a current picture and the second reference picture (the motion vectors MV0 and MV1 pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD1, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61] and a second weight (a weighting factor) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] applied to the second template (a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 25] is proportional to a distance between the current picture and the first reference picture (the motion vectors MV0 and MV1 pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD1, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61].
In the same field of endeavor Lee_925 further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
wherein in the weighted average of the first template and the second template, a first weight applied to the first template (Referring to FIG. 32, the encoder or the decoder searches for a motion vector indicating a template that minimizes an error with a neighboring template of the current block in a search area in a reference picture indicated by an initial motion vector, and determines the motion vector as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 49, line 63 – col. 50, line 3; Fig. 34] is proportional to a distance between a current picture and the second reference picture (calculates the distortion value using an inter-sample distortion calculation method such as SAD, SATD, SSE, or MSE. In addition, when comparing the template samples values between the current block and the reference picture, an inter-sample distortion calculation method and a rate calculation method of calculating a rate included in motion information are used. Thus, the position of a reconstructed sample in a reference picture, which exhibits the minimum rate-distortion value is used as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 51, line 12-22; Fig. 34] and a second weight applied to the second template (Referring to FIG. 32, the encoder or the decoder searches for a motion vector indicating a template that minimizes an error with a neighboring template of the current block in a search area in a reference picture indicated by an initial motion vector, and determines the motion vector as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 49, line 63 – col. 50, line 3; Fig. 34] is proportional to a distance between the current picture and the first reference picture (calculates the distortion value using an inter-sample distortion calculation method such as SAD, SATD, SSE, or MSE. In addition, when comparing the template samples values between the current block and the reference picture, an inter-sample distortion calculation method and a rate calculation method of calculating a rate included in motion information are used. Thus, the position of a reconstructed sample in a reference picture, which exhibits the minimum rate-distortion value is used as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 51, line 12-22; Fig. 34].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 to program the system to implement of Lee_925’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Lee_925: col. 1, line 48-52].
Regarding claim 11, Lee and Liu meet the claim limitations as set forth in claim 8. Lee and Liu further meet the claim limitations as follow.
a first weight (a weighting factor) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] applied to the first template (a weighting factor applied to an L0 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] is proportional to distortion of the second template and the current template (the motion vectors MV0 and MV1 pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD1, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61]; and a second weight (a weighting factor) [Lee: col. 15, line 24] applied to the second template (a weighting factor applied to an L1 prediction block) [Lee: col. 15, line 25] is proportional to distortion of the first template and the current template (the motion vectors MV0 and MV1 pointing to the two reference blocks shall be proportional to the temporal distances, i.e., TD0 and TD1, between the current picture and the two reference pictures) [Liu: col. 21, line 57-61].
In the same field of endeavor Lee_925 further discloses the claim limitations as follows:
a first weight applied to the first template (Referring to FIG. 32, the encoder or the decoder searches for a motion vector indicating a template that minimizes an error with a neighboring template of the current block in a search area in a reference picture indicated by an initial motion vector, and determines the motion vector as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 49, line 63 – col. 50, line 3; Fig. 34] is proportional to distortion of the second template and the current template (calculates the distortion value using an inter-sample distortion calculation method such as SAD, SATD, SSE, or MSE. In addition, when comparing the template samples values between the current block and the reference picture, an inter-sample distortion calculation method and a rate calculation method of calculating a rate included in motion information are used. Thus, the position of a reconstructed sample in a reference picture, which exhibits the minimum rate-distortion value is used as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 51, line 12-22; Fig. 34]; and a second weight applied to the second template (Referring to FIG. 32, the encoder or the decoder searches for a motion vector indicating a template that minimizes an error with a neighboring template of the current block in a search area in a reference picture indicated by an initial motion vector, and determines the motion vector as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 49, line 63 – col. 50, line 3; Fig. 34] is proportional to distortion of the first template and the current template (calculates the distortion value using an inter-sample distortion calculation method such as SAD, SATD, SSE, or MSE. In addition, when comparing the template samples values between the current block and the reference picture, an inter-sample distortion calculation method and a rate calculation method of calculating a rate included in motion information are used. Thus, the position of a reconstructed sample in a reference picture, which exhibits the minimum rate-distortion value is used as a refined motion vector) [Lee_925: col. 51, line 12-22; Fig. 34].
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 to program the system to implement of Lee_925’s method.
Therefore, the combination of Lee and Liu with Lee_925 will enable the system to improve coding efficiency [Lee_925: col. 1, line 48-52].
Reference Notice
Additional prior arts, included in the Notice of Reference Cited, made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Philip Dang whose telephone number is (408) 918-7529. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday between 8:30 am - 5:00 pm (PST).
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