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 .
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 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (1) as being anticipated by Charles Benjamin Dieterich [US 6100940 A].
A bit stream generated by a method, the method comprising… is a product by process claim limitation where the product is the bit stream and the process is the method steps to generate the bitstream. MPEP §2113 recites “Product-by-Process claims are not limited to the manipulations of the recited steps, only the structure implied by the steps”. Thus, the scope of the claim is the storage medium storing the bitstream (with the structure implied by the method steps). The structure includes the information and samples manipulated by the steps.
“To be given patentable weight, the printed matter and associated product must be in a functional relationship. A functional relationship can be found where the printed matter performs some function with respect to the product to which it is associated”. MPEP §2111.05(I)(A). When a claimed “computer-readable medium merely serves as a support for information or data, no functional relationship exists. MPEP §2111.05(III). The storage medium storing the claimed bitstream in claim 20 merely serves as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no functional relationship between the stored bitstream and storage medium. Therefor the structure bitstream, which scope is implied by the method steps, is non-functional descriptive material and given no patentable weight. MPEP §2111.05(III). Thus, the claim scope is just a storage medium storing data and is anticipated by Charles which recites a storage medium storing a bitstream (Col 16, line 50-55).
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) (2) as being anticipated by Liang Zhao et al. [US 20200389667 A1].
Regarding claim 1, Liang teaches:
1. A method for video processing (i.e. Aspects of the disclosure provide methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums for video encoding/decoding- Abstract), comprising:
determining, for a conversion between a current video block of a video and a bitstream of the video (i.e. The encoded video data can be transmitted in the form of one or more coded video bitstreams- ¶0064… The entropy encoder (625) is configured to format the bitstream to include the encoded block- ¶0115), a prediction (i.e. predicted chroma samples- Abstract) for the current video block based on a plurality of sub-partitions of the current video block (i.e. chroma samples of the current block are partitioned into sub-blocks- abstract) and at least one intra prediction mode (i.e. The chroma samples of one sub-block are predicted based on a subset of chroma intra prediction modes- abstract), wherein the current video block is a chroma block, the plurality of sub-partitions are obtained by partitioning the current video block based on at least one partitioning mode (i.e. partition tree structure- abstract), and the at least one partitioning mode is dependent on information (i.e. The prediction information indicates a partition tree structure for chroma samples of the current block- 0031) associated with the current video block (i.e. Then the current block is partitioned according to the local partition tree structure- abstract); and
performing the conversion based on the prediction for the current video block (i.e. Then the current block is reconstructed based on the predicted chroma samples- Abstract).
Regarding claim 2, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the information associated with the current video block comprises at least one of the following:
coding background of the current video block (i.e. The prediction information indicates a single partition tree structure and a block size for the current block- ¶0030), coding background of a block coded before the current video block, coding information of the current video block (i.e. The prediction information indicates a single partition tree structure and a block size for the current block- ¶0030), coding information of the block coded before the current video block, coding context of the current video block (i.e. The prediction information indicates a single partition tree structure and a block size for the current block- ¶0030), or coding context of the block coded before the current video block.
Regarding claim 3, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 2 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the coding information comprises at least one of the following: reconstructed luma samples (i.e. the intra picture prediction unit (452) generates a block of the same size and shape of the block under reconstruction, using surrounding already reconstructed information fetched from the current picture buffer (458)- ¶0077), neighboring reconstructed luma samples, neighboring reconstructed chroma samples (i.e. According to aspects of the disclosure, allowed chroma prediction modes for a block can be constrained to a subset of available chroma prediction modes, which can include one or more of the modes listed in Table 1 for example. The allowed chroma prediction modes can be constrained based on the availability of top and/or left neighboring samples of the block- ¶0179), or predicted chroma samples (i.e. partly reconstructed current picture and/or fully reconstructed current picture- ¶0077).
Regarding claim 4, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein in one of the at least one partitioning mode, shapes of the plurality of sub-partitions comprise at least one of the following: a rectangle (i.e. see fig. 9), a square (i.e. see fig. 11), a trapezoid, a triangle.
Regarding claim 5, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 4 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the plurality of sub-partitions are arranged horizontally in the current video block, or the plurality of sub-partitions are arranged vertically in the current video block (i.e. see fig. 9).
Regarding claim 6, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the at least one partitioning mode is indicated in the bitstream (i.e. Similar to a BT split, in a TT split, a flag is signaled to indicate a splitting type (i.e., a symmetric horizontal split or a symmetric vertical split). In an example, “0” indicates a symmetric horizontal split and “1” indicates a symmetric vertical split.- ¶0151).
Regarding claim 7, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the bitstream comprises a first syntax element indicating whether to partition the current video block, or wherein the bitstream comprises a second syntax element indicating one of the at least one partitioning mode that is used to partition the current video block, or wherein the bitstream comprises a single syntax element indicating whether to partition the current video block and one of the at least one partitioning mode that is used to partition the current video block (i.e. Similar to a BT split, in a TT split, a flag is signaled to indicate a splitting type (i.e., a symmetric horizontal split or a symmetric vertical split). In an example, “0” indicates a symmetric horizontal split and “1” indicates a symmetric vertical split- ¶0151… The variable intra_subpartitions_split_flag[x0][y0] specifies whether the intra sub-partitions split type is horizontal or vertical. When the variable intra_subpartitions_split_flag[x0][y0] is not present, it is inferred as follows- ¶0214-0216… The variable IntraSubPartitionsSplitType specifies the type of split used for the current luma coding block as illustrated in Table 5- ¶0217).
Regarding claim 8, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 7 and Liang further teaches:
wherein a syntax element is coded with one of the following: a fixed length coding, an exponential Golomb (EG) coding, a truncated unary coding, or a unary coding, or wherein a syntax element is coded with at least one context in arithmetic coding (i.e. The coding of the coded video sequence can be in accordance with a video coding technology or standard, and can follow various principles, including variable length coding, Huffman coding, arithmetic coding with or without context sensitivity, and so forth- ¶0072… The entropy coder (545) translates the symbols as generated by the various functional units into a coded video sequence, by lossless compressing the symbols according to technologies such as Huffman coding, variable length coding, arithmetic coding, and so forth- ¶0095), or wherein a syntax element is bypass coded, or wherein if the current video block is allowed to be partitioned, a syntax element associated with the partitioning is indicated in the bitstream, or wherein a syntax element is comprised in a supplemental enhancement information (SEI) message or a video usability information (VUI) message.
Regarding claim 9, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein a same coding mode is used for different sub-partitions in the plurality of sub-partitions, or wherein a coding mode used for a first sub-partition in the plurality of sub-partitions is the same as a coding mode used for the current video block, or wherein a coding mode used for a first sub-partition in the plurality of sub-partitions is different from a coding mode used for the current video block (i.e. The coding of the coded video sequence can be in accordance with a video coding technology or standard, and can follow various principles, including variable length coding, Huffman coding, arithmetic coding with or without context sensitivity, and so forth- ¶0072), or wherein a plurality of coding modes are applied on the plurality of sub-partitions.
Regarding claim 10, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the bitstream comprises at least one syntax element indicating at least one of the following: whether to apply a plurality of coding modes on the plurality of sub-partitions, how to apply a plurality of coding modes on the plurality of sub-partitions, or a set of coding modes in the plurality of coding modes that is applied on the plurality of sub-partitions (i.e. For a chroma component of an intra PU (e.g., in VTM), the encoder selects the best chroma prediction modes among 8 modes including planar mode, DC mode, horizontal mode, vertical mode, a direct copy of the intra prediction mode (DM) from the luma component, left and top cross-component linear mode (LT_CCLM), left cross-component linear mode (L_CCLM), and top cross-component linear mode (T_CCLM). LT_CCLM, L_CCLM, and T_CCLM, which are denoted by chroma prediction mode indexes 4, 5, and 6 in Table 1- ¶0159).
Regarding claim 11, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 10 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the at least one syntax element is indicated in one of the following: an SPS, a PPS, an APS, a picture header, or a slice header, or wherein the at least one syntax element comprises a first syntax element indicating whether to apply the plurality of coding modes on the plurality of sub-partitions (i.e. see table 4), or wherein the at least one syntax element comprises a second syntax element indicating a set of coding modes in the plurality of coding modes that is applied on the plurality of sub-partitions, or wherein the at least one syntax element comprises a single syntax element indicates whether to apply a plurality of coding modes on the plurality of sub-partitions and a set of coding modes in the plurality of coding modes that is applied on the plurality of sub-partitions, or wherein a syntax element in the at least one syntax element is coded with one of the following: a fixed length coding, an exponential Golomb (EG) coding, a truncated unary coding, or a unary coding.
Regarding claim 12, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 10 and Liang further teaches:
wherein a syntax element in the at least one syntax element is coded with at least one context in arithmetic coding (i.e. The coding of the coded video sequence can be in accordance with a video coding technology or standard, and can follow various principles, including variable length coding, Huffman coding, arithmetic coding with or without context sensitivity, and so forth- ¶0072… The entropy coder (545) translates the symbols as generated by the various functional units into a coded video sequence, by lossless compressing the symbols according to technologies such as Huffman coding, variable length coding, arithmetic coding, and so forth- ¶0095), or wherein a syntax element in the at least one syntax element is bypass coded, or wherein if the plurality of coding modes are allowed to be applied on the plurality of sub-partitions, a syntax element in the at least one syntax element is indicated in the bitstream, or wherein a syntax element in the at least one syntax element is comprised in a supplemental enhancement information (SEI) message or a video usability information (VUI) message.
Regarding claim 13, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 9 and Liang further teaches:
wherein a coding mode comprises at least one of a prediction mode or a transform mode (i.e. In some examples, the ISP mode can only be tested with intra modes that are part of a most probable mode (MPM) list. Accordingly, if a CU is coded in ISP mode, then an MPM flag of the MPM list can be inferred to be, for example, one or true. In some cases, the MPM list can be modified to exclude DC mode and to prioritize horizontal intra prediction modes for the horizontal ISP mode and vertical intra prediction modes for the vertical ISP mode- ¶0210… A luma coding block that is coded in intra sub-partition (ISP) coding mode can be vertically (in a vertical ISP mode) or horizontally (in a horizontal ISP mode) partitioned into a plurality of sub-partitions (e.g., 2 or 4) depending on a block size of the block, as shown in Table 3. Table 3 illustrates examples of sub-partitions depending on block size- ¶0205).
Regarding claim 14, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the chroma block is of Cr component (i.e. The video source (501) may provide the source video sequence to be coded by the video encoder (503) in the form of a digital video sample stream that can be of any suitable bit depth (for example: 8 bit, 10 bit, 12 bit, . . . ), any colorspace (for example, BT.601 Y CrCB, RGB, . . . ), and any suitable sampling structure (for example Y CrCb 4:2:0, Y CrCb 4:4:4)- ¶0086).
Regarding claim 15, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the method is applicable to RGB format (i.e. The video source (501) may provide the source video sequence to be coded by the video encoder (503) in the form of a digital video sample stream that can be of any suitable bit depth (for example: 8 bit, 10 bit, 12 bit, . . . ), any colorspace (for example, BT.601 Y CrCB, RGB, . . . ), and any suitable sampling structure (for example Y CrCb 4:2:0, Y CrCb 4:4:4)- ¶0086), intra prediction (i.e. based on a subset of chroma intra prediction modes including planar- abstract), or inter prediction.
Regarding claim 16, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the conversion includes encoding the current video block into the bitstream (i.e. Aspects of the disclosure provide methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums for video encoding/decoding- Abstract).
Regarding claim 17, Liang teaches all the limitations of claim 1 and Liang further teaches:
wherein the conversion includes decoding the current video block from the bitstream (i.e. Aspects of the disclosure provide methods, apparatuses, and non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums for video encoding/decoding- Abstract).
Regarding claim 18, apparatus claim 18 is drawn to the apparatus using/performing the same method as claimed in claim 1. Therefore, apparatus claim 18 corresponds to method claim 1, and is rejected for the same rationale as used above.
Regarding claim 19, computer-readable medium storing instructions claim 19 corresponds to the same method as claimed in claim 1, and therefore is also rejected for the same rationale as listed above.
Conclusion
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CLIFFORD HILAIRE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2488
/CLIFFORD HILAIRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2488