DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This communication is responsive to the correspondence filled on 05/27/2025.
Claims 1-18 are presented for examination.
IDS Considerations
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/27/2025 is/are being considered by the examiner as the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Thomas (U.S. Pub. No. 20170155912 A1), in view of Maze (U.S. Pub. No. 20180007407 A1).
Regarding to claim 1:
1. Thomas teach a method of encoding a video picture, the method comprising: (Thomas [0057] FIGS. 1A and 1B depict schematics of a HEVC-tiled video stream according to various embodiments of the invention. [0058] A video stream, e.g. a high-density (HD) or ultra high-density (UHD) wide field-of-view or panorama video stream, may be encoded on the basis of the HEVC video compression standard. In HEVC a video image is partitioned in so-called coding tree units (CTU), which is the basic processing unit used in the HEVC standard for the encoding and decoding process) spatially segmenting the video picture into a plurality of picture tiles (Thomas [0076] top_left_tile_index[i][j] and bottom_right_tile_index[i][j] defines the top lef tand bottom right indexes of the tiles in the tile set. Further, the mc_all_tiles_exact_sample_ value_match_flag parameter is set to 1. The HEVC standard thus allows defining sets of tiles within the bitstream. As will described hereunder in more detail, the special segment data structure allows a client device to access and retrieve these tile sets on a transport level (e.g. MPEG DASH level)) having no intra-frame dependency; (Thomas [0078] In an embodiment, the video file or stream may comprise one or more (video) tracks 206.sub.1-4, which serve as a container for independently [no intra-frame dependency] decodable video data associated with one or more spatial segments and, optionally, one or more HEVC tiles. Hence, a track may define a container comprising video data 210 wherein the spatial and temporal predictions for the video coding (e.g. motion vector and in-loop filters.) are within the boundaries of the spatial segment.) writing, in a metadata structure, section metadata of at least one spatial section, (Thomas [0102] A Spatial Representation may comprise one or more Spatial Segments 410 as described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1-3. A Spatial Segment may define one or more HEVC tiles 406.sub.1-4. Further, a Spatial Segment may comprise metadata, e.g. segment position information 412 defining the position of a spatial segment in the HEVC-tiled video image. Further, the spatial segment instance may comprise a segment identifier 414, e.g. an URL, which may be used for retrieving video data associated with a Spatial Segment.) each spatial section comprising at least one picture tile of the video picture, the section metadata of each spatial section defining decoding properties of video picture data of said at least one picture tile of the spatial section; (Thomas [0101] In order to generate a Spatial Representation, the video frames of the source file may be encoded into a HEVC-tiled video file or stream comprising one or more (independently) decodable Spatial Segments that may form a third data level in the SMF. The Spatial Representation may comprise metadata. For example, in FIG. 4 the metadata in the Segment representation 404.sub.2 may comprise video resolution information 416 indicating that the HEVC tiles of video data of a particular Spatial Representation is associated with a 4096×2160 video data format.)
Thomas [0077] FIG. 2 depicts an example of data structure 200 of an HEVC-tiled video file or stream, in this particular example an MPEG-4 file 202, comprising one or more spatial segments. [0078] In an embodiment, the video file or stream may comprise one or more (video) tracks 206.sub.1-4, which serve as a container for independently decodable video data associated with one or more spatial segments and, optionally, one or more HEVC tiles. Hence, a track may define a container comprising video data 210 wherein the spatial and temporal predictions for the video coding (e.g. motion vector and in-loop filters.) are within the boundaries of the spatial segment. Thomas do not explicitly teach and encoding, into a container, video picture data of the at least one picture tile of said at least one spatial section according to the section metadata of the at least one spatial section.
However Maze teach and encoding, into a container, video picture data of the at least one picture tile of said at least one spatial section according to the section metadata of the at least one spatial section. (Maze [0115] The second and third MPD video elements 504,506 may be defined as an AdaptationSet, comprising a Representation 503 and one or more SubRepresentations 505.sub.1-4 (i.e. parts composing this Representation which can be linked to the concept of tracks at the container level). This way the second and third MPD video elements may define spatial segments at Representation level comprising a set of one or more HEVC tiles (in this example four HEVC tiles) that are defined at SubRepresentation level.)
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to modify Thomas, further incorporating Maze in video/camera technology. One would be motivated to do so, to incorporate encoding, into a container, video picture data of the at least one picture tile of said at least one spatial section according to the section metadata of the at least one spatial section. This functionality will improve efficiency with predictable results.
Regarding to claim 16:
16. Thomas teach a data structure (MS1) formatted to include section metadata (MD1) obtained from the method of claim 1. (Thomas [0101] A Spatial Composition may comprise different Spatial Representations 404.sub.1-3 generated by an HEVC encoder and other representations of the source file, e.g. a non-tiled low-resolution video. The Spatial Representations may differ in HEVC tile sizes, format (2D or 3D), different video and/or audio qualities and/or resolutions (e.g. SD/HD/UHD, bitrates, etc.), field-of-views, camera angles, etc.). In order to generate a Spatial Representation, the video frames of the source file may be encoded into a HEVC-tiled video file or stream comprising one or more (independently) decodable Spatial Segments that may form a third data level in the SMF. The Spatial Representation may comprise metadata. For example, in FIG. 4 the metadata in the Segment representation 404.sub.2 may comprise video resolution information 416 indicating that the HEVC tiles of video data of a particular Spatial Representation is associated with a 4096×2160 video data format.)
Regarding to claim 17:
17. Thomas teach an apparatus (DV1) for encoding a video picture (PC1) into a bitstream (BT1) of encoded video picture data (DT1), comprises: (Thomas [0071] Hence, from the above, it follows that a spatial segment defines HEVC-tiled video data comprising a subset of HEVC tiles from the complete set of HEVC tiles of a HEVC-tiled wide field of view video (e.g. a panorama video). In case of an HEVC-encoded bitstream, a spatial segment may be defined using the concept of a so-called motion-constrained tile set. The information defining such tile set may be defined as a SEI message in the MPEG stream) a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions by the processor, the apparatus comprising means for performing the method of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to execute the method of claim 1. (Thomas [0148] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary data processing system that may be used in systems and methods as described with reference to FIGS. 1-9. Data processing system 1000 may include at least one processor 1002 coupled to memory elements 1004 through a system bus 1006. As such, the data processing system may store program code within memory elements 1004.)
Allowable subject matter
Regarding to claim 2 and 18:
2. Thomas teach a method of decoding a video picture implemented by a media player, said video picture being segmented into a plurality of picture tiles having no intra-frame dependency, said method comprising:- reading, from a metadata structure, section metadata of at least one spatial section, each spatial section comprising at least one picture tile of the video picture, the section metadata of each spatial section defining decoding properties of video picture data of said at least one picture tile of the spatial section; and- decoding, from a first container, video picture data of at least one picture tile of said supported spatial section. (Please see the rejection of claim 1, because encoding and decoding is dine using same opposite algorithm)
Prior art does not teach determining a supported spatial section by comparing the section metadata of said at least one spatial section to decoding capabilities of the media player.
Dependent claims are allowed for their dependency.
Closely related prior art
Examiner notes teaching of U.S. Pub. No. 20220279254 A1 is/are pertinent to the independent claim(s), however is not used because dependent claims are covered by primary reference.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NASIM N NIRJHAR whose telephone number is (571) 272-3792. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday, 8 am to 5 pm ET.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William F Kraig can be reached on (571) 272-8660. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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/NASIM N NIRJHAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2896
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