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 § 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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Auyeung et al. US 20230007262 A1, in view of Chen et al. US20230093994A1 “Chen”
Regarding claim 1, AUYEUNG discloses a method for video decoding, comprising: selecting one of the sign prediction hypotheses with a minimal cost (see AUYEUNG abstract). The processing circuitry performs the sign prediction according to the selected sign prediction hypothesis (as cited above, i.e. AUYEUNG abstract).
It is noted that AUYEUNG is silent about receiving a coded video bitstream comprising coded information of one or more pictures; determining a number of predicted signs that defines a count of predicted signs in a sign prediction of transform coefficients for a current block in a current picture based on information of the current block; determining one or more transform coefficients for the sign prediction according to the number of predicted signs; calculating cost values respectively associated with combinations of signs for the one or more transform coefficients as claimed.
However, CHEN discloses receiving (as cited below, i.e. receiving the outputted bitstream for decoding, see CHEN, ¶ 68) a coded video bitstream comprising coded information of one or more pictures (¶ 64, i.e. disclose entropy coder output CHEN, bitstream); determining a number of predicted signs that defines a count of predicted signs in a sign prediction of transform coefficients (CHEN, [0083] Moreover, according to ECM 3's residual sign prediction, for each TB, no more than a maximum number of signs may be predicted. Assume the maximum number of signs to be predicted is represented by a variable maxNumPredSigns. The value of maxNumPredSigns is signaled to the decoder through SPS. The allowable value of maxNumPredSigns in ECM 3 is 0 to 8, inclusive. If the value of maxNumPredSigns is 0, the sign prediction method is disabled for that sequence. If the maxNumPredSigns is equal to 8, the maximum of 8 signs is predicted for a TB. If the number of signs of an upper-left 4×4 region is larger than the maximum allowed value (maxNumPredSigns), only the first maxNumPredSigns signs determined in a raster scan order are predicted, as described subsequently.) for a current block in a current picture (as cited above, i.e. CHEN, ¶ 85) based on information (as cited above, i.e. decoding process) of the current block; determining one or more transform coefficients (CHEN, ¶ 155) for the sign prediction (CHEN, ¶ 64) according to the number of predicted signs (see citation below); calculating cost values (CHEN, ¶ 92) respectively associated with combinations of signs (see CHEN, ¶ 93) for the one or more transform coefficients (CHEN, ¶ 91); determining a specific combination of signs(as cited below, i.e, CHEN, ¶ 93 To derive each predicted sign, the encoder and the decoder evaluate the above cost function for each hypothesis (i.e., candidates), and the hypothesis yielding the smallest cost is selected as a predictor for the sign.) for the one or more transform coefficients based on the cost values associated with the combinations of signs (as cited above, i.e. CHEN, ¶ 93); and reconstructing (as cited below, see CHEN, ¶ 235) the current block according to the specific combination of signs for the one or more transform coefficients (CHEN, ¶ 85, Each sign is either positive or negative; therefore, for n signs to be predicted, 2n possible combinations of sign values exist. A VVC-standard encoder and a VVC-standard decoder implemented according to ECM 3 can therefore each reconstruct the predicted signs by performing 2n simplified residual border reconstructions (and capping n at a small value therefore prevents high computational complexity from arising). Border residuals are predicted from the neighboring reconstructed blocks and a current block undergoing prediction in the decoding process; since blocks are decoded and reconstructed in raster scanning order, an upper neighboring block and a left neighboring block are already previously decoded and reconstructed before the current block is decoded, and the reconstructed pixels of those neighboring blocks are available for both the VVC-standard encoder and the VVC-standard decoder).
Both AUYEUNG and CHEN teach systems with sign prediction for reducing compression cost, and those systems are comparable to that of the instant application. Because the two cited references are analogous to the instant application, it 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, to include in the AUYEUNG disclosure, sign prediction with different parameter, as taught by CHEN. Such inclusion would have increased the usefulness of the system by achieving the bit rate gain that is not offset by loss in prediction accuracy, and would have been consistent with the rationale of combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results to show a prima facie case of obviousness (MPEP 2143(I)(A)) under KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 127 S. Ct. 1727, 82 USPQ2d 1385, 1395-97 (2007).
Regarding claim 2, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the calculating comprises: calculate a first cost value associated with a first combination of signs for the one or more transform coefficients by measuring a discontinuity (as cited below, see, i.e. Fig. 26) between reconstructed samples of the current block according to the first combination of signs and reconstructed samples of neighboring blocks (CHEN, 91, discontinuity).
Regarding claim 3, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the determining the specific combination comprises: determining the specific combination that has a minimal cost value in the cost values (CHEN, ¶ 93).
Regarding claim 4, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the determining the number comprises: parsing the coded video bitstream to obtain a maximum number (see rejection of claim 15) of predicted signs (see rejection of claim 15) for transform blocks (see rejection of claim 15) in the current picture from a syntax element signaled (see rejection of claim 15) at a picture level (see rejection of claim 15) for the current picture, a first number (see rejection of claim 15) defining an upper limit of predicted signs (see rejection of claim 15) for a current transform block (see rejection of claim 15) of the current block being assigned according to the maximum number of predicted signs for transform blocks in the current picture; determining a second number of nonzero transform coefficients (see rejection of claim 15) in the current transform block of the current block; and selecting a minimum of the first number and the second number as the number (this claim recited similar limitations as claim 15, see rejection of claim 15).
Regarding claim 5, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: parsing a control flag for the syntax element from the coded video bitstream, the control flag is in at least one of a sequence parameter set (SPS) (CHEN, ¶ 205) and a picture parameter set (PPS) (CHEN, ¶ 66); and when the control flag indicates the syntax element being used, parsing the coded video bitstream to obtain the first number from the syntax element signaled at the picture level (CHEN, ¶ 83).
Regarding claim 6, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: deriving the second number of nonzero transform coefficients in the current transform block of the current block; and adjusting (see citation below) the first number based on the second number of nonzero transform coefficients (CHEN, ¶ 83, i.e, adjusting the first number based on the second number, whether it is 0 or 8.).
Regarding claim 7, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: parsing absolute values of the transform coefficients of the current transform block from the coded video bitstream (CHEN, ¶ 202, i.e. All the coded residues of predicted signs are parsed before bypass-coded signs. The entropy decoder 152 parses the sign residues and bypass-coded signs and stores them in a buffer. ); and adjusting the first number based (CHEN, ¶ 191) on the absolute values of the transform coefficients (CHEN, ¶ 192).
Regarding claim 8, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 7, wherein the adjusting the first number comprises: adjusting (as cited below, see CHEN, ¶ 191) the first number based on a sum of the absolute values of the transform coefficients (CHEN, ¶ 192).
Regarding claim 9, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: adjusting the first number based on at least one of (CHEN, ¶ 215, i.e. For example, if the number of predicted signs of the TB is larger than threshold A, a first context model is used; if the number of predicted signs of TB is equal to or smaller than threshold A but larger than threshold B, a second context model is used; if the number of predicted signs of TB is equal to or smaller than threshold B, a third context model is used; and so forth.): whether a secondary transform is applied; whether a specific secondary transform kernel is applied; whether the current block is an intra coded block; and whether the current block is an inter coded block (see CHEN, ¶ 216).
Regarding claim 10, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: adjusting (CHEN, ¶ 214) the first number based on an availability (CHEN, ¶ 213) of neighboring reconstructed samples (CHEN, ¶ 194).
Regarding claim 11, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: adjusting the first number based on a value of quantization parameter (CHEN, ¶ 197, i.e. For a same quantization parameter, a larger QIdx represents a greater transform coefficient level after de-quantization. Thus, the first n signs according to corresponding QIdx values, ordered from largest to smallest, are predicted using a residual sign prediction method, and the rest of the signs are signaled by EP bins) for a neighboring block (CHEN, ¶ 194, Even for same-level values, quantization index (QIdx) may be different.).
Regarding claim 12, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the determining the number comprises: adjusting the first number based on a relative location of the current block in a coding tree unit (CTU) (CHEN, ¶ 198, i..e However, as described above with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, according to the ECM 3 proposal, the first maxNumPredSigns signs determined in a raster scanning order are predicted; thus, as illustrated in FIG. 21 , the first eight non-zero signs of a block in raster scanning order are predicted and will be signaled by their errSignPred flags, and the remaining four non-zero signs are not predicted and will be signaled by EP bins.).
Regarding claim 13, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses a method for video encoding, comprising: determining a number of predicted signs that defines a count of predicted signs in a sign prediction of transform coefficients for a current block in a current picture based on information of the current block (See rejection of claim 1); determining one or more transform coefficients for the sign prediction based on the number of predicted signs for the current block; calculating cost values respectively associated with combinations of signs for the one or more transform coefficients (See rejection of claim 1); determining a specific combination of signs for the one or more transform coefficients that has a minimal cost value among the cost values (See rejection of claim 1); and encoding the current block according to the specific combination of signs for the one or more transform coefficients (See rejection of claim 1).
Regarding claim 14, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the calculating the cost values further comprises: calculating a first cost value associated with a first combination of signs (see CHEN, ¶ 91) for the one or more transform coefficients by measuring a discontinuity (CHEN, ¶ 91) between reconstructed samples of the current block according to the first combination of signs and reconstructed samples of one or more neighboring blocks (CHEN, ¶ 91).
Regarding claim 15, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the determining the number further comprises: determining the number that is a minimum (see citation below) of a first number that indicates an upper limit of predicted signs for a current transform block (as cited below, i.e. TB) of the current block and a second number (as cited below) of nonzero transform coefficients in a current transform block (i.e. TB as cited below) of the current block, the first number being assigned based on a maximum number (as cited below, i.e. the flag) of predicted signs for transform blocks in the current picture; and signaling the maximum number of predicted signs as a syntax element at a picture level in a coded video bitstream that includes coded information of the current picture, the syntax element indicating the maximum number of predicted signs for the transform blocks in the current picture (CHEN, ¶ [0083], Moreover, according to ECM 3's residual sign prediction, for each TB, no more than a maximum number of signs may be predicted. Assume the maximum number of signs to be predicted is represented by a variable maxNumPredSigns. The value of maxNumPredSigns is signaled to the decoder through SPS. The allowable value of maxNumPredSigns in ECM 3 is 0 to 8, inclusive. If the value of maxNumPredSigns is 0, the sign prediction method is disabled for that sequence. If the maxNumPredSigns is equal to 8, the maximum of 8 signs is predicted for a TB. If the number of signs of an upper-left 4×4 region is larger than the maximum allowed value (maxNumPredSigns), only the first maxNumPredSigns signs determined in a raster scan order are predicted, as described subsequentl).
Regarding claim 16, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: deriving the second number of nonzero transform coefficients in the current transform block of the current block; and adjusting the first number based on the second number of nonzero transform coefficients in the current transform block (This claim recites similar limitation as claim 6, see rejection of claim 6).
Regarding claim 17, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: adjusting the first number based on a sum of absolute values of non-zero transform coefficients of the current transform block (This claim recites similar limitation as claim 8, see rejection of claim 8).
Regarding claim 18, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: adjusting the first number based on at least one of: whether a secondary transform is applied; whether a specific secondary transform kernel is applied; whether the current block is an intra coded block; and whether the current block is an inter coded block (This claim recites similar limitation as claim 9, see rejection of claim 9).
Regarding claim 19, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: adjusting the first number based on at least one of: an availability of neighboring reconstructed samples; a value of quantization parameter for a neighboring block; and a relative location of the current block in a current coding tree unit (CTU) (This claim recites similar limitation as claims 10-12, see rejection of claims 10-12).
Regarding claim 20, AUYEUNG/CHEN, for the same motivation of combination, further discloses a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a video media bitstream that is encoded by an encoding method, the encoding method comprising: determining a number of predicted signs that defines a count of predicted signs in a sign prediction of transform coefficients for a current block in a current picture based on information of the current block (see rejection of claim 1); determining one or more transform coefficients for the sign prediction based on the number of predicted signs for the current block (see rejection of claim 1); calculating cost values respectively associated with combinations of signs for the one or more transform coefficients (see rejection of claim 1); determining a specific combination of signs for the one or more transform coefficients that has a minimal cost value among the cost values (see rejection of claim 1); and encoding the current block into encoded information in the video media bitstream according to the specific combination of signs for the one or more transform coefficients (This claim recites similar limitation as claim 1, see rejection of claim 1).
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)(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(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Chen et al. US20230093994A1 “Chen”.
“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 services as a support for the storage of the bitstream and provides no fictional 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 CHEN which recites a storage medium storing a bitstream (CHEN, ¶ 68)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US 10911754 B2 Image coding method using history-based motion information and apparatus for the same
US 10313698 B2 Syntax and semantics for buffering information to simplify video splicing
US 20190075328 A1 METHOD AND APPARATUS OF VIDEO DATA PROCESSING WITH RESTRICTED BLOCK SIZE IN VIDEO CODING
US 20190058885 A1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUB-PICTURE BASED RASTER SCANNING CODING ORDER
US 9998764 B2 Codec architecture for multiple layer video coding
US 9969299 B2 Traffic system and power supply method
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