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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Regarding claim 30: the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because: the BRI of “A computer-readable medium” in claim 30 can encompass non-statutory transitory forms of signal transmission, such as a propagating electrical or electromagnetic signal per se. See In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 84 USPQ2d 1495 (Fed. Cir. 2007) (MPEP 2106.03).
The “A computer-readable medium” should read “A non-transitory computer-readable medium” is a way to overcome the 101 rejections.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-13, 15-26, and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhang et al. (WO 2021134462 A1 published July 8, 2021, hereinafter “Zhang”).
Regarding claim 1,
An apparatus for display processing, comprising a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor is configured to: (Zhang: Claim 12, “An apparatus for display processing, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: . . .”; ¶38, “. . . the memory 130 may also store instructions that, when executed, cause the application processor 110, the graphics processor 120, the display processor 140, and/or the display client 150 to perform one or more of the example techniques disclosed herein. . .”):
obtain a plurality of layers associated with at least one frame (Zhang: ¶32, “. . . the device 100 may be configured to render a plurality of layers associated with respective graphical data for a frame, identify a layer of interest of the plurality of layers, determine coordinates for a region of interest. . .”; ¶44, “. . . one or more identified layers of interest. . .”; NOTE: The obtained plurality of layers are the identified layers of interest.),
wherein each layer of the plurality of layers includes a set of layer regions (Zhang: ¶18, “. . . flag (or mark or identify) any layers of the frame corresponding to matching identifiers as layers of interest. . .”; ¶20, “. . . performing the display processing techniques on a layer of the frame (e.g., regions of interest). . .”; NOTE: Also see fig. 4 reference 408. The set of layer regions are the regions of interest on a layer. Because the system identifies multiple layers of interest, therefore, each of the layer of the layers of interest will each have a set of layer regions determined.),
wherein each of the set of layer regions includes a plurality of pixels (Zhang: ¶14, “. . . adjusting gamma or color for each pixel in a region. . .”; ¶72, “. . . pixel data of the rendered layers. . .”; NOTE: The layers of interest inherently have pixels because they are images for displaying to a user, therefore, each of the regions of interest identified will inherently have a plurality of pixels because they are a part of a corresponding layer.);
assign each of the set of layer regions to a corresponding component in a set of components in a display processing unit (DPU) pipeline (Zhang: ¶44, “. . . aspects of the display processor 140 may be implemented by a DPU. . .”; ¶65, “. . . The region of interest display processing component 148 may then perform one or more display processing techniques . . .; NOTE: Also see figure 4 block 410, and figure 1 display processor 140. The ROI display processing component 148 is the corresponding component in a set of components of display processing 140 (142, 144, 146, and 148) that processes the regions of interest on a layer of each layer of the layers of interest identified. Therefore, each of the set of layer regions on each layer of the layers of interest is assigned to the ROI display processing.);
adjust a portion of the plurality of pixels in at least one layer region of the set of layer regions with the corresponding component in the set of components in the DPU pipeline (Zhang: ¶44, “. . . aspects of the display processor 140 may be implemented by a DPU. . .”; ¶65, “. . . The region of interest display processing component 148 may then perform one or more display processing techniques . . . configured to perform LTM, WNR, TNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, and/or assertive display adjustment, etc. The processed layer may be stored in the layer buffer 132. . .”; NOTE: Also see Fig. 1 Display Processor 140 includes set of components 142, 144, 146, and 148. The component 148 is the corresponding component in the set of components, which is part of the display processor 140. The display processor 140 may be implemented by a DPU, therefore, the adjustment process is in the DPU pipeline illustrated in Figure 4 and Figure 5.);
and compose the set of layer regions including the at least one layer region with the adjusted portion of the plurality of pixels (Zhang: ¶65, “. . .The processed layer may be stored in the layer buffer 132 and the compositing component 142 may then perform the compositing of the rendered layers 210, including the processed layer, to generate the composited frame 250. . .”; NOTE: The processed layers have the layer regions with the adjusted portion of the plurality of pixels (regions of interest that are adjusted as described in paragraph 65). The processed layers including the adjusted regions of interest are composited to generate a composited frame.).
Regarding claim 2, depending on 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein to assign each of the set of layer regions to the corresponding component in the set of components, the at least one processor is configured to:
map each of the set of layer regions to the corresponding component in the set of components, such that each of the set of layer regions is assigned to the corresponding component based on the mapping (Zhang. Fig. 4 408 to 410. NOTE: In reference to Fig. 4, the system determines the coordinates of the set of layer regions (regions of interest of a layer of the layers of interest) at step 408 and provides this mapping to be assigned and processed in step 410, which is processed by the corresponding component ROI display processing component 148 (fig. 1). Therefore, the system is configured to map each of the set of layer regions to the corresponding component (providing and assigning the coordinates of regions of interest to the corresponding component 148) for processing, based on those coordinates.).
Regarding claim 3, depending on 2,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 2,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein each of the set of layer regions is mapped to the corresponding component in the set of components based on a corresponding processing task associated with each of the set of layer regions (Zhang: ¶65, “The region of interest display processing component 148 may then perform one or more display processing techniques to improve visual aspects of the region (e.g., the layer of interest) based on the coordinates defining the region of interest. For example, the region of interest display processing component 148 may include and/or access one or more engines configured to perform LTM, WNR, TNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, and/or assertive display adjustment, etc.”; NOTE: The corresponding processing task are the adjustments done to a particular regions of interest. The task are associated with each of the set of layer regions because the adjustments are performed on the coordinates defining the regions of interest on a layer of the layers of interest.)
Regarding claim 4, depending on 2,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 2,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein each of the set of layer regions is mapped to the corresponding component in the set of components based on a position of each of the set of layer regions or a set of coordinates for each of the set of layer regions (Zhang: ¶74, “At 408, the apparatus may determine coordinates for a region of interest . . . the region of interest determining component 144 may be configured to determine the coordinates for the region of interest based on the positional information associated with the layer of interest”. NOTE: Also see Fig. 4. Step 406, identifies layer or layers of interest, step 408 determine coordinates for identified regions of interest for each layer.).
Regarding claim 5, depending on 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein the composition of the set of layer regions results in an output of the composition of the set of layer regions, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
process the output of the composition of the set of layer regions after the set of layer regions is composed (Zhang: ¶75, “At 410, . . . region of interest display processing component 148 may be configured to perform one or more display processing techniques (e.g., LTM, WNR, LNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, assertive display adjustment, etc.) on the regions of the composited frame based on the coordinates associated with the region of interest. . . then store the processed frame in the frame buffer 134 of the memory 130.”; NOTE: At step 408 in reference to Figure 4 is where the set of layer regions (regions of interest) are composed because they are determined based on the composited frame that was performed at step 408. Step 410 (described as display processing techniques) is the step that process the output of the composition of the set of layers after the set of layer regions is composed at step 408.).
Regarding claim 6, depending on 5,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 5,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein to process the output of the composition of the set of layer regions, the at least one processor is configured to:
adjust a pixel value for each of the plurality of pixels in the output of the composition of the set of layer regions (Zhang: ¶75, “At 410, . . . region of interest display processing component 148 may be configured to perform one or more display processing techniques (e.g., LTM, WNR, LNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, assertive display adjustment, etc.) on the regions of the composited frame based on the coordinates associated with the region of interest. . .”; ¶14, “. . . disclosed techniques may include an assertive display adjustment engine to facilitate adjusting gamma or color for each pixel in a region . . .”; NOTE: Display processing techniques described such as saturation, hue, and temperature adjustments adjusts the pixel value of the pixels from the output of 408.).
Regarding claim 7, depending on 5,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 5,
Zhang further teaches: wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
transmit the processed output of the composition of the set of layer regions (Zhang: ¶75, “At 410, . . . region of interest display processing component 148 may be configured to perform one or more display processing techniques (e.g., LTM, WNR, LNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, assertive display adjustment, etc.) on the regions of the composited frame based on the coordinates associated with the region of interest. . . then store the processed frame in the frame buffer 134 of the memory 130.”; NOTE: Storing the processed frame, which is the output of the composition of the set of layer regions in 410 after the adjustments, is the transmission of the processed output by transmitting the processed frame to the frame buffer.)
Regarding claim 8, depending on 7,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 7,
wherein the processed output of the composition of the set of layer regions is transmitted to a display or a panel (Zhang: ¶76, “At 412, the apparatus may display the composited frame including the processed region of interest, . . .the display client 150 may be configured to access (e.g., retrieve or receive) the processed frame from the frame buffer 134 and facilitate presentment of the processed frame.”; ¶66, “. . . a display (e.g., the display client 150 of FIG. 1). . .”; NOTE: At 410, the processed output (processed frame) is transmitted to the frame buffer which is then received by the display client 150).
Regarding claim 9, depending on claim 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein to compose the set of layer regions including the at least one layer region with the adjusted portion of the plurality of pixels, the at least one processor is configured to:
blend at least some of the set of layer regions including the at least one layer region with the adjusted portion of the plurality of pixels (Zhang: ¶83, “. . . the apparatus may perform compositing of the plurality of layers, including the processed layer, to generate a composited frame. . . the compositing component 142 may blend pixel data of the rendered layers and the processed layers to generate the composited frame”; NOTE: The processed layers are the layers processed with adjustments.).
Regarding claim 10, depending on 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein the portion of the plurality of pixels in the at least one layer region is adjusted based on processing the plurality of pixels in the at least one layer region (Zhang: ¶82, “. . . the apparatus may perform display processing techniques on the region of interest to improve visual aspects of the region, . . . (e.g., LTM, WNR, LNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, assertive display adjustment, etc.) on pixel data based on the coordinates associated with the region of interest. . .”; NOTE: The portion of the plurality of pixels is the region of interest that is processed using the techniques described in paragraph 82.).
Regarding claim 11, depending on 10,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 10,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein the plurality of pixels in the at least one layer region is processed based on the display processing, image processing, frame processing, or color processing (Zhang: ¶82, “. . ., the region of interest display processing component 148 may be configured to perform one or more display processing techniques (e.g., LTM, WNR, LNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, assertive display adjustment, etc.) on pixel data based on the coordinates associated with the region of interest.. . .”; ¶14, “. . . disclosed techniques may include a local tone mapping (LTM) engine to facilitate improving the brightness of the displayed frame. In some examples, disclosed techniques may include a wavelet noise reduction (WNR) engine and/or a temporal noise reduction (TNR) engine to reduce noise in the displayed frame. In some examples, disclosed techniques may include an assertive display adjustment engine to facilitate adjusting gamma or color for each pixel. . .”).
Regarding claim 12, depending on 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein the set of layer regions in each of the plurality of layers corresponds to a set of portions for each of the plurality of layers or a set of regions of interest (ROI) for each of the plurality of layers (Zhang: ¶47, “an example region of interest (ROI) determining component 144. . .”; ¶18, “. . . flag (or mark or identify) any layers of the frame corresponding to matching identifiers as layers of interest. . .”; ¶20, “. . . performing the display processing techniques on a layer of the frame (e.g., regions of interest). . .”; ¶29, “. . . Example techniques may improve visual quality of regions of the frame associated with layers of interest. . .”; NOTE: Because the system identifies multiple layers of interest, and determine regions of interest on a layer of the layers of interest each of the layer of the layers of interest, therefore each layer of interest of the layers of interest will each have a set of layer regions of interest determined.”)
Regarding claim 13, depending on 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein the plurality of pixels in each of the set of layer regions is associated with metadata, a layer hierarchy, a Z-order, or a Z-coordinate (Zhang: ¶22, “. . . using the positional information associated with a layer of interest, disclosed examples provide techniques for efficiently identifying a region of interest . . .”; ¶32, “. . . identify a layer of interest of the plurality of layers, determine coordinates for a region of interest based on one or more parameters associated with the identified layer of interest. . .”; ¶48, “. . . the region of interest determining component 144 may receive (or retrieve) the layer identifiers associated with the plurality of layers. . .”; ¶43, “The rendered layer may also be associated with an overlay position that defines a position in an overlay stack corresponding to the rendered layer. For example, the overlay stack may include the plurality of layers of a frame, with each rendered layer corresponding to a different layer level. In some examples, the overlay position may be used to determine the order”; NOTE: The metadata associated with the pixels in each of the set of layer regions are the positional information, parameters, and layer identifiers associated with its layer of interest. The order at which the layers are stacked constitutes a layer hierarchy or a Z-order).
Regarding claim 15, depending on 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Zhang further teaches:
wherein to obtain the plurality of layers, the at least one processor is configured to: receive the plurality of layers from at least one of: a graphics processing unit (GPU), a central processing unit (CPU), an application, or a game (Zhang: ¶37, “. . . the graphics processor 120 may be implemented by a GPU. In some examples, the graphics processor 120 may be configured to execute instructions that cause the graphics processor 120 to perform one or more of the example techniques disclosed herein. . .”; ¶33, “. . . aspects of the application processor 110 may be implemented by a CPU. In some examples, the application processor 110 may be configured to execute instructions that cause the application processor 110 to perform one or more of the example techniques disclosed herein. . .”; ¶40, “. . . The rendered layer may be assigned an identifier (e.g., a string of alphanumeric characters) that indicates an application that generated the graphics data rendered by the graphics processor 120. For example, a first application may generate graphics data associated with a status bar that, when rendered, is assigned a “status bar layer” identifier. . .”; ¶35, “. . . The application processor 110 may be configured to execute various types of applications 112. Examples of the applications 112 include image viewing applications, video viewing applications, web browsers, email client, gaming application, or other applications that generate graphical content for display. . .”).
Regarding claim 16, depending on 1,
Zhang further teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one of an antenna or a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the plurality of layers via at least one of the antenna or the transceiver (Zhang: Fig. 7, ¶104, “. . . the content generation system 700 can include a communication interface 726. The communication interface 726 may include a receiver 728 and a transmitter 730. The receiver 728 may be configured to perform any receiving function described herein . . . a request for content. The receiver 728 and the transmitter 730 may be combined into a transceiver 732. In such examples, the transceiver 732 may be configured to perform any receiving function and/or transmitting function described herein with respect to the device 704. . .”; NOTE: The content requested is the content where the layers are obtained received by the transceiver.),
and wherein the at least one frame is associated with at least one of: the display processing, image processing, frame processing, or color processing (Zhang: ¶82, “. . ., the region of interest display processing component 148 may be configured to perform one or more display processing techniques (e.g., LTM, WNR, LNR, saturation adjustment, hue adjustment, temperature adjustment, assertive display adjustment, etc.) on pixel data based on the coordinates associated with the region of interest.. . .”; ¶14, “. . . disclosed techniques may include a local tone mapping (LTM) engine to facilitate improving the brightness of the displayed frame. In some examples, disclosed techniques may include a wavelet noise reduction (WNR) engine and/or a temporal noise reduction (TNR) engine to reduce noise in the displayed frame. In some examples, disclosed techniques may include an assertive display adjustment engine to facilitate adjusting gamma or color for each pixel. . .”; NOTE: The regions of interest are determined from composited frame and the layers of interest. Therefore the regions of interest are associated with the frame in process, and therefore associated with at least one of: the display processing, image processing, frame processing, or color processing done to the regions of interest.)
Regarding CRM claim 30, CRM claim 30 is drawn to the CRM corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same as claimed in the apparatus of claim 1. Therefore, CRM claim 30 corresponds to the configuration of the processor in the apparatus of claim 1, and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Regarding method claims 17-22, 24, and 28 respectively, method claims 17-22, 24, and 28 respectively are drawn to the methods corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same as claimed in the apparatus of claims 1-6, 9, and 15 respectively. Therefore, method claims 17-22, 24, and 28 respectively correspond to the configuration of the processor in the apparatus of claims 1-6, 9, and 15 respectively, and are rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Regarding method claim 23, method claim 23 is drawn to the method corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same in the apparatus of claims 7-8. Therefore, method claim 23 corresponds to the configuration of the processor in the apparatus of claims 7-8, and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Regarding method claim 25, method claim 25 is drawn to the method corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same in the apparatus of claims 10-11. Therefore, method claim 25 corresponds to the configuration of the processor in the apparatus of claims 10-11, and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Regarding method claim 26, method claim 26 is drawn to the method corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same in the apparatus of claims 12-13. Therefore, method claim 26 corresponds to the configuration of the processor in the apparatus of claims 12-13, and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Regarding method claim 29, method claim 29 is drawn to the method corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same limitation: “wherein the at least one frame is associated with at least one of: the display processing, image processing, frame processing, or color processing” in the apparatus of claim 16. Therefore, method claim 29 corresponds to the configuration of the processor “wherein the at least one frame is associated with at least one of: the display processing, image processing, frame processing, or color processing” in the apparatus of claim 16, and is rejected for the same reasons of anticipation as used above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 14, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Liu et al. (US 20170287106 A1, hereinafter “Liu”).
Regarding claim 14, depending 1,
Zhang teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1,
Although Zhang teaches determining regions of interest from a layer of a layers of interest, Zhang does not disclose if the regions of interest have different resolution, and therefore fails to disclose: wherein each of the set of layer regions includes a corresponding pixel resolution, such that the corresponding pixel resolution of at least one first layer region in the set of layer regions is different from the corresponding pixel resolution of at least one second layer region in the set of layer regions.
The analogous art Liu teaches:
wherein each of the set of layer regions includes a corresponding pixel resolution, such that the corresponding pixel resolution of at least one first layer region in the set of layer regions is different from the corresponding pixel resolution of at least one second layer region in the set of layer regions (Liu: ¶21, “Each of the image layers may be divided into a plurality of regions (e.g., tiles), and each region of each image layer includes at least one pixel. The regions of an image layer can be equally-sized or non-equally-sized. The image layers may be divided into regions. . . each image layer may be divided into different sets of regions (R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, . . . , R.sub.N)”; NOTE: Liu teaches dividing a layer into a first layer region (R1) and at least one second layer region (R2) in the set of regions (R1, R2, . . .Rn). Liu also teaches that these regions includes a corresponding pixel resolution of at least one pixel. Furthermore, Liu teaches that these regions can have different resolution because the regions are non-equally sized. The bigger region will have a higher pixel resolution than the smaller region).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Zhang, and Liu and include: wherein each of the set of layer regions includes a corresponding pixel resolution, such that the corresponding pixel resolution of at least one first layer region in the set of layer regions is different from the corresponding pixel resolution of at least one second layer region in the set of layer regions.
The reason for doing so is to “enable a device to reduce memory access when composing a blended frame from multiple image layers” (Liu: ¶7).
Regarding method claim 27, method claim 27 is drawn to the method corresponding to the configuration of the processor of using same in the apparatus of claim 14. Therefore, method claim 27 corresponds to the configuration of the processor in the apparatus of claim 14, and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used above.
Conclusion
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/PATRICK P GALERA/Examiner, Art Unit 2617 /KING Y POON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2617
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