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 .
Detailed Action
Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1, 8, and 20 are independent.
Claims 2-7 depend from Claim 1.
Claims 8-19 depend from Claim 8.
This Application was published as U.S. 2025/0166640.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10 Feb 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Independent claims 1, 8, and 20 recite various limitations that, but for generic computer components (processor and memory) can be performed in the human mind or with pen and paper, and are considered abstract ideas. The claims under the broadest reasonable interpretation cover the concept of receiving a uniform resource locator (URL), decoding a dual channel signal with a bit rate and sampling rate less than a threshold, and somehow based on a channel decoding mode being a left channel decoding mode then decode the left channel data and copy the data into the right channel, and based on somehow determining the channel mode is a right channel decoding module then decode the right channel data and copy the data into the left channel. (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) III)
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims only recite elements in the form of “memory” and “processor.” These elements are used to perform the claimed methods and steps, and are recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer components. Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because they do not include subject matter that could not be performed by a human, as discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application. The additional elements of using the generic computing elements to perform the claimed elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component or can be considered insignificant extra solution activity. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept, and mere data gathering in conjunction with an abstract idea cannot provide an inventive concept. For all the reasons stated above, the claims are not patent eligible.
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 1-4 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chebiyyam et al. (US2018/0109896 hereinafter Chebiyyam) in view of Su (US9843883 hereinafter Su)
With regards to claim 1, Chebiyyam teaches:
An audio decoding method, wherein the method comprises: based on a to-be-decoded audio signal satisfying a first condition, obtaining a channel decoding mode, wherein the first condition comprises that the audio signal is a dual-channel signal, [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches decoder (118) having a stereo decoder (616) which is a channel decoding mode for a dual-channel signal]
an encoding bit rate of the audio signal is not less than a bit rate threshold, and a sampling rate of the audio signal is not less than a sampling rate threshold; [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches stereo parameter conditioner (618) that determines thresholds such as the “threshold window size, the threshold coding bitrate” (Par [0048]) where a “signal (e.g., an audio signal) is “windowed” to generate windowed samples” (Par [0028])]
based on the channel decoding mode being a left-channel decoding mode, decoding a left-channel bitstream in a bitstream, to obtain left-channel data of the audio signal; and [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches decoding left-channel signal (130,132) (Par [0038]) which is part of bitstream (10) and “multiplexing of the audio channels may result in a 2-channel configuration (i.e., Stereo: Left and Right)” (Par [0026]) which is based on the channel decoding mode decoding both left and right channel data of the audio signal]
based on the channel decoding mode being a right-channel decoding mode, decoding a right-channel bitstream in the bitstream, to obtain right-channel data of the audio signal; and[Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches decoding right-channel signal (130,132) (Par [0038]) which is part of bitstream (10) and “multiplexing of the audio channels may result in a 2-channel configuration (i.e., Stereo: Left and Right)” (Par [0026]) which is based on the channel decoding mode decoding both left and right channel data of the audio signal]
With regards to claim 1, Chebiyyam fails to teach:
duplicating the left-channel data to a right channel; and
duplicating the right-channel data to a left channel.
With regards to claim 1, Su teaches:
duplicating the left-channel data to a right channel; and duplicating the right-channel data to a left channel. [Su Fig3 teaches re-mixing right and left channel data where “portions of the left channel audio that are not present in the right channel are copied to the right channel, and portions of the right channel audio that are not present in the left channel, are copied to the left channel.” (Col 5 lines 17-20)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the parametric decoding of audio signals as taught by Chebiyyam with the intermixing of left and right channel signals as taught by Su. The motivation to combine the teachings of Chebiyyam with Su is because “After the re-mix, the resulting left and right channels are identical to each other” (Col 5 lines 20-22) which increases the capabilities of the invention of Chebiyyam to capture data using multiple sensors and combining the data to together.]
With regards to claim 2, Chebiyyam in view of Su teaches:
All the limitations of claim 1
wherein the method further comprises: based on the channel decoding mode being neither the left-channel decoding mode nor the right-channel decoding mode, decoding the left-channel bitstream and the right-channel bitstream, to obtain the left-channel data and the right-channel data. [Chebiyyam teaches decoding channel methods other than a 2-channel mode such as “a 5.1 channel configuration (Left, Right, Center, Left Surround, Right Surround, and the low frequency emphasis (LFE) channels), a 7.1 channel configuration, a 7.1+4 channel configuration, a 22.2 channel configuration, or a N-channel configuration” (Par [0026])]
With regards to claim 3, Chebiyyam in view of Su teaches:
All the limitations of claim 2
wherein the method further comprises: based on the audio signal not satisfying the first condition, when the audio signal is a dual-channel signal, decoding a dual-channel interleaved bitstream in the bitstream, to obtain the left-channel data and the right-channel data. [Chebiyyam Fig 6 teaches decoding dual-channel interleaved bitstream (101) using the encoded mid signal (102) and side signal (103) which do not satisfy the stereo parameter condition to obtain left and right channel data.]
With regards to claim 4, Chebiyyam in view of Su teaches:
All the limitations of claim 1
wherein the method further comprises: based on the audio signal not satisfying the first condition, when the audio signal is a mono-channel signal, decoding a mono-channel bitstream in the bitstream, to obtain mono-channel data of the audio signal. [Chebiyyam Fig 6 teaches decoding mono-channel audio signal that is part of bitstream (101) using the encoded mid signal (102) and side signal (103) which do not satisfy the stereo parameter condition to obtain mono-channel data.]
With regards to claim 20, Chebiyyam teaches:
An audio decoding 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 implement an audio decoding method, wherein the method comprises: [Chebiyyam Fig 8 teaches memory (853) and processor (806) where “memory device may include instructions (e.g., the instructions 860) that, when executed by a computer (e.g., a processor in the CODEC 834, the processor 806, and/or the processors 810), may cause the computer to perform one or more operations described with reference to FIGS. 1-7.]
based on a to-be-decoded audio signal satisfying a first condition, obtaining a channel decoding mode, wherein the first condition comprises that the audio signal is a dual-channel signal, [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches decoder (118) having a stereo decoder (616) which is a channel decoding mode for a dual-channel signal]
an encoding bit rate of the audio signal is not less than a bit rate threshold, and a sampling rate of the audio signal is not less than a sampling rate threshold; [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches stereo parameter conditioner (618) that determines thresholds such as the “threshold window size, the threshold coding bitrate” (Par [0048]) where a “signal (e.g., an audio signal) is “windowed” to generate windowed samples” (Par [0028])]
based on the channel decoding mode being a left-channel decoding mode, decoding a left-channel bitstream in a bitstream, to obtain left-channel data of the audio signal; and [Chebiyyam teaches “multiplexing of the audio channels may result in a 2-channel configuration (i.e., Stereo: Left and Right)” (Par [0026]) which is based on the channel decoding mode decoding both left and right channel data of the audio signal]
based on the channel decoding mode being a right-channel decoding mode, decoding a right-channel bitstream in the bitstream, to obtain right-channel data of the audio signal; and [Chebiyyam teaches “multiplexing of the audio channels may result in a 2-channel configuration (i.e., Stereo: Left and Right)” (Par [0026]) which is based on the channel decoding mode decoding both left and right channel data of the audio signal]
With regards to claim 20, Chebiyyam fails to teach:
duplicating the left-channel data to a right channel; and
duplicating the right-channel data to a left channel.
With regards to claim 20, Su teaches:
duplicating the left-channel data to a right channel; and duplicating the right-channel data to a left channel. [Su Fig3 teaches re-mixing right and left channel data where “portions of the left channel audio that are not present in the right channel are copied to the right channel, and portions of the right channel audio that are not present in the left channel, are copied to the left channel.” (Col 5 lines 17-20)
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the parametric decoding of audio signals as taught by Chebiyyam with the intermixing of left and right channel signals as taught by Su. The motivation to combine the teachings of Chebiyyam with Su is because “After the re-mix, the resulting left and right channels are identical to each other” (Col 5 lines 20-22) which increases the capabilities of the invention of Chebiyyam to capture data using multiple sensors and combining the data to together.]
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chebiyyam et al. (US2018/0109896) in view of Su (US9843883) in further view of Li et al.(US2006/0050697 hereinafter Li)
With regards to claim 5, Chebiyyam in view of Su teaches:
All the limitations of claim 1
With regards to claim 5, Chebiyyam in view of Su fails to teach:
wherein the method further comprises: obtaining a total data amount of the bitstream;
decoding a packet header of the bitstream, to obtain a channel number, the sampling rate, and a frame length of the audio signal; and
determining, based on the total data amount, the channel number, the sampling rate, and the frame length, whether the audio signal meets the first condition.
With regards to claim 5, Li teaches:
wherein the method further comprises: obtaining a total data amount of the bitstream; [Li teaches breaking “the data to be transmitted, including the media header, the DRM header (if used), the timeblock index table, the timeblock header, and the body of the media packets into data units of maximum size L” (Par [0064]) where Li does not specifically state the total data amount of the bitstream, it is understood that breaking all the data units into a finite sum of known size determines the total data amount.]
decoding a packet header of the bitstream, to obtain a channel number, the sampling rate, and a frame length of the audio signal; and [Li Fig 3 teaches traditional media format that includes header (302) that contains “number of channels in the media, the property and characteristic (audio sampling rate, video resolution/frame rate) of each channel, codecs used, author/copyright holder of the media, and so forth” and “header 302 is followed by a sequence of media packets, each of which contains the compressed bitstream 304 of a certain channel spanning across a short time period. Each media packet is led by a packet header 306.” (Par [0052]) While Li does not specifically state the frame length of the audio signal, Li teaches the frame rate and time which determines the frame length.]
determining, based on the total data amount, the channel number, the sampling rate, and the frame length, whether the audio signal meets the first condition. [Chebiyyam teaches meeting the first condition of having dual channels with stereo parameters, and Li teaches channel numbers where it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to determine if dual channels and stereo parameters exist by the number of channels in the media file.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the parametric decoding of audio signals as taught by Chebiyyam in view of Su with the media file format as taught by Li. The motivation to combine the teachings of Chebiyyam and Su with Li is because Li teaches a “system and method that enables segments of media to be read, written, accessed, and streamed in a non-sequential order … that achieves efficient content distribution without relinquishing the control of the content.” (Par [0009]) which increases the capabilities of the invention of Chebiyyam in view of Su to provide better content and control of the audio data for the user.]
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chebiyyam et al. (US2018/0109896) in view of Su (US9843883) in further view of Vetterli et al.(US2009/0248425 hereinafter Vetterli)
With regards to claim 6, Chebiyyam in view of Su teaches:
All the limitations of claim 1
With regards to claim 6, Chebiyyam in view of Su fails to teach:
wherein the method further comprises: decoding a bitstream of side information in the bitstream, to obtain the side information, wherein the side information comprises an encoding codebook identifier; and
determining, based on the encoding codebook identifier, a target decoding codebook for decoding from a plurality of decoding codebooks.
With regards to claim 6, Vetterli teaches:
wherein the method further comprises: decoding a bitstream of side information in the bitstream, to obtain the side information, wherein the side information comprises an encoding codebook identifier; and [Vetterli Fig 5 teaches side information (196) of the bitstream that contains the codebook identifier (193). (see Par [0070-72])]
determining, based on the encoding codebook identifier, a target decoding codebook for decoding from a plurality of decoding codebooks. [Vetterli teaches using “Huffman codebook assigned to each critical band” (Par [0074] to decode the bitstream.
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the parametric decoding of audio signals as taught by Chebiyyam in view of Su with using the Huffman codebook to decode the bitstream as taught by Vetterli. The motivation to combine the teachings of Chebiyyam and Su with Vetterli is because Vetterli teaches an “encoding method of the present invention provides substantial bitrate reductions with respect to the known methods” (Par [0076]) which increases the capabilities of the invention of Chebiyyam in view of Su to provide better audio content.]
Claims 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chebiyyam et al. (US2018/0109896)
With regards to claim 8, Chebiyyam teaches:
An audio encoding method, wherein the method comprises: based on a to-be-encoded audio signal satisfying a first condition, encoding left-channel data of the audio signal into a bitstream, and encoding right-channel data of the audio signal into the bitstream, [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches device (104) taking input from a first microphone (146) and second microphone (148) where “first audio signal 130 may correspond to one of a right channel signal or a left channel signal. The second audio signal 132 may correspond to the other of the right channel signal or the left channel signal.” (Par [0038]) and encoding encoder (114) taking inputs to generate bitstream (101)]
wherein the first condition comprises that the audio signal is a dual-channel signal, [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches encoder (114) generates encoded stereo parameter information (158) for a dual-channel signal]
With regards to claim 8, Chebiyyam fails to teach:
an encoding bit rate of the audio signal is not less than a bit rate threshold, and a sampling rate of the audio signal is not less than a sampling rate threshold.
With regards to claim 8, Chebiyyam teaches:
an encoding bit rate of the audio signal is not less than a bit rate threshold, and a sampling rate of the audio signal is not less than a sampling rate threshold. [Chebiyyam Fig 1 teaches stereo parameter conditioner (618) that determines thresholds such as the “threshold window size, the threshold coding bitrate” (Par [0048]) where a “signal (e.g., an audio signal) is “windowed” to generate windowed samples” (Par [0028]) While Chebiyyam is teaching decoding stereo parameters for signals that are less than a bit rate and sampling rate threshold, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to encode because Chebiyyam is teaching encoding stereo parameters with the encoder (114) (See Par [0039])
It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill to encode stereo parameters as taught by Chebiyyam for the decoder taught by Chebiyyam. The motivation to combine the teachings of Chebiyyam is because “stereo parameter conditioner 618 may determine that an estimation function is to be applied to stereo parameter values of a subset of the one or more stereo parameters … In a particular aspect, the stereo parameter conditioner 618 may determine one or more thresholds associated with the estimation function based on various parameters” which increases the capabilities of the invention of Chebiyyam in view of Su to provide better audio content.]
With regards to claim 9, Chebiyyam in view of Chebiyyam teaches:
All the limitations of claim 8
wherein the method further comprises: based on the audio signal not satisfying the first condition, when the audio signal is a dual-channel signal, encoding the left-channel data and the right-channel data into the bitstream in a dual-channel interleaving encoding scheme. [Chebiyyam Fig 6 teaches decoding dual-channel interleaved bitstream (101) using the encoded mid signal (102) and side signal (103) which do not satisfy the stereo parameter condition to obtain left and right channel data.]
With regards to claim 10, Chebiyyam in view of Chebiyyam teaches:
All the limitations of claim 8
wherein the method further comprises: based on the audio signal not satisfying the first condition, when the audio signal is a mono-channel signal, encoding mono-channel data of the audio signal into the bitstream. [Chebiyyam Fig 6 teaches decoding mono-channel audio signal that is part of bitstream (101) using the encoded mid signal (102) and side signal (103) which do not satisfy the stereo parameter condition to obtain mono-channel data.]
Potentially Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 11-19 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 101, 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 Joseph J Yamamoto whose telephone number is (571)272-4020. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 1000-1800 EST.
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JOSEPH J. YAMAMOTO
Examiner
Art Unit 2656
/BHAVESH M MEHTA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2656
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