DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Status of Claims
2. Claims 7-30 are presented for examination. Claims 1-6 are nonelected. The applicants are requested to cancel the non-elected claims 1-6 in subsequent communication.
Abstract
3. The abstract of the disclosure is acceptable for examination purposes.
Oath Declaration
4. The Oath complies with all the requirements set forth in MPEP 602 and therefore is accepted.
Drawings
5. The drawings received on 11/14/2023 are acceptable for examination purposes.
Specification
6. The specification is objected to because:
Paragraph [0003] of the applicant’s specification states that “s. An information processing system may include a central processing unit (CPU)---.” The Examiner respectfully believes that the applicant inadvertently made a typographical error by using the character “s.” The Examiner respectfully request correction if the applicant believes is in error.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph: An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
7. Use of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is invoked is rebutted when the function is recited with sufficient structure, material, or acts within the claim itself to entirely perform the recited function. Absence of the word “means” (or “step for”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim element is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph). The presumption that 35 U.S.C. 112(f) (pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph) is not invoked is rebutted when the claim element recites function but fails to recite sufficiently definite structure, material or acts to perform that function.
Claim elements in this application that use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Similarly, claim elements that do not use the word “means” (or “step for”) are presumed not to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
8. Claim limitation of "A wireless communication device ---; " as recited in claims 1, 13, and 25 has been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use a generic placeholder "device" coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Therefore, claim elements in this application that use the word "means" (or "step for") and the aforementioned equivalents are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
9. Claim limitations of "means for inserting a canary into a meta data associated with a data in a compressed data sector; means for executing the software code with an inserted canary into the meta data; means for monitoring for a hardware exception due to a canary memory access; and means for declaring a real-time fault condition if the hardware exception is due to the canary memory access being detected during the executing the software code---; " as recited in claim 23 have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use a generic placeholder "means for" coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Therefore, claim elements in this application that use the word "means" (or "step for") and the aforementioned equivalents are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
10. Claim limitation of " means for executing a recovery procedure from the real-time fault condition---; " as recited in claim 24 has been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use a generic placeholder "means for" coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Therefore, claim elements in this application that use the word "means" (or "step for") and the aforementioned equivalents are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
11. Claim limitation of "means for storing a compressed data in a compressed data sector of the main memory using the meta data index---; " as recited in claim 25 has been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use a generic placeholder "means for" coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Therefore, claim elements in this application that use the word "means" (or "step for") and the aforementioned equivalents are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
12. Claim limitations of "A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code, operable on a device comprising at least one processor and at least one memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is configured to implement data integrity detection, the computer executable code comprising: instructions for causing a computer to insert a canary into a meta data associated with a data in a compressed data sector; instructions for causing the computer to execute the software code with an inserted canary into the meta data; instructions for causing the computer to monitor for a hardware exception due to a canary memory access; and instructions for causing the computer to declare a real-time fault condition ---," as recited in claim 29 have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use a generic placeholder "instructions for" coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Therefore, claim elements in this application that use the word "means" (or "step for") and the aforementioned equivalents are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
13. Claim limitations of "instructions for causing the computer to execute a recovery procedure from the real-time fault condition; instructions for causing the computer to retrieve an original data from the main memory; instructions for causing the computer to send the original data to a compression module of a compression/decompression engine; instructions for causing the computer to execute data compression of the original data to generate a compressed data of a compressed size of M bits, wherein the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M; and instructions for causing the computer to store the compressed data in a compressed data sector of the main memory using the meta data index," as recited in claim 30 have been interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because they use a generic placeholder "instructions for" coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to achieve the function. Furthermore, the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Since the claim limitation(s) invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, claim(s) has/have been interpreted to cover the corresponding structure described in the specification that achieves the claimed function, and equivalents thereof. Therefore, claim elements in this application that use the word "means" (or "step for") and the aforementioned equivalents are presumed to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f).
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f) (Pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph); or
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links or associates the corresponding structure, material, or acts to the claimed function without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) State on the record where the corresponding structure, material, or acts are set forth in the written description of the specification and linked or associated to the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
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.
14. Claims 7-30 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. In regards to claim 7, The claim recites the limitations "--- executing the software code with an inserted canary into the meta data---."There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim? Please clarify. Other independent claims 23 and 29 recite similar limitations of claim 7. Therefore, are rejected for the same reason of claim 7. Dependent claims 7-22, 24-28, and 30 depend from the base claims 7, 23, and 29 respectively and inherently include limitations therein and therefore are rejected under 35 USC 112, 2nd paragraph as well.
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.
15. Claims 7-10 and 12-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Chen Hao et al. (CN 107908954 A) "herein after as Hao" in view of Lee (US 2024/0054250 A1) "herein after as Lee."
As per claims 7, 23, and 29:
Hao substantially teaches or discloses a method for implementing data integrity detection, the method comprising: inserting a canary into a meta data associated with a data in a compressed data sector (see page 1, herein inserts the canary, and compresses the address into a packed address set consisting of multiple byte arrays); executing the software code with an inserted canary into the meta data (see paragraph [0006], herein in GPU programming, the code on the GPU is generally called device code, and the functions executed are usually cal led kernel functions, also known as kernels); monitoring for a hardware exception due to a canary memory access (see paragraph [0012], herein a common canary technique involves inserting encrypted information before or after allocated memory. In this way, when the buffer overflows, the canary will be overwritten first before the return address is overwritten. By checking whether the value of canary has been modified, it can be determined whether an overflow attack has occurred. The clARMOR system, recently proposed by AMD researchers, is a memory detection tool on GPUs based on canary technology; and paragraph [0019, herein in order to detect memory overflow errors, the tool inserts canary at both ends of the user-allocated memory to detect memory overflow); and declaring a real-time fault condition if the hardware exception is due to the canary memory access being detected during the executing the software code (see paragraph [0046], herein Determine whether it has been marked. If it has been marked, it means that the memory block has been freed repeatedly. At this time, a double free attack is detected, an error message is output and the program stops running; and paragraphs [0110-0111], herein compare the value stored at the head canary location with the pre-value to determine whether a double free has occurred (the pre-value is calculated using the memory size, memory address, head canary key, and free key. If a double free is detected, stop the program and output an error message; otherwise, proceed to the next step).
Hao does not explicitly teach wherein the inserting uses a meta data index. However, Lee in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the inserting uses a meta data index (see paragraph [0037], herein the memory 120 may store the canary array 121. The canary array 121 may include a plurality of values, which may be set as a canary value of a task. According to some embodiments, the processor 110 may update canary values of tasks based on elements included in the canary array 121). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Hao with the teachings of Lee by including wherein the inserting uses a meta data index. This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the inserting uses a meta data index would have improved the reliability of the system and the memory technology, and to improve operation of a device that includes a processor and memory by improving the security and protecting against malicious attacks (see paragraph [0036] of Lee).
As per claims 8 and 24:
Hao teaches that executing a recovery procedure from the real-time fault condition (see paragraph [0066], herein Obtain the saved head canary and tail canary based on the address, and verify the correctness of the head canary and tail canary If there is a problem, it indicates a memory overflow, outputs an error message, and stops the program from running).
As per claim 9:
Hao teaches that The method of claim 8, further comprising retrieving an original data from the main memory (see paragraph [0013], herein the memory overflow check of the clARMOR system is performed during
the gap between the end of one kernel and the start of another. In this case, an attacker can complete the attack during this period, or even restore the data to its original state after the attack is completed, thereby avoiding detection) and sending the original data to a compression module of a compression/decompression engine (see paragraph [0025], herein the compressed address set consists of multiple byte arrays. Initialization is performed to allocate memory for the compressed address set before the user program and detector run).
As per claim 10:
Hao teaches that executing data compression of the original data to generate a compressed data of a compressed size of M bits (see paragraph [0025], herein the compressed address set consists of multiple byte arrays. Initialization is performed to allocate memory for the compressed address set before the user program and detector run. User programs use a compressed address set to store compressed Addresses).
As per claims 12 and 25:
Hao teaches that storing the compressed data in a compressed data sector of the main memory using the meta data index (see paragraph [0021], herein the system compresses memory addresses and uses a compressed address set instead of a linked list to store the compressed addresses; and paragraph [0041], herein Store the compressed address into the compressed address set: There are two key points in the process of storing it into the compressed address set).
As per claim 13:
Hao teaches that generating the inserted canary in the compressed data sector (see page 1, herein the user program allocates memory using the mallocN function, inserts the canary, and compresses the address into a packed address set consisting of multiple byte arrays; and paragraph [0033], herein the head canary and tail canary generated for each memory address are different, so even if the head canary and tail canary of one memory block are leaked, the other memory blocks are still safe).
As per claims 14 and 26:
Hao teaches that wherein the inserted canary is stored after the compressed data sector is dynamically allocated (see paragraph [0036], herein the compressed address consists of two parts: header and payload. The header occupies a fixed byte and is used to store the information needed during the decompression process. The payload is obtained by calculating the absolute value of the difference between the memory address and the reference address. The reference address refers to the address of the first block of dynamic memory allocated by the user program, which occupies different numbers of bytes depending on the size of the payload. During the header generation process).
As per claim 15:
Hao teaches that wherein the compressed data sector is dynamically allocated on a stack memory (see paragraph [0005], herein Attacking an application's heap memory at runtime can cause program crashes, data corruption, and various security problems. Recent research indicates that heap memory overflow vulnerabilities also exist on GPUs, and attackers can exploit this vulnerability to execute malicious GPU code).
As per claim 16:
Hao teaches that wherein the compressed data sector is dynamically allocated on a heap memory (see paragraph [0005], herein Attacking an application's heap memory at runtime can cause program crashes, data corruption, and various security problems. Recent research indicates that heap memory overflow vulnerabilities also exist on GPUs, and attackers can exploit this vulnerability to execute malicious GPU code).
As per claim 17:
Lee teaches that wherein the meta data index includes an invalid value (see paragraph [0054], herein a canary flag value of the certain task may be a first flag value).
As per claim 18:
Lee teaches that wherein the meta data index is outside a valid meta data index range (see paragraph [0047], herein the processor may determine whether the canary value 314 is true, through this comparison. If the canary value 314 is different from the reference canary value 320, the processor may determine that buffer overflow has occurred in a system.
As per claim 19:
Lee teaches that wherein the canary includes a canary virtual address (see paragraph [0037], herein A memory address allocated to the canary array 121 may be virtualized and managed by a memory management unit (MMU)).
As per claim 20:
Lee teaches that wherein the canary uses an address label which points outside a valid meta data index range for a compressed data area (see paragraph [0035], herein the system 10 may allocate a value input from the outside to the stack 122 of the task. If the value input from the outside exceeds a capacity permitted to the stack 122 of the task, buffer overflow may occur. In this case, the return address region included in the stack 122 of the task may be modified due to the buffer overflow).
As per claims 21 and 28:
Hao teaches that wherein the inserted canary is inserted at a location of a previously allocated memory area (see paragraph [0019], herein in order to detect memory overflow errors, the tool inserts canary at both ends of the user-allocated memory to detect memory overflow).
As per claim 22:
Hao teaches that wherein the meta data index includes a valid meta data index range for determining a memory buffer overflow (see paragraph [0012], herein A common canary technique involves inserting encrypted information before or after allocated memory. In this way, when the buffer overflows, the canary will be overwritten first before the return address is overwritten. By checking whether the value of canary has been modified, it can be determined whether an overflow attack has occurred).
As per claim 27:
Lee teaches that wherein the meta data index includes an invalid value (see paragraph [0054], herein a canary flag value of the certain task may be a first flag value), or wherein the meta data index is outside a valid meta data index range (see paragraph [0133], herein when a canary update fails, a canary value of a task may not be included in the canary array 121).
16. Claims 11 and 30 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 (a) as being unpatentable over Chen Hao et al. (CN 107908954 A) "herein after as Hao" in view of Lee (US 2024/0054250 A1) "herein after as Lee" in further view of Li et al. (US 20210200437 A1) “herein after as Li.”
As per claim 11:
Hao-Lee as combined does not explicitly teach wherein the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M.
However, Li in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M (see paragraph [0058], if the sub-block is a basic block and a compressed data length of the sub-block is less than an original data length, the raw data buffer 1031 may invalidate original information of corresponding basic block buffered therein to release storage space). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Hao-Lee as combined with the teachings of Li by including the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M. This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M would have improved data transportation efficiency and improving neural network performance (see paragraph [0049] of Li).
As per claim 30:
Hao teaches that instructions for causing the computer to execute a recovery procedure from the real-time fault condition (see paragraph [0066], herein Obtain the saved head canary and tail canary based on the address, and verify the correctness of the head canary and tail canary If there is a problem, it indicates a memory overflow, outputs an error message, and stops the program from running); instructions for causing the computer to retrieve an original data from the main memory (see paragraph [0013], herein the memory overflow check of the clARMOR system is performed during the gap between the end of one kernel and the start of another. In this case, an attacker can complete the attack during this period, or even restore the data to its original state after the attack is completed, thereby avoiding detection); instructions for causing the computer to send the original data to a compression module of a compression/decompression engine (see paragraph [0025], herein the compressed address set consists of multiple byte arrays. Initialization is performed to allocate memory for the compressed address set before the user program and detector run); instructions for causing the computer to execute data compression of the original data to generate a compressed data of a compressed size of M bits (see paragraph [0025], herein the compressed address set consists of multiple byte arrays. Initialization is performed to allocate memory for the compressed address set before the user program and detector run. User programs use a compressed address set to store compressed Addresses); and instructions for causing the computer to store the compressed data in a compressed data sector of the main memory using the meta data index (see paragraph [0021], herein the system compresses memory addresses and uses a compressed address set instead of a linked list to store the compressed addresses; and paragraph [0041], herein Store the compressed address into the compressed address set: There are two key points in the process of storing it into the compressed address set).
Hao-Lee as combined does not explicitly teach wherein the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M.
However, Li in the same the field of endeavor teaches wherein the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M (see paragraph [0058], herein if the sub-block is a basic block and a compressed data length of the sub-block is less than an original data length, the raw data buffer 1031 may invalidate original information of corresponding basic block buffered therein to release storage space). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the system of Hao-Lee as combined with the teachings of Li by including the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M. This modification would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, because one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the original data has an original size of N bits such that N is greater than M would have improved data transportation efficiency and improving neural network performance (see paragraph [0049] of Li).
Examiner Notes
17. When amending the claims, applicants are respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Prior Art
18. The prior art of record, considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure, is listed in the attached PTO-892 form.
Conclusion
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OSMAN ALSHACK whose telephone number is (571)272-2069. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI 8:30 AM-5:00 PM EST, also please fax interview request to (571) 273- 2069. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, ALBERT DECADY can be reached on 5712723819. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/OSMAN M ALSHACK/Examiner, Art Unit 2112
/ALBERT DECADY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2112
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