Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s amendments/remarks received on March 31, 2026.
3. Claims 1-31 are pending in this application.
4. Claims 1, 14, 15 and 16 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
5. Applicant's arguments filed March 31, 2026 have been fully considered but they are deemed moot in view of a necessitated new grounds of rejection, more specifically, nonstatutory type double patenting rejections made to claims 1-31 over claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,261,992 B2.
6. With regards to objections made to the Abstract, amended abstract does not exceed 150 words. Therefore, the objections made to the Abstract have been withdrawn.
7. With regards to objections made to claims 1 and 15, typos have been amended, therefore, the objections made to claims 1 and 15 have been withdrawn.
Double Patenting
8. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
9. Claims 1-31 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,261,992 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims 1-31 are just claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,261,992 B2 with minor English language syntax differences. Thus claims 1-31 of the present application are anticipated by claims 1-18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,261,992 B2. Still further, please refer to the following table for the correspondence of claims between the present application and U.S. Patent No. 12,261,992 B2:
Instant application
U.S. Patent No. 12,261,992 B2
Note: bold means difference
1. An apparatus comprising:
a receiver circuit, wherein the receiver circuit is arranged to receive a plurality of source images wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from at least two view poses;
a combined image generator circuit, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate a plurality of combined images from the source images, wherein each combined image is derived from at least two source images of the plurality of source images,
wherein the plurality of source images comprises a first source image and a second source image, wherein each pixel of each combined image represents the scene for at least one ray pose, wherein the at least one ray pose comprises at least two different positions;
an evaluator circuit, wherein the evaluator circuit arranged to determine prediction quality measures for at least one element of the first source image,
wherein a prediction quality measure for the at least one element is indicative of a difference between first pixel values in the first source image and predicted pixel values,
wherein the predicted pixel values result from prediction of second pixels in the at least one element from a plurality of combined images;
a determiner circuit, wherein the determiner circuit is arranged to determine at least one segment of the plurality of source image, wherein the at least one segment comprise a portion of the at least one element for which the prediction quality measure is indicative of a difference below a threshold, wherein prediction quality measures that are below the threshold indicate a lower quality than prediction quality measures that are above the threshold; and
an image signal generator circuit, wherein the image signal generator circuit is arranged to generate for generating an image signal comprising image data representing the combined images and image data representing the at least one segments.
1. An apparatus for generating an image signal, the apparatus comprising:
a receiver circuit, wherein the receiver circuit is arranged to receive a plurality of source images, and wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from at least two view poses,
a combined image generator circuit, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate a plurality of combined images from the plurality source images, wherein each combined image is derived from at least two source images, wherein each combined image comprises a plurality of pixels,
wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels represents the scene for a ray pose of a plurality of ray poses, and
wherein a ray pose for a pixel represents a pose for a ray in a view direction for the pixel and from a view position for the pixel;
an evaluator circuit wherein the evaluator circuit is arranged to determine a prediction quality measure for at least one element of at least a first source image of the plurality of source images,
wherein the at least one element comprises at least one pixel,
wherein the prediction quality measure for the at least one element of the first source image is inversely indicative of a difference between pixel values in the at least one first element of the first source image and predicted pixel values for pixels in the at least one first element, and wherein the predicted pixel values result from a prediction of pixels in a corresponding at least one element of at least two combined images;
a determiner circuit, wherein the determiner circuit is arranged to determine low-quality segments of the at least one source image, wherein the low-quality segments comprise elements of the at least one source image for which the prediction quality measure is below a threshold; and
an image signal generator circuit, wherein the image signal generator circuit is arranged to generate an image signal, wherein the image signal comprises first image data and second image data, wherein the first image data represents the combined images, wherein the second image data represent the low-quality segments, and wherein an encoding of the combined images to form the first image data differs from an encoding of the low-quality segments to form the second image data.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate at least a first combined image of the plurality of combined images by view synthesis of pixels of the first source image, wherein each pixel of the first combined image represents the scene for a ray pose, wherein the ray poses for the first image comprises at least two different positions.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of combined images comprise a first combined image, wherein the first combined image comprises first pixels, and wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate the first combined image using view synthesis of the first pixels from the plurality of source images.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a dot product between a vertical vector and at least one pixel cross product vectors is non-negative for at least 90% of the first pixels, wherein a pixel cross product vector for each of the first pixels is a cross product between a ray direction for a pixel and a vector from a center point, wherein the center point is between at least one of the at least two view poses and a ray position for the pixel.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a dot product between a vertical vector and at least one pixel cross product vectors is non-negative for at least 90% of the first pixels, wherein a pixel cross product vector for each of the first pixels is a cross product between a ray direction for a pixel and a vector from a center point, and wherein the center point is between at least two view poses of the plurality of source images.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate the second combined image using view synthesis of second pixels, wherein each of the second pixels represents the scene for a second ray pose, wherein the second ray pose comprises at least two different positions, wherein a dot product between the vertical vector and pixel cross product vectors is non-positive for at least 90% of the second pixels.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate the second combined image using view synthesis of the second pixels from the source images, and wherein a dot product between a vertical vector and pixel cross product vectors is non-positive for at least 90% of the second pixels.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the each of the first ray poses are selected to be proximal to a border of a region comprising the at least two view poses.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the first ray poses are selected to be proximal to a border of a region comprising the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the first ray poses is determined to be less than a first distance from a border of a region, wherein the border of the region comprises the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images, wherein the first distance is less than or equal to 50% of a maximum interior distance between points on the border.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the first ray poses is determined to be less than a first distance from a border of a region, wherein the border of the region comprises the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images, and wherein the first distance is less than or equal to 50% of a maximum interior distance between points on the border.
7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to determine a corresponding pixel to each first pixel in each of the view source images for which the corresponding pixel is present, wherein the corresponding pixel is one that represents a same ray direction as the pixel of the first combined image; wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the first pixels as a pixel value of the corresponding pixel when the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from a center point for the at least two view poses, wherein the largest distance is in a first direction along a first axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the corresponding pixel.
7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to determine a first corresponding pixel to each first pixel in each of the view source images for which the first corresponding pixel is present, wherein the first corresponding pixel is one that represents a same ray direction as the pixel of the first combined image; wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the first pixels as a pixel value of the first corresponding pixel when the first corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from a center point for the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images, and wherein the largest distance is in a first direction along a first axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the first corresponding pixel.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein determining the corresponding pixels comprises resampling each source image to an image representation, wherein the image representation represents at least a part of a surface of a view sphere, wherein the view sphere surrounds the view poses, wherein determining corresponding pixels comprises determining pixels having a same position in the image representation.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein determining the corresponding pixels comprises resampling each source image to an image representation, wherein the image representation represents at least a part of a surface of a view sphere, wherein the view sphere surrounds the view poses of the plurality of source images, and wherein determining corresponding pixels comprises determining pixels having a same position in the image representation.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a pixel value of the corresponding pixel, wherein the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in an opposite direction of the first direction.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a pixel value of a second corresponding pixel, and wherein the second corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in an opposite direction of the first direction.
10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value of the corresponding pixel in the view source image for which the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a smallest distance from the center point for each pixel in a third combined image.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a third combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises third pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the third pixels as a pixel value of a third corresponding pixel, and wherein the corresponding third corresponding pixel represents a ray having a smallest distance from the center point.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value of the corresponding pixel in the view source image for which the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point a second direction along a second axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the corresponding pixel for each pixel of a fourth combined image, wherein the first axis and the second axis have different directions.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a second corresponding pixel, wherein the second corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in a second direction along a second axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the second corresponding pixel, and wherein the first axis and the second axis have different directions.
12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate origin data for the first combined image, wherein the origin data is indicative of which of the source images is an origin for each pixel of the first combined image, wherein the image signal comprises the origin data in the image signal.
12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate origin data for the first combined image, wherein the origin data is indicative of which of the source images is an origin for each pixel of the first combined image, and wherein the image signal generator circuit is arranged to include the origin data in the image signal.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image signal comprises the source view pose data, wherein the source view pose data is indicative of the at least two view poses for the source images.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image signal generator circuit is arranged to include source view pose data in the image signal, and wherein the source view pose data is indicative of the at least two view poses for the source images.
14. An apparatus for receiving an image signal, the apparatus comprising:
a receiver circuit, wherein the receiver circuit is arranged to receive an image signal, the image signal comprising:
a plurality of combined images, wherein each of the plurality of combined images represents image data,
wherein the image data is derived from at least two source images of a plurality of source images,
wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from different view poses,
wherein each pixel of any combined image represents the scene for a ray pose,
wherein the ray poses for each combined image comprises at least two different positions; and
image data for a set of segments of the plurality of source images,
wherein at least one segment of a first source image comprises at least one pixel of the first source image,
wherein the at least one pixel of the first source image has a prediction quality measure for a prediction of the at least one segment is below a threshold, wherein prediction quality measures that are below the threshold indicate a lower quality than a prediction measures that are above the threshold; and
a processor circuit and a memory circuit, wherein the memory is arranged to store instructions for the processor circuit, wherein the processor circuit is arranged to process the image signal.
14. An apparatus for receiving an image signal, the apparatus comprising:
a receiver circuit, wherein the receiver circuit is arranged to receive an image signal, the image signal comprising:
a plurality of combined images, wherein each of the plurality of combined image represent image data,
wherein the image data is derived from at least two source images, wherein the at least two source images are a portion of a plurality of source images, wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from at least two view poses,
wherein each pixel of any combined image represents the scene for a ray pose of a plurality of ray poses,
wherein a ray pose for a pixel represents a pose for a ray in a view direction for the pixel and from a view position for the pixel; and
image data for a set of low-quality segments of the plurality of source images,
wherein at least one low-quality segment of a first source image comprises at least one pixel of the first source image,
wherein the low-quality segment has a prediction quality measure that is below a threshold, wherein the prediction quality measure is inversely indicative of a difference between pixel values in the first source image and predicted pixel values for pixels in the first source image, and wherein the predicted pixel values result from a prediction of pixel values based on at least two of the combined images; and
a processor circuit, wherein the processor circuit is arranged to process the image signal,
wherein the processor circuit is arranged to decode the combined images using a first decoding process, wherein the processor circuit is arranged to decode the image data for the set of low-quality segments using a second decoding process, and wherein the first decoding process is different from the second decoding process.
15. A method comprising:
receiving a plurality of source images, wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from at least two view poses;
generating a plurality of combined images from the plurality of source images, wherein each combined image is derived at least two source images of the plurality of source images,
wherein the plurality of source images comprises a first source image and a second source image,
wherein each pixel of each combined image represents the scene for at least one ray pose,
wherein the at least one ray pose comprises at least two different positions;
determining prediction quality measures for at least one element of the first source image, wherein a prediction quality measure for the at least one element is indicative of a difference between first pixel values in the first source image and predicted pixel values,
wherein the predicted pixel values result from prediction of second pixels in the at least one element from a plurality of combined images;
determining at least one segment of the plurality of source images, wherein the at least one segment comprise a portion of the at least one element for which the prediction quality measure is indicative of a difference below a threshold,
wherein prediction quality measures that are below the threshold indicate a lower quality than prediction quality measures that are above the threshold; and
generating an image signal comprising image data representing the combined images and image data representing the at least one segment.
15. A method of generating an image signal, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of source images, wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from at least two view poses;
generating a plurality of combined images from the source images,
wherein each combined image is derived from at least two source images,
wherein each combined image comprises a plurality of pixels,
wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels represents the scene for a ray pose, and
wherein a ray pose for a pixel represents a pose for a ray in a view direction for the pixel and from a view position for the pixel;
determining prediction quality measures for elements of the plurality of source images, wherein a prediction quality measure for at least one element of a first source image is inversely indicative of a difference between pixel values in the first source image for pixels in the element and predicted pixel values for pixels in the element, wherein the predicted pixel values are pixel values resulting from prediction of pixels in the element from at least two combined images;
determining low-quality segments of the first source image, wherein the low-quality segments comprise one or more elements for which the prediction quality measure is below a threshold; and
generating an image signal, wherein the image signal comprises first image data and second image data, wherein the first image data represents the combined images, wherein the second image data represents the low-quality segments, wherein the first image data corresponds to a first encoding of the combined images, wherein the second image data corresponds to a second encoding of the low-quality segments, and wherein the first encoding is different from the second encoding.
16. A method comprising:
receiving an image signal, the image signal comprising: a plurality of combined images,
wherein each of the plurality of combined images represents image data, wherein the image data is derived from at least two source images of a plurality of source images,
wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from different view poses, wherein each pixel of any combined image represents the scene for a ray pose,
wherein the ray poses for each combined image comprises at least two different positions; and
image data for a set of segments of the plurality of source images, wherein at least one segment of a first source image comprises at least one pixel of the first source image, wherein the at least one pixel of the first source image has a prediction quality measure for a prediction of the at least one segment that is below a threshold, wherein prediction quality measures that are below the threshold indicate a lower quality than prediction quality measures that are above the threshold;
processing the image signal.
16. A method of processing an image signal, the method comprising: receiving an image signal, the image signal comprising first image data and second image data, wherein the first image data represents a plurality of combined images, wherein each of the plurality of combined image represent image data, wherein the image data is derived from at least two source images, wherein the at least two source images are a portion of a plurality of source images,
wherein the plurality of source images represent a scene from at least two view poses, wherein each pixel of any combined image represents the scene for at least one ray pose,
wherein a ray pose for a pixel represents a pose for a ray in a view direction for the pixel and from a view position for the pixel,
wherein the second image data represents at least one low-quality segment, wherein the at least one low-quality segment corresponds to one or more elements of a first source image having a prediction quality measure that is below a threshold, wherein the prediction quality measure is inversely indicative of a difference between pixel values in the first source image for pixels in the element and predicted pixel values for pixels in the element, and wherein the predicted pixel values are pixel values resulting from prediction of pixels in the element from at least two combined images; and processing the image signal, wherein processing the image signal comprises decoding the first image data using a first decoding process, wherein processing the image signal comprises decoding the second image data using a second decoding process, and wherein the first decoding process is different from the second decoding process.
17. A computer program stored on a non-transitory medium, wherein the computer program when executed on a processor performs the method as claimed in claim 15.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed on a processor, performs the method as claimed in claim 15.
18. A computer program stored on a non-transitory medium, wherein the computer program when executed on a processor performs the method as claimed in claim 16.
18. A non-transitory medium computer-readable medium comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed on a processor, performs the method as claimed in claim 16.
19. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a pixel value of the corresponding pixel, wherein the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in an opposite direction of the first direction.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a pixel value of a second corresponding pixel, and wherein the second corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in an opposite direction of the first direction.
20. The method of claim 15, further comprising generating at least a first combined image of the plurality of combined images by view synthesis of pixels of the first source image, wherein each pixel of the first combined image represents the scene for a ray pose, wherein the ray poses for the first image comprises at least two different positions.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of combined images comprise a first combined image, wherein the first combined image comprises first pixels, and wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate the first combined image using view synthesis of the first pixels from the plurality of source images.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein a dot product between a vertical vector and at least one pixel cross product vectors is non-negative for at least 90% of the first pixels, wherein a pixel cross product vector for each of the first pixels is a cross product between a ray direction for a pixel and a vector from a center point, wherein the center point is between at least one of the at least two view poses and a ray position for the pixel.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a dot product between a vertical vector and at least one pixel cross product vectors is non-negative for at least 90% of the first pixels, wherein a pixel cross product vector for each of the first pixels is a cross product between a ray direction for a pixel and a vector from a center point, and wherein the center point is between at least two view poses of the plurality of source images.
22. The method of claim 21, further comprising generating a second combined image using view synthesis of second pixels, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises the second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein each of the second pixels represents the scene for a second ray pose, wherein the second ray pose comprises at least two different positions, wherein a dot product between the vertical vector and pixel cross product vectors is non-positive for at least 90% of the second pixels.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate the second combined image using view synthesis of the second pixels from the source images, and wherein a dot product between a vertical vector and pixel cross product vectors is non-positive for at least 90% of the second pixels.
23. The method of claim 20, further comprising selecting each of the first ray poses to be proximal to a border of a region comprising the at least two view poses.
5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the first ray poses are selected to be proximal to a border of a region comprising the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images.
24. The method of claim 20, wherein each of the first ray poses is determined to be less than a first distance from a border of a region, wherein the border of the region comprises the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images, wherein the first distance is less than or equal to 50% of a maximum interior distance between points on the border.
6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the first ray poses is determined to be less than a first distance from a border of a region, wherein the border of the region comprises the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images, and wherein the first distance is less than or equal to 50% of a maximum interior distance between points on the border.
25. The method of claim 20, further comprising: determining a corresponding pixel to each first pixel in each of the view source images for which the corresponding pixel is present, wherein the corresponding pixel is one that represents a same ray direction as the pixel of the first combined image; and selecting a pixel value for each of the first pixels as a pixel value of the corresponding pixel when the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from a center point for the at least two view poses, wherein the largest distance is in a first direction along a first axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the corresponding pixel.
7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to determine a first corresponding pixel to each first pixel in each of the view source images for which the first corresponding pixel is present, wherein the first corresponding pixel is one that represents a same ray direction as the pixel of the first combined image; wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the first pixels as a pixel value of the first corresponding pixel when the first corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from a center point for the at least two view poses of the plurality of source images, and wherein the largest distance is in a first direction along a first axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the first corresponding pixel.
26. The method of claim 25, wherein determining the corresponding pixels comprises resampling each source image to an image representation, wherein the image representation represents at least a part of a surface of a view sphere, wherein the view sphere surrounds the view poses, wherein determining corresponding pixels comprises determining pixels having a same position in the image representation.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein determining the corresponding pixels comprises resampling each source image to an image representation, wherein the image representation represents at least a part of a surface of a view sphere, wherein the view sphere surrounds the view poses of the plurality of source images, and wherein determining corresponding pixels comprises determining pixels having a same position in the image representation.
27. The method of claim 25, further comprising: selecting a pixel value for each of second pixels as a pixel value of the corresponding pixel, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises the second pixels; and selecting a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a pixel value of the corresponding pixel, wherein the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in an opposite direction of the first direction.
9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a pixel value of a second corresponding pixel, and wherein the second corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in an opposite direction of the first direction.
28. The method of claim 25, further comprising selecting a pixel value of the corresponding pixel in the view source image for which the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a smallest distance from the center point for each pixel in a third combined image.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a third combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises third pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the third pixels as a pixel value of a third corresponding pixel, and wherein the corresponding third corresponding pixel represents a ray having a smallest distance from the center point.
29. The method of claim 25, further comprising selecting a pixel value of the corresponding pixel in the view source image for which the corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point a second direction along a second axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the corresponding pixel for each pixel of a fourth combined image, wherein the first axis and the second axis have different directions.
11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of combined images comprises a second combined image, wherein the second combined image comprises second pixels, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to select a pixel value for each of the second pixels as a second corresponding pixel, wherein the second corresponding pixel represents a ray having a largest distance from the center point in a second direction along a second axis perpendicular to a ray direction for the second corresponding pixel, and wherein the first axis and the second axis have different directions.
30. The method of claim 25, further comprising generating origin data for the first combined image, wherein the origin data is indicative of which of the source images is an origin for each pixel of the first combined image, wherein the image signal comprises the origin data.
12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the combined image generator circuit is arranged to generate origin data for the first combined image, wherein the origin data is indicative of which of the source images is an origin for each pixel of the first combined image, and wherein the image signal generator circuit is arranged to include the origin data in the image signal.
31. The method of claim 15, wherein the image signal comprises the source view pose data, wherein the source view pose data is indicative of the at least two view poses for the source images.
13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the image signal generator circuit is arranged to include source view pose data in the image signal, and wherein the source view pose data is indicative of the at least two view poses for the source images.
Conclusion
10. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
11. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANA J PICON-FELICIANO whose telephone number is (571)272-5252. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christopher Kelley can be reached at 571 272 7331. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/Ana Picon-Feliciano/Examiner, Art Unit 2482
/CHRISTOPHER S KELLEY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2482
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