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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to communication filed 9/26/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending for examination, the rejection cited as stated below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Claims 2, 4, and 13-14 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 applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
a) Claim 2 recites “the playback device of claim 1, wherein the request for the media item to be played back by the synchrony group comprises an indication of the determined group capability to play back media content”.
First of all, claim 2 including its parent claim 1 as a whole, conflicts with the disclosure in the specification. Specifically, the specification does not require, in the case when the request already includes an indication of the group capability, as required by claim 2, a subsequent step to, select, from the returned list, a rendition of the requested media item for playback that corresponds to the determined group capability, as required by claim 1.
For example, paragraphs [0131]-[0133] of the specification, discloses “the playback device 410 may be configured to include an indication of the determined group capability with the request to play back media content. This may be to cover scenarios in which one of the playback devices in the synchrony group 404 is an older, legacy that is not capable of handling some or all of the required processing that is necessary for playback of HLS streams (e.g., decryption of encrypted audio content, etc.). In these scenarios, the cloud-based computing system 405 may transmit a legacy audio track to the playback device 410 for playback by the synchrony group, rather than an HLS list of renditions discussed below”, without requiring a subsequent selection step to select, from the returned list, a rendition of the requested media item for playback that corresponds to the determined group capability” as required by claim 1. Moreover, since only one legacy audio track is disclosed to be returned, which is already according to the determined group capability, there is no need for selecting one that corresponds to the determined group capability.
On the other hand, the specification also discloses another embodiment, wherein a list of renditions is returned, but without requiring that an indication of the group capability included in the request. See paragraphs ([0131]-[0133], discloses “Thus, in some cases, it may not be necessary for the playback device 410 to include an indication of the group capability in the request to the cloud-based computing system 405… Alternatively, the playback device 410 may request, and receive, an HLS list as discussed below, even in scenarios where a legacy playback device in include in the synchrony group, and the list may allow the playback device 410 to transition to a higher quality rendition of the media item if the legacy playback device leaves the group… At block 510, the playback device 410 may receive, from the cloud-based computing system 405 associated with a media service provider, a list of different renditions of the requested media item, such as the list 430 shown in FIG. 4”, without disclosing for this alternative embodiment to have the request to include an indication of the group capability. Moreover, since the returned list includes both the legacy and HLS renditions of the requested media item, there is no need to include an indication of group capability in the request.
As cited and explained above, claim 2 including its patent claim 1 conflicts with the disclosure of the specification. The scope of the claimed limitation, therefore, cannot be definitely determined in light of the specification.
Secondly, as also explained above, it is unclear why an indication of the group capability in the request is needed when a list of different renditions is returned for selecting one corresponds to the group capability, and on the other hand, why selecting a rendition that corresponds to the group capability is needed when the returned rendition is already responsive to the indicated group capability in the request.
Applicant is required to clarify. For the sake of the examination, Examiner interprets the indication of claim 2 as either including the group capability or not including the group capability. Claim 13 is similarly rejected.
b) Claim 4 recites “use the media item identifier corresponding to the second selected rendition of the requested media item retrieve the second selected rendition of the requested media item”. It is unclear what the recited “retrieve the second selected rendition of the requested media item” modifies. Applicant is required to clarify. For the sake of the examination, Examiner assumes any possibility. Claim 14 is similarly rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. 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 of this title, 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.
7. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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 nonobviousness.
8. Claims 1-2, 4, 6, 12-14, 16, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall et al (US 20220303185, hereafter Marshall) in view of HARVIAINEN (WO 2020154206).
As to claim 1, Marshall discloses a playback device comprising:
at least one processor; a non-transitory computer-readable medium (0018], “a leader device (e.g., a device performing specific processing tasks, coordinating state information of devices in the cluster, etc.)”, wherein a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a memory are implied. See also [0042] and Fig. 3, “Processor(s) 354”, “Storage 356”); and
program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
operate as part of a synchrony group that comprises the playback device as a first group member and at least one other group member ([0018], “where each cluster includes a leader device (e.g., a device performing specific processing tasks, coordinating state information of devices in the cluster, etc.). The first user device can derive a set of device capabilities for the first user device”; [0019], “a first user device (e.g., a smart home device) can derive cluster capability information for a set of devices in the cluster. The cluster capability information can comprise an intersection of device capabilities that correspond to the first user device and device capabilities of the other user devices in the cluster. The intersection of device capabilities can specify various capabilities of the devices in the cluster, such as a maximum processing power of the devices in the cluster, a device capable of processing or rendering 4K video data, or other software features of devices in the cluster, for example…audio output”; [0040], “The representative user device may be any suitable computing device (e.g., a mobile phone, tablet, a smart hub speaker device, a smart media player communicatively connected to a TV, etc.)”; [0032], “the cluster can elect a leader which is responsible for maintaining data communication between devices and synchronizing data between devices in the cluster”; [0079]-[0080], “At block 510, the first user device can receive a request from a service user device (e.g., a controller). This can include a request from a mobile device to play audio content on a speaker of a device in the network environment, for example. …At block 512, the first user device can notify the service user device of generated cluster capability for the cluster that corresponds to the request. For example, the overlapping intersections of the clusters can be compared with the request to identify that the first cluster is to perform the request. The first cluster can be selected because the device with the speaker common to both clusters is capable of outputting audio content when interacting with devices in the first cluster, as is specified in the cluster capability information for the first cluster”);
obtain a respective indication of each group member's capability to play back media content (Fig. 4, “Device 2 Capability Information 424” is sent from “Device 2” to “Leader Device 1”, and “Device 3 Capability Information 426” is sent from “Device 3” to “Leader Device 1””. See citation in the preceding limitation regarding capabilities that include those to play back media content. Also see [0018]-[0019]);
based on the respective indications of each group member's capability to play back media content, determine a group capability to play back media content (Fig. 4, “Derive First Cluster Capability Information 428” by “Leader Device 1”. Also see [0019], “if all four devices have audio output, but only two have stereo (e.g., the other two only have mono), then the intersection would be "mono" since stereo might be considered a higher level of audio output and not all devices in the cluster have stereo. If one of the mono devices were removed from the cluster, the intersection would still be mono. However, if both mono devices were removed from the cluster, when the intersection was recalculated, the cluster would now list "stereo" as its capability for the audio output type”; also see [0018]-[0019]); and
play back a selected rendition of a requested media item in synchrony with the at least one other group member ([0079]-[0080], “At block 510, the first user device can receive a request from a service user device (e.g., a controller). This can include a request from a mobile device to play audio content on a speaker of a device in the network environment, for example. …At block 512, the first user device can notify the service user device of generated cluster capability for the cluster that corresponds to the request. For example, the overlapping intersections of the clusters can be compared with the request to identify that the first cluster is to perform the request. The first cluster can be selected because the device with the speaker common to both clusters is capable of outputting audio content when interacting with devices in the first cluster, as is specified in the cluster capability information for the first cluster”; [0032], “the cluster can elect a leader which is responsible for maintaining data communication between devices and synchronizing data between devices in the cluster” ).
but does not expressly disclose that the leader device (the first user device) performs further steps to transmit, to a cloud-based computing system associated with a media service provider, a request for a media item to be played back by the synchrony group; receive, from the cloud-based computing system associated with a media service provider, a list of different renditions of the requested media item, the list including a respective media item identifier that is usable to obtain each different rendition of the requested media item; select, from the list, a rendition of the requested media item for playback that corresponds to the determined group capability; use a media item identifier corresponding to the selected rendition of the requested media item to retrieve the selected rendition of the requested media item; and play back the selected rendition of the requested media item in synchrony with the at least one other group member.
HARVIAINEN discloses a device to
transmit, to a cloud-based computing system associated with a media service provider, a request for a media item to be played back by the device ([0145], “A viewing client 204 may interface via a network, e.g., a cloud network, to a content server 202. Media presentation description (MPD) files 212 and levels of detail (LoD) versions of spatial data 210 may be stored on the content server 202”; Fig. 13, “RECEIVING, AT A CONTENT SERVER, A REQUEST FOR A MANIFEST FILE DESCRIBING AN ORDERED PLURALITY OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM REPRESENTATIONS OF CONTENT”; [0206], “If a content request is received from a viewing client, the content server may determine the request type 2204. If the request type 2204 is for a new session, the content server may retrieve the MPD from memory and send 2208 the MPD to the viewing client”);
receive, from the cloud-based computing system associated with a media service provider, a list of different renditions of the requested media item, the list including a respective media item identifier that is usable to obtain each different rendition of the requested media item (Fig. 13, “RECEIVING, AT A CONTENT SERVER, A REQUEST FOR A MANIFEST FILE DESCRIBING AN ORDERED PLURALITY OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM REPRESENTATIONS OF CONTENT”; “SENDING, TO A CLIENT DEVICE, THE MANIFEST FILE”. See also Fig. 19 and Table 3 showing a MPD format, and [0198], e.g., “<Adaptation Set ID=”Object 1”>”, and within this Adaptation set, a first “<Representation id=”High LOD”…>”, a second “<Representation id=”Mid LOD”…>”; and a third “<Representation id=”Low LOD”…>”. See also Fig. 12 and [0178]);
select, from the list, a rendition of the requested media item for playback that corresponds to a determined device capability (Fig. 13, “RECEIVING, FROM THE CLIENT DEVICE, A REQUEST FOR A DATA SEGMENT OF THE CONTENT”; [0228], “selecting the selected representation may be selected further based on at least one of capabilities of a client device and range of motion of the client device”; [0141], “the viewing client loads the MPD. Based on the MPD, current conditions, and current capabilities, the viewing client may select a version of the data to be downloaded. Content segment format and resolution may be adapted to meet data transmission parameter and quality metric thresholds for available resources. For some embodiments, representation of content may be selected based in part on client capabilities and/or range of motion of a client. In some embodiments, capabilities of a client device may include, e.g., one or more capabilities such as, display characteristics, such as, e.g., resolution, display size, pixel size, number of dimensions supported”. See also Fig. 12 and [0178]);
use a media item identifier corresponding to the selected rendition of the requested media item to retrieve the selected rendition of the requested media item (Fig. 13, “RECEIVING, FROM THE CLIENT DEVICE, A REQUEST FOR A DATA SEGMENT OF THE CONTENT”; “SENDING, TO THE CLIENT DEVICE, THE DATA SEGMENT OF THE CONTENT, WHEREIN AT LEAST ONE OF THE ORDERED PLURALITY OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM REPRESENTATIONS INCLUDES AT LEAST TWO LEVEL OF DETAIL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE CONTENT”. See citation in rejection to the preceding limitation, e.g., [0141], “the viewing client loads the MPD. Based on the MPD, current conditions, and current capabilities, the viewing client may select a version of the data to be downloaded. Content segment format and resolution may be adapted to meet data transmission parameter and quality metric thresholds for available resources. For some embodiments, representation of content may be selected based in part on client capabilities and/or range of motion of a client. In some embodiments, capabilities of a client device may include, e.g., one or more capabilities such as, display characteristics, such as, e.g., resolution, display size, pixel size, number of dimensions supported”, wherein the viewing client’s requesting a representation/version of the content is based on the loaded MPD, which identifies representation via the respective AdaptationSet id combined with the representation id, see Fig. 19, Table 3 and [0198], e.g., “<Adaptation Set ID=”Object 1”>”, and within this Adaptation set, a first “<Representation id=”High LOD”…>”, a second “<Representation id=”Mid LOD”…>”; and a third “<Representation id=”Low LOD”…>”.”, therefore the representation id corresponding to the selected representation is used to retrieve the selected representation of the requested media item. See also page 38, “request content with the current DoF and LoD levels, display content”); and
play back a selected rendition of a requested media item on the device (see citation in the preceding limitation, e.g., [0178], “for streaming content to the client device”. Also see claim 57, “representation size, the estimated bandwidth, or playback duration until the content element is displayed”. See also abstract, “retrieving the selected representation; and rendering the selected representation”; See also page 38, “request content with the current DoF and LoD levels, display content”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall with HARVIAINEN. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to adapt content to meet data transmission parameter and quality metric thresholds for available resources (HARVIAINEN, [0141]).
As to claim 12, see similar rejection to claim 1.
As to claim 20, see similar rejection to claim 1.
As to claim 2, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN discloses the playback device of claim 1, wherein the request for the media item to be played back by the synchrony group comprises an indication of the determined group capability to play back media content (See 112 rejection and Examiner’s interpretation therein. See citation in rejection to claim 1, e.g., Marshall, [0079]-[0080]).
As to claim 13, see similar rejection to claim 2.
As to claim 4, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN discloses the playback device of claim 1, wherein the selected rendition is a first selected rendition, the playback device further comprising program instructions stored on the non- transitory computer-readable medium that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
during playback of the first selected rendition of the requested media item, determine a change in the group capability to play back media content (Marshall, [0019], “If one of the mono devices were removed from the cluster, the intersection would still be mono. However, if both mono devices were removed from the cluster, when the intersection was recalculated, the cluster would now list "stereo" as its capability for the audio output type”; [0098], “In some instances, the cluster capability can be updated responsive to a change to the devices in the cluster. For example, the first user device can detect that a user device is no longer included in the first cluster. The first user device can derive an updated cluster capability without device capabilities relating to the user device no longer being included in the first cluster. The first user device can notify the service user device of the updated cluster capability for the first cluster”; [0099], “As another example, the first user device can detect that a new user device is included in the first cluster. The first user device can receive device capabilities relating to the new user device and derive an updated cluster capability that includes the device capabilities relating to the new user device. The first user device can notify the service user device of the updated cluster capability for the first cluster”);
based on the determined change in the group capability to play back media content, select, from the list of different renditions, a second rendition of the requested media item for playback that corresponds to the changed group capability (HARVIAINEN, Fig. 12; [0230], “For some embodiments, the example method in accordance with some embodiments may further include: tracking the capabilities of the client device; detecting a change in the capabilities of the client device; and responsive to detecting the change in the capabilities of the client device, selecting another representation from the one or more degrees of freedom representations”);
use the media item identifier corresponding to the second selected rendition of the requested media item retrieve the second selected rendition of the requested media item (See 112 rejection and Examiner’s interpretation therein. See HARVIAINEN, see citation in rejection to claim 1, e.g., [0141], “the viewing client loads the MPD. Based on the MPD, current conditions, and current capabilities, the viewing client may select a version of the data to be downloaded. Content segment format and resolution may be adapted to meet data transmission parameter and quality metric thresholds for available resources. For some embodiments, representation of content may be selected based in part on client capabilities and/or range of motion of a client. In some embodiments, capabilities of a client device may include, e.g., one or more capabilities such as, display characteristics, such as, e.g., resolution, display size, pixel size, number of dimensions supported”, wherein the viewing client’s requesting a representation/version of the content is based on the loaded MPD, which identifies representation via the respective AdaptationSet id combined with the representation id, see Fig. 19, Table 3 and [0198], e.g., “<Adaptation Set ID=”Object 1”>”, and within this Adaptation set, a first “<Representation id=”High LOD”…>”, a second “<Representation id=”Mid LOD”…>”; and a third “<Representation id=”Low LOD”…>”.”, therefore the representation id corresponding to the selected representation is used to retrieve the selected representation of the requested media item. See also page 38, “request content with the current DoF and LoD levels, display content”); and
transition from playing back the first selected rendition of the requested media item in synchrony with the at least one other group member to playing back the second selected rendition of the requested media item (HARVIAINEN, Fig. 12; [0230], “For some embodiments, the example method in accordance with some embodiments may further include: tracking the capabilities of the client device; detecting a change in the capabilities of the client device; and responsive to detecting the change in the capabilities of the client device, selecting another representation from the one or more degrees of freedom representations”; abstract, “retrieving the selected representation; and rendering the selected representation”) in synchrony with the at least one other group member (Marshall, see citation in rejection to claim 1, e.g., [0079]-[0080], “At block 510, the first user device can receive a request from a service user device (e.g., a controller). This can include a request from a mobile device to play audio content on a speaker of a device in the network environment, for example. …At block 512, the first user device can notify the service user device of generated cluster capability for the cluster that corresponds to the request. For example, the overlapping intersections of the clusters can be compared with the request to identify that the first cluster is to perform the request. The first cluster can be selected because the device with the speaker common to both clusters is capable of outputting audio content when interacting with devices in the first cluster, as is specified in the cluster capability information for the first cluster”; [0032], “the cluster can elect a leader which is responsible for maintaining data communication between devices and synchronizing data between devices in the cluster”).
As to claim 14, see similar rejection to claim 4.
As to claim 6, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN discloses the playback device of claim 4, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to determine the change in the group capability to play back media content comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
determine that at least one other playback device has been added to, or removed from, the synchrony group (Marshall, [0019], “If one of the mono devices were removed from the cluster, the intersection would still be mono. However, if both mono devices were removed from the cluster, when the intersection was recalculated, the cluster would now list "stereo" as its capability for the audio output type”; [0098], “In some instances, the cluster capability can be updated responsive to a change to the devices in the cluster. For example, the first user device can detect that a user device is no longer included in the first cluster. The first user device can derive an updated cluster capability without device capabilities relating to the user device no longer being included in the first cluster. The first user device can notify the service user device of the updated cluster capability for the first cluster”; [0099], “As another example, the first user device can detect that a new user device is included in the first cluster. The first user device can receive device capabilities relating to the new user device and derive an updated cluster capability that includes the device capabilities relating to the new user device. The first user device can notify the service user device of the updated cluster capability for the first cluster”).
As to claim 16, see similar rejection to claim 6.
9. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Asbun et al (US 2023/0199241, hereafter Asbun).
As to claim 3, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN discloses the claimed invention substantially as discussed in claim 1, but does not expressly disclose wherein each media item identifier comprises a uniform resource indicator (URI). Asbun discloses each media item identifier comprises a uniform resource indicator (URI) (See Table 0024, “Representation id …Base URL…”. See also [0047], “A DASH client may parse a MPD XML document. The DASH client may select a collection of AdaptationSets suitable for its environment, for example, based on information provided in the AdaptationSet elements. Within an AdaptationSet, the client may select a Representation. The client may select the Representation based on the value of @bandwidth attribute, client decoding capabilities, and/or client rendering capabilities. The client may download an initialization segment of the selected Representation”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN with Asbun. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to utilize known format for resource identifier in HTM (Asbun, Table 24).
10. Claims 5 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN, as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of SEN et al (US 2018/0309809, hereafter SEN).
As to claim 5, Marshall in view HARVIAINEN discloses the claimed invention substantially as discussed in claim 4, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to determine the change in the group capability to play back media content (see citation in rejection to claim 4), but does not expressly disclose determine that a buffer of at least one group member in the synchrony group does not include a threshold amount of the selected rendition of the requested media item, wherein the second selected rendition of the requested media items comprises a lower bit rate rendition than the first selected rendition.
SEN discloses determine that a buffer of a playback device does not include a threshold amount of a selected rendition of a requested media item, wherein a second selected rendition of the requested media items comprises a lower bit rate rendition than a first selected rendition ([0025], “In one or more embodiments, the PIA controller 202 can be configured with two different thresholds, a high buffer threshold (e.g. 75% of buffer capacity) and a low buffer threshold (e.g. 25% of buffer capacity). If the current buffer level is below the low buffer threshold, then the PIA controller 202 selects the minimum bitrate. Further, if the current buffer level is above the high buffer threshold, then the PIA controller 202 selects the maximum bitrate. Thus, the PIA core components 214 maintains a target buffer level to reduce the likelihood of buffer overflow, prevent stalls, or reloading/retransmitting of the media content”; Claims 17, “The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise: selecting a low buffer threshold; and determining that the current buffer level is below the low buffer threshold, wherein selecting the video bitrate comprises selecting a low target video bitrate according to the current buffer level being below the low buffer threshold”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN with SEN. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to present stalls (SEN, [0025]).
As to claim 15, see similar rejection to claim 5.
11. Claims 7, 9, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN, as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Dolby (“Dolby AC-4 and HTTP Live Streaming Specification”).
As to claim 7, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN discloses the playback device of claim 6, wherein the determined group capability includes a capability to play back spatial audio content (Marshall, [0020], “If the intersection also includes "stereo" for all devices, then "stereo" is another capability for that cluster. However, if just one device in the cluster does not have "stereo" capabilities, then the only value for "audio output," in this example, may be "mono." Thus, the determined capabilities for that cluster would only include "mono"”, wherein a “stereo” indicates two channels which can be considered a capability to play back spatial audio content. It is to be noted that the claimed limitation merely requires “a capability to play back spatial audio content” without requiring a full perceptual effect of a spatial audio content. See also [0029], “the leader device can detect devices leaving/entering the cluster and dynamically update the cluster capability information to reflect the new intersection of capabilities of the cluster. The dynamically updated cluster capability information can increase accuracy in identifying a cluster that corresponds with parameters of a request”. Therefore, when the entered device “only include mono”, then the group capability would become mono); and
wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to determine that at least one other playback device has been added to, or removed from, the synchrony group comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to determine that at least one other playback device has been added to the synchrony group such that the changed group capability no longer includes the capability to play back spatial audio content, and wherein the second selected rendition is a non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item (Marshall, [0020], “If the intersection also includes "stereo" for all devices, then "stereo" is another capability for that cluster. However, if just one device in the cluster does not have "stereo" capabilities, then the only value for "audio output," in this example, may be "mono." Thus, the determined capabilities for that cluster would only include "mono". See [0029], “the leader device can detect devices leaving/entering the cluster and dynamically update the cluster capability information to reflect the new intersection of capabilities of the cluster. The dynamically updated cluster capability information can increase accuracy in identifying a cluster that corresponds with parameters of a request”. Therefore, when the entered new device “only include mono”, then the group capability would become “mono” having a single channel, which is normally considered a non-spatial audio capability. This “unique capability” of “mono” will match to non-spatial audio selection, see [0028], “The present embodiments allow for selective transmission of requests to a cluster to perform various tasks based on capabilities unique to the cluster” and [009]-[0080]), but does not expressly disclose wherein the first selected rendition is a spatial audio rendition of the requested media item.
Dolby discloses a first selected rendition being a spatial audio rendition of the requested media item (see Pages 10-11: 2.5.1 Signaling immersive stereo content For every presentation in the ac4_toc signaling immersive stereo content, an additional regular stereo compatible presentation must be included in the ac4_dsi_v1….One instance uses presentation version 2 and signals the immersive stereo content…A second instance uses presentation version 1 and signals a regular stereo-compatible presentation of the immersive stereo content”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN with Dolby. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to present immersive stereo content (Dolby, pages 10-11).
As to claim 17, see similar rejection to claim 7.
As to claim 9, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby discloses the playback device of claim 1, wherein the list of different renditions of the requested media item comprises (i) at least one spatial audio rendition of the requested media item and (ii) at least one non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item (Dolby, see citation in rejection to claim 7, e.g., “Pages 10-11: 2.5.1 Signaling immersive stereo content For every presentation in the ac4_toc signaling immersive stereo content, an additional regular stereo compatible presentation must be included in the ac4_dsi_v1….One instance uses presentation version 2 and signals the immersive stereo content…A second instance uses presentation version 1 and signals a regular stereo-compatible presentation of the immersive stereo content””).
12. Claims 8 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Android (“Spatializer”).
As to claim 8, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN discloses the playback device of claim 1, wherein each group member in the synchrony group includes hardware to enable playback of spatial audio content (Marshall, [0019], “Stereo” having two channels enables playback of multi-channel audio content such as spatial audio content. It is to be noted that the claimed limitation merely requires “enable playback of spatial audio content” without requiring presenting full perceptual effects of spatial audio content), and wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to obtain the respective indication of each group member's capability to play back media content (Marshall, see citation in rejection to claim 1, e.g., Fig. 1 and [0019], “a first user device (e.g., a smart home device) can derive cluster capability information for a set of devices in the cluster. The cluster capability information can comprise an intersection of device capabilities that correspond to the first user device and device capabilities of the other user devices in the cluster”), but does not expressly disclose to determine a selection of a user preference for at least one of the group members in the synchrony group not to play back spatial audio content; and to select a non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item.
Android discloses a concept for a user to enable or disable spatial audio and to select a non-spatial audition rendition of a request media item (pages 9-10, “IsEnabled ()…Returns whether spatialization is enabled or not. A false value can originate for instance from the user electing to disable the feature. Note that this state reflects a platform-wide state of the "desire" to use spatialization, butavailability of the audio processing is still dictated by the compatibility between the effect andthe hardware configuration, as indicated by isAvailable()”, indicating that when isAvailable () returns “true”, meaning that hardware has capability to support spatial audio, but when isEnabled () returns false, meaning the user disabled the spatial audio feature, then the platform-wide state of the “desire to use spatialization” is turned off, implying non-spatial representation will be used).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN with Android. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to give user flexibility to turn off spatial audio option (Android, pages 9-10).
As to claim 18, see similar rejection to claim 8.
13. Claims 10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby, as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Murtaza et al (BR 112020008073, Google Patent translation is relied upon, hereafter Murtaza).
As to claim 10, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby discloses the claimed invention substantially including a playback device of claim 9, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to select, from the list, a rendition of the requested media item for playback that corresponds to the determined group capability (see citation in rejection to claim 1) comprise program instructions that are executable by the at least one processor such that the playback device is configured to:
if the determined group capability comprises a capability to play back spatial audio content (see citation and explanation in rejection to claim 9, Dolby, wherein both spatial audio rendition and non-spatial audio rendition are returned for selection), select a spatial audio rendition of the requested media item in the list (Marshall, see citation in rejection to claim 1, wherein selecting of a rendition corresponding to the service request is based on capabilities unique to the cluster, see e.g., Marshall, [0028], “The present embodiments allow for selective transmission of requests to a cluster to perform various tasks based on capabilities unique to the cluster”. See also HARVIAINEN, selecting a rendition based on capability of the device);
if the determined group capability does not comprise the capability to play back spatial audio content (see citation and explanation in rejection to claim 9, Dolby, wherein both spatial audio rendition and non-spatial audio rendition are returned for selection), select a non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item in the list (Marshall, see citation in rejection to claim 1, wherein selecting of a rendition corresponding to the service request is based on capabilities unique to the cluster, see e.g., Marshall, [0028], “The present embodiments allow for selective transmission of requests to a cluster to perform various tasks based on capabilities unique to the cluster”. See also HARVIAINEN, selecting a rendition based on capability of the device), but does not expressly disclose selecting a rendition having a lowest bit rate in each category.
Murtaza discloses a concept of selecting a rendition/representation having a lowest bit rate in each category/adaptation set ([00130], “In addition, some adaptation sets corresponding to neighboring locations can be selected first with the lowest bit rate and / or the lowest quality level, for example a coded representation with a lower bit rate is chosen from the available representations in an adaptation set, and based on changes in position, quality is increased by selecting a higher bit rate for those specific adaptation sets, for example, a coded representation with a higher bit rate is selected from the representations available in a adaptation set”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby with Murtaza. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to give low quality initially and adapt to higher quality when possible (Murtaza, [00130]).
As to claim 19, see similar rejection to claim 10.
14. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby, as applied to claim 9 above, and further in view of Katsianos (US 2009/0161883) and Kuch et al (US 2018/0143799, hereafter Kuch).
As to claim 11, Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby discloses the claimed invention substantially as discussed in claim 9, but does not expressly disclose obtain an indication of a reference loudness value to be used for playback of media content; and if a spatial audio rendition of the requested media item is selected, apply a predetermined gain off set to adjust a loudness of the spatial audio rendition to meet the reference loudness value; or if a non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item is selected: determine a baseline loudness of the non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item; determine a gain offset to adjust the baseline loudness of the nonspatial audio rendition of the requested media item to meet the reference loudness value; and apply the determined gain offset to non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item.
Katsianos discloses obtain an indication of a reference loudness value to be used for playback of media content ([0041], ”a reference loudness level”; [0047], “a reference level”); and
if a spatial audio rendition of the requested media item is selected ([0045], “a multi-channel audio signal 202b is shown that includes left (L), right (R), center (C)”), apply a predetermined gain offset to adjust a loudness of the spatial audio rendition to meet the reference loudness value (Fig. 2B; [0045]-[0048], wherein the calculated gain is based on the difference between the estimated loudness and the reference (preterminal) level, therefore the calculated gain can be considered predetermined at least partially. To enhance the rejection, Examiner also brought in Kuch to teach a predetermined gain offset. See rejection below); or
if a non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item is selected ([0040], “a stereo input signal is received”):
determine a baseline loudness of the non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item (Fig. 2A; [0042], “At a decimation block 210a, the dominant channel signal can be decimated by downsampling and/or filtering the dominant channel. At a loudness process block 212a, a loudness of the lower-rate signal can be estimated by using one or more filters that approximate auditory filters and one or more loudness curves”);
determine a gain offset to adjust the baseline loudness of the nonspatial audio rendition of the requested media item to meet the reference loudness value (Fig. 2A; [0042]-[0043], “A level difference may be further determined between the estimated loudness level and a reference loudness level. At a gain adjustment block 214a, a gain can be calculated based on the level difference. This gain may be applied to both channels of the stereo input signal 202a, rather than just the decimated channel. The gain calculation can include a smoothing function that smooths the calculated gain over a plurality of samples of the stereo input signal. A stereo output signal is provided at block 216a based on the applied gain”); and
apply the determined gain offset to non-spatial audio rendition of the requested media item (Fig. 2A; [0043], “A stereo output signal is provided at block 216a based on the applied gain”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN and Dolby with Katsianos. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to adjust loudness of channels corresponding to stereo and surround sound respectively (Katsianos, [0039]-[0048]).
As cited and explained above, Katshanos discloses a predetermined gain offset under the broadest reasonable interpretation. To enhance the rejection, Kuch is brought in to further teach expressly a predetermined gain offset (see [0182], “reference gain values g1, g2, … are inserted… into the metadata…” therefore is predetermined. See [0186]-[0189], wherein the metadata includes both the reference gain values gi, and the reference loudness Lref for the playback configuration or preset. See [0170], wherein the loudness compensation C is based on the predetermined gain offset gi in the metadata. See [0006], “spatial audio content (starting from simple two channel stereo) has been delivered as a set of channel signals which are designated to be reproduced by loudspeakers in a precisely defined”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious for an ordinary skilled in the art to combine Marshall in view of HARVIAINEN, Dolby, and Katsianos with Kuch. The suggestion/motivation of the combination would have been to utilize precomputed metadata (Kuch, [0186]-[0189]).
Prior Art Cited but not Applied in the Rejection
15. Below is a list of prior art reference(s) cited but not applied in the rejection:
a) Chen (US 2012/0042050), disclosing portion of the manifest file includes information indicative of sets of representations of the multimedia content and information indicative of common characteristics for each of the sets of representations, select one of the representations of the selected one of the sets of representations based on one or more coding characteristics of the one of the representations of the one of the sets, and generate a request for data of the one of the representations based on the selection. See, e.g., Figure 8 showing the selection steps.
Conclusion
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nasser Goodarzi, can be reached at (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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/HUA FAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2426
