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 Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 1 recites "... a setVsyncRate interface of a window system SF in the electronic device...." The term "SF" is an abbreviation. The first mention of a claim term cannot be an abbreviation; therefore, the full word or phrase that "SF" represents needs to be specified. Appropriate correction is required. For the purposes of compact prosecution and art rejection the examiner will interpret the term “SF” to mean SurfaceFlinger (specification para [0054]).
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 and 15-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peng (WO 2020207250 A1; hereinafter Peng) in view of Svirid (US 11776507 B1; hereinafter Svirid) in further view of ("Brief overview of Android graphics display", 2019, Pages 1-31; hereinafter Android Overview).
Regarding claim 1, Peng teaches a method for requesting a vSync signal, applied to an electronic device having a display function and having a first application installed thereon, wherein the method comprises (“The terminal 100 is an electronic device installed with a target application. The target application can be a system program or a third-party application...” (page 4).
“The terminal 120 in the embodiment of the present application further includes a display screen 160. Optionally, the display screen 160 is a touch display screen, which is used to receive a user's touch operation on or near any suitable object such as a finger, a touch pen, etc., and to display a user interface of each application program,” (page 5).):
at a first moment, calling, by the first application in the electronic device, a first active thread of a window system SF in the electronic device to send a first request to the SF, wherein the first request is for requesting a vSync signal (“…when the application needs to draw a layer, it sends a first vertical synchronization signal request to the first active thread in the SurfaceFlinger process, and the first active thread sends the first vertical synchronization signal to the signal sending thread. Synchronization signal request. Correspondingly, the signal sending thread receives the first vertical synchronization signal request,” (pages 9-10).
“Receiving a vertical synchronization signal request sent by a requesting party, where the vertical synchronization signal request is used to request to obtain a vertical synchronization signal…” (page 2).
“…the SurfaceFlinger process (signal sending thread) acquires the first request time as t1…,” (page 11).
The window system SF includes the SurfaceFlinger process. A first moment includes a first request time as t1.);
periodically distributing, by the SF, the vSync signal to the first application in response to the first request (“In a possible implementation manner, the duration threshold is determined according to the period of the vertical synchronization signal, the period of the vertical synchronization signal is used to indicate the time interval between two adjacent vertical synchronization signals, and the duration threshold is greater than or equal to the period of the vertical synchronization signal. For example, the duration threshold is one vertical synchronization signal period, or 1.2 vertical synchronization signal periods, or 1.5 vertical synchronization signal periods. In an illustrative example, when the refresh frequency of the display screen is 60 Hz, the period of the vertical synchronization signal is 16.7 ms, and accordingly, the duration threshold is determined to be 16.7 ms,” (page 7).
“In other possible implementation manners, when n-1 request time intervals between consecutive n (n≥3) first vertical synchronization signal requests are greater than the duration threshold, the terminal sends the first simulation to the application through the SurfaceFlinger process The vertical synchronization signal is not limited in this embodiment,” (page 10). The periodic distribution begins in response to a first request.);
Peng is not relied upon teaching but Svirid teaches and at a second moment, calling, by the first application, an API interface to send a second request to the SF, wherein the second request is for requesting to cancel the vSync signal, and after receiving the second request, the SF ends the periodically distributing the vSync signal to the first application (“At step 302, the application (running on the CPU) disables VSync (if enabled),” (col 13, lines 36-57).
“In some examples, VSync (e.g., a VSync setting), or other mechanism that limits the application/GPU to the display's refresh rate in order to synchronize the frame rate of an application with a display's refresh rate, may be disabled by a function call to the GPU (via an API call),” (col 13, lines 58- 67; col 14, lines 1-13).
“With VSync or another GPU/application display limiter disabled, the application is not limited by the monitor refresh rate/vertical blanking to render and present frames,” (col 14, lines 14- 24).
The API call reads on an interface. After combination, Svirid’s API/ interface corresponds to Peng’s SurfaceFlinger process. Canceling the vSync signal includes disabling vSync.).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings of Svirid to Peng. The motivation would have been to reduce display latency and / or improve user experience.
Peng does not explicitly disclose calling, by the first application, a window system through a setVsyncRate interface.
Svirid teaches calling, by the first application, a window system through an API (Svirid “…the application 102 may send commands to a GPU for processing and display, in conjunction with the compositor 104, via the graphics API 108,” (col 3, lines 20- 37; col 6, lines 14-26).
“The compositor 104 may include: … SurfaceFlinger/WindowManager for the Android™ operating system,” (col 5, lines 36-48).
“In some examples, VSync (e.g., a VSync setting), or other mechanism that limits the application/GPU to the display's refresh rate in order to synchronize the frame rate of an application with a display's refresh rate, may be disabled by a function call to the GPU (via an API call),” (col 13, lines 58- 67; col 14, lines 1-13).).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings of Svirid to Peng. The motivation would have been to reduce development complexity and enable efficient code reuse. Additional motivation would have been to improve scalability and maintenance workload.
Peng in view of Svirid is not relied upon teaching but Android Overview teaches the API interface could be a setVsyncRate interface (
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(page 51). setVsyncRate() sets the event delivery rate.)
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings of Android Overview of Peng in view of Svirid. The motivation would have been to reduce screen tearing and / or improve display smoothness. Additional motivation would have been to improve user experience. Additional motivation would have been to improve performance. Additional motivation would have been to reduce the implementation and maintenance burden.
Regarding claim 15, Peng in view of Svirid in futher view of Android Overview teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first request comprises a periodicity n, n >1, and n is an integer (Peng; “In a possible implementation manner, the duration threshold is determined according to the period of the vertical synchronization signal, the period of the vertical synchronization signal is used to indicate the time interval between two adjacent vertical synchronization signals, and the duration threshold is greater than or equal to the period of the vertical synchronization signal. For example, the duration threshold is one vertical synchronization signal period, or 1.2 vertical synchronization signal periods, or 1.5 vertical synchronization signal periods. In an illustrative example, when the refresh frequency of the display screen is 60 Hz, the period of the vertical synchronization signal is 16.7 ms, and accordingly, the duration threshold is determined to be 16.7 ms,” (page 7).
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(Android Overview, page 51). setVsyncRate() sets the event delivery rate. Android Overview’s count variable reads on the periodicity n.); and
the periodically distributing, by the SF, the vSync signal to the first application in response to the first request comprises (Peng; “In a possible implementation manner, the duration threshold is determined according to the period of the vertical synchronization signal, the period of the vertical synchronization signal is used to indicate the time interval between two adjacent vertical synchronization signals, and the duration threshold is greater than or equal to the period of the vertical synchronization signal. For example, the duration threshold is one vertical synchronization signal period, or 1.2 vertical synchronization signal periods, or 1.5 vertical synchronization signal periods. In an illustrative example, when the refresh frequency of the display screen is 60 Hz, the period of the vertical synchronization signal is 16.7 ms, and accordingly, the duration threshold is determined to be 16.7 ms,” (page 7).
“In other possible implementation manners, when n-1 request time intervals between consecutive n (n≥3) first vertical synchronization signal requests are greater than the duration threshold, the terminal sends the first simulation to the application through the SurfaceFlinger process The vertical synchronization signal is not limited in this embodiment,” (Peng; page 10). The periodic distribution begins in response to a first request.):
in response to the first request, distributing, by the SF, the vSync signal once to the first application after the SF receives the vSync signal every n times (Android Overview;
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(Android Overview, page 51). setVsyncRate() sets the event delivery rate. Android Overview’s unint32_t count variable reads on the periodicity n. A count value of n = 2 returns every other event includes distributing the vSync signal once to the first application after the SF receives the vSync signal every n times.).
Regarding claim 16, Peng in view of Svirid in further view of Android Overview teaches an electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a memory and a processor, the memory is coupled to the processor, the memory stores computer program code, the computer program code comprises computer instructions, and when the computer instructions are executed by the processor, the electronic device is enabled to perform the method according to claim 1 (Peng; “the present application provides a terminal including a processor, a memory and a display screen connected to the processor, and program instructions stored on the memory, and the processor executes the program The vertical synchronization method as described in the above aspect is implemented when instructed,” (page 2).).
Regarding claim 17, Peng in view of Svirid in further view of Android Overview teaches a computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions, wherein when the computer instructions are run on an electronic device, the electronic device is enabled to perform the method according to claim 1 (Peng; “In another aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and program instructions are stored thereon, and when the program instructions are executed by a processor, the vertical synchronization method as described in the above aspect is implemented,” (page 3).).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Peng in view of Svirid in further view of Android Overview in further view of Zhou et al. (EP 4325355 A1; hereinafter Zhou) .
Regarding claim 2, Peng in view of Svirid in further view of Android Overview are not relied upon teaching but Zhou teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the first application, that a plurality of image frames that are consecutive need to be rendered (“An electronic device receives a first operation of a user, where the first operation is used to start playing a first animation of a first application. The electronic device displays a first image frame in the first animation based on the first operation…” (page 2, para [0006] – [0007]).
“The first animation may be a start animation or an exit animation. When the first animation is the start animation, the first operation is an operation of playing the start animation, and the first operation may be an operation of tapping an icon of the first application. When the first action effect is the exit animation, the first operation is an operation of playing the exit animation, and the first operation may be a sliding operation performed on a lower edge of the electronic device along an upward direction of a screen,” (page 2, para [0007]).
“During start of the application, the electronic device 100 may play a start animation in a start phase of the application, where the start animation includes a plurality of image frames, and display locations and sizes of the image frames may be different. The electronic device 100 sequentially displays the plurality of image frames in sequence,” (page 8, para [0055]).
The start animation comprises a plurality of image frames. Determining includes using a launch / exit operation (eg. first operation) to start playing a first animation of a first application.), wherein
the first moment comprises a moment when rendering of a first image is requested, and the first image is the first image frame among the plurality of image frames ((page 2, para [0006] – [0007]).
“…the first image frame is a 1st image frame in the first animation; and before the electronic device determines the second parameter information of the second image frame in the first animation based on first parameter information of the first image frame by using the surface flinger, the method further includes: obtaining the first parameter information through the first application by using the surface flinger...,” (page 3, para [0014]).
“As shown in FIG. 6, when the UI thread displays the (m-1)th image frame, and the UI thread is about to process an mth image frame, the UI thread sends a Vsync signal, and the UI thread needs to invoke the CPU and the GPU to complete drawing and rendering of the mth image frame in a fixed period… only after the UI thread sends the Vsync signal, the UI thread invokes the CPU to draw a next image frame,” (page 16, para [0170] – [0171]). A moment when rendering of a first image is requested includes the animation being started by a launch / exit operation and drawing / rendering of a frame after the vSync signal.).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art to apply the teachings of Zhou to Peng in view of Svirid in further view of Android Overview. The motivation would have been to enable the prevention of frame freezing and improve the smoothness of the display of the animation / plurality of consecutive image frames. Additional motivation would have been to enable improved scheduling / synchronization. Further motivation would have been to enable latency reduction and improve user experience.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 4-13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Claims 4-13 are in allowable form due to their dependency on claim 3.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERICA G THERKORN whose telephone number is (571)272-2939. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/ERICA G THERKORN/ Examiner, Art Unit 2618
/DEVONA E FAULK/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2618
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