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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to an election filed, with traverse, on 06/01/2026 of a continuation application filed in which claims 1-20 of the instant application are pending. As a result of applicant’s arguments, Examiner is withdrawing the restriction requirement and claims 1-20 are being examined.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-8, and 10-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Filippov (WO 2020/055292 A1) in view of Kang (US 2021/0314562).
As to claim 1, Filippov teaches a device for video decoding, comprising: a processor configured to:
obtain a first sub-partition of a first video block; determine that an intra prediction mode for a second sub-partition of the first video block is associated with an integer slope (see Pages 37-45 for reference sample filtering applied to modes from group B wherein diagonal modes of group B may comprise integer-slope wide-angle modes; also see Pages 45-53 and 62-66, Sections 8.4.4.2.1, 8.4.4.2.4, and 8.4.4.2.7 for Intra Sub Partitioning related syntax);
apply a reference sample filter on a sample of the first sub-partition based on the determination that the intra prediction mode for the second sub-partition is associated with the integer slope (see Pages 37-45, including Table 5, for reference sample filtering applied to mode from group B wherein diagonal modes of group B may comprise integer-slope wide-angle modes; also see Pages 45-53 and 62-66, Sections 8.4.4.2.1, 8.4.4.2.4, and 8.4.4.2.7 for Intra Sub Partitioning related syntax);
predict the second sub-partition based on the sample of the first sub-partition and the intra prediction mode for the second sub-partition; and decode the first video block based on the first and second sub-partitions (see Pages 37-45; also see FIGs. 2 and 3 for video encoding and decoding processes related to intra prediction).
Filippov does not explicitly teach applying a smoothing filter on a sample of the first sub-partition based on the determination that the intra prediction mode for the second sub-partition is associated with the integer slope.
However, Filippov does teach wherein a decision on whether to use reference sample filter or not is determined by intra prediction mode and block size, referred to as Mode Dependent Intra Smoothing (MDIS). The Adaptive Reference Sample Smoothing (ARSS) method may explicitly (i.e. a flag is included into a bitstream) or implicitly (i.e., for example, data hiding is used to avoid putting a flag into a bitstream to reduce signaling overhead) signal whether the prediction samples are filtered. In this case, the encoder may make the decision on smoothing by testing the Rate-Distortion (RD) cost for all potential intra prediction modes (Page 34). It is possible to determine reference sample smoothing filter using similar rules described above for interpolation filter selection process (Page 37).
In that regard, Kang teaches applying a smoothing filter on a sample of a first sub-partition based on a determination that the an intra prediction mode for a second sub-partition is associated with diagonal modes that refer to a pixel at an integer position (see [0107]-[0109] for a smoothing filter applied to reference samples associated with intra prediction modes belonging to group B; also see [0076], [0116]-[0121], and [0191] for ISP related syntax).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Filippov’s system with Kang’s system to show applying a smoothing filter on a sample of the first sub-partition based on the determination that the intra prediction mode for the second sub-partition is associated with the integer slope in order to provide improved and more flexible intra prediction related video coding techniques.
As to claims 10, 14, and 18, the aforementioned claims are rejected similarly as claim 1.
As to claims 2, 11, 15, and 19, the combination of Filippov and Kang teaches wherein the integer slope is a first integer slope, and wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain a reference line associated with a second video block based on a reference line indication that indicates the reference line; determine that an intra prediction mode for the second video block is associated with a second integer slope; apply the smoothing filter on a sample of the reference line based on the determination that the intra prediction mode for the second video block is associated with the second integer slope; and predict the second video block based on the sample of the reference line and the intra prediction mode for the second video block (Filippov; see Pages 37-45; also see Pages 45-53 and 62-66, Sections 8.4.4.2.1, 8.4.4.2.4, and 8.4.4.2.7; Kang; [0075]-[0076], [0107]-[0121], and [0191]).
As to claims 4, 12, 16, and 20, the combination of Filippov and Kang teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: determine an intra prediction mode for a third video block; obtain a reference sample associated with the third video block; determine that the intra prediction mode for the third video block is associated with a third integer slope; apply the smoothing filter on the reference sample associated with the third video block based on the determination that the intra prediction mode for the third video block is associated with the third integer slope; and predict the third video block based on the reference sample associated with the third video block and the intra prediction mode for the third video block (Filippov; see Pages 37-45; Kang; [0107]-[0121]).
As to claim 5, the combination of Filippov and Kang teaches wherein the intra prediction mode for the third video block is an angular intra prediction mode (Filippov; see Pages 37-45; Kang; [0107]-[0121]).
As to claim 6, the combination of Filippov and Kang teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: determine that intra sub-partition (ISP) is enabled for the first video block, wherein the first sub-partition of the first video block is obtained based on the determination that ISP is enabled for the first video block, and wherein the sample of the first sub-partition is used as a reference sample for predicting the second sub-partition (Filippov; see Pages 45-53 and 62-66, Sections 8.4.4.2.1, 8.4.4.2.4, and 8.4.4.2.7; Kang; [0076], [0116]-[0121], and [0191]).
As to claim 7, the combination of Filippov and Kang teaches wherein the smoothing filter a [1 2 1]/4 3-tap filter (Filippov; see Pages 37-45 including Table 5; Kang; [0107]-[0109]).
As to claims 8, 13, and 17, the combination of Filippov and Kang teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: obtain a first sub-partition of a second video block; determine that an intra prediction mode for a second sub-partition of the second video block is associated with a fractional slope; apply a Gaussian filter on a sample of the first sub-partition of the second video block based on the determination that the intra prediction mode for the second sub-partition of the second video block is associated with the fractional slope; predict the second sub-partition of the second video block based on the sample of the first sub-partition of the second video block and the intra prediction mode for the second sub-partition of the second video block; and decode/encode the second video block based on the first and second sub-partitions of the second video block (Filippov; see Pages 18-26, 34, and 37-39, including Table 3, for Gaussian interpolation filtering applied to modes from group C having a non-integer slope wherein the position of the reference sample is fractional; also see Pages 53-62 and 66-73, Section 8.4.4.2.8 for Gaussian interpolation filtering based on fractional sample positions; Kang; [0076], [0108], [0116]-[0121], and [0191]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 9 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.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHIHAN ZHOU whose telephone number is (571)270-7284. The examiner can normally be reached Mondays-Fridays 8:30am-5pm.
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/ZHIHAN ZHOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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