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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 6/17/26 has been entered.
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 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 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 1-6, 12-13, 15-17 and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 2021/0368163) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2020/0396465).
Regarding claim 1, Chen discloses an apparatus for display processing (see fig. 4), comprising: a memory (see 404 in fig. 4); and a processor (see 402 in fig. 4) coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the processor is configured to: obtain an indication of a set of frames for processing (see 100 in fig. 1); identify a subset of the set of frames as a set of reference frames (e.g. see ¶ [0075]); determine a set of reference timing windows (RTW) (see conditional timing of usage of “ref_pic_list” in fig. 5A) for a reference frame of the identified set of reference frames (e.g. see ¶ [0075]); and deallocate a set of memory addresses associated with the reference frame based on the determined set of RTW (e.g. see ¶ [0004]).
Although Chen discloses wherein each RTW of the set of RTWs indicates a time during which one or more frames of the set of frames refer to the reference frame (e.g. see “ref_pic_list” in fig. 5A), it is noted that Chen does not disclose wherein the time is a period having a beginning and an end.
However, Zhang discloses a video processing with set of reference time wherein the time is a period having a beginning and an end (e.g. see ¶ 0147]).
Given the teachings as a whole, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate Zhang teachings of RTW duration into Chen RTW for the benefit of efficiently allocating memory size to process various reference frames.
Regarding claim 2, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: process the set of frames in response to the obtained indication of the set of frames for processing (see 500A in fig. 5A), wherein, to process the set of frames, the processor is configured to encode the set of frames (see 226 in fig. 2A); and output an indication of the encoded set of frames (see 206 in fig. 2A).
Regarding claim 3, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: process the set of frames in response to the obtained indication of the set of frames for processing (see 500A in fig. 5A), wherein, to process the set of frames, the processor is configured to decode the set of frames (see 302 in fig. 3A); and output an indication of the decoded set of frames (see 206 in fig. 3A).
Regarding claim 4, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: store the reference frame in the set of memory addresses based on the determined set of RTW (e.g. see ¶ [0016]).
Regarding claim 5, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: encode a subset of the set of frames during a last time window of the determined set of RTW (see 116 in fig. 1), wherein, to deallocate the set of memory addresses associated with the reference frame based on the determined set of RTW, the processor is configured to: deallocate the set of memory addresses after the last time window of the determined set of RTW (see one round of 1400A in fig. 14A, although not shown in cycle, it is obvious that upon finishing a group of picture in 1400A, a new round of group of pictures would indicate that a deallocating would be done for the next round).
Regarding claims 6 and 17, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: refrain from allocating a second set of memory addresses to a second subset of the set of frames based on an identification of the second subset of the set of frames as a set of unreferenced frames (see 1400 in fig. 14A, although not shown, it is obvious that only referenced are allocated a set of memory, thus, allocating a second set of memory for unreferenced frames are refrained).
Regarding claims 12 and 19, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: decode a second set of frames; and identify a second subset of the second set of frames as a second set of reference frames, wherein, to determine the set of RTW for the reference frame of the identified set of reference frames, the processor is configured to: determine a second set of RTW for a second reference frame of the identified second set of reference frames; correlate the second reference frame of the identified second set of reference frames with the reference frame of the identified set of reference frames; and determine the set of RTW based on the correlated second reference frame and the determined second set of RTW (see 1400 in fig. 14A, although not shown in cycle, it is obvious that upon finishing a group of picture in 1400A, a new round of group of pictures would indicate repeating the same first round process to a second processing of identify a second subset of the second set of frames as a second set of reference frames and processing therein).
Regarding claim 13, Chen further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: deallocate a set of preallocated memory addresses associated with a third subset of the set of frames based on an identification of the third subset of the set of frames as a set of unreferenced frames (see 1400 in fig. 14A, although not shown, it is obvious that only referenced are allocated a set of memory, thus, allocating a third set of memory for a third round).
Regarding claim 15, Chen further discloses wherein the apparatus comprises a wireless communication device (see 406 in fig. 4).
Regarding claim 16, the claim(s) recite a method analogous limitations to claim 1, and is/are therefore rejected on the same premise.
Regarding claim 20, the claim(s) recite a computer-readable medium storing computer executable code (e.g. see ¶ [0016]) with analogous limitations to claim 1, and is/are therefore rejected on the same premise.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 7-11, 14 and 18 is/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.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1, 16 and 20 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
1. Ichiguchi et al. (US 9,201,819 ), discloses storage management of reference frames.
2. Shibata et al. (US 2006/0133770), discloses storage management of reference frames.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RICHARD T TORRENTE whose telephone number is (571)270-3702. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 6:45-3:15 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jay Patel can be reached at (571) 272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RICHARD T TORRENTE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
