Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. This Office Action is sent in response to Applicant’s Communication received on 12/02/2025 for application number 17/971,788.
Response to Amendments
3. The Amendment filed 12/02/2025 has been entered. Claims 1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 19, and 20 have been amended. Claims 1-20 remain pending in the application.
4. Applicant’s amendments to Claim 1, 9, 17 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The amendments provided to overcome the 35 USC §101 rejection (abstract idea) issued in the last office action is sufficient. The 35 USC §101 rejection of Claim 1-20 is respectfully withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues that Zuccarelli is silent about the physical properties claimed, which include at least one of "a number of qubits, a type of the qubits, or a spin of the qubits."
The argument is moot since this is a newly presented limitation, thus changes the scope of the claim. However, a newly found reference, Rigetti, is applied.
Applicant argues that Zuccarelli discloses the claimed physical properties in the "metadata," the physical properties allegedly in the metadata are not in the generation of "a quantum isolation zone having same physical properties as the quantum environment." Rather, the metadata is in the content of "a quantum executable file" that is for simulation rather than generating a quantum isolation zone.
Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that Zuccarelli’s hardware metadata is associated with the quantum computer (quantum environment), not merely embedded in the executable file. Zuccarelli describes hardware metadata as parameters indicative of the operating conditions of the quantum computer (para. [0022]). Furthermore, Zuccarelli’s teaching that the simulator’s applied metadata is compared against the quantum computer’s metadata, updated based on the quantum computer’s metadata, and then used to reprocess than quantum executable file. This is a direct teaching of configuring the execution environment in view of the quantum environment’s properties (para. [0029, 0039]). Zuccarelli also teaches that the simulator is virtualized in a virtual environment, such as a container (i.e., an isolated execution context in which the program is executed). Therefore, Zuccarelli provides an isolated virtual execution environment.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-4, 8-12, and 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zuccarelli et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20200117764 A1) in view of Rigetti et al. (U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. US 20220084085 A1).
Claim 1: Zuccarelli teaches a method, comprising:
analyzing a quantum environment to determine one or more physical properties of the quantum environment (i.e. Hardware metadata 116 may include operating parameters or other parameters indicative of the operating conditions of the quantum computer 110. For example, hardware metadata 116 may include a frequency, a coherence time, a gate error, a readout error, and a multiqubit error, the hardware metadata 116 includes the operating conditions, error rates, coherence times, frequencies, etc., of the quantum computer 110 while it was processing the quantum executable file 106; para. [0022, 0029, 0038, 0039]), determining hardware metadata that describes operating conditions of the quantum computer;
analyzing a quantum program to determine one or more requirements of the quantum program (i.e. The quantum executable file 106 may also be processed by a quantum computing simulator 108A. In some examples, prior to processing by the quantum computing simulator 108A, the system 100 may pass the quantum executable file 106 through an interpreter, such as a QASM interpreter. The interpreter interprets the quantum executable file 106 (e.g., a QASM file) and outputs a file in a format that can be processed by the quantum computing simulator 108A. For example, the output file may be a JSON file. The output file is thus a representation of the quantum algorithm in a non-QASM format. In some examples, the output file includes the hardware metadata contained in the quantum executable file 106 and other metadata useful for further processing, e.g., qubit size, simulator target, etc; para. [0023, 0025, 0028, 0060-0061]), extracting program-relevant metadata (e.g., qubit size, simulator target) via interpretation/processing of the quantum executable file;
generating, by a processing device, a quantum isolation zone in view of the one or more physical properties and the one or more requirements (i.e. The quantum executable file 106 may also be processed by a quantum computing simulator 108A. In some examples, prior to processing by the quantum computing simulator 108A, the system 100 may pass the quantum executable file 106 through an interpreter, such as a QASM interpreter. However, in some examples, interpretation may not be required. The interpreter may be virtualized in a first virtual environment, such as a container, and include a quantum development kit, an operating system image, and a runtime. An example of a quantum development kit is QISKit, available from International Business Machine Corp. (IBM) of Armonk, N.Y. In some examples, the operating system image includes a REDHAT FEDORA LINUX image, available from Red Hat; para. [0011, 0015-0016, 0025-0026, 0029-0031), creating a containerized/virtualized execution environment and configuring simulation based on the hardware metadata, the quantum isolation zone having same physical properties as the quantum environment (i.e. If differences exist between the hardware metadata applied by the quantum computing simulator 108A and the hardware metadata 116 of the quantum computer 110, the validator service may create new or updated hardware metadata 120 based on the hardware metadata 116. The quantum computing simulator 108A may reprocess the quantum executable file 106 using the updated hardware metadata 120 … it may be determined that the coherence time used in the quantum computing simulator is different than the coherence time of the quantum computer when the quantum computer was executing the quantum executable file. Thus, updated hardware metadata may be created by replacing the quantum computing simulator's coherence time with the quantum computer's coherence time; para. [0029, 0039]), updating simulator metadata to reflect the quantum computer’s operating conditions so the simulator is configured based on the real system’s conditions; and
running the quantum program within the quantum isolation zone (i.e. At action 202, a first execution of a quantum executable file is performed on a quantum computing simulator to obtain a first result. As described with respect to FIG. 1, the quantum computing simulator may be virtualized in an environment such as a container. The quantum computing simulator virtual environment may include a C++ quantum simulator, an operating system image, and all supporting libraries required to run the C++ quantum simulator. The quantum computing simulator container may output a JSON file which includes a results set. This results set may be referred to as the first result; para [0033, 0044, 0065]).
Zuccarelli does not explicitly teach the one or more physical properties comprising at least one of: a number of qubits, a type of the qubits, or a spin of the qubits.
However, Rigetti teaches the one or more physical properties comprising at least one of: a number of qubits, a type of the qubits, or a spin of the qubits (i.e. a method for calculating a price for use of a configuration of qubits and qubit-qubit links on one or more quantum processor units by a user for running a computer program, may comprise: accessing a first database by a computer processor unit to collect design characteristics of the one or more quantum processor units, including inferred characteristics pertaining to the expressiveness of the one or more quantum processor units, wherein the inferred characteristics include instruction availability; accessing a second database by the computer processor unit to collect measurements of physical characteristics of the one or more quantum processor units … the quantum processing unit 102A includes an ion trap system, and the qubit devices are implemented as trapped ions controlled by optical signals delivered to the quantum processing unit 102A. In some cases, the quantum processing unit 102A includes a spin system, and the qubit devices are implemented as nuclear or electron spins controlled by microwave or radio-frequency signals delivered to the quantum processing unit 102A; para. [0031, 0068]); generating, by a processing device, a quantum isolation zone in view of the one or more physical properties and the one or more requirements, the quantum isolation zone having same physical properties as the quantum environment (i.e. comparing the basic structure of the anonymized quantum computing program with structures of a plurality of quantum execution targets, wherein the quantum execution targets are subsets of qubits and qubit-qubit links on one or more quantum computational devices, and determining appropriate quantum execution targets using a heuristic, the heuristic including one or more of: matching native gate sets, matching plaquette and desired topologies, meeting fidelity requirements, and meeting coherence time or relaxation time requirements; and generating output identifying recommended quantum execution targets for the quantum computing program; para. [0029, 0035, 0196]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Zuccarelli to include the feature of Rigetti. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it improves fidelity of the sandbox by matching more physical properties.
Claim 2: Zuccarelli and Rigetti teach the method of claim 1. Zuccarelli further teaches wherein analyzing the quantum program includes parsing one or more quantum assembly language files of the quantum program to determine the one or more requirements of the quantum program (i.e. The memory 102 is structured to store a first result 112 and a second result 114. The first result 112 may be obtained by executing a quantum executable file 106, such as an appropriately parsed quantum assembly language (QASM) input file, using a quantum computing simulator 108A; para. [0022, 0025, 0026]).
Claim 3: Zuccarelli and Rigetti teach the method of claim 1. Zuccarelli further teaches wherein the one or more requirements of the quantum program includes at least one of: a number of one or more required qubits, a qubit spin requirement, a qubit polarization requirement, a gate circuit requirement, a type of qubit requirement, an error correction software, a heat threshold, a heat profile, a noise tolerance (i.e. Hardware metadata 116 may include operating parameters or other parameters indicative of the operating conditions of the quantum computer 110. For example, hardware metadata 116 may include a frequency, a coherence time, a gate error, a readout error, and a multiqubit error; para. [0022, 0039]), or a required service (i.e. the output file may be a JSON file. The output file is thus a representation of the quantum algorithm in a non-QASM format. In some examples, the output file includes the hardware metadata contained in the quantum executable file 106 and other metadata useful for further processing, e.g., qubit size, simulator target, etc … in a 3 qubit quantum computer, there may be 23 or 8 sets of possible observed states; para. [0025, 0048]).
Rigetti further teaches wherein the one or more requirements of the quantum program includes at least one of: a number of one or more required qubits, a qubit spin requirement, a qubit polarization requirement, a gate circuit requirement (i.e. matching native gate sets, matching plaquette and desired topologies, meeting gate activation fidelity requirements, meeting read-out fidelity requirements; para. [0034]), a type of qubit requirement (i.e. the qubit lattices need to be decided. This includes both the topology needed (what degree of interconnection is available and what is most efficient for the algorithm), as well as the qubit technology itself. The HPUs could support QPUs based on a number of qubit technologies (i.e. superconducting qubits, spin qubits, ion traps, etc), some of which may be more suited to a particular algorithm than others; para. [0152]), an error correction software, a heat threshold, a heat profile, a noise tolerance (i.e. coherent and incoherent noise channel measurements; para. [0035]), or required service (i.e. the user can then run their application on a quantum virtual machine, quantum simulator, (using classical compute resources in the HPUs or in dedicated classical compute hardware), and when desired, seamlessly migrate the application to real qubits; para. [0153]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Zuccarelli to include the feature of Rigetti. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it improves fidelity of the sandbox by matching more physical properties.
Claim 4: Zuccarelli and Rigetti teach the method of claim 1. Zuccarelli does not explicitly teach wherein the quantum environment comprises a qubit registry, and the method further comprises updating the qubit registry based on allocation of qubits to the quantum isolation zone.
However, Rigetti further teaches wherein the quantum environment comprises a qubit registry (i.e. A plaquette analysis module 205 tracks the properties of available QPU plaquettes over time (across recalibrations of the QPU). A QPU characteristics database 210 stores the quality metrics of each qubit and gate on each QPU; para. [0088]), and the method further comprises updating the qubit registry based on allocation of qubits to the quantum isolation zone (i.e. The resource, auctioning and scheduling subsystem 206 provides the following functions: matches orders to available resources and their usage/access schedule (order book job schedule 207); determines the pricing of plaquettes; accepts or rejects orders submitted by users; manages temporal access control to QPU resources (access control 209); and handles the bookkeeping of consumed epochs on resources (update bookkeeping 208). A usage database 204 stores the record of consumed epochs on plaquettes for each user along with the corresponding price; para. [0086, 0088, 0105, 0107]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Zuccarelli to include the feature of Rigetti. One would have been motivated to make this modification because it enables consistent application of the correct hardware metadata and preventing using already-allocated resources.
Claim 8: Zuccarelli and Rigetti teach the method of claim 1. Zuccarelli further teaches comprising: generating one or more second quantum isolation zones in view of the one or more physical properties and the one or more requirements, to resemble the quantum environment; and running the quantum program within the one or more second quantum isolation zones (i.e. At action 210, the quantum executable file is again executed on the quantum computing simulator to obtain a third, re-executed result. In some examples, the re-executed quantum executable file includes updated hardware metadata, such as the updated hardware metadata from action 208. In some examples, because the updated hardware metadata is based on the actual hardware metadata of the quantum computer while the quantum computer was executing the quantum executable file, the re-executed result generated by the quantum computing simulator may be different from the earlier result; para. [0044]).
Claims 9-12 and 16-20 are similar in scope to Claims 1-4, 8 and are rejected under a similar rationale.
7. Claims 5-7 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zuccarelli in view of Rigetti, and further in view of Richardson et al. (U.S. Patent Pub. No. US 11170137 B1).
Claim 5: Zuccarelli and Rigetti teach the method of claim 1. Zuccarelli further teaches comprising, in response to the running of the quantum program satisfying one or more criteria (i.e. At action 210, the quantum executable file is again executed on the quantum computing simulator to obtain a third, re-executed result. In some examples, the re-executed quantum executable file includes updated hardware metadata, such as the updated hardware metadata from action 208. In some examples, because the updated hardware metadata is based on the actual hardware metadata of the quantum computer while the quantum computer was executing the quantum executable file, the re-executed result generated by the quantum computing simulator may be different from the earlier result; para. [0027, 0044-0045]).
Zuccarelli does not explicitly teach deploying the program to the environment.
However, Richardson teaches comprising, in response to the running of the quantum program satisfying one or more criteria, deploying the quantum program to the quantum environment (i.e. fig. 11A, 11B, the elastic quantum computing service 100 may include a component for quantum instance programming 108. The quantum instance programming 108 may deploy a quantum algorithm 165 to the quantum computing instance 161. The quantum instance programming 108 may configure a quantum algorithm 165 on the quantum computing instance 161, e.g., by providing an initial configuration 166 for the algorithm. The initial configuration 166 may represent initial values for qubits. In one embodiment, the quantum algorithm 165 may be provided by the client associated with the classical computing instance and deployed to the quantum instance 161 by the client device. In one embodiment, the quantum algorithm 165 may be selected by the client associated with the classical computing instance, e.g., from a catalog of algorithms offered by the provider network 190. In one embodiment, the quantum algorithm 165 may be pre-loaded on the quantum computing instance, and the quantum computing instance may be selected by the client due to its suitability for a particular problem domain; col. 9-10, lines 50-2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Zuccarelli and Rigetti to include the feature of Richardson. One would have been motivated to make this modification because this helps prioritize workloads and avoid unnecessary hardware allocation.
Claim 6: Zuccarelli, Rigetti, and Richardson teach the method of claim 5. Zuccarelli does not explicitly teach wherein deploying the quantum program to the quantum environment includes exporting a configuration of the quantum isolation zone to the quantum environment and exporting the quantum program to run in the quantum environment, which includes at least one of: the one or more properties of the quantum environment, or the one or more requirements of the quantum program.
However, Richardson further teaches wherein deploying the quantum program to the quantum environment includes exporting a configuration of the quantum isolation zone to the quantum environment and exporting the quantum program to run in the quantum environment, which includes at least one of: the one or more properties of the quantum environment, or the one or more requirements of the quantum program (i.e. fig. 11A, 11B, the elastic quantum computing service 100 may include components to implement various types of functionality. In one embodiment, the elastic quantum computing service 100 may include a component for quantum instance recommendation 102. The quantum instance recommendation 102 may recommend the quantum computing instance 161, quantum algorithm 165, and/or initial configuration 166 to the client. For example, based on a particular problem domain or workload that the client specifies, the quantum instance recommendation 102 may recommend a particular instance type of the quantum instance 161 that is designed for the problem domain. The recommendation may seek to optimize a speed, accuracy, or cost of the problem, based (at least in part) on input concerning the client's goals. The instance type may be associated with a quantum computing resource that has particular quantum computing characteristics, such as a particular number of qubits. The recommended instance may be pre-loaded with a suitable quantum algorithm 165 and/or an initial configuration 166 (e.g., initial values for the qubits) for that algorithm, or the algorithm may be recommended separately; col. 8-9, lines 56-10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Zuccarelli and Rigetti to include the feature of Richardson. One would have been motivated to make this modification because this helps prioritize workloads and avoid unnecessary hardware allocation.
Claim 7: Zuccarelli, Rigetti, and Richardson teach the method of claim 6. Zuccarelli does not explicitly teach wherein the quantum program is not deployed to the quantum environment in response to the quantum program not satisfying the one or more criteria.
However, Richardson further teaches wherein the quantum program is not deployed to the quantum environment in response to the quantum program not satisfying the one or more criteria (i.e. fig. 11A, 11B, the elastic quantum computing service 100 may include components to implement various types of functionality. In one embodiment, the elastic quantum computing service 100 may include a component for quantum instance recommendation 102. The quantum instance recommendation 102 may recommend the quantum computing instance 161, quantum algorithm 165, and/or initial configuration 166 to the client. For example, based on a particular problem domain or workload that the client specifies, the quantum instance recommendation 102 may recommend a particular instance type of the quantum instance 161 that is designed for the problem domain. The recommendation may seek to optimize a speed, accuracy, or cost of the problem, based (at least in part) on input concerning the client's goals. The instance type may be associated with a quantum computing resource that has particular quantum computing characteristics, such as a particular number of qubits. The recommended instance may be pre-loaded with a suitable quantum algorithm 165 and/or an initial configuration 166 (e.g., initial values for the qubits) for that algorithm, or the algorithm may be recommended separately; col. 8-9, lines 56-10).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Zuccarelli and Rigetti to include the feature of Richardson. One would have been motivated to make this modification because this helps prioritize workloads and avoid unnecessary hardware allocation.
Claims 13-15 are similar in scope to Claims 5-7 and are rejected under a similar rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Naveh et al. (Pub. No. US 20230032530 A1), Quantum programs may be executed using one or more quantum computers or simulated using a quantum simulator, a classic computer simulator, or the like. A quantum cloud may offer quantum computing resources through one or more platforms.
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
It is noted that any citation to specific pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the references should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 U.S.P.Q. 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 U.S.P.Q. 275, 277 (C.C.P.A. 1968)).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TAN TRAN whose telephone number is (303)297-4266. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Thursday - 8:00 am - 5:00 pm MT.
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, Matt Ell can be reached on 571-270-3264. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/TAN H TRAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2141