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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. CN202210613984.5, filed on 31st May, 2022.
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.
Claim 20 recites a readable storage medium. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim drawn to a computer readable medium (also called machine readable medium and other such variations) typically covers forms of non-transitory tangible media and transitory propagating signals per se in view of the ordinary and customary meaning of computer readable media, particularly when the specification is silent. See MPEP 2111.01. When the broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim covers a signal per se, the claim must be rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 as covering non-statutory subject matter. The USPTO recognizes that applicants may have claims directed to computer readable media that cover signals per se, which the USPTO must reject under 35 U.S.C. 101 as covering both non- statutory subject matter and statutory subject matter. A claim drawn to such a computer readable medium that covers both transitory and non-transitory embodiments may be amended to narrow the claim to cover only statutory embodiments to avoid a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 101 by adding the limitation "non-transitory" to the claim. Such an amendment would typically not raise the issue of new matter, even when the specification is silent because the broadest reasonable interpretation relies on the ordinary and customary meaning that includes signals per se. Applicant’s specification in Paragraphs [0315]-[0317] recites “An embodiment of this application further provides a readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium stores a program or instructions. When the program or instructions are executed by a processor, each process of the foregoing encoding method embodiment or decoding method embodiment is implemented, with the same technical effect achieved”, “The processor is a processor in the decoding device described in the foregoing embodiment. The readable storage medium includes a computer-readable storage medium, such as a computer read-only memory ROM, a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disc”, and “The computer-readable storage medium is, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc” respectively. Since Applicant’s disclosure does not limit the definition of “a readable storage medium”, it could be a signal. As an additional note, a non-transitory computer readable medium having executable programming instructions stored thereon is considered statutory as non-transitory computer readable media excludes transitory data signals.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mammou et al. (US 20210090301 A1), hereinafter referenced as Mammou, in view of Graziosi et al. (US 20210174551 A1), hereinafter referenced as Graziosi.
Regarding Claim 1, Mammou discloses an encoding method (Mammou, [0328]: teaches a method for an encoder), comprising:
encoding, by an encoder based on first identification information, a basemesh corresponding to a target three-dimensional mesh to obtain a first bitstream (Mammou, [0561]: teaches a mesh encoder 1500 that receives that receives geometry information <read on first identification information> for a 3D mesh <read on basemesh of target three-dimensional mesh> that is to be encoded as shown in FIG. 15; FIG. 15 teaches mesh compression 1512 generating a compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>), wherein
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[[the basemesh comprises reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh, and]]
[[the first identification information is used to represent whether to encode the reconstructed texture coordinate information;]]
obtaining, by the encoder, a second bitstream [[based on mesh difference information]] (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches video compression module 1510 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>), wherein
[[the mesh difference information is used to represent difference information between the basemesh and a to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh, and]]
the target three-dimensional mesh is obtained based on the to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, [0575]: teaches compressing the original mesh data <read on to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh> for compressed bitstream, where compressed mesh data <read on target three-dimensional mesh> is generated; );
obtaining, by the encoder, a third bitstream based on reconstructed texture map information (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches video compression module 1518 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream>; [0562]: teaches image packing/padding modules 1506 and 1508 using "patch information along with the patch connectivity and patch texture coordinates to pack the geometry images into the two dimensional image frames <read on reconstructed texture map information>," where video compression module 1518 encodes the 2D image frames that comprises packed texture/attribute patches), wherein
the reconstructed texture map information is obtained based on the first bitstream and the second bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches patch connectivity & patch texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture map information> being sent to the mesh compression module 1512, for generating the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, to image packing/padding module 1506, which is then sent to video compression module 1510 to generate a compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream> , and to the image packing/padding module 1508, which is then sent to the video compression module 1518 to generate a compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream>); and
generating, by the encoder, a target bitstream based on the first bitstream, the second bitstream, and the third bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches multiplexer 1520 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed bitstream <read on target bitstream> using the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, compressed patch info signal, compressed boundary stitching info signal, and the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream>).
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
the basemesh comprises reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh, and
the first identification information is used to represent whether to encode the reconstructed texture coordinate information; and
obtaining, by the encoder, a second bitstream based on mesh difference information, wherein
the mesh difference information is used to represent difference information between the basemesh and a to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh.
Graziosi discloses
the basemesh comprises reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh (Graziosi, [0043]: teaches
(
u
,
v
)
coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information> of the vertices of the base-mesh being encoded, which is used for connectivity data), and
the first identification information is used to represent whether to encode the reconstructed texture coordinate information (Graziosi, [0070]: teaches a generated base mesh that includes additional connectivity data <read on first identification information>, where the system determines whether to utilize the additional connectivity data for improved rendering and point filtering); and
obtaining, by the encoder, a second bitstream based on mesh difference information (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches performing mesh voxelization on an input mesh, where "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on mesh difference information> so there are no negative numbers"; [0027]: further teaches generating a video-based point cloud compression (V-PCC) bitstream <read on second bitstream> based on the base-mesh coding and image generation), wherein
the mesh difference information is used to represent difference information between the basemesh and a to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches performing mesh voxelization on the input mesh <read on to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh> to obtain a voxelized mesh, where "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on mesh difference information> so there are no negative numbers"; Note: Paragraph [0090] of the Specification states that the original mesh is the to-be-encoded mesh).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the compressed bitstream encoder pipeline as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction whilst saving on bit usage. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the generating, by the encoder, a target bitstream based on the first bitstream and the second bitstream comprises:
encoding the first identification information to obtain encoded first identification information (Mammou, [0561]: teaches mesh encoder 1500 encoding a 3D mesh based on received geometry information <read on first identification information> to obtain an encoded 3D mesh with encoded geometry information <read on encoded first identification information>); and
generating the target bitstream based on the encoded first identification information, the first bitstream, and the second bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches multiplexer 1520 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed bitstream <read on target bitstream> using various signals, such as the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream> and the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, where the compressed geometry signal includes the encoded geometry information <read on encoded first identification information>).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the basemesh further comprises
geometry information and connectivity information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, [0563]: teaches mesh compression module 1512 using a mesh compression algorithm to compress a 3D mesh <read on basemesh>, where it compresses "the patch connectivity information and patch texture/attribute coordinates"; [0562]: teaches patches being packed geometry patches <read on geometry information>).
Regarding Claim 4, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 3. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the encoding, by an encoder based on first identification information, a basemesh corresponding to a target three-dimensional mesh to obtain a first bitstream comprises:
[[in a case that the first identification information represents encoding of the reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh,]] encoding the geometry information, the connectivity information, and the reconstructed texture coordinate information to obtain the first bitstream (Mammou, [0563]: teaches the mesh compression module 1512 of encoder 1500 compressing <read on encoding> patch connectivity information and patch texture/attribute coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>, where the mesh compression module 1512 is a type of encoder, which is then used to generate a compressed patch mesh info signal <read on obtained first bitstream> as shown in FIG. 15); and/or
[[in a case that the first identification information represents non encoding of the reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh,]] encoding the geometry information and the connectivity information to obtain the first bitstream (Mammou, [0563]: teaches the mesh compression module 1512 of encoder 1500 compressing <read on encoding> patch connectivity information and patch texture/attribute coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>, where the mesh compression module 1512 is a type of encoder, which is then used to generate a compressed patch mesh info signal <read on obtained first bitstream> as shown in FIG. 15).
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
in a case that the first identification information represents encoding of the reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh, encoding the geometry information, the connectivity information, and the reconstructed texture coordinate information to obtain the first bitstream; and/or
in a case that the first identification information represents non encoding of the reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh, encoding the geometry information and the connectivity information to obtain the first bitstream.
Graziosi discloses
in a case that the first identification information represents encoding of the reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh, encoding the geometry information, the connectivity information (Graziosi, [0049]: teaches computer code that checks for a reconstruction flag being enabled from the patch ID, where the patch includes UV texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>; Note: the reconstruction flag is being interpreted as the determination on whether the first bitstream comprises the encoded reconstructed texture coordinate information), and the reconstructed texture coordinate information to obtain the first bitstream; and/or
in a case that the first identification information represents non encoding of the reconstructed texture coordinate information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh, encoding the geometry information and the connectivity information to obtain the first bitstream (Graziosi, [0049]: teaches computer code that checks for a reconstruction flag being enabled and not enabled from the patch ID, where the patch includes UV texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>; Note: it is unclear as to what "non encoding" is supposed to be; furthermore, the compressed information is interpreted to contain encoded and non-encoded parts).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the compressed bitstream encoder pipeline as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction whilst saving on bit usage. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi disclose the encoding method of Claim 3. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein before the obtaining, by the encoder, a third bitstream based on reconstructed texture map information, the method further comprises:
decoding and dequantizing the first bitstream to obtain a reconstructed basemesh (Mammou, [0566]: teaches obtaining the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream> from a demultiplexed compressed bitstream, where the compressed patch mesh info signal is decoded through the mesh decompression module 1606 to obtain a reconstructed 3D mesh as shown in FIG. 16);
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decoding and dequantizing the second bitstream [[to obtain target mesh difference information]] (Mammou, FIG. 16 teaches the video decompression module 1604 decoding the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>); and
generating the reconstructed texture map information based on the reconstructed basemesh [[and the target mesh difference information]] and according to a texture map generation algorithm (Mammou, [0564]: teaches the decoder recreating the three-dimensional mesh <read on reconstructed basemesh> and applying the texture/attribute values <read on reconstructed texture map information> to the reconstructed three-dimensional mesh; [0567]: teaches using a mesh decoding algorithm <read on texture map generation algorithm> to decode the compressed patch mesh information to generate patch connectivity and patch texture coordinates; Note: "texture map generation algorithm" is being interpreted broadly as the Specification does not provide a detailed description of the terminology).
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
decoding and dequantizing the second bitstream to obtain target mesh difference information; and
generating the reconstructed texture map information based on the reconstructed basemesh and the target mesh difference information and according to a texture map generation algorithm.
Graziosi discloses
decoding and dequantizing the second bitstream to obtain target mesh difference information (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches performing mesh voxelization on an input mesh, where "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on target mesh difference information> so there are no negative numbers"; [0027]: further teaches generating a video-based point cloud compression (V-PCC) bitstream <read on second bitstream> based on the base-mesh coding and image generation); and
generating the reconstructed texture map information based on the reconstructed basemesh and the target mesh difference information and according to a texture map generation algorithm (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on target mesh difference information>").
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the compressed bitstream encoder pipeline as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction whilst saving on bit usage through mesh compression. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claim 6, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the obtaining, by the encoder, a second bitstream based on mesh difference information comprises:
decoding the first bitstream to obtain a reconstructed mesh corresponding to the first bitstream (Mammou, [0566]: teaches obtaining the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream> from a demultiplexed compressed bitstream, where the compressed patch mesh info signal is decoded through the mesh decompression module 1606 to obtain a reconstructed 3D mesh as shown in FIG. 16);
[[updating the mesh difference information based on the reconstructed mesh to obtain updated mesh difference information; and]]
[[encoding the updated mesh difference information to]] obtain the second bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches video compression module 1510 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>).
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
updating the mesh difference information based on the reconstructed mesh to obtain updated mesh difference information; and
encoding the updated mesh difference information to obtain the second bitstream.
Graziosi discloses
updating the mesh difference information based on the reconstructed mesh to obtain updated mesh difference information (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches performing mesh voxelization on an input mesh, where "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on updated mesh difference information> so there are no negative numbers"); and
encoding the updated mesh difference information to obtain the second bitstream (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches the updated rasterized mesh surface, which is a set of updated point values <read on updated mesh difference information>, being encoded).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the compressed bitstream encoder pipeline as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction whilst saving on bit usage through mesh compression. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein before the encoding, by an encoder based on first identification information, a basemesh corresponding to a target three-dimensional mesh to obtain a first bitstream, the method further comprises:
in lossy encoding mode, simplifying the to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh to obtain the target three-dimensional mesh; orin lossless encoding mode, determining that the to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh is the target three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, [0543]: teaches using either lossy or lossless <read on lossless encoding mode> mesh codecs for mesh compression; [0575]: teaches determining the original mesh data <read on to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh> for the compressed bitstream is the compressed mesh data <read on target three-dimensional mesh>).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the generating, by the encoder, a target bitstream based on the first bitstream, the second bitstream, and the third bitstream comprises:
obtaining a fourth bitstream based on patch information of the target three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches patch information compression 1514 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed patch info signal <read on fourth bitstream>; [0563]: teaches patch information compression module 1514 compressing patch information); and
obtaining the target bitstream based on the first bitstream, the second bitstream, the third bitstream, and the fourth bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 15 teaches multiplexer 1520 of encoder 1500 generating a compressed bitstream <read on target bitstream> using the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, compressed patch info signal <read on fourth bitstream>, compressed boundary stitching info signal, and the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream>).
Regarding Claim 15, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the encoding method of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou further discloses a decoding method, comprising a processor and a memory (Mammou, [0580]: teaches computer system 1900 <read on encoding device> that includes processor 1910 and system memory 1920), wherein
the memory stores a program or instructions capable of running on the processor (Mammou, [0584]: teaches the computer system 1900 including system memory 1920, where system memory 1920 further includes program instructions 1922 that are processor-executable), and
when the program or instructions are executed by the processor, the steps of the encoding method according to claim 1 are implemented (Mammou, [0584]: teaches processor 1910 of computer system 1900 executing program instructions 1922; [0328]: teaches a method for the encoder).
Regarding Claim 9, Mammou discloses a decoding method (Mammou, [0328]: teaches a method for a decoder), comprising:
demultiplexing, by a decoder, an obtained target bitstream to obtain a first bitstream, a second bitstream, and a third bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 16 teaches demultiplexer 1602 of decoder 1600 obtaining a compressed bitstream <read on obtained target bitstream>, which is then demultiplexed into various signals, such as a compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, a compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, a compressed patch info signal, a compressed boundary signal info signal, and a compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream>), wherein
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the first bitstream is obtained based on a basemesh corresponding to a target three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, [0566]: teaches obtaining the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream> from the demultiplexed compressed bitstream as shown in FIG. 16; Note: in Paragraph [0561], the mesh encoder receives geometry information <read on first identification information> for the 3D mesh <read on basemesh of target three-dimensional mesh>, which is then encoded into the compressed bitstream that is sent to the decoder),
the second bitstream is obtained [[based on mesh difference information]] (Mammou, [0566]: teaches obtaining the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream> from the demultiplexed compressed bitstream as shown in FIG. 16),
[[the mesh difference information is used to represent difference information between the basemesh and a to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh,]]
the target three-dimensional mesh is obtained based on the to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, [0575]: teaches the original mesh data <read on to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh> being compressed for the compressed bitstream, where compressed mesh data <read on target three-dimensional mesh> is generated), and
the third bitstream is obtained based on reconstructed texture map information (Mammou, [0566]: teaches obtaining the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream> from the demultiplexed compressed bitstream as shown in FIG. 16; Note: in Paragraph [0562], the image packing/padding modules 1506 and 1508 used patch information along with the patch connectivity and patch texture coordinates to pack the geometry images into the two dimensional image frames <read on reconstructed texture map information>, where video compression module 1518 encodes the 2D image frames that comprises packed texture/attribute patches, which are then encoded into the compressed bitstream and sent to the decoder); and
[[in a case that the decoder determines that the first bitstream comprises reconstructed texture coordinate information,]] reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream (Mammou, [0568]: teaches a renderer generating a reconstructed three-dimensional mesh <read on target three-dimensional mesh> using decoded bitstream data, such as texture/attribute values using texture coordinates, as well as texture connectivity data; FIG. 16 teaches the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, the compressed patch info signal, the compressed boundary stitching info signal, and the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream> being decompressed <read on first, second, and third decoding results> by their respective decoder modules, then being sent to the renderer to reconstruct the three-dimensional mesh); and/or
[[in a case that the decoder determines that the first bitstream does not comprise reconstructed texture coordinate information, generating reconstructed texture coordinate information, and]]
reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on [[the generated reconstructed texture coordinate information]], a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream (Mammou, [0568]: teaches a renderer generating a reconstructed three-dimensional mesh <read on target three-dimensional mesh> using decoded bitstream data, such as texture/attribute values using texture coordinates, as well as texture connectivity data; FIG. 16 teaches the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, the compressed patch info signal, the compressed boundary stitching info signal, and the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream> being decompressed <read on first, second, and third decoding results> by their respective decoder modules, then being sent to the renderer to reconstruct the three-dimensional mesh).
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
the second bitstream is obtained based on mesh difference information,
the mesh difference information is used to represent difference information between the basemesh and a to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh,
in a case that the decoder determines that the first bitstream comprises reconstructed texture coordinate information, reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream; and/or
in a case that the decoder determines that the first bitstream does not comprise reconstructed texture coordinate information, generating reconstructed texture coordinate information, and
reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on the generated reconstructed texture coordinate information, a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream.
Graziosi discloses
the second bitstream is obtained based on mesh difference information (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches performing mesh voxelization on an input mesh, where "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on mesh difference information> so there are no negative numbers"; [0027]: further teaches a generated video-based point cloud compression (V-PCC) bitstream <read on second bitstream> based on the base-mesh coding and image generation),
the mesh difference information is used to represent difference information between the basemesh and a to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh (Graziosi, [0027]: teaches performing mesh voxelization on the input mesh <read on to-be-encoded three-dimensional mesh> to obtain a voxelized mesh, where "mesh voxelization includes shifting values <read on mesh difference information> so there are no negative numbers"; Note: Paragraph [0090] of the Specification states that the original mesh is the to-be-encoded mesh),
in a case that the decoder determines that the first bitstream comprises reconstructed texture coordinate information, reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream (Graziosi, [0049]: teaches computer code that checks for a reconstruction flag being enabled from the patch ID, where the patch includes UV texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>; Note: the reconstruction flag is being interpreted as the determination on whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information); and/or
in a case that the decoder determines that the first bitstream does not comprise reconstructed texture coordinate information, generating reconstructed texture coordinate information (Graziosi, [0049]: teaches computer code that checks for a reconstruction flag being enabled and not enabled from the patch ID, where the patch includes UV texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>; Note: although "generating the reconstructed texture coordinate information" is not explicitly stated, one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to try to decode encoded information from a bitstream), and
reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on the generated reconstructed texture coordinate information, a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream (Graziosi, [0043]: teaches encoded
(
u
,
v
)
coordinates <read on target three-dimensional mesh> of the vertices of the mesh).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the decoder pipeline for the compressed bitstream as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction and texture mapping whilst saving on bit usage through efficient mesh and texture compression. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claim 16, it recites the limitations that are similar in scope to Claim 1, but in a decoding device. As shown in the rejection, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Additionally, Mammou discloses a decoding device, comprising a processor and a memory (Mammou, [0578]: teaches computer system 1900 that includes a decoder <read on decoder device> further including one or more processors coupled to system memory 1920), wherein
the memory stores a program or instructions capable of running on the processor (Mammou, [0584]: teaches the computer system 1900 including system memory 1920, where system memory 1920 further includes program instructions 1922 that are processor-executable), wherein
the program or instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the decoding device to perform (Mammou, [0584]: teaches processor 1910 of computer system 1900 executing program instructions 1922):…
Thus, Claim 16 is met by Mammou according to the mapping presented in the rejection of Claim 1, given the decoding method corresponds to a decoding device.
Regarding Claims 10 and 17, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the decoding method and the decoding device of Claims 9 and 16 respectively. Additionally, Mammou further discloses
demultiplexing, by the decoder, the obtained target bitstream to obtain first identification information (Mammou, [0567]: teaches obtaining decompressed geometry information <read on first identification information> from the compressed bitstream <read on obtained target bitstream> as shown in FIG. 16; FIG. 16 teaches demultiplexer 1602 demultiplexing the compressed bitstream), wherein
[[the first identification information is used to represent whether an encoder encodes the reconstructed texture coordinate information; and]]
[[determining, based on the first identification information, whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information.]]
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
the first identification information is used to represent whether an encoder encodes the reconstructed texture coordinate information; and
determining, based on the first identification information, whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information.
Graziosi discloses
the first identification information is used to represent whether an encoder encodes the reconstructed texture coordinate information (Graziosi, [0070]: teaches a generated base mesh that includes additional connectivity data <read on first identification information>, where the system <read on encoder> determines whether to utilize the additional connectivity data for improved rendering and point filtering); and
determining, based on the first identification information, whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information (Graziosi, [0049]: teaches computer code that checks for a reconstruction flag from the patch ID, where the patch includes UV texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>; Note: the reconstruction flag is being interpreted as the determination on whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the decoder pipeline for the compressed bitstream as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction and texture mapping whilst saving on bit usage through efficient mesh and texture compression. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the decoding method of Claim 9. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein after the demultiplexing, by a decoder, an obtained target bitstream to obtain a first bitstream, a second bitstream, and a third bitstream, the method further comprises:
decoding the first bitstream to obtain the first decoding result (Mammou, [0567]: teaches a mesh decompression module 1606 using "a mesh decoding algorithm to decode the compressed patch mesh information <read on first bitstream> to generate patch connectivity and patch texture coordinates <read on first decoding result>"); and
[[determining, based on the first decoding result, whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information.]]
However, Mammou does not expressly disclose
determining, based on the first decoding result, whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information.
Graziosi discloses
determining, based on the first decoding result, whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information (Graziosi, [0049]: teaches computer code that checks for a reconstruction flag from the patch ID, where the patch includes UV texture coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information>; Note: the reconstruction flag is being interpreted as the determination on whether the first bitstream comprises the reconstructed texture coordinate information).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the decoder pipeline for the compressed bitstream as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction and texture mapping whilst saving on bit usage through efficient mesh and texture compression. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claims 12 and 18, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the decoding method and the decoding device of Claims 9 and 16 respectively. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the first decoding result further comprises:
geometry information and connectivity information corresponding to the target three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, [0567]: teaches video decompression module 1604 decoding two-dimensional image frames that comprise of packed geometry patches <read on geometry information>, and generating patch connectivity information and patch texture coordinates).
Regarding Claim 13, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the decoding method of Claim 12. Mammou does not expressly disclose the limitations of Claim 13; however, Graziosi discloses wherein the generating reconstructed texture coordinate information comprises:
generating the reconstructed texture coordinate information based on the geometry information and the connectivity information and according to a texture coordinate resampling algorithm (Graziosi, [0055]: teaches additional connectivity data <read on geometry and connectivity information> that the decoder can determine to use or not; [0043]: teaches encoded
(
u
,
v
)
coordinates <read on reconstructed texture coordinate information> of the vertices; [0026]: teaches mesh attributes including textures; [0054]: teaches the mesh being segmented into surface patches, where each surface patch (or 3D patch) is then projected to a 2D patch, whereby triangle surface sampling <read on texture coordinate resampling algorithm> is performed; Note: "texture coordinate resampling algorithm" is being interpreted broadly; additionally, although "generating the reconstructed texture coordinate information" is not explicitly stated, one of ordinary skill in the art would be able to try to decode encoded information from a bitstream; furthermore, the mesh being segmented and projected is being interpreted as having its attributes (i.e., textures) being segmented and projected as well).
Graziosi is analogous art with respect to Mammou because they are from the same field of endeavor, namely compressing 3D mesh data for efficient bitstream compression. Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a mesh voxelization procedure that retains patch-level connectivity and vertex-location information as part of the decoder pipeline for the compressed bitstream as taught by Graziosi into the teaching of Mammou. The suggestion for doing so would allow for more accurate mesh reconstruction and texture mapping whilst saving on bit usage through efficient mesh and texture compression. Therefore, it would have been obvious to combine Graziosi with Mammou.
Regarding Claims 14 and 19, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the decoding method and the decoding device of Claims 9 and 16 respectively. Additionally, Mammou further discloses wherein the demultiplexing, by a decoder, an obtained target bitstream to obtain a first bitstream, a second bitstream, and a third bitstream comprises:
demultiplexing, by the decoder, the obtained target bitstream to obtain the first bitstream, the second bitstream, the third bitstream, and a fourth bitstream (Mammou, FIG. 16 teaches the demultiplexer 1602 receiving the compressed bitstream <read on obtained target bitstream>, where it is demultiplexed into the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, the compressed patch info signal <read on fourth bitstream>, the compressed boundary stitching info signal, and the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream>), wherein
the fourth bitstream is determined based on patch information of the target three-dimensional mesh (Mammou, FIG. 16 teaches the patch info decompression module 1608 receiving the demultiplexed compressed patch info signal <read on fourth bitstream>; [0567]: teaches the patch information decompression module 1608 decompressing patch information, where it is provided to the mesh information reconstruction module 1616); and
the reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream comprises:reconstructing the target three-dimensional mesh based on the first decoding result, the second decoding result, the third decoding result, and a fourth decoding result corresponding to the fourth bitstream; orthe reconstructing a target three-dimensional mesh based on the generated reconstructed texture coordinate information, a first decoding result corresponding to the first bitstream, a second decoding result corresponding to the second bitstream, and a third decoding result corresponding to the third bitstream comprises:reconstructing the target three-dimensional mesh based on the first decoding result, the second decoding result, the third decoding result, a fourth decoding result corresponding to the fourth bitstream, and the generated reconstructed texture coordinate information (Mammou, [0568]: teaches a renderer generating a reconstructed three-dimensional mesh <read on target three-dimensional mesh> using decoded bitstream data, such as texture/attribute values using texture coordinates, as well as texture connectivity data; FIG. 16 teaches the compressed geometry signal <read on second bitstream>, the compressed patch mesh info signal <read on first bitstream>, the compressed patch info signal <read on fourth bitstream>, the compressed boundary stitching info signal, and the compressed attribute image(s) signal <read on third bitstream> being decompressed <read on first, second, third, and fourth decoding results> by their respective decoder modules, then being sent to the renderer to reconstruct the three-dimensional mesh).
Regarding Claim 20, the combination of Mammou and Graziosi discloses the decoding method of Claim 9. Additionally, Mammou further discloses a readable storage medium (Mammou, [0586]: teaches a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium), wherein
the readable storage medium stores a program or instructions (Mammou, [0586]: teaches the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including stored instructions and/or data), and
when the program or instructions are executed by a processor, the steps of the decoding method according to claim 9 are implemented (Mammou, [0584]: teaches processor 1910 of computer system 1900 executing program instructions 1922; [0328]: teaches a method for a decoder).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Bao et al. (US 20060008009 A1) discloses encoding a scalable bitstream to avoid redundancy in coding;
Chou et al. (US 20170347100 A1) discloses compression and decompression of point cloud data;
Chou et al. (US 20170347120 A1) discloses utilizing compression schemes for voxelized point clouds;
Chou et al. (US 20170347122 A1) discloses scalable compression and decompression of 3D point cloud data;
Cohen et al. (US 20170214943 A1) discloses compressing point cloud data to produce a bitstream;
Flynn et al. (US 20200396489 A1) discloses coding point clouds using direct coding modes to code coordinates of a point within a sub-volume associated with a current node;
Hemmer et al. (US 20200265552 A1) discloses compressing LOD data using a cost metric for bitstreams;
Lasserre et al. (US 20210272324 A1) discloses encoding a point cloud for generating a bitstream;
Lukac et al. (US 20160086353 A1) discloses an implementation of near-lossless compression of 3D meshes and point cloud data;
Mammou et al. (US 20210105493 A1) discloses an encoder that compresses point cloud information using blocks of nodes;
Mammou et al. (US 20190156520 A1) discloses an encoder and/or decoder that compresses attribute information and/or spatial for a point cloud;
Park et al. (US 20220337872 A1) discloses a bitstream that contains point cloud data to be decoded;
Van Der Auwera et al. (US 20210327095 A1) discloses decoding point cloud data from a bitstream;
Van Der Auwera et al. (US 20210327099 A1) discloses decoding point cloud data from a bitstream; and
Van Der Auwera et al. (US 20210407143 A1) discloses encoding point cloud data for bitstream generation.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KARL TRUONG whose telephone number is (703)756-5915. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30 AM - 7:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kent Chang can be reached at (571) 272-7667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.D.T./Examiner, Art Unit 2614
/KENT W CHANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2614
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