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 1-20 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 12 & 20 are amended.
Response to Arguments / Amendments
Applicant’s arguments have been fully considered but are rendered moot in view of the new ground of rejection necessitated by amendments initiated by the applicant.
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 101:
In the light of amendment to claim 20, the examiner withdraws the previously made rejection under 35 USC 101.
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, second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
Specifically claims 1, 12 & 20 recites the limitations “the one or more first weight prediction parameters comprise a weight parameter and a denominator parameter calculated based on a scaling parameter associated with the first variance and the second variance and an offset parameter calculated based on the first mean, the second mean, the weight parameter, and the denominator parameter” which are vague.
It is unclear whether the weight parameter and denominator parameter are calculated based on a scaling parameter or just the denominator parameter is based on a scaling parameter.
The whole limitation “the one or more first weight prediction parameters comprise a weight parameter and a denominator parameter calculated based on a scaling parameter associated with the first variance and the second variance and an offset parameter calculated based on the first mean, the second mean, the weight parameter, and the denominator parameter” needs to be written in clear and definite manner.
Dependent Claims 2-11, and 13-19 fall together accordingly
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xie et al. (US 20240380911, hereinafter Xie) in view of Lan et al. (US 20220303525, hereinafter Lan).
Regarding Claim 1, Xie discloses a computer-implemented method for performing hardware-assisted weighted prediction encoding with software-generated weight prediction parameters for a current media frame ([0033], [0038], FIG. 2, weighted predictive coding: the process of video coding by the weight and offset; [0041], FIG. 3), the method comprising:
determining a first mean ([0045], calculating the difference of pixel mean values between the video picture and the reference picture);
determining a second mean ( [0047] mean value change of luminance value of the current picture relative to the reference picture); and
determining one or more first weight prediction parameters based on ( [0048], where the weighted predictive coding uses at least one set of weighted prediction identification information and parameters; [0038], perform video coding on the current frame based on the preceding frame by means of the multiplication of a weight relative to the preceding frame as a whole, followed by the addition of an offset); and
wherein the one or more first weight prediction parameters are applied to at least a portion of predicted samples of the current media frame prior to encoding the at least a portion of the predicted samples of the current media frame ([0037], FIG. 2, At step 120, perform weighted predictive coding of the video picture; [0048]. FIG. 3, At step 230, perform weighted predictive coding of the video picture according to a luminance change situation of the video picture).
Xie does not explicitly disclose a first variance & a second variance for the current media & the reference media and wherein: the one or more first weight prediction parameters comprise a weight parameter and a denominator parameter calculated based on a scaling parameter associated with the first variance and the second variance and an offset parameter calculated based on the first mean, the second mean, the weight parameter, and the denominator parameter
Lan teaches a first variance & a second variance for the current media & the reference media wherein: the one or more first weight prediction parameters comprise a weight parameter and a denominator parameter calculated based on a scaling parameter associated with the first variance and the second variance and an offset parameter calculated based on the first mean, the second mean, the weight parameter, and the denominator parameter ([0016], [0053], Fig. 2, FIG. 6, generate a histogram for reference frame and the current frame such as reference histogram 208 and current histogram 210 from which weight and offset are derived based on an energy change between a current frame and a reference frame in accordance with equation (1)
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where p is a reference frame, i is a current frame, mean(X) is the mean value of one frame, σ(X) is a variance of one frame, W is a weight, and O is an offset).
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 first variance & a second variance for the current media & the reference media as taught by Lan ([0053]) into the weighted prediction encoding system of Xie in order to provide systems for performing histogram-based weighted prediction in video encoding in a more efficient manner ( computationally efficient, energy efficient, temporally efficient, etc.) than conventional weighting/offset methods (Lan, [0015]).
Regarding Claim 2, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Xie discloses wherein the reference media frame comprises at least one of a media frame previous to the current media frame or a media frame following the current media frame ([0038], video coding may be performed on the current frame based on the preceding frame by means of the multiplication of a weight relative to the preceding frame as a whole).
Regarding Claim 3, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Xie discloses wherein: determining the first mean comprises determining an arithmetic average pixel value of pixel values included in the current media frame ([0045], calculating the difference of pixel mean values between the video picture and the reference picture), and determining the second mean comprises determining an arithmetic average pixel value of pixel values included in the reference media frame ([0047] mean value change of luminance value of the current picture relative to the reference picture).
Regarding Claim 4, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Lan discloses wherein: determining the first variance comprises: determining, for each pixel included in the current media frame, a square of a difference between a pixel value of the pixel and the first mean; determining a first sum of the squares of the differences for all pixels included in the current media frame; and dividing the first sum by a number of pixels included in the current media frame ([0016], [0053], Fig. 2, FIG. 6, generate a histogram for reference frame and the current frame such as reference histogram 208 and current histogram 210 from which weight and offset are derived based on an energy change between a current frame and a reference frame in accordance with equation (1)
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where p is a reference frame, i is a current frame, mean(X) is the mean value of one frame, σ(X) is a variance of one frame, W is a weight, and O is an offset) , and
determining the second variance comprises: determining, for each pixel included in the reference media frame, a square of a difference between a pixel value of the pixel and the second mean; determining a second sum of the squares of the differences for all pixels included in the reference media frame; and dividing the second sum by a number of pixels included in the reference media frame ([0016], [0053], Fig. 2, FIG. 6, generate a histogram for reference frame and the current frame such as reference histogram 208 and current histogram 210 from which weight and offset are derived based on an energy change between a current frame and a reference frame in accordance with equation (1)
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media_image1.png
94
436
media_image1.png
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where p is a reference frame, i is a current frame, mean(X) is the mean value of one frame, σ(X) is a variance of one frame, W is a weight, and O is an offset). The same reason or rational of obviousness motivation applied as used above in claim 1.
Regarding Claim 5, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Xie discloses wherein the one or more first weight prediction parameters comprise at least one of a denominator parameter, a weight prediction parameter, or an offset parameter ([0038], weighted predictive coding in which three main prediction parameters are involved in the weighted predictive coding process, which are weight, offset, and log weight denominator, where the log weight denominator can avoid floating-point operations in the coding process and amplify the weight.
Regarding Claim 6, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 5,
Xie discloses wherein the one or more first weight prediction parameters are applied to predicted samples of the current media frame by: multiplying a first predicted sample included in the predicted samples by the weight prediction parameter to generate a first weighted predicted sample; and adding the first weighted predicted sample to the offset parameter to generate a second weighted predicted sample ([0037], FIG. 2, At step 120, perform weighted predictive coding of the video picture; [0048]. FIG. 3, At step 230, weighted predictive coding of the video picture is performed according to a luminance change situation of the video picture, where the weighted predictive coding uses at least one set of weighted prediction identification information and parameters).
Regarding Claim 7, Analogous rejection as the rejection of Claim 4 applies.
Regarding Claim 8, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Lan discloses wherein: each of the first variance and the second variance comprises a luminance variance, a red chrominance difference variance, and a blue chrominance difference variance, and each of the first mean and the second mean comprises a luminance mean, a red chrominance difference mean, and a blue chrominance difference mean ([0040], a histogram may reflect luminance values of pixels within a frame and collecting module may collect reference histogram 208 and current histogram 210 by collecting reference histogram 208 from a YUV plane of reference frame 204 and current histogram 210 from a YUV plane of current frame 206). The same reason or rational of obviousness motivation applied as used above in claim 1.
Regarding Claim 9, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Xie discloses wherein determining the one or more first weight prediction parameters for the current media frame is performed in parallel with applying one or more second weight prediction parameters to predicted samples of a previous media frame prior and encoding the predicted samples of the previous media frame ([0038], video coding may be performed on the current frame based on the preceding frame by means of the multiplication of a weight relative to the preceding frame as a whole, followed by the addition of an offset where three main prediction parameters are involved in the weighted predictive coding process, which are weight, offset, and log weight denominator, where the log weight denominator can avoid floating-point operations in the coding process and amplify the weight).
Regarding Claim 10, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Xie discloses wherein, after encoding the predicted samples of the current media frame, the predicted samples of the current media frame are included in a bit stream that further includes an index that references the one or more first weight prediction parameters ([0038] The weighted prediction identification information may be identification information for parameters used in the weighted prediction, where the parameters may be specific parameters of the weighted prediction identification information, and may include at least one of a weight, an offset, and a log weight denominator)
Regarding Claim 11, Xie in view of Lan discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1,
Xie in view of Lan discloses wherein, when the one or more first weight prediction parameters are applied to the at least the portion of predicted samples of the current media frame, at least one of a luminance difference or a chrominance difference between the at least the portion of the predicted samples and corresponding samples of the reference media frame are reduced ([0045], calculating the difference of pixel mean values between the video picture and the reference picture, and so on, and the luminance change situation may be determined according to the result of the comparison of the video picture with the reference picture, where the luminance change situation may include gradually becoming brighter, gradually becoming darker, having no change, changing randomly).
Regarding Claims 12-19, System claims 12-19 of using the corresponding method claimed in claims 1-7 & 11, the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Regarding Claim 20, Computer media claim 20 of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1, the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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 on 8AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mehrdad Dastouri can be reached on 571-272-7418. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAMUEL D FEREJA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2487
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