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 1-19 & 21 are pending in the application. Claims 1, 18 & 19 are amended. Claim 20 is cancelled. Claim 21 is added.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) were submitted on 4/15/2026. The submission are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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. §112:
In the light of amendment to cancelling claim 20, the examiner withdraws the previously made rejection/objection.
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 1-19 & 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHANG et al. (US 20220295089, hereinafter ZHANG) in view of ZHANG et al. (US 20200288168, hereinafter ZHANG-168).
Regarding Claim 1, ZHANG discloses a method for video processing, comprising:
obtaining, for a conversion between a current video block of a video and a bitstream of the video, a motion candidate list for the current video block ([0006], determining, during a conversion between a current video block of a video and a bitstream of the video, a set of motion candidates for the current video block);
determining, based on a similarity metric between a first motion candidate
determining, based on a similarity metric between a first motion candidate and a second motion candidate in the motion candidate list ([0006], determining, for each motion candidate in the set of motion candidates, a refined motion candidate by performing a local search around the each motion candidate based on a template matching cost rule [as similarity metric]), whether to update the motion candidate list ([0006], determining, from a set of refined motion candidates generated for the set of motion candidates, a target motion candidate for the current video block); and
performing the conversion based on the determination ([0006], performing the conversion based on the target motion candidate).
ZHANG does not explicitly disclose the both of the first motion candidate and the second motion candidate are in the motion candidate list.
ZHANG-168 teaches both of the first motion candidate and the second motion candidate are in the motion candidate list ([0118], two motion vectors referring to the same reference picture may not mean that their reference pictures have the same reference index in the same reference list).
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 both of the motion candidates as taught by ZHANG-168 ([0118]) into the encoding & decoding system of ZHANG in order to provide systems for enabling multiple wireless users to access such content through the sharing of system resources, including wireless bandwidth, while providing an improved reconstruction quality than that of the pictures at high temporal layers (ZHANG-168, [0109]).
Regarding Claim 2, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the similarity metric is dependent on a template matching (TM) cost or motion vector information ([0006], determining, for each motion candidate in the set of motion candidates, a refined motion candidate by performing a local search around the each motion candidate based on a template matching cost rule).
Regarding Claim 3, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein motion candidates in the motion candidate list are ordered in accordance with TM costs of the motion candidates ([0207]. In the template matching merge mode, the encoder can choose among uni-prediction from list0, uni-prediction from list1 or bi-prediction for a CU. The selection is based on a template matching cost as follows:
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Where :
cost0 is the SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) of list0 template matching,
cost1 is the SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) of list1 template matching and
costBi is the SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) of bi-prediction template matching; The value of factor is equal to 1.25, which means that the selection process is biased toward bi-prediction).
Regarding Claim 4, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein preforming the conversion comprises: in accordance with a determination to update the motion candidate list, updating the motion candidate list by removing the first motion candidate or the second motion candidate from the motion candidate list ([0075] The HMVP table size S is set to be 6, which indicates up to 6 History-based MVP (HMVP) candidates may be added to the table. When inserting a new motion candidate to the table, a constrained first-in-first-out (FIFO) rule is utilized wherein redundancy check is firstly applied to find whether there is an identical HMVP in the table. If found, the identical HMVP is removed from the table and all the HMVP candidates afterwards are moved forward.5. The method of claim 1, wherein if the similarity metric is smaller than or equal to a threshold, the motion candidate list is updated); and
performing the conversion based on the updated motion candidate list([0006], performing the conversion based on the target motion candidate).
Regarding Claim 5, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein if the similarity metric is smaller than or equal to a threshold, the motion candidate list is updated ([0207]. In the template matching merge mode, the encoder can choose among uni-prediction from list0, uni-prediction from list1 or bi-prediction for a CU).
Regarding Claim 6, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein if the similarity metric is larger than a threshold, the motion candidate list is updated ([0195] Advanced Temporal Motion Vector Prediction (ATMVP) and Spatial-Temporal Motion Vector Prediction (STMVP) candidates are limited to the four first ones); [0239] 25 points full search is applied for integer sample offset searching. The SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) of the initial MV pair is first calculated).
Regarding Claim 7, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the similarity metric is determined based on a result of dividing a TM cost of the second motion candidate by a TM cost of the first motion candidate, or wherein the similarity metric is determined based on an absolute value of a difference between a TM cost of the second motion candidate and a TM cost of the first motion candidate ([0202] The calculation of matching cost is a bit different at different steps. When selecting the candidate from the candidate set at the CU level, the matching cost is the absolute sum difference (SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD)) of bilateral matching or template matching. After the starting MV is determined, the matching cost C of bilateral matching at sub-CU level search is calculated as follows: C=SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD)+w.Math.(|MV.sub.x−MV.sub.x.sup.s|+|MV.sub.y−MV.sub.y.sup.s|) (2-10)
where w is a weighting factor which is empirically set to 4, MV and MVS indicate the current MV and the starting MV, respectively. SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) is still used as the matching cost of template matching at sub-CU level search.
Regarding Claim 8, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 7, ZHANG discloses wherein the threshold is a real number ([0195] Advanced Temporal Motion Vector Prediction (ATMVP) and Spatial-Temporal Motion Vector Prediction (STMVP) candidates are limited to the four first ones).
Regarding Claim 9, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the similarity metric is determined based on a difference metric between a motion vector of the second motion candidate and a motion vector of the first motion candidate ([0239] If the SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) of the initial MV pair is smaller than a threshold, the integer sample stage of DMVR is terminated. Otherwise SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD)s of the remaining 24 points are calculated and checked in raster scanning order ).
Regarding Claim 10, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 9, ZHANG discloses wherein the difference metric is determined based on at least one of the following: an L0 norm, an L1 norm, or an L2 norm ([0239] 25 points full search is applied for integer sample offset searching. The SUM OF ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES (SAD) (L1 norm) of the initial MV pair is first calculated).
Regarding Claim 11, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 5, ZHANG discloses wherein the threshold is constant, or wherein the threshold is dependent on at least one of the following: a size of the current video block, a quantization parameter for coding the current video block, a temporal layer of the current video block, or the lowest cost among costs of motion candidates in the motion candidate list, or herein the threshold is indicated in the bitstream, or wherein information related to determining the threshold is indicated in the bitstream
Regarding Claim 12, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the motion candidate list comprises one of the following:
a merge candidate list, an affine merge candidate list, an advanced motion vector prediction (AMVP) candidate list ([0168] 2.8. Affine Merge Prediction); a merge mode with motion vector difference (MMVD) candidate list ([0023] FIG. 7, merge mode with motion vector difference (MMVD) search points.), or an affine MMVD candidate list ([0168] 2.8. Affine Merge Prediction; [0169] AF_MERGE mode can be applied for CUs with both width and height larger than or equal to 8).
Regarding Claim 13, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the number of base candidates for an MMVD-based mode for coding the current video block is dependent on a prediction mode of at least one neighboring block of the current video block ([0023] FIG. 7 shows an example of merge mode with motion vector difference (MMVD) search points.),
Regarding Claim14, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 13, ZHANG discloses wherein the number of the base candidates is dependent on the number of neighboring blocks of the current video block that are coded based on an intra prediction mode, or wherein the number of the base candidates is dependent on the number of neighboring blocks of the current video block that are coded based on an inter prediction mode, or wherein the number of the base candidates is an integer, or wherein the MMVD-based mode comprises an MMVD mode or an affine MMVD mode ([0163], FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B. SbTMVP predicts the motion vectors of the sub-CUs within the current CU in two steps: [0164], the motion shift identified in Step 1 is applied (i.e. added to the current block's coordinates) to obtain sub-CU-level motion information (motion vectors and reference indices) from the collocated picture as shown in FIG. 15B).
Regarding Claim 15, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the number of base candidates for an MMVD-based mode for coding the current video block is dependent on at least one of the following: a temporal layer of the current video block, a size of the current video block, a height of the current video block, or a width of the current video block ([0163], FIG. 15A and FIG. 15B. SbTMVP predicts the motion vectors of the sub-CUs within the current CU. If A1 has a motion vector that uses the collocated picture as its reference picture, this motion vector is selected to be the motion shift to be applied. If no such motion is identified, then the motion shift is set to (0, 0)).
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Regarding Claim 16, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the conversion includes encoding the current video block into the bitstream ([0048] FIG. 29 is a block diagram that illustrates an example video encoder).
Regarding Claim 17, ZHANG in view of ZHANG-168 discloses the method of claim 1, ZHANG discloses wherein the conversion includes decoding the current video block from the bitstream ([0049] FIG. 30 is a block diagram that illustrates an example video decoder).
Regarding Claim 18, Apparatus claim 18 of using the corresponding method claimed in claims 1, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Regarding Claim 19, Computer-readable claim 18 of using the corresponding method claimed in claims 1, and the rejections of which are incorporated herein for the same reasons as used above.
Regarding Claim 21, Computer-readable claim 18 of using the corresponding method claimed in claims 1, and 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 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
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