DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Responsive to the Amendment filed January 22, 2026. Claims 1-16 and 23-29 are pending. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the remarks, the Applicant argues with substance:
Argument: Claim 1 has been amended to recite that the at least one instruction is “perform computations, within the memory device, using at least a portion of stored data to provide at
least one instruction configured to control at least one aspect of a vehicle,” where the memory device comprises the memory and the processing device of Claim 1. Lakshamanan does not disclose such elements.
In response, the Examiner respectfully disagrees Lakshamanan teaches the computational processing is done locally using local resources and if the workload is unable to be performed locally the workload is dispatched for remote processing. These local resource can include a graphic processor (GPU), also known as a memory card, which is a memory that includes processors to perform computations (see paragraphs [0044, 0329]) This teaching meets the scope of the claimed invention. The claim limitation wherein coherency of the stored data is maintained between the processor and the at least one memory is non-functional descriptive language that does not actively recite a function and therefore does not add any meaningful limitations to the scope of the claim. “A claim term is functional when it recites a feature by what it does not what it is" (MPEP 2173.05g). Non-functional descriptive material does not impart a patentable distinction to a claim. Patentable weight will only be given when such descriptive material has a functional relationship to the substrate (MPEP 2111.05).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
Claims 1-16 and 23-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Lakshamanan et al (US 2018/0300964).
As per claim 1, Lakshamanan et al teach a memory device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processing device configured to:
perform computations, within the memory device (see at least paragraphs [0044, 0329]; GPUs/graphics processing units),using at least a portion of stored data to provide at least one instruction configured to control at least one aspect of a vehicle; and provide the instruction for reading by a processor of the vehicle (see at least fig 17 and corresponding text);
wherein coherency of the stored data is maintained between the processor and the at least one memory (non-functional descriptive language, however, see at least paragraphs [0095-0098]).
As per claim 2, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the processor is configured to control braking of the vehicle (see at least fig 14).
As per claim 3, Lakshamanan et al teach a cache configured to store the instruction for reading by the processor of the vehicle (see at least fig 21).
As per claim 4, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the cache is a first cache, the first cache is coherent with a second cache of the processor of the vehicle, and the instruction is read from the second cache to control a function of the vehicle (see at least paragraphs [0095-0098]).
As per claim 5, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein a coherent memory space is maintained between the processor of the vehicle and the memory (see at least paragraphs [0095-0098]).
As per claim 6, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the processing device is further configured to write the instruction on the cache for reading by the processor of the vehicle (see at least paragraphs [0095-0098]).
As per claim 7, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein performing the computations comprises generating the instruction as an output from a neural network having the portion of the stored data as an input (see at least figs 9A-9B).
As per claim 8, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the memory stores historical data associated with prior operation of the vehicle, and the processing device is further configured to train the neural network using the historical data (see at least figs 9A-9B).
As per claim 9, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the historical data includes data received from at least one sensor of the vehicle (see at least fig 21).
As per claim 10, Lakshamanan et al teach volatile memory to store data used by the neural network when performing the computations (see at least figs 9A-9B).
As per claim 11, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the stored data includes sensor data received from at least one sensor of the vehicle, and the stored data is byte-addressable by at least one of the processor of the vehicle or the processing device (see at least fig 22).
As per claim 12, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of a camera, a LIDAR sensor, a GPS sensor, a brake sensor, or a tire sensor (see at least fig 24).
As per claim 13, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the processing device is further configured to: receive a request for resources from the processor of the vehicle; and in response to receiving the request for resources, allocate at least one of memory resources or compute resources to the processor (see at least paragraph [0061]).
As per claim 14, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the processing device is further configured to: monitor stream data from the vehicle; and store the stream data in the memory (see at least paragraphs [0063, 0189]).
As per claim 15, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the memory comprises volatile memory and non-volatile memory (see at least paragraph [0321]).
As per claim 16, Lakshamanan et al teach wherein the volatile memory is configured to receive the data from the vehicle, and to flush the received data to the non-volatile memory when a quantity of the received data stored in the volatile memory reaches a threshold (see at least paragraph [0330]).
Claims 23-29 contain similar limitations as the claims above and therefore are rejected under similar rationale.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Ramsey Refai whose telephone number is (313)446-4867. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm EST.
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, Kito Robinson can be reached at (571) 270-3921. 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.
RAMSEY REFAI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3664
/RAMSEY REFAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3664