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 Objections
Claim 21 is objected to because of the following informalities: “generating” (line 2) should read -- generate -- . Appropriate correction is required.
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 1, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 20 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (US 2023/0412849 A1, referred to herein as “Huang”) in view of Chen et al. (US 2018/0098089 A1, referred to herein as “Chen”).
Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses: A decoding method (Huang: paragraph [0051], disclosing video decoding), comprising:
decoding a syntax element associated with a coding mode from a bitstream associated with geometry displacements (Huang: paragraphs [0104] – [0105], disclosing 3D mesh coding with associated geometry information; paragraphs [0112] – [0114], disclosing encoding of geometry displacement vectors according to coding modes; paragraph [0101], disclosing use of bitstream to communicate encoded data; paragraph [0157], disclosing signaling of syntax information in the bitstream; Fig. 3, paragraphs [0051] – [0052], disclosing decoding of received encoded data); and
reconstructing, based on a coefficient configuration associated with the coding mode, a plurality of quantized transform coefficients (Huang: paragraphs [0052] – [0054], disclosing reconstruction of decoded video data including quantized coefficients and based on the coding modes) from a plurality of zero-run length codes.
Huang does not explicitly disclose reconstructing transform coefficients from a plurality of zero-run length codes.
However, Chen discloses reconstructing transform coefficients from a plurality of zero-run length codes (Chen: Fig. 3, paragraphs [0089] – [0097], disclosing decoding of encoded picture data; paragraph [0065], disclosing zero run length coding of quantized coefficients).
At the time the application was effectively filed, it would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art to use the zero-run length coding of Chen in the method of Huang.
One would have been motivated to modify Huang in this manner in order to better permit entropy of video data by increasing compression gains (Chen: paragraph [0065] and [0084]).
Regarding claim 8, Huang and Chen disclose: The method of claim 1, further comprising: decoding a plurality of entropy codes from the bitstream associated with geometry displacements to reconstruct the plurality of zero-run length codes based on the plurality of entropy codes (Huang: paragraphs [0052] – [0053], disclosing entropy decoding of encoded data; paragraph [0114], disclosing that the encoded data may include displacement vectors; Chen: paragraph [0065], disclosing zero run length coding of quantized coefficients).
The motivation for combining Huang and Chen has been discussed in connection with claim 1, above.
Regarding claim 11, Huang and Chen disclose: The method of claim 1, further comprises: inversely quantizing the plurality of quantized transform coefficients to reconstruct a plurality of transformed coefficients (Huang: paragraphs [0056] – [0058], disclosing inverse quantization of transform coefficients during decoding/reconstruction).
Regarding claim 12, Huang and Chen disclose: The method of claim 11, further comprises: inversely transforming the plurality of transformed coefficients to reconstruct a plurality of displacement coefficients (Huang: paragraphs [0122] – [0123], disclosing quantization of displacement vectors; paragraphs [0056] – [0058], disclosing inverse quantization during decoding).
Regarding claim 13, Huang and Chen disclose: A decoder comprising:
a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor processing unit, wherein the processor processing unit is configured to execute program instructions stored in the memory to perform (Huang: paragraphs [0089] and [0213], disclosing implementation via software, memory, and associated processor):
decoding a syntax element associated with a coding mode from a bitstream associated with geometry displacements (Huang: paragraphs [0104] – [0105], disclosing 3D mesh coding with associated geometry information; paragraphs [0112] – [0114], disclosing encoding of geometry displacement vectors according to coding modes; paragraph [0101], disclosing use of bitstream to communicate encoded data; paragraph [0157], disclosing signaling of syntax information in the bitstream; Fig. 3, paragraphs [0051] – [0052], disclosing decoding of received encoded data); and
reconstructing, based on a coefficient configuration associated with the coding mode, a plurality of quantized transform coefficients from a plurality of zero-run length codes (Huang: paragraphs [0052] – [0054], disclosing reconstruction of decoded video data including quantized coefficients and based on the coding modes; Chen: Fig. 3, paragraphs [0089] – [0097], disclosing decoding of encoded picture data; paragraph [0065], disclosing zero run length coding of quantized coefficients).
The motivation for combining Huang and Chen has been discussed in connection with claim 1, above.
Regarding claim 15, Huang and Chen disclose: An encoding computer-implemented method, comprising:
encoding a syntax element associated with a coding mode into a bitstream associated with geometry displacements (Huang: paragraphs [0104] – [0105], disclosing 3D mesh coding with associated geometry information; paragraphs [0112] – [0114], disclosing encoding of geometry displacement vectors according to coding modes; paragraph [0101], disclosing use of bitstream to communicate encoded data; paragraph [0157], disclosing signaling of syntax information in the bitstream); and
converting, based on a coefficient configuration associated with the coding mode, a plurality of quantized transform coefficients to a plurality of zero-run length codes (Huang: paragraphs [0114], [0120] and [0122], disclosing quantization of transform coefficients associated with the coding mode; Chen: Fig. 3, paragraphs [0089] – [0097], disclosing decoding of encoded picture data; paragraph [0065], disclosing zero run length coding of quantized coefficients).
The motivation for combining Huang and Chen has been discussed in connection with claim 1, above.
Regarding claim 20, Huang and Chen disclose: The method of claim 15, further comprising: generating a plurality of entropy codes based on the plurality of zero-run length codes to encode the plurality of entropy codes into the bitstream associated with geometry displacements (Huang: paragraphs [0052] – [0053], disclosing entropy decoding of encoded data; paragraph [0114], disclosing that the encoded data may include displacement vectors; Chen: paragraph [0065], disclosing zero run length coding of quantized coefficients).
The motivation for combining Huang and Chen has been discussed in connection with claim 1, above.
Regarding claim 21, Huang and Chen disclose: The method of claim 15, further comprises: quantizing a plurality of transformed coefficients to generating the plurality of quantized transform coefficients (Huang: paragraphs [0148] – [0151], disclosing quantization of transform coefficients).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 16, 17, 18 and 19 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 2, 3 and 4, Huang, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose decoding a syntax element associated with a dmsps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code to determine a number of levels of details equal to a value of the dmsps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code plus one; in response to determining that at least one syntax element associated with the coding mode is present, performing a respective one of a plurality of operation groups defined by a first iterative loop with a first variable from zero incremental to a maximum integer less than a sum of a value of the dmsps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code plus one, comprising: decoding a syntax element associated with a dmsps-mesh-LoD-coding-mode code indexed by the first variable to determine the coding mode.
Regarding claims 5, 6 and 7, Huang, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose decoding a syntax element associated with a dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-override-flag code indicating a number of levels of details different in a frame and a sequence; in response to determining the dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-override-flag code equal to one, performing operations comprising: decoding a syntax element associated with a dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code to determine the number of levels of details equal to a value of the dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code plus one; in response to determining that at least one syntax element associated with the coding mode is present, performing a respective one of a plurality of operation groups defined by a second iterative loop with a second variable from zero incremental to a maximum integer less than a sum of a value of the dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code plus one, comprising: decoding a syntax element associated with a dmpps-mesh-LoD-coding-mode code indexed by the second variable to determine the coding mode.
Regarding claim 9, Huang, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose decoding each of the plurality of entropy codes comprising a combination of a parity flag, a plurality of context-coded flags, and a bypass-coded binarized reminder to reconstruct one of the plurality of zero-run length codes comprising a plurality of zero-run parts to determine at least one of the plurality of quantized transform coefficients equal to zero.
Regarding claim 10, Huang, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose decoding each of the plurality of entropy codes comprising a combination of a parity flag, a plurality of context-coded flags, a bypass-coded binarized reminder, and a sign to reconstruct one of the plurality of zero-run length codes comprising a plurality of non-zero parts, wherein a value of each of the non-zero parts plus one is calculated to determine one of the plurality of quantized transform coefficients.
Regarding claims 16 and 17, Huang, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose encoding a syntax element associated with a dmsps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code based on a value of a number of levels of details in a sequence minus one; performing a respective one of a plurality of operation groups defined by a first iterative loop with a first variable from zero incremental to a maximum integer less than a sum of a value of the dmsps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code plus one, comprising: encoding a syntax element associated with a dmsps-mesh-LoD-coding-mode code indexed by the first variable based on the coding mode.
Regarding claims 18 and 19, Huang, either alone or in combination with other prior art of record, does not teach, suggest, or disclose encoding a syntax element associated with a dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-override-flag code indicating a number of levels of details different in a frame and a sequence; in response to determining the dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-override-flag code equal to one, performing operations comprising: encoding a syntax element associated with a dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code based on a value of the number of levels of details in a picture minus one; performing a respective one of a plurality of operation groups defined by a second iterative loop with a second variable from zero incremental to a maximum integer less than a sum of a value of the dmpps-mesh-LoD-count-minus-1 code plus one, comprising: encoding a syntax element associated with a dmpps-mesh-LoD-coding-mode code indexed by the second variable based on the coding mode.
Conclusion
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CHRISTOPHER T. BRANIFF
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2484
/CHRISTOPHER BRANIFF/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2484