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 . In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. There are a total of 5 claims and claims 1-5 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/18/2025 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-5 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Hendry et al. (US PGPub 2025/0016345 A1) (Inventive concept disclosed in 62/905228 dated 09/24/2019).
Regarding claim 1, Hendry et al. teach a device comprising one or more processors (Fig. 12, reference numeral 1230) configured to:
receive a picture header, wherein the picture header includes information that is common for all slices of one coded picture associated with the picture header included in a picture unit (Fig. 5, reference numeral 512; [0164], L21-24; it teaches that the values of non-picture-level syntax elements that are present in the PH (Picture Header) are applied to all slices of the picture associated with the picture header containing the syntax elements, which means the PH includes information common for all slices of the picture);
parse a first syntax element in the picture header, wherein the first syntax element specifies whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current picture ([0164]; In Page 10, under PH RBSP Syntax, it shows the syntax element in the following segment of the PH:
if(sps_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag
if(pic_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
pic_lmcs_aps_id
…
}
}
Here, the syntax element pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag is the syntax element showing whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current picture);
receive a slice header, wherein the slice header includes a flag that indicates if the picture header is included in the slice header (Fig. 5, reference numeral 520; In [0162], it teaches that the RPL flag 522 could be present in the slice header, wherein in [0004], for a first value of RPL flag, it indicates RPL signaling is present in the Picture Header (PH), which means the RPL flag in slice header actually indicates whether PH is included in the slice header or not, because for a second value of RPL flag it indicates the RPL signaling is not present in the PH, but present in the slice header); and
conditionally parse a second syntax element in the slice header based on a value of the first syntax element, wherein the second syntax element specifies whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current slice (In Page 12, under Slice Header RBSP Syntax, it shows two syntax elements in the following segment of the slice header:
if(sps_lmcs_enabled_flag && !pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
slice_lmcs_enabled_flag
if(slice_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
slice_lmcs_aps_id
….
}
}
Here the first syntax element is sps_lmcs_enabled_flag. When the first syntax element sps_lmcs_enabled_flag is true (&& !pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag, meaning the LMCS flag is NOT in the picture level), then a second syntax element slice_lmcs_enabled_flag is conditionally parsed).
Regarding claim 2, Hendry et al. teach a device comprising one or more processors (Fig. 12, reference numeral 1230) configured to:
generate a picture header, wherein the picture header includes information that is common for all slices of one coded picture associated with the picture header included in a picture unit (Fig. 5, reference numeral 512; [0164], L21-24; it teaches that the values of non-picture-level syntax elements that are present in the PH (Picture Header) are applied to all slices of the picture associated with the picture header containing the syntax elements, which means the PH includes information common for all slices of the picture);
generate a first syntax element in the picture header, wherein the first syntax element specifies whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current picture ([0164]; In Page 10, under PH RBSP Syntax, it shows the syntax element in the following segment of the PH:
if(sps_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag
if(pic_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
pic_lmcs_aps_id
…
}
}
Here, the syntax element pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag is the syntax element showing whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current picture);
generate a slice header, wherein the slice header includes a flag that indicates if the picture header is included in the slice header (Fig. 5, reference numeral 520; In [0162], it teaches that the RPL flag 522 could be present in the slice header, wherein in [0004], for a first value of RPL flag, it indicates RPL signaling is present in the Picture Header (PH), which means the RPL flag in slice header actually indicates whether PH is included in the slice header or not, because for a second value of RPL flag it indicates the RPL signaling is not present in the PH, but present in the slice header); and
conditionally generate a second syntax element in the slice header based on a value of the first syntax element, wherein the second syntax element specifies whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current slice (In Page 12, under Slice Header RBSP Syntax, it shows two syntax elements in the following segment of the slice header:
if(sps_lmcs_enabled_flag && !pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
slice_lmcs_enabled_flag
if(slice_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
slice_lmcs_aps_id
….
}
}
Here the first syntax element is sps_lmcs_enabled_flag. When the first syntax element sps_lmcs_enabled_flag is true (&& !pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag, meaning the LMCS flag is NOT in the picture level), then a second syntax element slice_lmcs_enabled_flag is conditionally parsed).
Regarding claim 3, Hendry et al. teach a non-transitory computer-readable recoding medium storing a program (Fig. 13; [0240]) for making a computer:
receive a picture header, wherein the picture header includes information that is common for all slices of one coded picture associated with the picture header included in a picture unit (Fig. 5, reference numeral 512; [0164], L21-24; it teaches that the values of non-picture-level syntax elements that are present in the PH (Picture Header) are applied to all slices of the picture associated with the picture header containing the syntax elements, which means the PH includes information common for all slices of the picture);
parse a first syntax element in the picture header, wherein the first syntax element specifies whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current picture ([0164]; In Page 10, under PH RBSP Syntax, it shows the syntax element in the following segment of the PH:
if(sps_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag
if(pic_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
pic_lmcs_aps_id
…
}
}
Here, the syntax element pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag is the syntax element showing whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current picture);
receive a slice header, wherein the slice header includes a flag that indicates if the picture header is included in the slice header (Fig. 5, reference numeral 520; In [0162], it teaches that the RPL flag 522 could be present in the slice header, wherein in [0004], for a first value of RPL flag, it indicates RPL signaling is present in the Picture Header (PH), which means the RPL flag in slice header actually indicates whether PH is included in the slice header or not, because for a second value of RPL flag it indicates the RPL signaling is not present in the PH, but present in the slice header); and
conditionally parse a second syntax element in the slice header based on a value of the first syntax element, wherein the second syntax element specifies whether luma mapping with chroma scaling is enabled for a current slice (In Page 12, under Slice Header RBSP Syntax, it shows two syntax elements in the following segment of the slice header:
if(sps_lmcs_enabled_flag && !pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
slice_lmcs_enabled_flag
if(slice_lmcs_enabled_flag) {
slice_lmcs_aps_id
….
}
}
Here the first syntax element is sps_lmcs_enabled_flag. When the first syntax element sps_lmcs_enabled_flag is true (&& !pic_level_lmcs_enabled_flag, meaning the LMCS flag is NOT in the picture level), then a second syntax element slice_lmcs_enabled_flag is conditionally parsed).
Regarding claim 4, Hendry et al. teach the device of claim 1, wherein the device is a video decoder (Fig. 4).
Regarding claim 5, Hendry et al. teach the device of claim 2, wherein the device is a video encoder (Fig. 3).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
“ENCODER, DECODER AND CORRESPONDING METHODS FOR SIMPLIFYING SIGNALING PICTURE HEADER” – Wang et al., US 20250227306 A1.
“METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VIDEO CODING AND DECODING” – Hannuksela, US 20200120350 A1.
“CONFORMANCE CONSTRAINT FOR COLLOCATED REFERENCE INDEX IN VIDEO CODING” – Joshi et al., US 20170302951 A1.
“UNIFIED DESIGN FOR PICTURE PARTITIONING SCHEMES” – Coban et al., US 20130107952 A1.
"Overview of HEVC High-Level Syntax and Reference Picture Management" - Sjoberg et al., IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CIRCUITS AND SYSTEMS FOR VIDEO TECHNOLOGY, VOL. 22, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2012.
“Signaling Of Non-Picture-Level Syntax Elements At The Picture Level” – Hendry et al., US 20260172587 A1.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAINUL HASAN whose telephone number is (571)272-0422. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI: 10AM-6PM, Alternate FRIDAYS, EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JAY PATEL can be reached on (571)272-2988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Mainul Hasan/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2485
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