Office Action 3: Notice of Allowance (2025-02-18)

CLAIMS:
Amendments to the Claims

The following listing of claims will replace all prior versions, and listings, of claims in the application:

Listing of Claims:

1\. (Currently Amended) A method of video decoding, the method comprising:receiving a video bitstream that comprises a plurality of video blocks including a first block;
extracting, from the video bitstream, a plurality of transform coefficients for the first block;
obtaining a first data sequence by scanning the plurality of transform coefficients a following a first scan order , wherein the first scan order is based on a primary transform type for the first block;
obtaining a second data sequence by performing a non-separable transform \[\[to\]\] on the first data sequence , wherein the second data sequence has a different number of transform coefficients than the first data sequence; and
replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order.
2\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein:

the non-separable transform comprises a non-separable secondary transform;
.
3\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 2, wherein the first scan order is further based on at least one of:
an intra prediction mode associated with the first block; and
 a size of the first block.

4\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 2, wherein the second scan order is based on at least one of:
an intra prediction mode associated with the first block;
a type of the non-separable secondary transform; \[\[or\]\] and a size of the first block.
5\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim \[\[2\]\] 1, wherein the first scan order is:
a zig-zag scan order;
a diagonal scan order; or a row and column scan order.

6\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim \[\[2\]\] 1, wherein:the first scan order or second scan order is based on an intra prediction mode associated with the first block .
7\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim \[\[2\]\] 1, wherein the first datasequence and the second data sequence each have a number of transform coefficients between 0 to 127, inclusive.

8\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim \[\[2\]\] 1, wherein the first scan order and the second scan order are:a zig-zag scan order when the first block is a square block; or a diagonal scan order when the first block is a non-square block.
9\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 1, wherein:

the non-separable transform comprises a non-separable primary transform;
.

10\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 9, wherein the first scan order is based on at least one of:

an intra prediction mode associated with the first block;
a type of the non-separable primary transform; \[\[or\]\] and a size of the first block.

11\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 9, wherein the second scan order is determined based on at least one of:an intra prediction mode associated with the first block;
a type of the non-separable primary transform; \[\[or\]\] and a size of the first block.

12\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim 9, wherein the first scan order is:a zig-zag scan order;
a diagonal scan order; or a row and column scan order.

13\. (Canceled)

14\. (Canceled)

15\. (Canceled)

16\. (Currently Amended) The method of claim \[\[9\]\] 1, wherein the first scan order is a horizontal or vertical scan order.

17\. - 21. (Canceled)1820

22\. (New) A method of video encoding, the method comprising:receiving video data that comprises a plurality of video blocks including a first block;
obtaining a first data sequence corresponding to residuals for the first block according to a first scan order;
obtaining a second data sequence for the first block by applying a non-separable transform to the first data sequence, wherein the second data sequence has a different size than the first data sequence;
replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order, wherein the second scan order depends on a primary transform type for the first block.

23\. (New) The method of claim 22, wherein the non-separable transform comprises a non-separable secondary transform.

24\. (New) The method of claim 22, wherein the first scan order is based on at least one of:an intra prediction mode associated with the first block;
a type of the non-separable transform; and
a size of the first block.

25\. (New) The method of claim 22, wherein the first scan order is:a zig-zag scan order;
a diagonal scan order; or a row and column scan order.

26\. (New) The method of claim 22, wherein the first data sequence and the second data sequence each have a number of constituents between 0 to 127, inclusive.

27\. (New) A method of processing visual media, the method comprising:obtaining a source video sequence that comprises a plurality of frames; and
performing a conversion between the source video sequence and a video bitstream of visual media data according to a format rule,
wherein the video bitstream comprises a plurality of blocks including a first block;
and wherein the format rule specifies that:a first data sequence is to be obtained for the first block by scanning a plurality of transform coefficients for the first block according to a first scan order, wherein the first scan order depends on a primary transform type for the first block;
a second data sequence is to be obtained for the first block performing a non- separable transform on the first data sequence, wherein the second data sequence has a different number of transform coefficients than the first data sequence; and
at least a portion of the first data sequence is to be replaced with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order.

28\. (New) The method of claim 27, wherein the non-separable transform comprises a non-separable secondary transform.

29\. (New) The method of claim 27, wherein the first scan order is:a zig-zag scan order;
a diagonal scan order; or a row and column scan order.

OFFICE ACTION:
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is a response to an RCE filed on 10/22/2024, in which claims 1-12, 16, and 22-29 are pending and ready for examination.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/03/2024, 01/14/2025, and 01/22/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97.  Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE
Claims 1-12, 16, and 22-29, are allowed over the prior art of record.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Claims 1, 22, and 27 are allowed because the current prior art of record, considered individually or in combination, fails to teach or reasonably suggest all the claimed features of claims 1, 22, and 27, structurally and functionally interconnected with other limitations in the manner as cited in the claims. More specifically, the prior art on record fails to teach or suggest the limitation of: “obtaining a first data sequence by scanning the plurality of transform coefficients following a first scan order, wherein the first scan order is based on a primary transform type for the first block; obtaining a second data sequence by performing a non-separable transform on the first data sequence, wherein the second data sequence has a different number of coefficients than the first data sequence; replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second” as recited in claim 1. Claims 22 and 27 are claiming feature similar to the ones claimed in claim 1. Thus, the mentioned limitation in combination with all other limitations of the claim has been found allowable.
Claims 1, 22, and 27 are allowed and all claims dependent on claims 1, 22, and 27 are allowed as well.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee.  Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion

APPLICANT REBUTTAL: REMARKS This amendment responds to the Final Office Action mailed July 30, 2024. In the Final Office Action, the Examiner: * rejected claims 1-19 and 21 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as allegedly being anticipated by Zhao et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2017/0094314 Al). REMARKS CONCERNING CLAIMS Claims 1-12 and 16 have been amended. Support for the amendments can be found in at least paragraphs [0145]-[0168] and Figure 15 of the Application as filed. Claims 13-15, 17-19, and 21 have been canceled. Claims 22-23 have been added. Support for the new claims can be found in at least paragraphs [0145]-[0168] and Figures 15-16 of the Application as filed. No new matter has been added. With respect to all amendments, Applicant has not dedicated or abandoned any unclaimed subject matter. Moreover, Applicant has not acquiesced to any characterizations of the invention, nor any rejections or objections of the claims, made by the Examiner. Moreover, the Applicant hereby rescinds any prior disclaimer of claim scope, to the extent they exist, made during the prosecution of this application or made during the prosecution of any patent or other related patents/applications, and advises the Examiner that any such previous disclaimers and the cited references that they were made to avoid may need to be revisited. After entry of this amendment, the pending claims are: claims 1-12, 16, and 22-29. REMARKS CONCERNING REJECTIONS UNDER 35 U.S.C. 4102 I. REJECTION OF CLAIMS 1-19 AND 21 UNDER 35 U.S.C. 102(A)(1) AS BEING ANTICIPATED BY ZHAO. In the Final Office Action dated July 30, 2024, claims 1-19 and 21 were rejected as allegedly being anticipated by Zhao. First, claims 13-15 and 17-19 have been canceled, rendering the rejection of these claims moot. Second, the rejected claims include independent claim 1, which has been amended in this response. Amended independent claim 1 recites in part (emphasis added): receiving a video bitstream that comprises a plurality of video blocks including a first block; extracting, from the video bitstream, a plurality of transform coefficients for the first block; obtaining a first data sequence by scanning the plurality of transform coefficients following a first scan order, wherein the first scan order is based on a primary transform type for the first block; obtaining a second data sequence by performing a non- separable transform on the first data sequence, wherein the second data sequence has a different number of transform coefficients than the first data sequence; and replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order. As shown above, amended claim 1, recites that "the first scan order is based on a primary transform type for the first block," "the second data sequence [having] a different number of transform coefficients than the first data sequence," and "replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order." These aspects of the amended claim are not disclosed or taught by the cited reference. Zhao discloses that "video encoder 20 may reorganize the first 2-dimensional coefficient block as a first 1-dimensional coefficient vector." Zhao at 136. Zhao also discloses that "video decoder 30 may derive a 16x1 secondary transform coefficient vector by reorganizing the respective 4x4 coefficient sub-block F to a 16x1 vector." Id. at 147. However, Zhao does not disclose, teach, or suggest that the claimed "first scan order [that] is based on a primary transform type for the first block." Moreover, Zhao does not disclose, teach, or suggest the claimed "the second data sequence [having] a different number of transform coefficients than the first data sequence." Rather, Zhao merely disclose that a (2-dimensional) 4x4 coefficient sub-block may be reorganized to a (1-dimensional) 16x1 vector. Id. Finally, Zhao does not disclose, teach, or suggest the claimed "replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order." Zhao merely discloses that "video encoder 20 may reorganize the second 1-dimensional coefficient vector as a second 2-dimensional coefficient block according to a coefficient scanning order." This disclosure, without more, does not disclose, teach, or suggest the claimed "replacing at least a portion of the first data sequence with a portion or all of the second data sequence following a second scan order." For at least the above reasons, amended claim 1 is patentable over the cited reference. Dependent claims 2-12 and 16 depend from amended claim 1 and thus are patentable over the cited reference by virtue of their dependency. Therefore, the Applicant respectfully requests that the rejection of these claims be withdrawn. CONCLUDING REMARKS By responding in the foregoing remarks only to particular positions asserted by the examiner, the Applicant does not necessarily acquiesce in other positions that have not been explicitly addressed. In addition, the Applicant's arguments for the patentability of a claim should not be understood as implying that no other reasons for the patentability of that claim exist. In light of the above amendments and remarks, the Applicant respectfully requests that the Examiner reconsider this application with a view towards allowance. The Examiner is invited to call the undersigned attorney at (650) 843-7558, if a telephone call could help resolve any remaining items. Respectfully submitted, Date: September 18, 2024 SVG {EMBED HERE} 0.303.65 MORGAN, LEWIS & BOCKIUS LLP 1400 Page Mill Road Palo Alto, CA 94304 Phone: (650) 843-7558 E-mail: yalei.sun(imorganlewis.com


CITED REFERENCE SUMMARIES: Ref US20190313102A1: Claims:
A method for decoding an image, the method comprising: obtaining transform coefficients of a current block by entropy-decoding a bitstream; determining a scanning unit and a scanning order of the transform coefficients of the current block; scanning and aligning the transform coefficients of the current block based on the determined scanning unit and scanning order; and performing inverse-transform for the aligned transform coefficients.
obtaining transform coefficients of a current block by entropy-decoding a bitstream;
determining a scanning unit and a scanning order of the transform coefficients of the current block;
scanning and aligning the transform coefficients of the current block based on the determined scanning unit and scanning order; and
performing inverse-transform for the aligned transform coefficients.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning unit is determined based on a size of the current block and a preset threshold value.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning unit is determined based on any one of a shape of the current block and an intra-prediction mode of the current block.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning unit is determined in any one of a coefficient group unit, an individual coefficient unit, and a combined unit.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning order is determined based on a size of the current block and a preset threshold value.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning order is determined based on any one of a shape of the current block and an intra-prediction mode of the current block.
The method of claim 1 , wherein when the scanning is performed in a coefficient group unit, scanning orders different from each other are applied to scanning within a coefficient group and scanning between coefficient groups.
The method of claim 1 , wherein the scanning order is determined based on at least one of a type of inverse-transform, a position of inverse-transform, and an area to which inverse-transform is applied.
The method of claim 1 , wherein when the inverse-transform is performed in an order of secondary inverse-transform and primary inverse-transform, scanning orders are differently determined for an area for which the secondary inverse-transform is performed and an area for which both of the secondary inverse-transform and the primary inverse-transform are performed.
The method of claim 9 , wherein the scanning order of the area for which the secondary inverse-transform is performed is determined based on at least one of a size of the current block and an intra-prediction mode of the current block, and the scanning order of the area for which both of the secondary and the primary inverse-transform are performed is determined based on a shape of the current block.
the scanning order of the area for which both of the secondary and the primary inverse-transform are performed is determined based on a shape of the current block.
A method for encoding an image, the method comprising: obtaining transform coefficients of a current block by transforming a residue block of the current block; determining a scanning unit and a scanning order of the transform coefficients of the current block; and scanning and entropy-encoding the transform coefficients of the current block based on the determined scanning unit and scanning order.
obtaining transform coefficients of a current block by transforming a residue block of the current block;
determining a scanning unit and a scanning order of the transform coefficients of the current block; and
scanning and entropy-encoding the transform coefficients of the current block based on the determined scanning unit and scanning order.
The method of claim 11 , wherein the scanning unit is determined based on a size of the current block and a preset threshold value.
The method of claim 11 , wherein the scanning unit is determined based on any one of a shape of the current block and an intra-prediction mode of the current block.
The method of claim 11 , wherein the scanning order is determined based on a size of the current block and a preset threshold value.
The method of claim 11 , wherein the scanning order is determined based on any one of a shape of the current block and an intra-prediction mode of the current block.
The method of claim 11 , wherein when the scanning is performed in a coefficient group unit, scanning orders different from each other are applied to scanning within a coefficient group and scanning between coefficient groups.
The method of claim 11 , wherein the scanning order is determined based on at least one a transform type, a transform position, and an area to which transform is applied.
The method of claim 11 , wherein when the transform is performed in an order of primary transform and secondary transform, scanning orders are differently determined for an area for which the primary transform is performed, and for an area for which both of the primary transform and the secondary transform are performed.
The method of claim 18 , wherein the scanning order of the area for which the primary transform is performed is determined based on at least one of a size of the current block and an intra-prediction mode of the current block, and the scanning order of the area for which both of the primary transform and the secondary transform are performed is determined based on a shape of the current block.
the scanning order of the area for which both of the primary transform and the secondary transform are performed is determined based on a shape of the current block.
A recording medium for storing a bitstream generated by using an encoding method, the method including: obtaining transform coefficients of a current block by transforming a residue block of the current block; determining a scanning unit and a scanning order of the transform coefficients of the current block; and scanning and entropy-encoding the transform coefficients of the current block based on the determined scanning unit and scanning order.
Ref IN202027046269A: [content unavailable]