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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/29/16 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) Form PTO-1449, filed 4/29/16. The information disclosed therein was considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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, 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claim(s) 18-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Eleftheriou (US 2016/0267379) in view of CN 102132351 (see Applicant’s submission of 4/29/16, herein ‘351).
Regarding claim 18, Eleftheriou discloses a method, comprising: detecting a time difference between a first pulse from a first neuron device and a second pulse from a second neuron device (see paragraph 0014, rejection of claim 1 above); generating a program voltage corresponding to the detected time difference (see Figure 5); and applying the generated program voltage to a synapse device coupled between the first neuron device and the second neuron device to program the synapse device in accordance with spike-timing dependent plasticity (see paragraph 0014, Figure 5).
Eleftheriou fails to teach that the program voltage is decreased in a stepwise manner from a maximum voltage value.
However, this was a known technique at the time of filing as shown in figure 16 of ‘351. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill at the time of filing to decrease the program voltage in a step-wise manner since this was a known technique for reducing the program voltage and would have yielded the predictable result of a decreased program votlage.
Regarding claim 22, Eleftheriou discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the synapse device comprises a phase change memory , the program voltage comprises a SET program voltage, and said applying comprises applying the SET program voltage to the synapse device during a quenching time of the synapse device (see paragraph 0058—see also ‘629.9 page 1).
Regarding claim 19, Eleftheriou discloses the method of claim 16, further comprising: storing a plurality of different waveform configurations correspondingly associated with different values of the time difference; and selecting, among the plurality of different waveform configurations, a waveform configuration corresponding to a value of the detected time difference. wherein said generating comprises generating the program voltage based on the selected waveform configuration (see paragaraph 0061-0064).
Regarding claim 20, Eleftheriou discloses the method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of different waveform configurations corresponds to different waveforms of the program voltage, and the different waveforms have corresponding different inclinations from a maximum voltage value (see paragraph 0061-0064).
Regarding claim 21, Eleftheriou discloses method of claim 20, wherein the different waveforms are monotonously decreased in a stepwise manner, and at the corresponding different inclinations, from the maximum voltage value (see paragraphs 0061-0064 in view of the modification above).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-15 are allowed.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: the record makes clear the reasons for allowance.
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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DOUGLAS KING whose telephone number is (571)272-2311. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 9:00AM-5:30PM.
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, Richard Elms can be reached at 571-272-1869. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/DOUGLAS KING/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824
Prosecution Insights