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 statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 10 February 2025 and 28 January 2026 are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims [8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 19, 20 ] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 19, 20 recite numerical sequences defining respective “sub band divisions”. However, it is unclear what the individual numerical values represent and how the recited numerical values define the claimed sub band divisions. Accordingly, the metes and bounds of the claimed sub-band divisions manners cannot be determined with reasonable certainty.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claim [11, 16 ] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as being unpatentable over Smyth (US 6487535 B1, hereinafter Smyth).
Regarding claim 11,
Smyth teaches an audio signal processing method, comprising:
decoding a bitstream to obtain side information, wherein the side information comprises information about a target sub-band division manner, a quantization step, and scale factors of each sub-bands in a target sub-band set, the target sub-band division manner indicates a sub- band division manner of an audio signal in the bitstream, the target sub-band set is obtained by dividing the audio signal according to the target sub-band division manner;
decoding spectrum data of each sub-band in the target sub-band set based on the information about the target sub-band division manner, the quantization step, and the scale factors of each sub-bands in the target sub-band set.
[Column 9, lines 58-59 "On arrival at the decoder 18, the data stream is demultiplexed 40, or unpacked, back into the individual subbands"];
[Column 9, lines 54-57 "The quantization codes and the side information from each subband are packed into the data stream 16 and transmitted to the decoder."];
[Column 9, lines 52-54 "The JFC stage 74 does not actually encode subband samples but generates codes that indicate which channels' subbands are joined and where they are placed in the data stream." The codes identifying which sub bands are joined and their location correspond to information identifying the applicable sub band organization or division manner.];
[Column 21, lines 24- 26 "The 64-level quantizer exhibits a 2.25 dB step-size in both cases, and the 128-level a 1.25 dB step-size. "];
[Column 21, lines 19- 20 "In order to transmit the scale factors to the decoder they must be quantized to a known code format. "];
[Column 9, lines 36-38 "Each successive data frame 66 is split into 32 uniform frequency bands 68 by a 32-band 512-tap FIR decimation filter bank 34."];
[Column 7, lines 52- 57 "The decoder 18 receives the compressed data stream, separates out the coded data for each subband using an unpacker 40, decodes each subband signal 42 and reconstructs the PCM digital audio signals (Fsamp=48 kHz) using a 512-tap 32-band uniform interpolation filter bank 44 for each channel."];
[Column 9, lines 58- 67 "On arrival at the decoder 18, the data stream is demultiplexed 40, or unpacked, back into the individual subbands. The scale factors and bit allocations are first installed into the inverse quantizers 75 together with the predictor coefficients for each subband. The differential codes are then reconstructed using either the ADPCM process 76 or the inverse VQ process 77 directly or the inverse JFC process 78 for designated subbands. The subbands are finally amalgamated back to a single PCM audio signal 22 using the 32-band interpolation filter bank 44."].
Regarding claim 16,
Smyth teaches an audio signal processing device, wherein the device comprises a memory and a processor;
The memory is configured to store a computer program, wherein the computer program comprises program instructions; and the processor is configured to invoke the computer program to:
[Column 56, lines 16-19 "A single Analog Devices ADSP21020 40-bit floating point digital signal processor (DSP) chip 324 is used to implement the six channel digital audio decoder"];
[Column 56, lines 19-24 "The ADSP21020 is clocked at 33 MHz and utilize external 48 bit×32 k program ram (PRAM) 326, 40 bit×32 k data ram (SRAM) 328 to run the decoding algorithm. An additional 8 bit×512 k EPROM 330 is also used for storage of fixed constants such as the variable length entropy and prediction coefficient vector code books."];
decode a bitstream to obtain side information, wherein the side information comprises information about a target sub-band division manner, a quantization step, and scale factors of each sub-bands in a target sub-band set, the target sub-band division manner indicates a sub- band division manner of an audio signal in the bitstream, the target sub-band set is obtained by dividing the audio signal according to the target sub-band division manner;
decode spectrum data of each sub-band in the target sub-band set based on the information about the target sub-band division manner, the quantization step, and the scale factors of each sub-bands in the target sub-band set.
[Column 56, lines 25-28 "The compressed data stream 16 is input to the DSP via a serial to parallel converter (s/p) 332.The data is unpacked and decoded as illustrated previously. "];
[Column 9, lines 54-57 "The quantization codes and the side information from each subband are packed into the data stream 16 and transmitted to the decoder."];
[Column 9, lines 52-54 "The JFC stage 74 does not actually encode subband samples but generates codes that indicate which channels' subbands are joined and where they are placed in the data stream." The codes identifying which sub bands are joined and their location correspond to information identifying the applicable sub band organization or division manner.];
[Column 21, lines 24- 26 "The 64-level quantizer exhibits a 2.25 dB step-size in both cases, and the 128-level a 1.25 dB step-size. "];
[Column 9, lines 60-62 "The scale factors and bit allocations are first installed into the inverse quantizers 75 together with the predictor coefficients for each subband. "];
[Column 21, lines 19- 20 "In order to transmit the scale factors to the decoder they must be quantized to a known code format. "];
[Column 9, lines 36-38 "Each successive data frame 66 is split into 32 uniform frequency bands 68 by a 32-band 512-tap FIR decimation filter bank 34."];
[Column 7, lines 52- 57 "The decoder 18 receives the compressed data stream, separates out the coded data for each subband using an unpacker 40, decodes each subband signal 42 and reconstructs the PCM digital audio signals (Fsamp=48 kHz) using a 512-tap 32-band uniform interpolation filter bank 44 for each channel."];
[Column 9, lines 58- 67 "On arrival at the decoder 18, the data stream is demultiplexed 40, or unpacked, back into the individual subbands. The scale factors and bit allocations are first installed into the inverse quantizers 75 together with the predictor coefficients for each subband. The differential codes are then reconstructed using either the ADPCM process 76 or the inverse VQ process 77 directly or the inverse JFC process 78 for designated subbands. The subbands are finally amalgamated back to a single PCM audio signal 22 using the 32-band interpolation filter bank 44."].
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.
Claim [1, 2, 3, 4, 7] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang (US 20070033011 A1, hereinafter Ouyang) in view of Wu (US 8457957 B2, hereinafter Wu) in view of Liljeryd (US 7328162 B2, hereinafter Liljeryd).
Regarding claim 1,
Ouyang teaches
An audio signal processing method, comprising:
separately performing sub-band division on an audio signal based on a plurality of sub- band division manners and cut-off sub-bands corresponding to the plurality of sub-band division manners,
[0001"The present invention relates generally a method of audio codec, especially a method of frequency band group partition for low-complexity and high-quality wideband audio codec"];
[0044" (1) Scan the band and make band group partition. The result {B0, A0} is shown as FIG. 2(b), in which A0 is a class-A band, and B0 is a class-B band"];
[0045 "(2) Rescan B0 in FIG. 2(b) to find A1 which is a class-A band, and obtain the band group partition {B1, A1, B0, A1} as FIG. 2(c)."];
[0047 " (4) Rescan B1 and B0 in FIG. 2(c) for possible band groups with smaller bandwidth, and obtain the partitions as FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) respectively." Thus Fig 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b represent candidate sets produced according to the different subdivision manners.];
[0029 "Step 1, Partition all sub-bands below the cut-off frequency into one frequency band group,.." because applying cutoff frequency when generating the different candidate partitions, the last sub-band containing or ending at the cutoff corresponds to the respective division manner.];
to obtain a plurality of candidate sub-band sets,
wherein the plurality of candidate sub-band sets correspond to the plurality of sub-band division manners, and each candidate sub-band set comprises a plurality of sub-bands;
[0047 " (4) Rescan B1 and B0 in FIG. 2(c) for possible band groups with smaller bandwidth, and obtain the partitions as FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) respectively." These resulting partitions act as alternatives by calculating and comparing their coding requirements];
[0048 " (5) Calculate and compare the coded bits produced by the band group partition in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)."];
[0038 " Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0} following Step 2 and calculate the coded bits C"];
[0039 " Step 5, If the bandwidth of B1 is larger than 3, subdivide B1 into {B1n', A1n'}, {B1, A1}, {B0, A0} following said Step 2 and correspondingly calculate the coded bits C." These different subdivisions B0 and B1 constitute different division manners producing their respective candidate partitions.];
[0004 " 2. Each band group is composed of a class-A band and a successive class-B band;"];
[0048 " Rename each band group and obtain the partition as FIG. 2(d). Now 3 band groups are partitioned"];
determining a total
[0046" (3) Calculate and compare the coded bits produced by the band group partition in FIGS. 2(b) and 2(c). The number of coded bits of FIG. 2(c) is smaller, so the partition in FIG. 2(c) is kept as the foundation of further subdivision."]
[0048" (5) Calculate and compare the coded bits produced by the band group partition in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b).". The calculated coded bit count corresponds to an overall evaluation value for each candidate partition];
[0029 "A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1; All bands except A0 make up class-B bands; "];
[0008 "Every time the quantized value of the spectrum changes, the band group is repartitioned."];
[0033 "Step 2, Find bands conformed to the conditions of class-A band in B0 and take the band with the largest bandwidth as class-A band A1 in a new band group; "];
[0038 " Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0} following Step 2 and calculate the coded bits C."]
selecting, as a target sub-band set, one candidate sub-band set from the plurality of candidate sub-band sets
[0046 "The number of coded bits of FIG. 2(c) is smaller, so the partition in FIG. 2(c) is kept as the foundation of further subdivision."];
[0051 "(8) In this example, Step (7) obtains the smaller coded bit count, and the band group partition in FIG. 2(e) is taken as the final partition to code the current quantized frame." Thus this reference selects one candidate as the target partition based on its calculated overall coded bit value];
However, Ouyang does not teach a scale value
an encoding bit rate of the audio signal,
But Wu teaches
scale value
an encoding bit rate of the audio signal,
[Column 2, lines 23- 25 "The method includes defining a cost function of the encoding of the source sequence, the cost function being dependent on the quantization factors."];
[Column 2, lines 19- 23 "In one aspect, the present application provides a method for optimizing audio encoding of a source sequence, the encoding being dependent on quantization factors, the quantization factors including a global quantization step size and scale factors."];
[Column 9, lines 20-23 “Step 58 generally determines the quantization factors q (i.e., scale factors and global_gain) that minimize the combined cost of weighted distortion and bit rate for encoding or transmittal.”];
[Column 12, line 65-66 “the total Lagrangian cost is the addition of the encoding distortion and the bit rate.”];
[Column 2, lines 50-51 “R is an encoding bit rate,” where R which is included in the total cost, corresponds to the claimed encoding bit rate of the audio signal];
[Column 2, lines 38-42 "In another aspect, the present application provides a method for optimizing audio encoding of a source sequence based on minimizing of a cost function, the cost function being a function of quantization distortion and encoding bit rate,…"];
[Column 17, lines 47-50 "…wherein selecting the scale factors comprises fixing the global quantization step size and calculating the distortion term and the rate term for a plurality of combinations of the scale factors." where the cost calculated for each scale factor combination corresponds to the claimed total scale value];
[Column 3, lines 15-23 "determining quantization factors that minimize a cost optimization function by iteratively selecting the global quantization step size to minimize the cost optimization function based on the scale factors, and selecting the scale factors to minimize the cost optimization function based on the global quantization step size, wherein the scale factors are constrained within a bit length; and encoding the audio source sequence based on the determined quantization factors." The cost calculated for each scale factor combination corresponds to the claimed total scaled value.]
[Column 6, lines 4-9 ..."and D.sub.w (xr, rxr) denotes the weighted distortion measure between xr and rxr" where Xr is the original spectral signal.]
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang with Wu because Ouyang’s already selects a partition based on coding efficiency, while Wu provides a known optimization measure that jointly accounts for spectral distortion and encoding bit rate. Applying Wu’s cost measure to Ouyang’s candidate would permit selection of the partition providing the best balance between sound quality and coded bit usage, thereby improving compression efficiency while maintaining sound quality.
Ouyang with Wu do not teach wherein each sub-band comprised in the target sub-band set has a scale factor, and the scale factor is used to shape a spectral envelope of the audio signal.
However, Liljeryd teaches wherein each sub-band comprised in the target sub-band set has a scale factor, and the scale factor is used to shape a spectral envelope of the audio signal.
[Column 20 , lines 63-67 "The term "spectral envelope" or "scale factors" represent values of the subbands on a time-frame basis, such as the average or maximum magnitude in each subband, used for normalization of the subband sample." Each subband is associated with its own scale factor value and the scale factors represent the spectral envelope and normalize the spectral magnitudes of the respective sub-bands, thereby shaping the spectral envelope.].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu with Liljeryd because Liljeryd explains that scale factors represent and normalize the spectral envelope of individual sub-bands. Using Liljeryd scale factors would allow the selected Ouyang’s partition to preserve the spectral shape of the audio while Wu minimizes the rate-distortion cost, thereby advantageously improving perceived audio quality at the selected encoding bit rate.
Regarding claim 2, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated.
Ouyang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting, as a target
subband set, one candidate sub-band set from the plurality of candidate sub-band sets based on the total scale value of each candidate sub-band set comprises: determining, as the target sub-band set, a candidate sub-band set with a smallest total
[0038" If C.sub.11 is smaller than C.sub.10, the new partition is kept, otherwise the original partition is hold."];
[0039 "If C.sub.12 is smaller than min{C.sub.10, C.sub.11}, the new partition is kept otherwise the partition by Step 4 is hold."];
[0051 " (8) In this example, Step (7) obtains the smaller coded bit count, and the band group partition in FIG. 2(e) is taken as the final partition to code the current quantized frame."];
However, Ouyang does not teach the scale value
But Wu teaches the scale value
[Column 3, lines 19-21 .."and selecting the scale factors to minimize the cost optimization function"].
[Column 10, lines 33-37 “ At step 104, fix global_gain. Update the scale factors scalefac, scalfac_scale and subblock_gain (for short windows) or preflag (for other windows) to minimize the combined cost of weighted distortion and bit rate for transmitting the scale factors” where Wu provides the selection of the scale factor values.]
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang with Wu because Ouyang already selects the subband partition having coding efficiency, while Wu provides a known total cost that considers both coded bit usage and spectral distortion. This would allow the encoder to select the candidate partition providing the lowest overall cost rather than considering coded bit count alone, thereby improving compression efficiency while preserving audio quality.
Regarding claim 3, the rejection of claim 2 is incorporated.
Ouyang teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the determining a total
value of each candidate sub-band set based on spectral values of the audio signal in the sub-bands comprised in the candidate sub-band set, an encoding bit rate of the audio signal, and sub-band bandwidths of the sub-bands comprised in the candidate sub-band set comprises:
[0015 “Step 2, Find bands conformed to the conditions of class-A band in B0 and take the band with the largest bandwidth as class-A band A1 in a new band group”];
[0020 “Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0}”];
[0021 “Step 5, If the bandwidth of B1 is larger than 3, subdivide B1 into {B1n', A1n'}, {B1, A1}, {B0, A0}” where different band groups partitions correspond to the claimed candidate sub band sets, and the bands within each partition correspond to the claimed subbands];
[0005 “3. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-A band is 1”];
[0011 “A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1; All bands except A0 make up class-B bands;” where the absolute quantized spectrum values correspond to the claimed spectral values, and its class A/class B correspond to the sub bands containing those spectral values.];
[0046 "Calculate and compare the coded bits produced by the band group partition in FIGS. 2(b) and 2(c). The number of coded bits of FIG. 2(c) is smaller, so the partition in FIG. 2(c) is kept as the foundation of further subdivision" where the total coded bit count calculated for each candidate partition corresponds to the claimed total value of each candidate sub band set.];
[0048 "Calculate and compare the coded bits produced by the band group partition in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b)." where coded bit count or bitrate for encoding the quantized audio frame corresponds to the claimed encoding bitrate of the audio signal];
[0029 "A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1;"];
[0008 "Every time the quantized value of the spectrum changes, the band group is repartitioned."];
[0033 "Step 2, Find bands conformed to the conditions of class-A band in B0 and take the band with the largest bandwidth as class-A band A1 in a new band group;"];
[0038 "Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0} following Step 2 and calculate the coded bits"].
determining, for a first candidate sub-band set in the plurality of candidate sub-band sets, based on spectral values of the audio signal in sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub-band set,
[0020 “Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0} “];
[0021] Step 5, If the bandwidth of B1 is larger than 3, subdivide B1 into {B1n', A1n'}, {B1, A1}, {B0, A0}” where the alternative band group partitions correspond to the claimed first candidate sub band set];
[0005 “3. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-A band is 1, that is, the quantized value of each sub-band in class-A band is one of {+1, 0, -1};”];
[0006 “4. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-B band is larger than 1, but the sub-bands with absolute value less than or equal to 1 may be included in class-B band;”]:
[0011 “A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1; All bands except A0 make up class-B bands;” where absolute quantized spectrum values correspond to the claimed spectral values, and Ouyang determines the composition of each candidate band set on those values];
and determining a total
[0019 “Step 3, Calculate the coded bits C.sub.10 based on the current band group partition;”];
[0020 “Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0}..”];
[0021”Step 5, If the bandwidth of B1 is larger than 3, subdivide B1 into {B1n', A1n'}, {B1, A1}, {B0, A0} following said Step 2 and correspondingly calculate the coded bits..” where total coded bit count corresponds to the claimed total value of the first candidate sub band set];
[0038 "Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0} following Step 2 and calculate the coded bits" where coded bit count or bitrate for the candidate partition corresponds to the claimed encoding bitrate of the audio signal and the bandwidths B0, B1, and B2 bands correspond to the claimed sub band bandwidths used when determining the total value for the candidate partition];
However, Ouyang does not teach
a scale factor of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set
and determining a total scale value based on the encoding bit rate of the audio signal, and the scale factor
However, Wu teaches
a scale factor of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set
and determining that total scale value based on the encoding bit rate of the audio signal, and the scale factor
["Column 2, lines 19-22 "In one aspect, the present application provides a method for optimizing audio encoding of a source sequence, the encoding being dependent on quantization factors, the quantization factors including a global quantization step size and scale factors."];
[Column 11, lines 19-22 "As can be appreciated from Table 2, the bit length may be a first bit length for a first group of scale factor bands and the bit length may be a second bit length for a second group of scale factor bands."];
[Column 3, lines 56- 58 "The audio input 22 (in time domain) are first input into the T/F mapping module 24, which converts the audio input 22 into spectral coefficients."];
[Column 6, lines 59-61 "At step 54, initialize a set of quantization factors q.sub.0 from the given frame of spectral domain coefficients xr with a Huffman codebooks selection mode H.sub.0; and set t=0."];
[Column 17, lines 47-50 "The method claimed in claim 7, wherein selecting the scale factors comprises fixing the global quantization step size and calculating the distortion term and the rate term for a plurality of combinations of the scale factors."];
[Column 2, lines 23-26 "The method includes defining a cost function of the encoding of the source sequence, the cost function being dependent on the quantization factors. The method includes initializing fixed values of the scale factors;"];
[Column 2, lines 50- 51 "R is an encoding bit rate"];
[Column 2, lines 29-31 "determining, for the fixed values of the scale factors, a value of the global quantization step size which minimizes the cost function,.."].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang with Wu because Ouyang already provides evaluates different bandwidth based partitions according to coding efficiency, while Wu provides a known method for calculating a more accurate total cost using the spectral content, scale factors, and encoding bit rate. This combination would allow each candidate partition to be evaluated for both compression efficiency and spectral distortion, improving audio quality at desired bit rate.
Regarding claim 4, the rejection of claim 3 is incorporated.
Ouyang teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the determining, based on spectral values of the audio signal in sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a scale factor of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set comprises:
obtaining, for a first sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a maximum value in absolute values of all spectral values of the audio signal in the first sub-band, wherein the first sub-band is any sub-band in the first candidate sub-band set; and
[0005 “3. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-A band is 1, that is, the quantized value of each sub-band in class-A band is one of {+1, 0, -1};];
[0006 “4. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-B band is larger than 1, but the sub-bands with absolute value less than or equal to 1 may be included in class-B band;];
[0029 “Step 1, Partition all sub-bands below the cut-off frequency into one frequency band group, which includes one class-A band A0 and one class-B band B0; A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1; All bands except A0 make up class-B bands; if B0 is absent, go to Step 1.1.about.1.3, otherwise, go to Step 2;].
However, Ouyang in view of Wu do not teach determining a scale factor of the first sub-band based on the maximum value.
But, Liljeryd teaches determining a scale factor of the first sub-band based on the maximum value.
[Column 20 , lines 63-67 "The term "spectral envelope" or "scale factors" represent values of the subbands on a time-frame basis, such as the average or maximum magnitude in each subband, used for normalization of the subband sample." Each subband is associated with its own scale factor value and the scale factors represent the spectral envelope and normalize the spectral magnitudes of the respective sub-bands, thereby shaping the spectral envelope.].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu with Liljeryd because Liljeryd teaches that a sub band scale factor may represent the maximum magnitude in that sub band. Using the maximum value ensures that the scale factor covers the full amplitude range of the sub band samples, thereby avoiding overflow and improving the effective use of the available quantization range.
Regarding claim 7, the rejection of claim 1 is incorporated.
Ouyang teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further
comprises:
performing feature analysis on the spectrum of the audio signal, to obtain a feature analysis result; and
determining the plurality of sub-band division manners from a plurality of candidate sub-band division manners based on the feature analysis result and the encoding bit rate of the audio signal.
[0005 “3. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-A band is 1, that is, the quantized value of each sub-band in class-A band is one of {+1, 0, -1};”];
[0006 “4. The maximum absolute quantized value of all the sub-bands in class-B band is larger than 1, but the sub-bands with absolute value less than or equal to 1 may be included in class-B band;”];
[0011 “Step 1, Partition all sub-bands below the cut-off frequency into one frequency band group, which includes one class-A band A0 and one class-B band B0; A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1; All bands except A0 make up class-B bands; if B0 is absent, go to Step 1.1.about.1.3, otherwise, go to Step 2;” where examining the maximum absolute quantized spectral values and scanning the spectrum consecutive bands having specified spectral characteristics corresponds to performing feature analysis on the spectrum].
[0004 “2. Each band group is composed of a class-A band and a successive class-B band;”];
[0015] Step 2, Find bands conformed to the conditions of class-A band in B0 and take the band with the largest bandwidth as class-A band A1 in a new band group;” where the identification and classification of A0, A1, B0, B1 based on quantized spectral values corresponds to feature analysis results];
["Claim 1. A method of frequency band group partition for wideband audio codec, comprising following steps: Step 1, Partition all sub-bands below cut-off frequency into one frequency band group"];
[0029 "Step 1, Partition all sub-bands below the cut-off frequency into one frequency band group, which includes one class-A band A0 and one class-B band B0; A0 is the maximum consecutive band whose absolute value of quantized spectrum is 0 or 1; ];
[0008" Every time the quantized value of the spectrum changes, the band group is repartitioned.". Thus, the absolute values of the quantized spectral coefficients constitutes the claimed feature analysis and the resulting identification of spectral classes constitutes the feature analysis result];
[0037 "Step 3, Calculate the coded bits C.sub.10 based on the current band group partition;];
[0038 "Step 4, If the bandwidth of B0 is larger than 3, subdivide B0 into {B1, A1}, {B1n, A1n}, {B0, A0} following Step 2 and calculate the coded bits"];
[0039 "Step 5, If the bandwidth of B1 is larger than 3, subdivide B1 into {B1n', A1n'}, {B1, A1}, {B0, A0} following said Step 2 and correspondingly calculate the coded bits C.sub.12; If C.sub.12 is smaller than min{C.sub.10, C.sub.11}, the new partition is kept otherwise the partition by Step 4 is hold."];
[0046 “The number of coded bits of FIG. 2(c) is smaller, so the partition in FIG. 2(c) is kept as the foundation of further subdivision.”];
[0048 “The bit-rate of FIG. 3(a) is smaller, so the partition in FIG. 3(a) is kept as the foundation of further subdivision. Rename each band group and obtain the partition as FIG. 2(d).” Ouyang’s coded bit count or bitrate for each candidate partition corresponds to the encoding bitrate used to determine which subband division should be retained];
[0051 "(8) In this example, Step (7) obtains the smaller coded bit count, and the band group partition in FIG. 2(e) is taken as the final partition to code the current quantized frame."];
Claim [5, 6 ] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ouyang (US 20070033011 A1, hereinafter Ouyang) in view of Wu (US 8457957 B2, hereinafter Wu) in view of Liljeryd (US 7328162 B2, hereinafter Liljeryd) and in further view of Hall (US 5341457, hereinafter Hall) and in further view of Liljeryd ( US9245533 B2, hereinafter Liljeryd 1) and in further view of Malenovsky ( US8990073B2, hereinafter Malenovsky).
Regarding claim 5, the rejection of claim 3 is incorporated.
Ouyang in view of Wu in Liljeryd do not teach the method according to claim 3, wherein
at least one of the encoding bit rate of the audio signal is not less than a first bit rate threshold, and an energy concentration of the audio signal is greater than a concentration threshold; and
the determining a total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set based on the encoding bit rate of the audio signal, and the scale factor and a sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set comprises:
determining an energy smooth reference value based on the encoding bit rate of the audio signal and a second bit rate threshold;
determining, based on the energy smooth reference value, and the scale factor and the sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a total energy value of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set; and
adding up the total energy values of the sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub- band set, to obtain the total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set.
However, Hall teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the encoding bit rate of the audio signal is not less than a first bit rate threshold,
the determining a total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set based on the encoding bit rate of the audio signal,
determining an energy smooth reference value based on the encoding bit rate of the audio signal and a second bit rate threshold;
determining, based on the energy smooth reference value
[Column 15, lines 56-59 “5. The method of claim 1 wherein each said block is
representable by a number of bits, said number of bits having a predetermined range, said quantizing is based on said number of bits.”];
[Column 15, 66-68 “generating an amount of bits needed to represent said first set of frequency coefficients in a quantized form;”];
[Column 16, lines 1-2 “comparing said amount of bits to said number of bits;”];
[Column 16, lines 3-4 “adjusting each said at least one noise masking threshold;” where amount/number of bits and predetermined range correspond to the claimed bit rate comparison/threshold];
[Column 8, lines 51- 54 "The bit rate adjustment process is most easily described in pseudo-C code. Essentially, the process is a binary search, with decisions based on the bit rate, and a limit to the length of the search."];
[Column 3, lines 28-30 "The Bark Spectrum is calculated by summing, within each critical band, the energy present in the Fourier spectrum."];
[Column 8, lines 44-49 "This means that for some signals, under some conditions, there exists a maximum bit rate available from the coder, and the bits not required are either used for transmission of other information, or set to an arbitrary pattern."];
[Column 8, lines 54-57 "The bit rate adjustment process returns a threshold adjustment factor F, that is directly multiplied with Tn to calculate the actual threshold used for encoding" where threshold factor F corresponds to the claimed energy smooth reference value because its determined through a procedure making decisions based on bit rate];
[Column 8, lines 41-44 "Additionally, if the threshold adjustment factor drops a Thrn below the absolute thresholds, the corresponding Thrn is again reset to the absolute threshold." Thrn is an energy/noise threshold for an individual critical band].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu with Liljeryd with Hall because Hall provides a known mechanism for adjusting a perpetual energy threshold according to the available bit rate. Using the adjusted threshold as an energy-smoothing reference would prevent excessively small scale values at constrained bit rates, thereby reducing audible quantization while maintaining the desired encoded bit.
However, Ouyang in view of Wu in Liljeryd in view of Hall do not teach
and an energy concentration of the audio signal is greater than a concentration threshold; and
, and the scale factor and a sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set
determining, based on the energy smooth reference value, and the scale factor and the sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a total energy value of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set; and
adding up the total energy values of the sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub- band set, to obtain the total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set.
But Liljeryd1 teaches
and an energy concentration of the audio signal is greater than a concentration threshold; and
, and the scale factor and a sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set
determining, based on the energy smooth reference value, and the scale factor and the sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a total energy value of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set; and
adding up the total energy values of the sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub- band set, to obtain the total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set.
[Column 6, lines 29-31 "The scale factors represent an estimate of the spectral density within the frequency band containing the grouped analysis filter bank channels."];
[Column 6, lines 31-34 "In order to obtain the lowest possible bit rate it is desirable to minimize the number of scale factors transmitted, which implies the usage of as large groups of filter channels as possible."];
[Column 5, lines 52- 55 "…the corresponding scale factors of the transposed signal, where every element of the two vectors represents sub-band energy normalized in time and frequency."];
[Column 6, lines 31-34 “In order to obtain the lowest possible bit rate it is desirable to minimize the number of scale factors transmitted, which implies the usage of as large groups of filter channels as possible.”];
[Column 6, lines 6- 19 "However, this expression only displays the basic principle of the noise-limiters. Since the spectral envelope of the transposed and the original signal might differ significantly in both level and slope, it is not feasible to use constant values for gmax. Instead, the average gain, defined as
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86
325
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is calculated and the amplification factors are allowed to exceed that by a certain amount. "].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu in Liljeryd in view of Hall with Liljeryd1 because this would produce a more accurate energy measurement across differently sized sub bands and improve selection of the partition providing efficient compression without degrading sound quality.
Ouyang in view of Wu in Liljeryd in view of Hall in view of Liljeryd1 do not teach
adding up the total energy values of the sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub- band set, to obtain the total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set.
But Malenovsky teaches adding up the total energy values of the sub-bands comprised in the first candidate sub- band set, to obtain the total scale value of the first candidate sub-band set.
[Column 8, lines “32-35 “Finally, the spectral analyzer 102 computes the average total energy for both the first and second spectral analyses in a 20 ms frame by adding the average critical band energies ECB.”];
[Column 8, lines 48-53 “The output parameters of the spectral analyzer 102, that is the average energy per critical band, the energy per frequency bin and the total energy, are used in the sound activity detector 103 and in the rate selection.”]
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu in view of Liljeryd in view of Hall in view of Liljeryd1 with Malenovsky because Malenovsky’s summation of individual band energies to Ouyang’s adaptively selected sub band structure would provide a predictable way to evaluate candidate divisions while maintaining audio quality and efficient bit rate utilization.
Regarding claim 6, the rejection of claim 5 is incorporated.
Ouyang in view of Wu in view of Liljeryd do not teach
The method according to claim 5, wherein the determining, based on the energy smooth reference value, and the scale factor and the sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a total energy value of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set comprises:
determining, for the first sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, as a reference scale value of the first sub-band, a larger value in the scale factor of the first sub- band and the energy smooth reference value, wherein the first sub-band is any sub-band in the first candidate sub-band set; and
determining, as a total energy value of the first sub-band, a product of the reference 2
scale value of the first sub-band and a sub-band bandwidth of the first sub-band.
However, Hal does teach the method according to claim 5, wherein the determining, based on the energy smooth reference value, and the scale factor and the sub-band bandwidth of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, a total energy value of each sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set comprises:
determining, for the first sub-band comprised in the first candidate sub-band set, as a reference scale value of the first sub-band, a larger value
[Column 5, lines 55-58 “Any critical band that has a calculated noise threshold lower than the absolute threshold is changed to the absolute threshold for that critical band.”];
[Column 8, lines 41-44 “Additionally, if the threshold adjustment factor drops a Thrn below the absolute thresholds, the corresponding Thrn is again reset to the absolute threshold.” Where hall compares two band specific references. If calculated value is smaller, it replaces with other value. Thus the resulting value is effectively larger of the two values for that frequency band.]
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu in view of Liljeryd with Hall because Hall’s selection of the larger threshold value provides a predictable way to prevent a band-specific energy/scale value from failing below a reference level, thereby maintaining perceptual audio quality while allowing efficient bit rate allocation.
Ouyang in view of Wu in Liljeryd in view of Hall do not teach the two operands in the scale factor of the first sub- band and the energy smooth reference value,
determining, as a total energy value of the first sub-band, a product of the reference 2
scale value of the first sub-band and a sub-band bandwidth of the first sub-band.
However, Liljeryd1 teaches the scale factor of the first sub- band and the energy smooth reference value,
determining, as a total energy value of the first sub-band, a product of the reference 2
scale value of the first sub-band and a sub-band bandwidth of the first sub-band.
[Column 6, lines “The scale factors represent an estimate of the spectral density within the frequency band containing the grouped analysis filterbank channels.”];
[Column 5, lines 52- 55 "…the corresponding scale factors of the transposed signal, where every element of the two vectors represents sub-band energy normalized in time and frequency."];
[Column 6, lines “In order to obtain the lowest possible bit rate it is desirable to minimize the number of scale factors transmitted, which implies the usage of as large groups of filter channels as possible.” Where scale factor is the spectral density of the subband, grouped filterbank is the claimed subband, normalized subband energy is the energy associated with the entire sub band, and therefore determining the entire energy of the entire band from the spectral density and the bandwidth would yield the claimed product of the reference scale value and sub bandwidth.]
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Ouyang in view of Wu in view of Liljeryd in view of Hall with Liljeryd1 because Liljeryd1 relates scale factors to spectral density, sub band energy, and frequency band width, providing a predictable way to determine energy for each selected sub band while improving coding efficiency and preserving spectral envelope.
Claim [12, 17] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smyth (US 6487535 B1, hereinafter Smyth) in view of Grancharov (US 10566003 B2, hereinafter Grancharov).
Regarding claim 12, the rejection of claim 11 is incorporated.
Smyth teaches
The method according to claim 11, further comprising: after decoding spectrum data of each sub-band in the target sub-band set,
[Column 9, lines 58-59 "On arrival at the decoder 18, the data stream is demultiplexed 40, or unpacked, back into the individual subbands"];
[Column 9, lines 60- 61 “ The scale factors and bit allocations are first installed into the inverse quantizers 75..”];
[Column 9, lines 62-65 "The differential codes are then reconstructed using either the ADPCM process 76 or the inverse VQ process 77 directly or the inverse JFC process 78 for designated subbands."];
However, Smyth does not teach when a bit is still remaining in the bitstream, performing residual decoding on the bitstream, to obtain spectrum data of another sub-band.
But Grancharov teaches when a bit is still remaining in the bitstream, performing residual decoding on the bitstream, to obtain spectrum data of another sub-band.
[Column 4, lines 57- 60 “After the peak regions have been quantized, all available remaining bits (except reserved bits for noise-floor coding, see below) are used to quantize the low frequency MDCT coefficients.”];
[Column 5, lines 1-3 “The total number of LF bands or sets depends on the number of available bits,..”];
[Column 5, lines 5-7 “If there are more bits available another set is created and bits are assigned to this set until the threshold is reached.”];
[Column 6, lines 19-22 “The audio decoder extracts, from the bit-stream, the number of peak regions and the quantization indices {Iposition Igain Isign Ishape} in order to reconstruct the coded peak regions”];
[ Column 6, lines 39-40 “Step S12 decodes at least one low-frequency set of coefficients.”];
[Column 6, lines 56-59 “ In FIG. 9B the LF set(s) are gain-shape decoded and the decoded transform coefficient are distributed in blocks outside the peak regions.”];
[ Column 7, lines 2-4 “A low-frequency set decoder 44 is configured to decode at least one low-frequency set of coefficients”];
[ Column 7, lines 8-10 “A noise filler 50 is configured to fill each high-frequency set with noise having the corresponding noise-floor gain.”];
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Smyth in view of Grancharov because Smyth already reconstructs individually coded sub bands while Grancharov provides a known technique for using otherwise unused bits to represent an additional spectral band. The decoder would decode that additional band when its coded data is present. This would make fuller use of the available bit, reconstruct a greater portion of the audio spectrum, and this would improve decoded audio quality without increasing frame size or transmission rate.
Regarding claim 17, the rejection of claim 16 is incorporated. Claim 17 is substantially the same as claim 12 and is therefore rejected under the same rationale as above.
Claim [13, 18 ] are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smyth (US 6487535 B1, hereinafter Smyth) in view of Grancharov (US 10566003 B2, hereinafter Grancharov) and in further view of Neuendorf (US 2012/0245947 A1, hereinafter Neuendorf) and in further view of Wang (CN101090312A, hereinafter Wang) and in further view of Valero( US10255924 B2, hereinafter Valero ).
Regarding claim 13, the rejection of claim 12 is incorporated.
Smyth in view of Grancharov do not teach the method according to claim 12, wherein
the side information further comprises a low bit rate flag
However, Neuendorf teaches
performing spectral noise shaping based on the scale factors
[0034 “The audio encoder further comprises a spectrum processor configured to apply a spectral shaping to a set of spectral coefficients, or a pre-processed version thereof, in dependence on a set of linear-prediction-domain parameters for a portion of the audio content to be encoded in the linear-prediction-domain”];
[0151 “Accordingly, a first type of spectral shaping, namely a spectral shaping in dependence on a set 1152 of linear-prediction domain parameters, is performed in the linear-prediction mode, and a second type of spectral-shaping, namely a spectral-shaping in dependence on a set 1154 of scale factor parameters, is performed in the frequency-domain mode”];
[0151 “However, by performing the noise-shaping using the spectral shaping both for speech-like and non-speech-like audio frames, i.e. both for audio frames encoded in the linear-prediction mode and for audio frames encoded in the frequency-domain mode,..” where noise shaping corresponds to the spectral noise shaping. The set of scale factor parameters corresponds to scale factors. The spectral coefficients corresponds to the claimed spectral data];
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Smyth in view of Grancharov with Neuendorf because this combination would improve the perceptual quality of the decoded spectral signal by reducing the audible effects of quantization while retaining audio coding.
However, Smyth in view of Grancharov in view Neuendorf do not teach wherein
the side information further comprises a low bit rate flag
But Wang teaches
wherein the side information further comprises a low bit rate flag
decoding spectrum data of each sub-band in the target sub-band set, the method further comprises:
[Page 9, line 20 “The frame size is reflected by the first two bits of each frame, VADFLAG_B0 and RATEFLAG_B0”];
[Page 9, lines 23-24 “Therefore, it can be seen that the two bits of VADFLAG_B0 and RATEFLAG_B0 are used to distinguish the three types of G.723.1 frames and cannot be encrypted”];
[Page 1, line 20-22 “The excitation signal at high bit rate (6.3kbs) is Multipulse Maximum Likelihood Quantization (MP-MLQ), and the excitation signal at low bit rate (5.3kbs) is Algebraic-linear excitation (Algebraic- Code-Excited Linear-Prediction (ACELP).”];
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Smyth in view of Grancharov in view of Neuendorf with Wang because including a low bit rate flag in the coded audio information so that decoder can identify when a frame is operating at the low coding rate would thereby maintain perceptual audio quality at reduced bit rates.
Smyth in view of Grancharov in view Neuendorf in view of Wang do not teach
the adjustment factors S are used to dequantize decoded spectral data.
However, Valero teaches the adjustment factors S are used to dequantize decoded spectral data
[Column 22, lines 28-31 “a dequantizer configured to dequantize the spectral lines within the one or more second scale factor bands using scale factors of the one or more second scale factor bands ; and”];
[Column 9 , lines 39-43 , “The dequantizer 14 uses the scale factors associated with an inbound spectrum 46 so as to dequantize, or scale, the spectral line coefficients of the spectral lines of spectrum 46 according to the associated scale factors, i.e. the scale factors associated with the scale factor bands 50.”].
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Smyth in view of Grancharov in view of Neuendorf in view of Wang with Valero because Valero teaches using scale-factor information to dequantize spectral coefficients, thereby improving reconstruction of the spectral data.
Regarding claim 18, the rejection of claim 17 is incorporated. Claim 18 is substantially the same as claim 13 and is therefore rejected under the same rationale as above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim [8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 19, 20 ] would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEZA ABDUL AZIZ whose telephone number is (571)272-9610. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7:30am-5pm Alternate Fridays off.
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/SHEZA ABDUL AZIZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2657
/DANIEL C WASHBURN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2657
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