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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-4, 6-13, and 15-20 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Wang et al. (WO 2007/028280A1).
Since no amendments to the claims have been submitted, this action is Non-Final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Where applicant acts as his or her own lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d 1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999). The term “power coefficient” in claim 1 is used by the claim to mean “a coefficient of a linear function,” while the accepted meaning is “a coefficient of a power function” or “a coefficient of an exponential function” The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term.
The term “power coefficient” is used throughout the specification and claims. The term “power” in reference to a mathematical function typically implies a function expressing an exponential relationship. For example, see Thomas et al. (Thomas’ Calculus), pages 7-10, which defines “power functions” as those that define an exponential relationship f(x) = xa. In contrast, Thomas et al. define a “linear function” as those of the form f(x) = mx +b. Applicant’s specification discloses the modified window function for an encoder is defined as A*window*(B – power coefficient parameter) and the modified window function for a decoder is defined as C*window*(D*power coefficient parameter), where window is the codec windowing function and A, B, C and D are predetermined constants (see pages 10-11 of Applicant’s specification). These modified windowing functions define linear relationships, using the accepted meaning discussed above. As exemplary modified window functions, Applicant’s specification discloses an encoder modified window function of (2-pf) * f(t), where pf represents the power coefficient and f(t) represents the initial blocking window, and a decoder modified window function of (pf) * f(t), where pf represents the power coefficient and f(t) represents the initial blocking window. These functions are also linear, defining a multiplicative relationship between the initial blocking windows and the power factor. An example of a “power function” would be f(t)(pf), where the power factor defines an exponential relationship with the initial blocking window.
For the reasons given above, the term “power coefficient” as used in claim 1 is indefinite, because it is used in a manner inconsistent with the accepted meaning of a mathematical power function. For the purposes of examination, the term “power coefficient” will be interpreted as any coefficient used in a linear relationship such as that defined by Applicant’s specification on pages 10-11.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4, 6-7, 10-13, 15-17, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wang et al. (WO 2007/028280A1, hereinafter “Wang”). Note that the cited portions of the document below refer to the page numbers and lines of the English translation following the official document.
In regard to claim 1, Wang discloses a method comprising:
receiving an initial time-domain audio signal (Fig. 8, step 21, a signal type analysis module receives an input frame of an audio signal, page 6, lines 32-33);
modifying an initial blocking window, based on a power coefficient, to generate a modified blocking window (steps 22-23, a correction window function module modifies an initial blocking window, see Fig. 9, 9, by reducing the analysis window by a value equal to the quantization value of the sudden change strength to obtain a corrected analysis window function, see Fig. 10, 10, page 6, lines 35-41; see further description of the modification of the strength of the analysis window at page 8, lines 12-25 where the original analysis window is scaled proportionally to the magnitude of the sudden change after quantization);
generating a blocked time-domain audio signal using the modified blocking window (step 24, the correction window function module performs windowing on the audio signal frame using the corrected analysis window function to obtain a windowed time-domain signal, page 6, lines 43-44);
transforming the blocked time-domain audio signal to generate a frequency-domain audio signal (step 26, a time-frequency mapping module transforms the windowed time-domain signal to the frequency domain, page 6, lines 49-50); and
compressing the frequency-domain audio signal to generate a compressed frequency- domain audio signal (step 27, a quantizing and entropy encoding module quantize and encode the frequency domain coefficients to generate an encoded audio signal, page 6, lines 52-55).
In regard to claim 2, Wang discloses generating a data packet including the compressed frequency-domain audio signal and the power coefficient (step 28, a code stream multiplexing module multiplexes the encoded audio code stream and the result of the signal type analysis comprising the quantized sudden change strength parameter to obtain a compressed audio code stream, page 6, lines 57-58).
In regard to claim 4, Wang discloses the modified blocking window is of an encoder (encoder of Fig. 7, page 5, lines 49-50),
a decoder blocking window is different from the modified blocking window (compare modified analysis window of Fig. 10, 10, and modified synthesis window of Fig. 11, 11, page 8, lines 22-25), and
a product of the modified blocking window with the decoder blocking window at an instance of the modified blocking window is equal to an amplitude of one (1) (see proof (2) provided in the original document on page 12, showing that a product of the modified analysis window
p
~
a
and the modified synthesis window
p
~
s
is equal to 1).
In regard to claim 6, Wang discloses the initial blocking window includes a first portion, a second portion and a third portion, and modifying the initial blocking window to generate the modified blocking window includes modifying the first portion based on the power coefficient and modifying the third portion based on the power coefficient (see Fig. 13, modified window function 13 includes a portion equal to the initial window function from samples
0
≤
n
≤
L
-
I
, a portion modified by a transition function g(n) based on the quantized change of strength value
s
^
from samples
L
-
I
≤
n
≤
L
+
I
-
1
, and a portion modified by the change of strength value
s
^
from samples
L
+
I
-
1
≤
n
≤
2
M
-
1
, page 10, lines 4-6; see also definitions provided on page 13 of the original document).
In regard to claim 7, Wang discloses the power coefficient is generated based on the initial time-domain audio signal (based on a signal type of the frame of the input audio signal, page 6, lines 32-37).
In regard to claim 10, Wang discloses the initial time-domain audio signal is associated with a first timespan (an input frame is decomposed into a plurality of sub-frames, page 7, lines 9-10), the method further comprising:
detecting a change in the initial time-domain audio signal from the first timespan to a second timespan (later sub-frames are determined to include a sudden change, page 7, lines 10-19); and
changing the power coefficient based on the second timespan (the ratio of the absolute peak values from a first sub-frame to a second sub-frame are used to determine the quantized change of strength, page 7, lines 19-25).
In regard to claim 11, Wang discloses the blocked time-domain audio signal is a portion of the initial time-domain audio signal over a timespan equal to a timespan associated with the modified blocking window (see Figs. 9 and 10, the length of the modified blocking window is the same as the original window, page 8, lines 12-25).
In regard to claim 12, Wang discloses the frequency-domain audio signal includes a frequency content representation of the blocked time-domain audio signal (frequency coefficients of the windowed frame, page 7, lines 27-33).
In regard to claim 13, Wang discloses a method comprising:
receiving a formatted data packet including a compressed frequency-domain audio signal and a power coefficient (Fig. 18, step 31, a demultiplexer receives encoded frequency domain coefficients and a quantized sudden change strength parameter, page 11, lines 23-25);
decompressing the compressed frequency-domain audio signal (step 32, an inverse quantization and entropy decoding module obtains inverse quantized frequency domain coefficients, page 11, lines 25-27);
transforming the decompressed frequency-domain audio signal into a blocked time- domain audio signal (step 33, a frequency-time mapping module performs frequency-time mapping to obtain a time-domain signal, page 11, lines 27-29);
modifying an initial blocking window based on a power coefficient to generate a modified blocking window (step 35, if the signal type is a quick change type, an original window function is corrected to a corrected window function, page 11, lines 31-35); and
generating a reconstructed time-domain audio signal based on the blocked time-domain audio signal using the modified blocking window (step 36, the corrected window function windows the time-domain audio signal to obtain a reconstructed audio signal, page 11, lines 35-36).
In regard to claim 15, Wang discloses the modified blocking window is of a decoder (page 11, lines 11-12),
an encoder blocking window is different as compared to the modified blocking window (compare modified analysis window of Fig. 10, 10, and modified synthesis window of Fig. 11, 11, page 8, lines 22-25), and a product of the modified blocking window with the encoder blocking window at an instance of the modified blocking window is equal to an amplitude of one (1) (see proof (2) provided in the original document on page 12, showing that a product of the modified analysis window
p
~
a
and the modified synthesis window
p
~
s
is equal to 1).
In regard to claim 16, Wang discloses the initial blocking window includes a first portion, a second portion and a third portion, and modifying the initial blocking window to generate the modified blocking window includes modifying the first portion based on the power coefficient and modifying the third portion based on the power coefficient (see Fig. 13, modified window function 13 includes a portion equal to the initial window function from samples
0
≤
n
≤
L
-
I
, a portion modified by a transition function g(n) based on the quantized change of strength value
s
^
from samples
L
-
I
≤
n
≤
L
+
I
-
1
, and a portion modified by the change of strength value
s
^
from samples
L
+
I
-
1
≤
n
≤
2
M
-
1
, page 10, lines 4-6; see also definitions provided on page 13 of the original document).
In regard to claim 17, Wang discloses the power coefficient is generated based on an input audio signal corresponding to the reconstructed time-domain audio signal (based on a signal type of the frame of the input audio signal, page 6, lines 32-37).
In regard to claim 20, Wang discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, are configured to cause a computing system to:
receive an initial time-domain audio signal (Fig. 8, step 21, a signal type analysis module receives an input frame of an audio signal, page 6, lines 32-33);
modify an initial blocking window, based on a power coefficient, to generate a modified blocking window (steps 22-23, a correction window function module modifies an initial blocking window, see Fig. 9, 9, by reducing the analysis window by a value equal to the quantization value of the sudden change strength to obtain a corrected analysis window function, see Fig. 10, 10, page 6, lines 35-41; see further description of the modification of the strength of the analysis window at page 8, lines 12-25 where the original analysis window is scaled proportionally to the magnitude of the sudden change after quantization);
generate a blocked time-domain audio signal using the modified blocking window (step 24, the correction window function module performs windowing on the audio signal frame using the corrected analysis window function to obtain a windowed time-domain signal, page 6, lines 43-44);
transform the blocked time-domain audio signal to generate a frequency-domain audio signal (step 26, a time-frequency mapping module transforms the windowed time-domain signal to the frequency domain, page 6, lines 49-50); and
compress the frequency-domain audio signal to generate a compressed frequency- domain audio signal (step 27, a quantizing and entropy encoding module quantize and encode the frequency domain coefficients to generate an encoded audio signal, page 6, lines 52-55).
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.
Claim(s) 3, 8, 14, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang, in view of Budnikov (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2003/0215013).
In regard to claim 3, Wang does not expressly disclose storing the compressed frequency-domain audio signal and the power coefficient.
Budnikov discloses storing a compressed audio signal (as a file, paragraph [0004]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to store the compressed frequency-domain audio signal and the power coefficient, because it would allow the audio signal to be decoded therefrom at a later time.
In regard to claim 8, Wang discloses the power coefficient is generated based on the MPEG AAC psychoacoustic model (page 7, lines 1-25). Wang does not expressly disclose the power coefficient is generated based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal.
Budnikov discloses a method for determining whether sharp transients are present in a frame using an MPEG AAC audio encoder (paragraph [0009]), based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal (paragraphs [0023-0024]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt Wang to base the power coefficient based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal, because using the perceptual entropy as determined by the MPEG AAC psychoacoustic perceptual model give improved sound quality and improved ability to encode audio which has sharp transients, as taught by Budnikov (paragraph [0012]).
In regard to claim 14, Wang does not expressly disclose playing back the reconstructed time-domain audio signal.
Budnikov discloses playing back the reconstructed time-domain audio signal (analog audio output from a decoder playing the bitstream, paragraph [0004]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to play back the reconstructed time-domain signal, because it would allow a listener to perceive the audio signal.
In regard to claim 18, Wang discloses the power coefficient is generated based on the MPEG AAC psychoacoustic model (page 7, lines 1-25). Wang does not expressly disclose the power coefficient is generated based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal.
Budnikov discloses a method for determining whether sharp transients are present in a frame using an MPEG AAC audio encoder (paragraph [0009]), based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal (paragraphs [0023-0024]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to adapt Wang to base the power coefficient based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal, because using the perceptual entropy as determined by the MPEG AAC psychoacoustic perceptual model give improved sound quality and improved ability to encode audio which has sharp transients, as taught by Budnikov (paragraph [0012]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 9, and 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims, and if the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 were overcome.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
In regard to claim 5, Wang discloses modifying of the initial blocking window includes scaling the initial blocking window according to f(t)/pf, where pf represents the power coefficient and f(t) represents the initial blocking window (see Wang original document, page 17, w(n) / s). Wang and the additional prior art of record do not disclose or suggest scaling the initial blocking window according to (2-pf)*f(t).
In regard to claims 9 and 19, while Wang discloses the power coefficient is generated based on the initial time-domain audio signal, and Budnikov suggests generating the power coefficient based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal, Wang, Budnikov and the additional prior art of record do not disclose or suggest to first generate the power coefficient based on the initial time-domain audio signal, then subsequently modify the power coefficient based on an entropy associated with the compressing of the frequency-domain audio signal.
Conclusion
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BLA 10/6/26
/BRIAN L ALBERTALLI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2656
