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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/21/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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, 3-4, 9-14, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 2021/0090301 A1) in view of Su et al. (US 2024/0171775 A1) and Gudumasu et al. (US 2023/0281923 A1).
Consider claim 1, Mammou teaches a method comprising: encoding atlas data for mesh data (After or in conjunction with the patches being determined for the point cloud being compressed, a 2D sampling process is performed in planes associated with the patches. The 2D sampling process may be applied in order to approximate each patch with a uniformly sampled point cloud, which may be stored as a set of 2D patch images describing the geometry/texture/attributes of the point cloud at the patch location. The “Packing” module 208 may store the 2D patch images associated with the patches in a single (or multiple) 2D images, referred to herein as “image frames” or “video image frames.” In some embodiments, a packing module, such as packing module 208, may pack the 2D patch images such that the packed 2D patch images do not overlap (even though an outer bounding box for one patch image may overlap an outer bounding box for another patch image). Also, the packing module may pack the 2D patch images in a way that minimizes non-used images pixels of the image frame. In some embodiments, “Geometry/Texture/Attribute generation” modules, such as modules 210, 212, and 214, generate 2D patch images associated with the geometry/texture/attributes, respectively, of the point cloud at a given patch location. As noted before, a packing process, such as performed by packing module 208, may leave some empty spaces between 2D patch images packed in an image frame. Also, a padding module, such as image frame padding module 216, may fill in such areas in order to generate an image frame that may be suited for 2D video and image codecs. [0097] – [0101]); encoding displacement data for an atlas of the atlas data (In some embodiments, an encoder, such as encoder 250, may be combined with or share modules with an intra point cloud frame encoder, such as encoder 200. In some embodiments, a point cloud re-sampling module, such as point cloud re-sampling module 252, may resample points in an input point cloud image frame in order to determine a one-to-one mapping between points in patches of the current image frame and points in patches of a reference image frame for the point cloud. In some embodiments, a 3D motion compensation & delta vector prediction module, such as a 3D motion compensation & delta vector prediction module 254, may apply a temporal prediction to the geometry/texture/attributes of the resampled points of the patches. The prediction residuals may be stored into images, which may be padded and compressed by using video/image codecs. In regard to spatial changes for points of the patches between the reference frame and a current frame, a 3D motion compensation & delta vector prediction module 254, may determine respective vectors for each of the points indicating how the points moved from the reference frame to the current frame. A 3D motion compensation & delta vector prediction module 254, may then encode the motion vectors using different image parameters. For example, changes in the X direction for a point may be represented by an amount of red included at the point in a patch image that includes the point. In a similar manner, changes in the Y direction for a point may be represented by an amount of blue included at the point in a patch image that includes the point. Also, in a similar manner, changes in the Z direction for a point may be represented by an amount of green included at the point in a patch image that includes the point. In some embodiments, other characteristics of an image included in a patch image may be adjusted to indicate motion of points included in the patch between a reference frame for the patch and a current frame for the patch. [0106];
At 333, a nearest neighbor mapping technique is used to map points of the motion compensated segments of the reference frame to points in the target frame. The nearest neighbor matching technique maps points of the motion compensated version of the reference frame to nearest neighboring points in the target frame having the shortest Euclidian distances between the motion compensated points and the target frame points. Also, in some embodiments, attribute values of the points may further be considered to map points between a reference frame and a target frame. [0204]); encoding attribute data for the atlas ([0095] – [0105]); and encoding connectivity data for the atlas ([0517] – [0522]), wherein the encoded atlas data, the encoded displacement data, the encoded attribute data, and the encoded connectivity data are included in the bitstream ([0013] – [0014] and [0105] – [0106]).
However, Mammou does not explicitly teach the encoding atlas data includes: generating a coding type for a tile in a frame for the atlas data based on the coding type, encoding the atlas data for the tile in the frame based on the reference frame for the frame, and wherein the bitstream further includes information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame for the atlas frame and information for an index of an object of the objects.
Su teaches the encoding atlas data includes: generating a coding type for a tile in a frame for the atlas data ([0199] – [0204], [0233] – [0234] and Table 1 and Table 3); based on the coding type, encoding the atlas data for the tile in the frame based on the reference frame for the frame ([0199] – [0204], [0233] – [0234] and Table 1 and Table 3).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of generating a coding type for a tile for the atlas data because such incorporation would allow parallel and continuous optimization of patch-based video encoder and decoder designs with improved algorithms, implementation costs, speeds, etc. [0043].
Gudumasu teaches the bitstream further includes information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame for the atlas frame (num_objects indicate the number of 3D objects present in the point cloud. [0192] – [0198] and [0204] – [0220]) and information for an index of an object of the objects (3d_object_id indicates the updated 3D object identifier. [0181] – [0186]; [0192] – [0198] and [0204] – [0220]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame because such incorporation would help provide information on 3D objects present in the G-PCC data file. [0190].
Consider claim 3, Gudumasu teaches the bitstream further includes information for coordinates of a bounding box of the object (3DObjectInfoStruct provides the bounding box information for a 3D object including the X, Y, Z coordinate values of the anchor point and the size of the bounding box along the X, Y, Z axes relative to the anchor point. [0180]; GPCC3DObjectsInfoBox provides information on 3D objects present in the G-PCC data file including bounding box information such as the X, Y, Z coordinate values of the anchor point and the size of the 3D object's bounding box along the X, Y, Z axes relative to the anchor point. This box also provides a mapping to a set of tiles for each object and the object is enabled or disabled. [0190])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame because such incorporation would help provide information on 3D objects present in the G-PCC data file. [0190].
Consider claim 4, Mammou teaches the encoding of the point cloud data further comprises: transforming geometry information about the object (“Geometry/Texture/Attribute generation” modules, such as modules 210, 212, and 214, generate 2D patch images associated with the geometry/texture/attributes, respectively, of the point cloud at a given patch location. As noted before, a packing process, such as performed by packing module 208, may leave some empty spaces between 2D patch images packed in an image frame. Also, a padding module, such as image frame padding module 216, may fill in such areas in order to generate an image frame that may be suited for 2D video and image codecs. [0098]. In order to reduce the computational complexity of the smoothing stage, a subsampled version of the reconstructed point cloud may be considered when looking for the nearest neighbors. Such subsampled version could be efficiently derived by considering a subsampled version of the geometry image and the occupancy map. [0257]. FIG. 5F illustrates an example closed loop rescaling, according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, a closed loop rescaling process may be used by an encoder such as encoder 500 to determine distortion or other changes to geometry that may occur as part of a downscaling, encoding, decoding, and/or upscaling process. In some embodiments, such distortion may be accounted for when downscaling other attributes, such as texture. An encoder, such as encoder 500, receives a point cloud 548. The encoder generates a geometry image frame for the point cloud 548, for example an image frame comprising patches representing relative depths of the points, such as an original geometry image frame 550. A point cloud compression geometry mapper, which may include a decomposition into patches module 506, a packing module 208, and a spatial image generation module 210, etc., generates the original geometry image frame 550. A geometry down-scaler, such as spatial down-scaler 502 downscales the geometry image frame to generate downscaled geometry image frame 552. Note that “geometry plane” may be used to refer to geometry patch information, which may be included in an image frame only consisting of geometry patches as shown in FIG. 5F. The downscaled geometry image frame 552 is compressed, for example by video compression module 218, and is converted into a geometry bit stream. In a closed loop process as shown in FIG. 5F, the geometry bit stream is decompressed at the encoder to generate a reconstructed geometry plane 554. The reconstructed geometry plane is then up-scaled, at the encoder, to generate an up-scaled reconstructed geometry plane 556. [0319] – [0320]).
Consider claim 10, Mammou teaches comprising: decoding atlas data for mesh data in a bitstream ([0102] – [0107]) and decoding displacement data for an atlas of the atlas data in the bitstream ([0107], Fig. 2D. See [0106] and [0204]), decoding attribute data for the atlas in the bitstream ([0102] – [0107], Fig. 2B, Fig. 2D); decoding connectivity data for the atlas in the bitstream ([0565] – [0568]).
However, Mammou does not explicitly teach the decoding atlas data includes: based on a first value of information for representing a coding type for a tile in a frame for the atlas data in the bitstream, decoding the atlas data for the tile in the frame based on the reference frame for the frame, and wherein the bitstream further includes information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame for the atlas frame and information for an index of an object of the objects.
Su teaches the decoding atlas data includes: based on a first value of information for representing a coding type for a tile in a frame for the atlas data in the bitstream ([0199] – [0204]), decoding the atlas data for the tile in the frame based on the reference frame for the frame ([0199] – [0204]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of generating a coding type for a tile for the atlas data because such incorporation would allow parallel and continuous optimization of patch-based video encoder and decoder designs with improved algorithms, implementation costs, speeds, etc. [0043].
Gudumasu teaches the bitstream further includes information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame for the atlas frame (num_objects indicate the number of 3D objects present in the point cloud. [0192] – [0198] and [0204] – [0220]) and information for an index of an object of the objects (3d_object_id indicates the updated 3D object identifier. [0181] – [0186]; [0192] – [0198] and [0204] – [0220]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame because such incorporation would help provide information on 3D objects present in the G-PCC data file. [0190].
Consider claim 11, Mammou teaches the decoding of the point cloud data comprises: reconstructing a 3D object ([0567] – [0568]); and constructing a mesh frame based on the object ([0567] – [0568]).
Consider claim 12, Mammou teaches the decoding of the point cloud data further comprises: inversely transforming geometry information about the object ([0102] – [0103], [0315] – [0317], Fig. 2B and Fig. 5B).
Consider claim 13, Mammou teaches the bitstream contains transform parameter information about the object and offset information about an X-axis, a Y-axis, and a Z-axis for the object ([0212] – [0220], [0518] – [0519], [0543], [0552] – [0559], [0566] – [0570]).
Consider claim 14, Gudumasu teaches the bitstream further includes information for coordinates of a bounding box of the object (3DObjectInfoStruct provides the bounding box information for a 3D object including the X, Y, Z coordinate values of the anchor point and the size of the bounding box along the X, Y, Z axes relative to the anchor point. [0180]; GPCC3DObjectsInfoBox provides information on 3D objects present in the G-PCC data file including bounding box information such as the X, Y, Z coordinate values of the anchor point and the size of the 3D object's bounding box along the X, Y, Z axes relative to the anchor point. This box also provides a mapping to a set of tiles for each object and the object is enabled or disabled. [0190])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known information for a number of objects in a volumetric frame because such incorporation would help provide information on 3D objects present in the G-PCC data file. [0190].
Consider claim 9, claim 9 recites the device that implements the method recited in claim 1. Thus, it is rejected for the same reasons.
Consider claim 17, claim 17 recites the device that implements the method recited in claim 10. Thus, it is rejected for the same reasons.
Claim(s) 2, 6-8, 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 2021/0090301 A1) in view of Su et al. (US 2024/0171775 A1), Gudumasu et al. (US 2023/0281923 A1), and Hayashi et al. (US 2024/0265638 A1).
Consider claim 2, Mammou teaches all the limitations in claim 1 but does not explicitly teach the encoding of the point cloud data comprises: splitting the volumetric frame based on the objects.
Hayashi teaches the encoding of the point cloud data comprises: splitting the volumetric frame based on the objects (when the VPCC is extended and the 3D data using the mesh is compressed (encoded), the mesh representing the object having the three-dimensional structure is divided into at least the first patch and the second patch and arranged in a single image. [0083]. In an information processing method, a generation unit of an information processing apparatus divides a mesh representing an object having a three-dimensional structure into at least a first patch and a second patch and arranges the patches in a single image, generates pair information indicating that at least one vertex of the first patch and at least one vertex of the second patch located at the same position as the position of the vertex of the first patch in the object before encoding are paired, and an encoding unit of the information processing apparatus encodes the pair information. [0097] – [0099]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of splitting a mesh frame based on an object because such incorporation would help suppress the reduction in the quality of the 3D data due to encoding and decoding. [0105].
Consider claim 6, Hayashi teaches simplifying the mesh data (simplifying mesh data is interpreted as dividing the mesh because dividing the mesh help compress or encode the mesh data [0097] – [0121]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of splitting a mesh frame based on an object because such incorporation would help suppress the reduction in the quality of the 3D data due to encoding and decoding. [0105].
Consider claim 7, Hayashi teaches reconstructing the mesh data simplified in the simplifying (The patch is projected onto a two-dimensional plane, and the projection image (also referred to as a patch image) is arranged in the geometry image. C of FIG. 8 illustrates an example of the arrangement. In the geometry image 120 illustrated in C of FIG. 8, a patch image 121A indicates a projection image of the patch 111A. In addition, a patch image 121B indicates a projection image of the patch 111B. [0097] – [0121]. Projecting the patch onto a two-dimensional plane would constitute reconstructing the patch, which has been simplified by dividing the mesh data, in the two-dimensional plane).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of splitting a mesh frame based on an object because such incorporation would help suppress the reduction in the quality of the 3D data due to encoding and decoding. [0105].
Consider claim 8, Hayashi teaches generating mesh split information for the mesh data reconstructed in the reconstructing (The encoder generates pair information indicating such a pair generated by patch segmentation. [0097] – [0121]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of splitting a mesh frame based on an object because such incorporation would help suppress the reduction in the quality of the 3D data due to encoding and decoding. [0105].
Consider claim 15, Hayashi teaches splitting the mesh data based on the mesh split information in the bitstream [the pair information decoding unit 412 (decoding unit) divides a mesh representing an object having a three-dimensional structure into at least a first patch and a second patch and arranges the patches in a single image, and decodes encoded data of pair information indicating that at least one vertex of the first patch and at least one vertex of the second patch located at the same position as the position of the vertex of the first patch in the object before encoding are paired, to obtain pair information.[0299]. In step S402, the pair information decoding unit 412 decodes the encoded data of the pair information extracted from the bitstream in step S401 by a predetermined decoding method to generate (restore) the pair information. The pair information is information transmitted from the encoding device 300, and may include information described in the section of <2. Transmission of Pair Information> (including the sections of <Generation of Pair Information> to <Application Example>) and the like. That is, the pair information decoding unit 412 (decoding unit) decodes encoded data of pair information indicating a pair constituted by a single vertex of a mesh or a plurality of vertices of a patch generated from a plurality of vertices at the same position by dividing the mesh representing the object of the three-dimensional structure into patches, and obtains the pair information. [0330] – [0331]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of splitting a mesh frame based on an object because such incorporation would help suppress the reduction in the quality of the 3D data due to encoding and decoding. [0105].
Consider claim 16, Hayashi teaches the bitstream contains information about whether to split a mesh and a method of splitting the mesh (a flag indicating a pair division (for example, a 1-bit flag “0” or the like) may be inserted into the array of vertex identification information included in the pair information. The group division position in the array of vertex identification information may be indicated by inserting a flag indicating the group division (for example, a 1-bit flag “0” or the like). This flag is information known in advance for the decoder. [0130] – [0133]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of splitting a mesh frame based on an object because such incorporation would help suppress the reduction in the quality of the 3D data due to encoding and decoding. [0105].
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 2021/0090301 A1) in view of Su et al. (US 2024/0171775 A1), Gudumasu et al. (US 2023/0281923 A1), Hayashi et al. (US 2024/0265638 A1), and Zakharchenko et al. (US 2022/0353532 A1).
Consider claim 5, Mammou teaches all the limitations in claim 4 but does not explicitly teach the encoding of the point cloud data further comprises: generating 3D patches based on the object; and packing the 3D patches.
Zakharchenko teaches generating 3D patches based on the object (A dynamic point cloud sequence represents a sequence of point cloud frames. A V-PCC codec solution is based on segmentation of a 3D point cloud data into a set 3D patches, represented by the 3D bounding box (Patch3dPosX, Patch3dPosY, Patch3dPosMinZ and the normal axis indication—PatchAxisZ), and following orthographic projection onto the plane to obtain a set of 2D projection patches with a 2D bounding box (Patch2dPosX, Patch2dPosY, Patch2dSizeX, Patch2dSizeY). As such, V-PCC employs a combination of 3D bounding box information and 2d bounding box information. A set of 3D points in the point cloud frame is iterated, segmented based on the definition of smooth continuous surface criteria into the 3D patches, and projected onto the sides of the bounding box sides, forming the 2D patches. The collection of patches creates a patch tile group, where patch tile groups are combined in the atlas data for a given point cloud frame. Each element of the atlas data may be referred to as a patch, has a specific and unique index, and corresponds to a unique 3D bounding box within the 3D point cloud frame. Moreover, if the patch in a point cloud frame has a correspondent reference patch in the reference point cloud frame, an index of the reference patch in the reference patch tile group should be transferred in the bitstream. [0139] – [0143].); and packing the 3D patches (A dynamic point cloud sequence represents a sequence of point cloud frames. A V-PCC codec solution is based on segmentation of a 3D point cloud data into a set 3D patches, represented by the 3D bounding box (Patch3dPosX, Patch3dPosY, Patch3dPosMinZ and the normal axis indication—PatchAxisZ), and following orthographic projection onto the plane to obtain a set of 2D projection patches with a 2D bounding box (Patch2dPosX, Patch2dPosY, Patch2dSizeX, Patch2dSizeY). As such, V-PCC employs a combination of 3D bounding box information and 2d bounding box information. A set of 3D points in the point cloud frame is iterated, segmented based on the definition of smooth continuous surface criteria into the 3D patches, and projected onto the sides of the bounding box sides, forming the 2D patches. The collection of patches creates a patch tile group, where patch tile groups are combined in the atlas data for a given point cloud frame. Each element of the atlas data may be referred to as a patch, has a specific and unique index, and corresponds to a unique 3D bounding box within the 3D point cloud frame. Moreover, if the patch in a point cloud frame has a correspondent reference patch in the reference point cloud frame, an index of the reference patch in the reference patch tile group should be transferred in the bitstream. [0139] – [0143]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the known technique of generating 3D patches because such incorporation would help create AR support that increases functionality at both an encoder and decoder and support mechanisms to increase coding efficiency. [0137].
Conclusion
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/TAT C CHIO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2486
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