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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 12/16/2024. The submission are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-5 & 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (2) as being anticipated by Chen et al. (US 20210377517, hereinafter Chen)
Regarding Claim 1, Chen discloses a local illumination compensation (LIC) method (FIG. 8), applied to a decoding end and comprising:
parsing an LIC usage flag of a current block ([0044], FIG. 2, decoder computes some prediction parameters based on some reconstructed picture samples using local illumination compensation (LIC) signaled on the CU level through a flag (LIC flag) associated with each coding unit (CU) coded in inter-prediction);
determining an LIC mode applied to the current block according to availability of neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block in response to determining, according to the LIC usage flag ([0057] When LIC is enabled for a current CU, the LIC parameters are copied from the LIC parameters computed from one top (or one left) reconstructed CU which are stored in the common row (or column respectively) LIC buffer in case of “VVC-LIC), that LIC is applied to the current block ([0065], FIG. 8, If IC-flag=true, the LIC parameters are determined from the LIC buffer (322) in case of “VVC-LIC” and Illumination Compensation is applied on the Prediction (PU)); and
applying LIC according to the determined LIC mode, when performing inter prediction on the current block ([0065], FIG. 8, current CU uses said determined illumination compensation parameter for its reconstruction and then the CU is reconstructed by adding residuals to the in inter-prediction PU (325)).
Regarding Claim 2, Chen discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining the LIC mode applied to the current block according to availability of the neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block comprises:
parsing an extended LIC flag of the current block; and when the extended LIC flag is true and only top neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block are available, determining that an LIC_left (LIC_L) mode is applied to the current block, wherein in the LIC_L mode, only left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and left neighbouring reconstructed samples of a reference block are used to calculate an LIC model parameter ([0057] When LIC is enabled for a current CU, the LIC parameters are copied from the LIC parameters computed from one top (or one left) reconstructed CU which are stored in the common row (or column respectively) LIC buffer in case of “VVC-LIC”)
when the extended LIC flag is true and only left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block are available, determining that an LIC_top (LIC_T) mode is applied to the current block, wherein in the LIC_T mode, only top neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and top neighbouring reconstructed samples of the reference block are used to calculate the LIC model parameter ([0082], FIG. 11, LIC-group-flag-enabled=true indicates that there is at least one CU in the LIC-group for which the value of LIC-flag is explicitly coded (not inherited by merge) and for which LIC-flag is equal to true (top-left CTU in the FIG. 11). LIC-group-flag-enabled=false indicates that all the CUs in the LIC-group for which the value of LIC-flag is explicitly coded have LIC-flag equal to false, but it may have CUs with LIC-flag equal to true when they inherit value of LIC-flag (merge mode) (top right CTUs in the FIG. 11).
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Regarding Claim 3, Chen discloses the method of claim 2, wherein determining the LIC mode applied to the current block according to availability of the neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block further comprises:
when the extended LIC flag is false, determining that an LIC_top-and-left (LIC_TL) mode is applied to the current block, wherein in the LIC_TL mode, the LIC model parameter is calculated according to the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the reference block ([0070], on the top-right of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is restricted to the current CTU. On the top-left and bottom of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is allowed at left except for the first CUs in one image row, but access to top LIC parameters or top reconstructed samples is restricted to the current CTU in the top-left of FIG. 9);
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when the extended LIC flag is true and both the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block are available, parsing an LIC mode index of the current block and determining, according to the LIC mode index, which one of the LIC_T mode or the LIC_L mode is applied to the current block (Claim 21, illumination compensation parameter for the current block is determined from one or more illumination compensation parameters or from one or more reconstructed samples of at least one spatially neighbor block responsive to the at least one spatially neighbor block belongs to a same local illumination compensation group as the current block, called current local illumination compensation group, a local illumination group being a group of blocks wherein local illumination compensation parameters can be inherited or computed from blocks of the group of blocks only).
Regarding Claim 4, Chen discloses the method of claim 1, wherein determining the LIC mode applied to the current block according to availability of the neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block comprises:
parsing an extended LIC flag of the current block when both top neighbouring reconstructed samples and left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block are available ([0057] When LIC is enabled for a current CU, the LIC parameters are copied from the LIC parameters computed from one top (or one left) reconstructed CU which are stored in the common row (or column respectively) LIC buffer in case of “VVC-LIC”); and
when the extended LIC flag is false, determining that an LIC_TL mode is applied to the current block ([0070], on the top-right of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is restricted to the current CTU. On the top-left and bottom of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is allowed at left except for the first CUs in one image row, but access to top LIC parameters or top reconstructed samples is restricted to the current CTU in the top-left of FIG. 9);
when the extended LIC flag is true, parsing an LIC mode index of the current block and determining, according to the LIC mode index, which one of an LIC_T mode or an LIC_L mode is applied to the current block ([0082], FIG. 11, LIC-group-flag-enabled=true indicates that there is at least one CU in the LIC-group for which the value of LIC-flag is explicitly coded (not inherited by merge) and for which LIC-flag is equal to true (top-left CTU in the FIG. 11). LIC-group-flag-enabled=false indicates that all the CUs in the LIC-group for which the value of LIC-flag is explicitly coded have LIC-flag equal to false, but it may have CUs with LIC-flag equal to true when they inherit value of LIC-flag (merge mode) (top right CTUs in the FIG. 11).
Regarding Claim 5, Chen discloses the method of claim 4, wherein determining the LIC mode applied to the current block according to availability of the neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block further comprises:
when both the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block being available is not satisfied, skipping parsing the extended LIC flag and the extended LIC flag is false by default, and determining that the LIC_TL mode is applied to the current block ([0070], on the top-right of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is restricted to the current CTU. On the top-left and bottom of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is allowed at left except for the first CUs in one image row, but access to top LIC parameters or top reconstructed samples is restricted to the current CTU in the top-left of FIG. 9).
Regarding Claim 17, Apparatus claim 17 of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 1, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
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 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 20210377517, hereinafter Chen) in view of FILIPPOV et al. (US 20210352277, hereinafter FILIPPOV).
Regarding Claim 6, Chen discloses the method of claim 1, wherein applying LIC according to the determined LIC mode comprises:
when an LIC_T mode is applied to the current block, calculating an LIC model parameter by using only top neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and top neighbouring reconstructed samples of a reference block ([0057] When LIC is enabled for a current CU, the LIC parameters are copied from the LIC parameters computed from one top (or one left) reconstructed CU which are stored in the common row (or column respectively) LIC buffer in case of “VVC-LIC”), and
when an LIC_L mode is applied to the current block, calculating the LIC model parameter by using only left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the reference block ([0082], FIG. 11, LIC-group-flag-enabled=true indicates that there is at least one CU in the LIC-group for which the value of LIC-flag is explicitly coded (not inherited by merge) and for which LIC-flag is equal to true (top-left CTU in the FIG. 11). LIC-group-flag-enabled=false indicates that all the CUs in the LIC-group for which the value of LIC-flag is explicitly coded have LIC-flag equal to false, but it may have CUs with LIC-flag equal to true when they inherit value of LIC-flag (merge mode) (top right CTUs in the FIG. 11), and
when an LIC_TL mode is applied to the current block, calculating the LIC model parameter according to the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the reference block ([0070], on the top-right of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is restricted to the current CTU. On the top-left and bottom of FIG. 9, the LIC parameters access or reconstructed samples access is allowed at left except for the first CUs in one image row, but access to top LIC parameters or top reconstructed samples is restricted to the current CTU in the top-left of FIG. 9).
Chen does not explicitly disclose performing linear transformation on a prediction block of the current block according to the LIC model parameter to obtain a prediction block after LIC
FILIPPOV teaches performing linear transformation on a prediction block of the current block according to the LIC model parameter to obtain a prediction block after LIC ([0331] Illumination compensation is a linear transform that is applied to the samples of the predicted block. In the descriptions above parameter derivation was performed on the basis of availability of the reconstructed samples on the top side or on the left side of the predicted samples; [0351] The last step is to apply a linear transform to the predicted samples in order to obtain the updated values of predicted samples that are compensated in terms of local illumination. Essentially, linear transform with parameters of linear model α and β is the following operation:
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 performing linear transformation on a prediction as taught by FILIPPOV ([0331]) into the encoding & decoding system of Chen in order to provide systems for reducing the number of sequential computations, simplifies versatile video coding (VVC) specification draft and reduces hardware complexity (FILIPPOV, [0201]).
Regarding Claim 7, Chen in view of FILIPPOV discloses the method of claim 6, Chen discloses wherein calculating the LIC model parameter according to the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block and the top neighbouring reconstructed samples and the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the reference block comprises:
when only the top neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block are available, determining, according to a width of the current block, the number of reconstructed samples selected for calculating the LIC model parameter; when only the left neighbouring reconstructed samples of the current block are available, determining, according to a height of the current block, the number of reconstructed samples selected for calculating the LIC model parameter([0091], process of selecting the LIC parameters (or reconstructed samples respectively) from neighboring CUs (FIG. 6) one builds the list of LIC parameters (or reconstructed samples respectively) associated with CUs with same reference index and in case of “VVC-LIC” the LIC parameters to use for current CU is an average of these LIC parameters. In a “VVC-LIC” variant, the average is a weighted average where the weights are proportional to the neighboring CU width (CUs above) or neighboring CU height (CUs left). In a variant, the weights are proportional to the length of the common frontier with current CU as depicted in FIG. 13 for weights w1 and w7).
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Claims 8-16 & 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chen et al. (US 20210377517, hereinafter Chen) in view of Chen et al. (US 20240214553, hereinafter Chen_553).
Regarding Claim 8, Encoding method claim 8 of using the corresponding decoding method claimed in claim 1, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
However, Chen does not explicitly disclose determining, according to the rate-distortion cost, whether to apply LIC when performing inter prediction on the current block.
Chen_553 teaches determining, according to the rate-distortion cost, whether to apply LIC when performing inter prediction on the current block ([0081], decision of using which spatial reference block is, for instance, done via rate-distortion (RD) or sum absolute difference (SAD) check. A flag lic_refblk_flag to indicate which spatial reference block and the corresponding spatial LIC parameters set is applied, is signaled into the bitstream. When lic_refblk_flag equals to 0, then the left spatial LIC parameters are applied; otherwise, the above spatial LIC parameters are applied; [0095] the decision of using which spatial neighboring block is done via rate-distortion (RD) or sum absolute difference (SAD) check. An index lic_refblk_index to indicate which spatial reference block and the corresponding spatial LIC parameters set is applied, is signaled into the bitstream).
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 determining, according to the rate-distortion cost as taught by Chen_553 ([0081]) into the encoding & decoding system of Chen in order to provide systems for providing high compression efficiency, image and video coding schemes to employ prediction, including motion vector prediction, and transform to leverage spatial and temporal redundancy in the video content (Chen_553, [0120]).
Regarding Claim 9-16, Encoding method claim 9-16 of using the corresponding decoding method claimed in claim 2-5, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
However, Chen does not explicitly disclose determining, according to the rate-distortion cost, whether to apply LIC when performing inter prediction on the current block.
Chen_553 teaches determining, according to the rate-distortion cost, whether to apply LIC when performing inter prediction on the current block ([0081], decision of using which spatial reference block is, for instance, done via rate-distortion (RD) or sum absolute difference (SAD) check. A flag lic_refblk_flag to indicate which spatial reference block and the corresponding spatial LIC parameters set is applied, is signaled into the bitstream. When lic_refblk_flag equals to 0, then the left spatial LIC parameters are applied; otherwise, the above spatial LIC parameters are applied; [0095] the decision of using which spatial neighboring block is done via rate-distortion (RD) or sum absolute difference (SAD) check. An index lic_refblk_index to indicate which spatial reference block and the corresponding spatial LIC parameters set is applied, is signaled into the bitstream).
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 determining, according to the rate-distortion cost as taught by Chen_553 ([0081]) into the encoding & decoding system of Chen in order to provide systems for providing high compression efficiency, image and video coding schemes to employ prediction, including motion vector prediction, and transform to leverage spatial and temporal redundancy in the video content (Chen_553, [0120]).
Regarding Claim 18, Apparatus claim 18 of using the corresponding method claimed in claim 8, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Conclusion
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 8AM-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, DAVID CZEKAJ can be reached at (571) 272-7327. 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