DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Claims
Currently, claims 3-4 are pending in the application. Claims 3-4 are amended.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 1.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/15/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments / Amendments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive, see discussion below.
The applicant argued that Zhao and Chiang individually and collectively at least fail to disclose "wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are coded as a sign residual by an encoder, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are provided by way of the sign residual to a decoder for computing the hypothesis cost" as recited in Claim 3.
As to the above argument, CHIANG teaches wherein the hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are coded as a sign residual by an encoder ([0047], evaluate the cost of a candidate sign prediction hypothesis, the absolute values 510 are paired with predicted signs 505 of the candidate hypothesis to become signed transform coefficients 520. The signed transform coefficients 520 are inverse transformed to become residuals 530 of the hypothesis in the pixel domain. The residuals at the boundary of the current block (i.e., r,x,0, r,0,y) are used by the cost function (Eqn. 1) to determine the cost 540 of the candidate hypothesis and select candidate hypothesis with the lowest cost )
CHIANG further teaches wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are provided by way of the sign residual to a decoder for computing the hypothesis cost ([0113] FIG. 12, signaling for transform coding based on boundary matching costs that includes coefficient signs 1210 and coefficient absolute values 1212 components and the coefficient signs 1210 (or the actual signs) are XOR′ed with predicted signs 1214 to generate sign prediction residuals 1216. The predicted signs 1214 are provided by a best prediction hypothesis 1220, which is selected from multiple possible different candidate transform hypotheses 1225 based on costs 1230)
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.
Claims 3-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhao et al. (US 20180176556, hereinafter Zhao) in view of CHIANG et al. (US 20250193451, hereinafter CHIANG).
Regarding Claim 3, Zhao discloses a method to perform sign prediction in video coding ([0034], transform coefficient sign bit prediction for video encoding and decoding, as applied for Intra or Inter code; [0064], predict the sign for one coefficient using both positive value and negative values for the respective sign), the method comprising:
accessing a current coding unit (CU), a neighbor left CU to the current CU, and a neighbor top CU to the current CU, wherein the neighbor CUs comprise neighboring pixels ([0069], FIG. 3A, performing sign prediction with a template-based hypothesis reconstruction by recreating only the leftmost and topmost pixels of the block, from the inverse transformation added to the block prediction to create the leftmost and topmost pixel outputs);
if the current CU is coded in intra mode, in computing a hypothesis cost to determine sign prediction, considering only neighboring pixels in a direction of the intra mode ([0247], [0248], cost function measures the pixel value difference or pixel gradient value difference along the intra prediction direction such as a partial subset of allowed intra prediction directions are pre-selected, and each allowed intra prediction direction is mapped to one of the pre-selected intra directions which approximates the intra prediction direction; [0117]).
Zhao does not explicitly disclose wherein the hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are coded as a sign residual by an encoder, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are provided by way of the sign residual to a decoder for computing the hypothesis cost.
CHIANG teaches wherein the hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are coded as a sign residual by an encoder ([0047], evaluate the cost of a candidate sign prediction hypothesis, the absolute values 510 are paired with predicted signs 505 of the candidate hypothesis to become signed transform coefficients 520. The signed transform coefficients 520 are inverse transformed to become residuals 530 of the hypothesis in the pixel domain. The residuals at the boundary of the current block (i.e., r,x,0, r,0,y) are used by the cost function (Eqn. 1) to determine the cost 540 of the candidate hypothesis and select candidate hypothesis with the lowest cost ) wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are provided by way of the sign residual to a decoder for computing the hypothesis cost ([0113] FIG. 12, signaling for transform coding based on boundary matching costs that includes coefficient signs 1210 and coefficient absolute values 1212 components and the coefficient signs 1210 (or the actual signs) are XOR′ed with predicted signs 1214 to generate sign prediction residuals 1216. The predicted signs 1214 are provided by a best prediction hypothesis 1220, which is selected from multiple possible different candidate transform hypotheses 1225 based on costs 1230)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms as taught by CHIANG ([0047]) into the encoding & decoding system of Zhao in order to provide systems for performing transform coding based on boundary matching costs of various transform parameters in an efficient manner thus improving the coding efficiency (CHIANG, [0037]).
Regarding Claim 4, Zhao discloses a method to perform sign prediction in video coding ([0034], transform coefficient sign bit prediction for video encoding and decoding, as applied for Intra or Inter code; [0064], predict the sign for one coefficient using both positive value and negative values for the respective sign), the method comprising:
accessing a current transform unit (TU), a neighbor left TU to the current TU, and a neighbor top TU to the current TU, wherein the neighbor TUs comprise neighboring pixels ([0069], FIG. 3A, performing sign prediction with a template-based hypothesis reconstruction by recreating only the leftmost and topmost pixels of the block, from the inverse transformation added to the block prediction to create the leftmost and topmost pixel outputs);
accessing vectors lists of the current TU ([0067], FIG. 3A, coordinates of various pixels of transform coefficient block (TB) 42 with previously-reconstructed neighbor pixels as well as for the hypothesis reconstruction; FIG. 3B, mathematical formulae illustrating hypothesis reconstruction and prediction techniques ); and
computing a hypothesis cost to determine sign prediction by considering only the neighbor TU with similar motion information ([0249] when intra prediction direction is not available (e.g., one block is coded with inter mode), a derived intra prediction mode may be used instead that comes from a block identified by a motion vector in a coded picture; [0291], improve the sign discrimination functions using estimates of the variances of errors in pixel predictions [including temporal with motion vector]).
Zhao does not explicitly disclose wherein the hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are coded as a sign residual by an encoder, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are provided by way of the sign residual to a decoder for computing the hypothesis cost.
CHIANG teaches wherein the hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms, wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are coded as a sign residual by an encoder ([0047], evaluate the cost of a candidate sign prediction hypothesis, the absolute values 510 are paired with predicted signs 505 of the candidate hypothesis to become signed transform coefficients 520. The signed transform coefficients 520 are inverse transformed to become residuals 530 of the hypothesis in the pixel domain. The residuals at the boundary of the current block (i.e., r,x,0, r,0,y) are used by the cost function (Eqn. 1) to determine the cost 540 of the candidate hypothesis and select candidate hypothesis with the lowest cost ) wherein the one or more residual hypothesis terms are provided by way of the sign residual to a decoder for computing the hypothesis cost ([0113] FIG. 12, signaling for transform coding based on boundary matching costs that includes coefficient signs 1210 and coefficient absolute values 1212 components and the coefficient signs 1210 (or the actual signs) are XOR′ed with predicted signs 1214 to generate sign prediction residuals 1216. The predicted signs 1214 are provided by a best prediction hypothesis 1220, which is selected from multiple possible different candidate transform hypotheses 1225 based on costs 1230)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of hypothesis cost is computed at least in part with one or more residual hypothesis terms as taught by CHIANG ([0047]) into the encoding & decoding system of Zhao in order to provide systems for performing transform coding based on boundary matching costs of various transform parameters in an efficient manner thus improving the coding efficiency (CHIANG, [0037]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Samuel D Fereja whose telephone number is (469)295-9243. The examiner can normally be reached 8AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DAVID CZEKAJ can be reached at (571) 272-7327. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SAMUEL D FEREJA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2487
Prosecution Insights