US Patent 11842520 Angular mode simplification for geometry-based point cloud compression

A method of decoding point cloud data comprises obtaining a bitstream that includes an arithmetically encoded syntax element indicating a vertical plane position of a planar mode of a node; and decoding the vertical plane position of the planar mode in the node, wherein decoding the vertical plane position of the planar mode comprises: determining a laser index of a laser candidate in a set of laser candidates, wherein the determined laser index indicates a laser beam that intersects the node; determining a context index based on whether the laser beam is above a first distance threshold, between the first distance threshold and a second distance threshold, between the second distance threshold and a third distance threshold, or below the third distance threshold; and arithmetically decoding the vertical plane position of the planar mode using a context indicated by the determined context index.