DETAILED ACTION
1. This communication is being filed in response to the submission having a mailing date of 05/07/2025 in which a (3) month Shortened Statutory Period for Response has been set.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Acknowledgements
3. Upon entry, claims (1 -20) appear pending in the application, of which (1, 19, 20) are the three (3) parallel-running independent claims on record.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) that was/were submitted on 07/23/2025 is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the IDS has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
5. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine
the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant's cooperation is requested in correcting
any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
5.1. The submitted Drawings on date 05/07/2025 has been accepted and considered under the 37 CFR 1.121 (d).
Claim Rejection Section
35 USC 112(a)
6. The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.- The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
6.1. Claims (2 -5 and 9) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim contains subject matter which was not specifically described in the specification, as following:
6.1.1. Claims (2 -5) recite an undefined “threshold value” limitation as, - a restriction to be less than or equal to a threshold value, wherein the threshold value is predefined. In this regard, the instant “Specs” discloses plurality of “threshold values(s)” used during probability model execution (see for ex. “CDF model”, “dual model”, “multiple tiles approach”, etc [specs; 0078-0090]. However, and even when enabled, no specific details presented regarding nature, calculation and/or “value-type” associated with the claimed “threshold”.
For the purpose of examination, the cited above threshold will be associated with any pre-determined/determined feature/tool execution, during codec process, Proper clarification is required moving forward.
6.1.2. Claim 9 is similarly rejected under 36 USC 112, as the claim recites “a default value”, that even when enabled in at least [specs; 0122], it fails to provide any specifics regarding the “value” associated in the claim.
For the purpose of examination, the cited above value will be readed as CABAC context initialization associated with the CDF probability model; [specs; 0121]. Proper clarification is required moving forward.
35 USC § 103
7. This is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained through the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negative by the manner in which the invention was made.
7.1. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459
(1966) that applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 USC 103(a) are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or non-obviousness
7.2. Claims (1 -20) is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Han; et al. (US 8,340,181; hereafter “Han”), in view of Kim; et al. (US 12,506,881, hereafter “Kim”).
Claim 1. Tissier discloses the invention substantially as claimed - A method of video decoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors, the method comprising: (e.g. a codec ecosystem of the same (encoder/decoder in Figs. (4 -6)), employing entropy coding and prediction techniques (intra/inter), to extract/identify reference frame(s) and texture data (i.e. size, position, etc) from the target bitstream; [Summary]).
Han specifically teaches - receiving a video bitstream comprising a plurality of frames; (e.g. see incoming data (610), at decoder 600, Fig. 6; [Han; 8: 15]);
identifying a reference frame for a current frame of the plurality of frames, (e.g. see reference frame from prediction at decoder 600, Fig. 6; [Han; 6:37; 8: 52]);
wherein the reference frame is composed of a plurality of tiles; (e.g. the processing unit, as slice (known as a whole number of complete tiles); [Han; 8: 04]);
identifying a subset of the plurality of tiles; (e.g. the processing unit, as slice (known as a whole number of complete tiles); [Han; 8: 04]);
obtaining respective contexts for the subset of the plurality of tiles; (e.g. the processing unit, as slice (known as a whole number of complete tiles); [Han; 8: 04]);
initializing a current context for the current frame (e.g. see context initiation of the same; [Kim; 8: 58]) by performing a weighted average of the respective contexts; (e.g. weighted average of the reference’s context (i.e. position, distance context information disclosed), as illustrated in Fig. 4; [6: 61; 8: 50; 9: 32])
entropy decoding one or more syntax elements for the current frame using the current context; (e.g. entropy decoder (610) implementation [8: 25] of the bitstream and syntax signaled data (i.e. expressed as an index [8: 31]);
and reconstructing the current frame using information of the one or more syntax elements; (e.g. image reconstruction (660) of the same; [8: 56]).
It is note however that the system of Han, very briefly discloses the use of “tiles as reference frames”, as claimed.
For the purpose of additional clarification and in the same filed of endeavor, Kim teaches a similar ecosystem (encoder/decoder of Figs. (1-2); [Cols. 5 -11]), able to provide high coding efficiency via CABAC with multiple context modeling techniques [8: 50], and by applying intra/inter prediction(s) to CU/slice/tail (as reference frames) of the target frame [10: 20; 12: 20; 49: 35], wherein weights between two prediction blocks and weighted average is/are similarly employing, and signaled via BCW_IDX; Fig. 14; [19: 10 – 19: 60].
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claim invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art, to combine the codec implementation of Han, with the probability model of Kim, in order to provide (e.g. plurality of high efficient context models supporting CU/Slice/Tail partitioning in according with VVC format; [8: 50 -8: 65]).
Claim 2. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of the plurality of tiles is restricted to be less than or equal to a threshold value; (e.g. weight values from tile/slice prediction associated with a threshold value disclosed, as for example shown in Fig. 18; [Kim; 28: 53]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 3. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 2, wherein the threshold value is predefined; (e.g. predetermined threshold value disclosed, Fig. 18; [Kim; 28: 53]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 4. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 3, wherein the threshold value is 16; (e.g. threshold value disclosed, Fig. 18; [Kim; 28: 53]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 5. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 2, wherein the threshold value is signaled in the video bitstream; (e.g. threshold information signaled predefined and/or signaled via SPS; [Kim; 28: 30]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 6. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of the plurality of tiles comprises largest tiles of the plurality of tiles; (e.g. plurality of block sizes supported; [Kim; 47: 55]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 7. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of the plurality of tiles comprises only one tile from each column and each row of the reference frame; (e.g. see analogous in Figs (9; 20 and 21); [Kim]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 8. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein weights of the weighted average are equal; (e.g. see weighted values may be equal and/or different; [Kim; 19: 10]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 9. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein the weighted average of the respective contexts includes a default value for the current frame; (e.g. see weighted value is processed and updated accordantly; [Kim; 9: 05 -9: 18]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 10. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein weights of the weighted average are based on respective quantization parameters for the subset of the plurality of tiles; (e.g. probability model based on QP; [Kim; 8: 60]; same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 11. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein weights of the weighted average are based on respective sizes for the subset of the plurality of tiles; (e.g. see probability model applied based on at least size of the block; [Kim; 49: 37]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 12. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein weights of the weighted average are based on respective positions for the subset of the plurality of tiles; (e.g. see Fig. 7 where position, direction, size, intra/inter prediction(s) of slice/tiles, are taken into account for weighted average process; [19: 10 -19: 60]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 13. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of weights for the weighted average are used for a first set of syntax elements and a second set of weights for the weighted average are used for a second set of syntax elements; (e.g. weighted average process [Kim; 19: 10 -19: 60], and signaled first/second syntax, Fig. 35; [52: 08]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 14. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, further comprising parsing an indicator in the video bitstream to determine whether weighted averaging is enabled for initializing the current context, wherein the current context for the current frame is initialized (e.g. see context initialization of the same; [Kim; 8: 58]) by performing the weighted average of the respective contexts when the indicator indicates that weighted averaging is enabled; (e.g. first/second syntax enabled provided, Figs. (14, 35); [52: 08]; same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 15. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 14, further comprising, wherein the indicator indicates that weighted averaging is enabled, parsing a second indicator in the video bitstream to determine whether to apply tile-based weighted averaging or frame-based weighted averaging for the current context; (e.g. weighted averaging for frames, slice, tiles supported in this implementation, Figs. (14, 35); [52: 08]; same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 16. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether weighted averaging is enabled for initializing the current context (e.g. see context initialization of the same; [Kim; 8: 58]) based on a temporal layer identifier for the current frame; (e.g. temporal layer supported; [Kim; 49: 41]; same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 17. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, wherein weights for the weighted average are signaled in a high-level syntax; (e.g. high-level syntax supported; [Kim; 26: 45]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 18. Han/Kim discloses - The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a secondary reference frame for the current frame, wherein the secondary reference frame is composed of a second plurality of tiles; identifying a subset of the second plurality of tiles; obtaining respective contexts for the subset of the second plurality of tiles; and wherein the current context for the current frame is initialized (e.g. see context initialization of the same; [Kim; 8: 58]) by performing a weighted average of the respective contexts of the subset of the plurality of tiles and the respective contexts for the subset of the second plurality of tiles; (e.g. see Fig. 7 where position, direction, size, intra/inter prediction(s) of slice/tiles, are taken into account for weighted average process; [19: 10 -19: 60]; the same motivation applies herein.)
Claim 19. Han/Kim discloses - A method of video encoding performed at a computing system having memory and one or more processors, the method comprising: receiving video data comprising a plurality of frames; identifying a reference frame for a current frame of the plurality of frames, wherein the reference frame is composed of a plurality of tiles; identifying a subset of the plurality of tiles; obtaining respective contexts for the subset of the plurality of tiles; initializing a current context for the current frame by performing a weighted average of the respective contexts; and entropy encoding one or more parameters for the current frame using the current context. (Current lists all the same elements as recite in Claim 1 above, but in “Method for encoding form” instead, and is/are therefore on the same premise.)
Claim 20. Han/Kim discloses - A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a video bitstream that is generated by a video encoding method, the video encoding method comprising: receiving video data comprising a plurality of frames; identifying a reference frame for a current frame of the plurality of frames, wherein the reference frame is composed of a plurality of tiles; identifying a subset of the plurality of tiles; obtaining respective contexts for the subset of the plurality of tiles; initializing a current context for the current frame by performing a weighted average of the respective contexts; and entropy encoding one or more parameters for the current frame using the current context. (Current lists all the same elements as recite in Claim 1 above, but in “CRM for encoding form” instead, and is/are therefore on the same premise.)
Prior Art Citations
8. The following List of prior art, made of record and not relied upon, is/are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
8.1. Patent documentation:
US 12,413,759 B2 Zhao; Liang et al. H04N19/105; H04N19/44; H04N19/139;
US 12,506,881 B2 Kim; Kyungyong et al. H04N19/105; H04N19/107; H04N19/11;
US 12,598,291 B2 Kim; Kyungyong et al. H04N19/105; H04N19/11; H04N19/119;
US 20260082087 A1 Zhao; Liang et al. H04N19/91; H04N19/70;
US 20260122287 A1 Perringassery; et al. H04N19/13; H04N19/91; H04N19/105;
US 20260136012 A1 ZHAO; Liang et al. H04N19/13; H04N19/91; H04N19/105;
US 20260136022 A1 Zheng; Lin et al. H04N19/172; H04N19/105;
US 20260136026 A1 Zheng; Lin et al. H04N19/174; H04N19/105;
8.2. Non-Patent Literature:
_ Weighted angular prediction; Panusopone - April-2017;
_ Enhanced bi-directional motion compensation; Chen - Jan-2022;
CONCLUSIONS
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUIS PEREZ-FUENTES (luis.perez-fuentes@uspto.gov) whose telephone number is (571) 270 -1168. The examiner can normally be reached on
Monday-Friday 8am-5pm. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, WILLIAM VAUGHN can be reached on (571) 272-3922. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)
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/LUIS PEREZ-FUENTES/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2481.
Prosecution Insights