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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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)(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, 4, 7-11, 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Han et al. (US 20150189269 A1).
Regarding claim 1. Han discloses A method of decoding (figure 3), comprising:
determining a block size of a block ([0042] probability models for partition type coding may be conditioned on one or more of the following factors: a current block size);
selecting, based on the block size, a probability table for entropy coding a variable identifying a partition type for the block ([0042] probability models for partition type coding may be conditioned on one or more of the following factors: a current block size; [0047] The entropy encoding stage 226 may be configured to generate one or more probability tables and generate one or more probability values to populate the probability tables; figure 3, [0051] The decoder 300 may include an entropy decoding stage 314), wherein the probability table is selected from multiple available probability tables ([0069] this work employs an array of probability models to capture the above mentioned dependencies, as illustrated in FIG. 5. Further, this work computes an index number from the neighboring above/left block (A and B) partition types and the current block size, retrieves the corresponding probability model from the array, and uses the retrieved model for the entropy coding of the partition type of C);
entropy coding the variable using a cardinality of symbols associated with the probability table ([0118] The probability values can represent values that can be used by an entropy coder. During encoding, the entropy coder can be configured to assign bit rates based on the probability values included in the probability table 700), wherein the cardinality of symbols is less than a cardinality of available partition types (figure 7, [0115] the probability table 700 includes two different block portions--block portion B and block portion A. Each of the block portions is associated with a current block size that is being processed (each portion corresponds to one probability table, wherein the number of partition types in each portion is less than the number of available partition types)); and
determining the partition type using the variable ([0110] the probability table includes a probability value associated with a partition type).
Regarding claim 4. The same analysis has been stated in claim 1 (corresponding encoding method).
Regarding claim 7. The same analysis has been stated in claim 1.
Regarding claim 8. Han discloses The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the apparatus is a hardware encoder ([0145] Implementations of the various techniques described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them).
Regarding claim 9. Han discloses The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to encode each sub-block of the block indicated by the partition type according to a respective prediction mode ([0040] each frame may be recursively encoded to determine optimal coding decisions, including the manner in which each frame is partitioned into smaller block sizes, the prediction mode per block, the transform type applied to each block, etc.; [0043] During a rate-distortion optimization phase, every region/block may be tested through multiple partition types, such as, for example, vertical (vert) partition, horizontal (horz) partition, no partition (none), and split (split) partition into smaller regions/blocks. Further, each of the resulting sub-blocks are then independently tested over various possible prediction modes, filter types, transform sizes, etc., to find their (locally) optimal coding decisions).
Regarding claim 10. The same analysis has been stated in claim 9.
Regarding claim 11. The same analysis has been stated in claim 1.
Regarding claim 14. The same analysis has been stated in claim 9.
Regarding claim 15. The same analysis has been stated in claim 8.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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, 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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2-3, 5-6, 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (US 20150189269 A1) in view of SASAI et al. (US 20120328012 A1) or LELEANNEC et al. (EP3484150A1).
Regarding claim 2. Han discloses The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the probability table comprises selecting the probability table based on the block size (see claim 1).
However, Han does not explicitly disclose selecting the probability table based on a position of the block relative to at least one boundary of an image containing the block.
SASAI discloses selecting the probability table based on a position of the block relative to at least one boundary of an image containing the block ([0089] the determining of a context may further include: determining whether or not the decoded control parameter of the upper block is available in decoding, based on a position of the current block; and determining the context under the second condition, when the decoded control parameter of the upper block is not available).
LELEANNEC discloses selecting the probability table based on the block size and a position of the block relative to at least one boundary of an image containing the block ([0047] The method M100 takes as input a current CU of position (x,y), size (w, h) and quad-tree depth currQTDepth. At step S120, the transmitter determines an index ctxld identifying for the current CU cu_split_flag a context).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Han, SASAI and LELEANNEC, to select the probability table based on the block size and a position of the block relative to at least one boundary of an image containing the block, in order to more efficiently coding the image.
Regarding claim 3. Han in view of SASAI and LELEANNEC discloses The method of claim 2, wherein selecting the probability table comprises selecting the probability table based on the block size and a position of the block relative to each of a vertical boundary and a horizontal boundary of the image (see claim 1; SASAI [0089] the determining of a context may further include: determining whether or not the decoded control parameter of the upper block is available in decoding, based on a position of the current block; and determining the context under the second condition, when the decoded control parameter of the upper block is not available; LELEANNEC [0047] The method M100 takes as input a current CU of position (x,y), size (w, h) and quad-tree depth currQTDepth. At step S120, the transmitter determines an index ctxld identifying for the current CU cu_split_flag a context (inherently, a position includes a vertical position and a horizontal position)).
The same motivation has been stated in claim 2.
Regarding claim 5. The same analysis has been stated in claim 2.
Regarding claim 6. The same analysis has been stated in claim 3.
Regarding claim 12. The same analysis has been stated in claim 2.
Regarding claim 13. The same analysis has been stated in claim 3.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Han et al. (US 20150189269 A1) in view of LELEANNEC et al. (EP3484150A1).
Regarding claim 16. LELEANNEC discloses available partition types include 10 types (figure 3, figure 4, figure 6, figure 8).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the inventions of Han and LELEANNEC, to define as many as 10 available partition types, in order to more flexibly and efficiently code the image.
Conclusion
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/XIAOLAN XU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488