DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-25 have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Applicant's submission of the Information Disclosure Statements dated March 1, 2024, May 1, 2024, and February 21, 2025 is acknowledged by the Examiner and the cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims now pending. Copies of the PTOL-1449s initialed and dated by the Examiner are attached to the instant office action.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because of the following informalities.
The format of the sheet numbering is improper. The figures therefore fail to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(t), which states “The number of each sheet should be shown by two Arabic numerals placed on either side of an oblique line, with the first being the sheet number and the second being the total number of sheets of drawings, with no other marking.” The word “of” should be replaced by an oblique line on all sheets.
Element 1607 of Figure 16 includes the text, “AND/OF.” Please amend to, “AND/OR.”
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the Applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-25 are objected to because of the following informalities.
Claim 1 recites, at lines 3-4, “circuitry is to do perform.” This appears to be a typographical error. Applicant may have intended “circuitry is to [[do]] perform.” Claims 12 and 21 include similar language and are similarly objected to.
Claim 1 recites, at line 6, “at least register identifier.” This appears to be a typographical error. Applicant may have intended “at least one register identifier.” Claims 12 and 21 include similar language and are similarly objected to.
Claims 2-11, 13-20, and 22-25 are objected to as depending from objected to base claims and failing to remedy the deficiencies of those claims. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the Applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites, at line 5, “a second of the two bytes of the prefix.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. For purposes of examination, this limitation is interpreted as, “a second of the at least two bytes of the prefix.” Claims 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 15, 16, 21, and 23 include similar language and are similarly rejected.
Claims 2-11, 13-20, and 22-25 are rejected as depending from rejected base claims and failing to cure the indefiniteness of those base claims.
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 1-3, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 21, 22, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US Publication No. 2019/0227798 by Plotnikov et al. (hereinafter referred to as “Plotnikov”).
Regarding claims 1, 12, and 21, taking claim 1 as representative, Plotnikov discloses:
an apparatus comprising: decoder circuitry to decode an instance of a single instruction, the single instruction to at least include a prefix and an opcode to indicate execution circuitry is to do perform a particular operation, wherein the prefix comprises at least two bytes and a second of the two bytes of the prefix is to provide most significant bits for at least register identifier (Plotnikov discloses, at ¶ [0038], a processor with a decode unit to decode instructions. Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 13A and related description, the instruction includes a prefix of at least two bytes and opcode, wherein the second byte of the prefix includes MSBs to identify registers. Plotnikov also discloses, at ¶ [0067], executing instructions that have been translated between instruction sets and, at ¶ [0058], storing instructions in memory.); and
execution circuitry to execute the decoded instance of the single according to the opcode to perform the particular operation (Plotnikov discloses, at ¶ [0038], the processor includes an execution unit to execute instructions, which discloses performing the operation according to the opcode.).
Regarding claims 2 and 22, taking claim 2 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
a first byte of the prefix is OxD5 (Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 13A and related description, a prefix having a first byte. The first byte can take any value between 0x00 and 0xFF, which encompasses 0x5D.).
Regarding claims 3 and 13, taking claim 3 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
the prefix is to be used in a 64-bit mode (Plotnikov discloses, at ¶ [0160], support for 64 bit mode.).
Regarding claims 7, 17, and 24, taking claim 7 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
the prefix is further to indicate usage of a new data destination by the single instruction (Plotnikov discloses, at ¶ [0150], the prefix provides for a three-operand syntax, which discloses indicating usage of a new data destination.).
Regarding claims 8 and 18, taking claim 8 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
the prefix comprises four bytes and is to indicate a new data destination (Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 15A and related description, using four bytes for the prefix and, at ¶ [0150], the prefix provides for a three-operand syntax, which discloses indicating usage of a new data destination.).
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.
Claims 4-6, 9, 14-16, 19, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Plotnikov.
Regarding claims 4, 14, and 23, taking claim 4 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
bit positions …of the second of the two bytes are to provide most significant bits for a register identifier (Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 13A and related description, the instruction includes a prefix, wherein the second byte of the prefix includes MSBs to identify registers.).
Plotnikov does not explicitly disclose the aforementioned bit positions are 6 and 2. However, the selection of the particular bits represents one of a limited number of possibilities that are obvious alternatives that a person having ordinary skill in the art would consider based on the circumstances. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use bits 6 and 2.
Regarding claims 5 and 15, taking claim 5 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 4, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
bit positions … of the second of the two bytes are to provide most significant bits for a register identifier (Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 13A and related description, the instruction includes a prefix, wherein the second byte of the prefix includes MSBs to identify registers.).
Plotnikov does not explicitly disclose the aforementioned bit positions are 5 and 1. However, the selection of the particular bits represents one of a limited number of possibilities that are obvious alternatives that a person having ordinary skill in the art would consider based on the circumstances. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use bits 5 and 1.
Regarding claims 6 and 16, taking claim 6 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
the prefix is to indicate an opcode map of the single instruction in …the second of the two bytes of the prefix (Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 13A and related description, the second byte of the prefix indicates an opcode map.).
Plotnikov does not explicitly disclose the aforementioned bit position is 7. However, the selection of the particular bit represents one of a limited number of possibilities that are obvious alternatives that a person having ordinary skill in the art would consider based on the circumstances. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use bit 7.
Regarding claims 9 and 19, taking claim 9 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 8, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
… the prefix is to identify a new data destination (Plotnikov discloses, at ¶ [0150], the prefix provides for a three-operand syntax, which discloses indicating usage of a new data destination.).
Plotnikov does not explicitly disclose the aforementioned bit positions are bits 3-6 of a second payload byte. However, the selection of the particular bits represents one of a limited number of possibilities that are obvious alternatives that a person having ordinary skill in the art would consider based on the circumstances. Accordingly, it would have been obvious to use bits 3-6 of a second payload byte.
Claims 10, 11, 20, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Plotnikov in view of US Publication No. 2013/0297915 by Combs et al. (hereinafter referred to as “Combs”).
Regarding claim 10, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 1, as discussed above. Plotnikov also discloses:
the prefix comprises four bytes… (Plotnikov discloses, at Figure 15A and related description, using four bytes for the prefix.).
Plotnikov does not explicitly disclose the aforementioned prefix is to indicate a suppression of flag updates.
However, in the same field of endeavor (e.g., processors) Combs discloses:
a prefix that indicates whether to modify flags (Combs discloses, at Figure 1 and related description, a prefix that indicates whether to modify flags, which discloses indicating suppression of flag updates.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Plotnikov to include indication of suppression of flag updates, as disclosed by Combs, in order to improve performance by reducing unnecessary updates and complexity. See Combs, ¶ [0002].
Regarding claims 11, 20, and 25, taking claim 11 as representative, Plotnikov discloses the elements of claim 10, as discussed above. Plotnikov does not explicitly disclose the flags are overflow, carry, parity, adjust, sign, and zero.
However, in the same field of endeavor (e.g., processors) Combs discloses:
the flags are overflow, carry, parity, adjust, sign, and zero (Combs discloses, at Figure 1 and related description, “Flags 107 may include a carry flag (CF), an overflow flag (OF), a sign flag (SF), a zero flag (ZF), an auxiliary carry flag (AF), or a parity flag (PF), or a combination thereof.)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Plotnikov to include the specific flags mentioned because these flags are widely used in many architectures to communicate state information.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAWN DOMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-5677. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday 8:30am-6pm Eastern Time.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jyoti Mehta can be reached on 571-270-3995. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHAWN DOMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2183