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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 10-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 10 recites the limitation " the target adjacent coding unit". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 11 recites the limitation " the sub-block transform mode". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 12 recites the limitation " the deducing one or more pieces of context index information ". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation " the sub-block transform mode". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation " the reordering each candidate residual position mode". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitation " the sub-block transform mode". There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
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(s) 1-10 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)(2) as being anticipated by Zhang US 20210076043.
Regarding claim 1, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
A video decoding method, comprising:
determining a current coding unit in a video bitstream, and an adjacent coding unit of the current coding unit (i.e. receive bitstream with a current coding unit.) [207-209; fig. 26];
determining transform information of the current coding unit according to encoding information of the adjacent coding unit (i.e. selecting transform information based on transform matrix information of a neighboring block) [207-209; fig. 26]; and
decoding the current coding unit based on the determined transform information of the current coding unit (i.e. process the information to determine a current block) [207-209; fig. 26].
Regarding claim 2, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent coding unit comprises a temporally adjacent coding unit; and the temporally adjacent coding unit is a coding unit adjacent to a reference coding unit in a reference frame of the video, the reference frame is any video frame or a specified video frame in the video other than the current frame, and a position of the reference coding unit in the reference frame is the same as a position of the current coding unit in the current frame (i.e. selecting transform information based on transform matrix information of a neighboring block. Neighboring block may be a temporal neighboring block. This would mean that the temporal neighbor is in the same position but at a different time.) [207-209; fig. 26].
Regarding claim 3, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the encoding information of the adjacent coding unit comprises transform information of the adjacent coding unit (i.e. selecting transform information based on transform matrix information of a neighboring block) [207-209; fig. 26]; and
the determining transform information of the current coding unit according to encoding information of the adjacent coding unit comprises: determining the transform information of the adjacent coding unit as the transform information of the current coding unit, the transform information comprising at least one of a transform partitioning mode or a transform combination, the transform partitioning mode comprising at least one of the following: a residual quad tree mode, a position based transform mode, or a sub-block transform mode, the transform combination comprising a transform kernel of a horizontal transform and a transform kernel of a vertical transform, and the transform kernel comprising at least one of the following: a discrete cosine transform kernel, a discrete sine transform kernel, or transform skip (i.e. flags can used to identify horizontal or vertical transforms. transform skip or DCT used) [99,118,210].
Regarding claim 4, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting whether a transform inheritance mode is enabled for the current coding unit; and performing the operation of determining the transform information of the adjacent coding unit as the transform information of the current coding unit if the transform inheritance mode is enabled for the current coding unit (i.e. to indicate usable of MTS or NSST, flags may be signaled.) [118,151-171,162,163].
Regarding claim 5, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein a control method for enabling the transform inheritance mode comprises at least one of the following: setting a transform inheritance mode flag in the video bitstream, instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for the current coding unit when the transform inheritance mode flag is a first preset value, and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for the current coding unit when the transform inheritance mode flag is a second preset value (i.e. to indicate usable of MTS or NSST, flags may be signaled. Flags have two values where is used to indicate enable and the other is disabled) [118,151-171,162,163]; or setting an enabling condition of the transform inheritance mode, instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for the current coding unit when the current coding unit satisfies the enabling condition, and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for the current coding unit when the current coding unit does not satisfy the enabling condition, the enabling condition comprising at least one of the following: a size condition or a prediction condition.
Regarding claim 6, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein a setting position of the transform inheritance mode flag in the video bitstream comprises at least one of the following: setting the transform inheritance mode flag in a sequence header of the video, and instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for all coding units in all video frames of the video when the transform inheritance mode flag in the sequence header is a first preset value (i.e. to indicate usable of MTS or NSST, flags may be signaled. Flags can be set in a picture or slice header) [118,151-171,162,163]; and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for all the coding units in all the video frames of the video when the transform inheritance mode flag in the sequence header is a second preset value (i.e. to indicate usable of MTS or NSST, flags may be signaled. Flags can be set in a picture or slice header) [118,151-171,162,163]; setting the transform inheritance mode flag in a frame header of the current frame of the video, and instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for all coding units in the current frame when the transform inheritance mode flag in the frame header of the current frame is a first preset value (i.e. to indicate usable of MTS or NSST, flags may be signaled. Flags can be set in a picture or slice header) [118,151-171,162,163]; and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for all the coding units in the current frame when the transform inheritance mode flag in the frame header of the current frame is a second preset value (i.e. to indicate usable of MTS or NSST, flags may be signaled. Flags can be set in a picture or slice header) [118,151-171,162,163]; setting the transform inheritance mode flag in a strip header of a strip in which the current coding unit is located, and instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for all coding units in the strip header when the transform inheritance mode flag in the strip header is a first preset value; and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for all the coding units in the strip header when the transform inheritance mode flag in the strip header is a second preset value; setting the transform inheritance mode flag in a coding tree unit in which the current coding unit is located, and instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for all coding units in the coding tree unit when the transform inheritance mode flag in the coding tree unit is a first preset value; and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for all the coding units in the coding tree unit when the transform inheritance mode flag in the coding tree unit is a second preset value; or setting the transform inheritance mode flag in the current coding unit, and instructing to enable the transform inheritance mode for the current coding unit when the transform inheritance mode flag in the current coding unit is a first preset value; and instructing to disable the transform inheritance mode for the current coding unit when the transform inheritance mode flag in the current coding unit is a second preset value.
Regarding claim 7, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the enabling condition comprises a size condition, and the size condition is configured for defining a preset width threshold or a preset height threshold for enabling the transform inheritance mode; and that the current coding unit satisfies the enabling condition comprises any one of the following: when the size condition defines the preset width threshold, a width of the current coding unit is greater than the preset width threshold (i.e.AMT applies to W and H smaller than or equal to 64 (threshold)) [118,151-171,162,163]; when the size condition defines the preset height threshold, a height of the current coding unit is greater than the preset height threshold (i.e.AMT applies to W and H smaller than or equal to 64 (threshold)) [118,151-171,162,163]; when the size condition defines the preset width threshold, the width of the current coding unit is less than the preset width threshold; and when the size condition defines the preset height threshold, the height of the current coding unit is less than the preset height threshold (i.e. AMT applies to W and H smaller than or equal to 64 (threshold)) [118,151-171,162,163].
Regarding claim 8, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the enabling condition comprises a prediction condition; and that the current coding unit satisfies the enabling condition comprises: the adjacent coding unit is a prediction reference coding unit of the current coding unit (i.e. One flag to indicate whether the transform index is inherited from a neighboring block where the motion information is inherited from is firstly signaled.) [118,151-171,162,163,172-179,191-193].
Regarding claim 9, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein a quantity of adjacent coding units is greater than 1; and the determining the transform information of the adjacent coding unit as the transform information of the current coding unit comprises: performing deduplication processing on the adjacent coding units, to obtain N adjacent coding units, k being a positive integer (i.e. In one example, furthermore, pruning between merge/AMVP candidates may further depend on whether the associated transform matrix information is identical.) [162-171]; determining a target adjacent coding unit in the N adjacent coding units; and determining transform information of the target adjacent coding unit as the transform information of the current coding unit (i.e. after determining final candidate list, a candidate is selected (target) and used for determining the transform information) [162-171].
Regarding claim 10, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein a method for determining the target adjacent coding unit comprises: selecting, if a selecting flag in the video bitstream comprises an identifier of an adjacent coding unit that needs to be inherited, a target adjacent coding unit corresponding to the identifier from the N adjacent coding units according to the selecting flag; or selecting a prediction reference coding unit selected by a prediction mode of the current coding unit as the target adjacent coding unit if the N adjacent coding units comprise at least one prediction reference coding unit of the current coding unit and the prediction mode of the current coding unit is coupled to the transform inheritance mode, the prediction mode comprising at least one of the following: an inter merge mode, an intra block copy merge mode, an intra template matching merge mode, and an intra prediction mode (i.e. In one example, one flag may be signaled to indicate whether MTS (or NSST) is enabled for sub-block-based prediction, such as affine mode or ATMVP mode. AMT enabled for both intra and inter, each controlled by an SPS flag. In one example, only N merge/AMVP candidates inherit transform matrix information from neighboring blocks, while other merge/AMVP candidates use default transforms, wherein N is a positive integer.) [62,139-148,151-157,162-171].
Claim 16 is rejected using similar rationale as claim 1.
Claim 17 is rejected using similar rationale as claim 2.
Claim 18 is rejected using similar rationale as claim 3.
Claim 19 is rejected using similar rationale as claim 4.
Claim 20 is rejected using similar rationale as claim 1.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Lee et al. (US 2021/0227222) (hereinafter Lee).
In regard to claim 20, claim 20 is directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored therein a bitstream generated by acts. Significantly, the claimed non-transitory computer readable medium is NOT implementing any actual method; no instructions/steps are being executed. Instead, the claimed storage medium merely stores the data output from and/or generated by a series of acts. In other words, these claims are directed to a mere machine-readable medium storing data content (a bitstream generated by a method).
Applicant therefore seeks to patent the storage of a bitstream in the abstract. In other words, the claim seeks to patent the content of the information (bitstream comprising video information) and not the process itself. Moreover, this stored bitstream does not impose any definitive physical organization on the data as there is no functional relationship between the bitstream and the storage medium. In conclusion, claim 20 and any claims depending therefrom are directed to mere data content (bitstream generated by a series of acts) stored as a bitstream on a computer-readable storage medium. Under MPEP 2111.05(III), such claims are merely machine-readable media. Furthermore, the Examiner found and continues to find that there is no disclosed or claimed functional relationship between the stored data and medium. Instead, the medium is merely a support or carrier for the data being stored. Therefore, the data stored and the way such data is generated should not be given patentable weight. See MPEP 2111.05 applying In re Lowry, 32 F.3d 1579, 1583-84, 32 USPQ2d 1031, 1035 (Fed. Cir. 1994) and In re Ngai, 367 F.3d 1336, 70 USPQ2d 1862 (Fed. Cir. 2004). As such, this claim is subject to a prior art rejection based on any non-transitory computer readable medium known before the earliest effective filing date of the present application. Therefore, claim 20 is anticipated by Lee, as Lee discloses a computer readable medium storing a coded bitstream. Lee discloses:
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein a bitstream comprising video information generated by acts [¶0024; computer-readable recording medium storing a bitstream generated by a video coding method] comprising:
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure are cited on the notice of references cited.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claim 11, Zhang meets the claim limitations, as follows:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the encoding information of the adjacent coding unit comprises a residual or a transform coefficient of the adjacent coding unit (i.e. selecting transform information based on transform matrix (matrix of coefficients) information of a neighboring block) [207-209; fig. 26];
Zhang do/does not explicitly disclose(s) the following claim limitations:
the video bitstream comprises a position residual mode flag of the current coding unit in the sub-block transform mode; and the determining transform information of the current coding unit according to encoding information of the adjacent coding unit comprises: deducing one or more pieces of context index information according to the encoding information of the adjacent coding unit, each piece of context index information corresponding to an entropy decoding mode; determining an entropy decoding mode according to the deduced context index information; and performing entropy decoding on the residual position mode flag of the current coding unit in the sub-block transform mode according to the determined entropy decoding mode, to obtain a residual position mode of the current coding unit in the sub-block transform mode.
However, in the same field of endeavor Yoo US202320046247 discloses the deficient claim limitations, as follows:
the video bitstream comprises a position residual mode flag of the current coding unit in the sub-block transform mode [220,254,297]; and the determining transform information of the current coding unit according to encoding information of the adjacent coding unit comprises: deducing one or more pieces of context index information according to the encoding information of the adjacent coding unit, each piece of context index information corresponding to an entropy decoding mode [220,254,297]; determining an entropy decoding mode according to the deduced context index information [220,254,297]; and
Zhang and Yoo do/does not explicitly disclose(s) the following claim limitations:
performing entropy decoding on the residual position mode flag of the current coding unit in the sub-block transform mode according to the determined entropy decoding mode, to obtain a residual position mode of the current coding unit in the sub-block transform mode.
Claims 12-15 are not taught or fairly suggested in the cited references.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JARED T WALKER whose telephone number is (571)272-1839. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 8:00 - 4:30 Mountain.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nasser Goodarzi can be reached on 571-272-4195. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Jared Walker/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
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