DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
This office action is in response to request for continued examination filed 06-JAN-2026.
Claims 1-20 remain pending.
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 final rejection. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 06-JAN-2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Examiner notes that since no new claims/arguments were filed with the Request for Continued Examination, the office action is responsive to the Response After Final Action filed 08-DEC-2025
Applicant's arguments filed 08-DEC-2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
1. In response to Applicant’s arguments, with respect to objections to the Drawings, that the amendments render the objections moot, Examiner respectfully notes that not all of the objections to the Drawings made in the previous Office Action have been overcome. As shown below in the objections, there are still issues with the drawings that have not been resolved.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Information Disclosure Statement
Examiner notes that an Information Disclosure Statement has not been filed by the applicant as of the date of this office action.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to because:
in Figure 4, the Column Decoder element appears to have the reference symbols “406” and “407” overlaid on each other. The “6” in the “406” should be removed, as to clarify the element corresponds to “407”.
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 5, 8, 16 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 5, lines 4-5 and 10-11, “corresponding the logic unit number” should read “corresponding to the logical unit number”
In claim 8, line 5, “the data type is to manage” should read “the data type is used to manage”
In claim 16, lines 7 and 13, “corresponding the logic unit number” should read “corresponding to the logical unit number”
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-8, 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Erickson et al., U.S. Pub. No. 20230376412 (hereinafter “Erickson”) in view of
Earhart, U.S. Pub. No. 20160274970 (hereinafter “Earhart”).
Regarding Claim 1: Erickson teaches a computer system, comprising:
A memory, wherein memory space of the memory is divided into at least two types of data partitions, the at least two types comprising: a first type corresponding to external data of an electronic device comprising the computer system, wherein the external data is data stored on the electronic device that originates external to the electronic device; and a second type corresponding to internal data of the electronic device, wherein the internal data is data stored on the electronic device that originates within the electronic device; ([0017], Erickson teaches that a server may use a portion of its memory for local processes, and may allocate a portion of the memory as far memory for another server. The portions of memory used for local processes are interpreted as the second type of data partition corresponding to internal data of the electronic device, storing data that originates within the electronic device, and the portions of memory allocated to be used as far memory of another server are interpreted as the first type of data partition corresponding to external data of the electronic device, storing data that originates external to the electronic device.)
Wherein a physical memory block corresponding to the first type of data partition is different from a physical memory block corresponding to the second type of data partition ([0024], Erickson teaches that a donor server uses a portion of the local memory in the donor server labeled private as local memory for the processes executing in the donor server, and that there is another, different portion also labeled private and allocated as far memory for processes executing in the other requester server. Furthermore, in [0023], Erickson describes the memory being of different physical kinds, with one or more sections of it being considered private and associated with the various processes. Since the physical memory has sections that are private, and the portions for the types of data partition are also described as labeled private, the physical blocks corresponding to the first type of data partition are interpreted to be different from the physical blocks corresponding to the second type of data partition.)
While Erickson teaches that the memory portions are read/write enabled for the processes, for local processes and for other servers’ processes, Erickson does not appear to explicitly disclose A host configured to send a write command to a controller, wherein the write command comprises first data to be written into the memory and a logical unit number (LUN) to which the first data is to be written, and the logical unit number is specified according to the type of data partition; and the controller, configured to instruct the memory to write the first data into a physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number in the memory according to the logical unit number.
However, Earhart teaches A host configured to send a write command to a controller, wherein the write command comprises first data to be written into the memory and a logical unit number (LUN) to which the first data is to be written, and the logical unit number is specified according to the type of data partition; and the controller, configured to instruct the memory to write the first data into a physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number in the memory according to the logical unit number ([0037], [0039] and [0100], Earhart teaches that a read/write controller may receive host data from a host, and that write requests may be mapped to a partition, and steered to different partitions based on data type, host ID, or data source, and that the controller will then transfer the data to storage ports for storage to the storage system to perform the program operations. Furthermore, in [0058-0070], Earhart teaches that the partitions may be defined according to certain parameters, including a data type and source, and that the partitions comprise a certain number of data blocks. Since the write commands are steered to the partitions according to the parameters, and that the controller performs program operations to operate the physical memory chips, the write requests are interpreted to be the claimed host sending a write command to a controller comprising first data to be written and a LUN to which the data is to be written, with the LUN being specified according to the type of data partition, and the controller instructing the memory to write the data into a physical memory block corresponding to the LUN according to the LUN.)
Erickson and Earhart are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, memory management.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Erickson and Earhart to achieve the result of the local/far memory partitioned memory system, which comprises a host which may send a write command specifying a LUN according to a type of data partition to a controller which instructs the memory to write the data into a block corresponding to the LUN.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to organize and manage the data of an array, optimized for the type of traffic as discussed in Earhart [0051].
Regarding claim 2: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 1, from which claim 2 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches determine the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number according to the logical unit number; and instruct the memory to write the first data into the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number (As discussed with respect to claim 1, Erickson/Earhart teaches that the controller is configured to steer write data of a write request to particular partitions of data blocks, based on a LUN of the write request, and that the controller will transfer the data to the storage system.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 3: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 2, from which claim 3 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches obtain data attribute of the first data according to the logical unit number, wherein the data attribute is configured to indicate whether the first data is the external data of the electronic device or the internal data of the electronic device ([0070], Erickson teaches that a data source may be used to define a partition, and that the data source parameters may represent a host or network source. As discussed with respect to claim 1, write requests may have an associated host ID. While not explicit, the determination of the host ID would be a determination of whether it is a host or network source, which is interpreted to be the obtaining the data attribute according to the logical unit number, wherein the data attribute indicates internal or external data.)
Erickson/Earhart further teaches determine the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number according to the data attribute; and instruct the memory to write the first data into the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number (As discussed with respect to claim 1, Erickson/Earhart teaches that the controller is configured to steer write data of a write request to particular partitions of data blocks, based on a LUN of the write request, and that the controller will transfer the data to the storage system.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 4: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 3, from which claim 4 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches a correspondence between the logical unit number and the data attribute of the first data is predefined by a protocol; or the correspondence between the logical unit number and the data attribute of the first data is set when the memory space of the memory is configured as the at least two types of data partitions in the host ([0026], Earhart teaches that partitions are created upon request, along with parameters used to configure the partition, and that the partition creator defines the partition attributes using partition parameters. In combination with the teaching that the parameters may include a Host ID and whether a partition is a host or network source, the correspondence between the LUN and the data attribute is interpreted to be set when the memory space of the memory is configured as the at least two types of data partitions in the host.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 5: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 3, from which claim 5 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches in a case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the external data of the electronic device, determine at least one physical memory block satisfying a first condition in the memory as the physical memory block corresponding the logic unit number, the first condition comprising: the physical memory block is not full, and the second data is not stored, wherein the second data is data in the second type of data partition; and in a case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the internal data of the electronic device, determine at least one physical memory block satisfying a second condition in the memory as the physical memory block corresponding the logic unit number, the second condition comprising: the physical memory block is not full, and third data is not stored, wherein the third data is data in the first type of data partition. ([0075-0076] and [0100-0104], Earhart teaches that after partition definition, the partition may be filled, and that when it is full, it is made read-only, and that writing continues to fill the blocks of a partition. While not explicit, the partition (which is composed of blocks) being made read-only only when it is full would obviously mean that it can be written to until all blocks are full, which would further mean that for all successful writes, the write is performed when there is a block that satisfies a condition comprising that the physical memory block is not full. Further, since the data may be steered to different partitions based on host ID/data source, the claimed determining a block satisfying a first or second condition comprising that the partition does not store the data of a different type is obvious. The combination then teaches that when the data is external data, a non-full block part of a partition that does not contain internal data, and that when the data is internal data, a non-full block part of a partition that does not contain external data is taught, and the claim is obvious.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 6: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 5, from which claim 6 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches a correspondence between the type of data partition and a physical memory block where data in the data partition is located is a non-fixed configuration relationship, and the controller is configured to: in the case where the attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the external data of the electronic device, determine at least one physical memory block satisfying the first condition from all writable physical memory blocks of the memory as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; and in the case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the internal data of the electronic device, determine at least one physical memory block satisfying the second condition from all writable physical memory blocks of the memory as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; ([0062], Earhart teaches an embodiment where extendable partitions can grow as needed, by assigning additional blocks from a free pool to keep the partition from filling up. The extendability is interpreted to be the non-fixed configuration relationship. Further, in [0055] and [0077] Earhart describes the free pool as a pool of data blocks that are erased or fresh, meaning they do not store any data of any partition, and therefore always fulfill the requirement of being not full and not containing data of a different partition. As discussed with respect to claim 5, the determining a first condition and second condition for external and internal data, respectively, are obvious, and since a block from the free pool may be assigned to grow a partition, a block from the free pool being assigned is necessarily a block that is not full, and a block that does not contain data of a different partition type, and always satisfies the first or second condition when the data is external or internal data, respectively.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 7: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 5, from which claim 7 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches a correspondence between the type of data partition and a physical memory block where data in the data partition is located is a fixed configuration relationship, and the controller is configured to: in the case where the attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the external data of the electronic device, determine at least one physical memory block that is not full from individual physical memory blocks preconfigured for the first type of data partition as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; and in the case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the internal data of the electronic device, determine at least one physical memory block that is not full from individual physical memory blocks pre-configured for the second type of data partition as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; ([0061], Earhart teaches an embodiment where static partitions are defined as a fixed set of blocks that cannot change unless they are destroyed, which is interpreted as the fixed configuration relationship. Further, as discussed with respect to claim 5, the controller determines a block from a partition that is not full to write to, and that since write data is steered according to the parameters of a corresponding partition, the determining at least one physical memory block that is not full from individual physical memory blocks preconfigured for the first type of data partition when the data is external, and the determining at least one physical memory block that is not full from the individual physical memory blocks preconfigured for the second type of data partition when the data is internal is obvious.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding claim 8: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 1, from which claim 8 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches set a data type of the first data according to the type of the data partition into which the first data is written, and wherein the data type is to manage the first data or the physical memory block where the first data is located ([0073], Earhart teaches that the parameters being set per partition enables implementation of multiple features based on data type or source. The data being written into a data partition which enables multiple features according to the data type or source associated with the partitions is interpreted to be the setting the data type of the data according to the data partition into which the data is written, and wherein the data type is used to manage the block.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 1.
Regarding Claim 12: Erickson teaches a method of operating a computer system, wherein the computer system comprises:
A memory, wherein memory space of the memory is divided into at least two types of data partitions, the at least two types comprising: a first type corresponding to external data of an electronic device comprising the computer system, wherein the external data is data stored on the electronic device that originates external to the electronic device; and a second type corresponding to internal data of the electronic device, wherein the internal data is data stored on the electronic device that originates within the electronic device; ([0017], Erickson teaches that a server may use a portion of its memory for local processes, and may allocate a portion of the memory as far memory for another server. The portions of memory used for local processes are interpreted as the second type of data partition corresponding to internal data of the electronic device, storing data that originates within the electronic device, and the portions of memory allocated to be used as far memory of another server are interpreted as the first type of data partition corresponding to external data of the electronic device, storing data that originates external to the electronic device.)
Wherein a physical memory block corresponding to the first type of data partition is different from a physical memory block corresponding to the second type of data partition ([0024], Erickson teaches that a donor server uses a portion of the local memory in the donor server labeled private as local memory for the processes executing in the donor server, and that there is another, different portion also labeled private and allocated as far memory for processes executing in the other requester server. Furthermore, in [0023], Erickson describes the memory being of different physical kinds, with one or more sections of it being considered private and associated with the various processes. Since the physical memory has sections that are private, and the portions for the types of data partition are also described as labeled private, the physical blocks corresponding to the first type of data partition are interpreted to be different from the physical blocks corresponding to the second type of data partition.)
While Erickson teaches that the memory portions are read/write enabled for the processes, for local processes and for other servers’ processes, Erickson does not appear to explicitly disclose A host; a controller;… sending, by the host, a write command to a controller, wherein the write command comprises first data to be written into the memory and a logical unit number (LUN) to which the first data is to be written, and the logical unit number is specified according to the type of data partition; instructing, by the controller, the memory to write the first data into a physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number in the memory according to the logical unit number.
However, Earhart teaches A host; a controller;… sending, by the host, a write command to a controller, wherein the write command comprises first data to be written into the memory and a logical unit number (LUN) to which the first data is to be written, and the logical unit number is specified according to the type of data partition; instructing, by the controller, the memory to write the first data into a physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number in the memory according to the logical unit number ([0037], [0039] and [0100], Earhart teaches that a read/write controller may receive host data from a host, and that write requests may be mapped to a partition, and steered to different partitions based on data type, host ID, or data source, and that the controller will then transfer the data to storage ports for storage to the storage system to perform the program operations. Furthermore, in [0058-0070], Earhart teaches that the partitions may be defined according to certain parameters, including a data type and source, and that the partitions comprise a certain number of data blocks. Since the write commands are steered to the partitions according to the parameters, and that the controller performs program operations to operate the physical memory chips, the write requests are interpreted to be the claimed host sending a write command to a controller comprising first data to be written and a LUN to which the data is to be written, with the LUN being specified according to the type of data partition, and the controller instructing the memory to write the data into a physical memory block corresponding to the LUN according to the LUN.)
Erickson and Earhart are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, memory management.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Erickson and Earhart to achieve the result of the local/far memory partitioned memory system, which comprises a host which may send a write command specifying a LUN according to a type of data partition to a controller which instructs the memory to write the data into a block corresponding to the LUN.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to organize and manage the data of an array, optimized for the type of traffic as discussed in Earhart [0051].
Regarding claim 13: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 12, from which claim 13 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches determining the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number according to the logical unit number; and instructing the memory to write the first data into the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number (As discussed with respect to claim 1, Erickson/Earhart teaches that the controller is configured to steer write data of a write request to particular partitions of data blocks, based on a LUN of the write request, and that the controller will transfer the data to the storage system.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding claim 14: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 13, from which claim 14 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches obtaining data attribute of the first data according to the logical unit number, wherein the data attribute is configured to indicate whether the first data is the external data of the electronic device or the internal data of the electronic device ([0070], Erickson teaches that a data source may be used to define a partition, and that the data source parameters may represent a host or network source. As discussed with respect to claim 1, write requests may have an associated host ID. While not explicit, the determination of the host ID would be a determination of whether it is a host or network source, which is interpreted to be the obtaining the data attribute according to the logical unit number, wherein the data attribute indicates internal or external data.)
Erickson/Earhart further teaches determining the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number according to the data attribute; and instructing the memory to write the first data into the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number (As discussed with respect to claim 1, Erickson/Earhart teaches that the controller is configured to steer write data of a write request to particular partitions of data blocks, based on a LUN of the write request, and that the controller will transfer the data to the storage system.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding claim 15: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 14, from which claim 15 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches a correspondence between the logical unit number and the data attribute of the first data is predefined by a protocol; or the correspondence between the logical unit number and the data attribute of the first data is set when the memory space of the memory is configured as the at least two types of data partitions in the host ([0026], Earhart teaches that partitions are created upon request, along with parameters used to configure the partition, and that the partition creator defines the partition attributes using partition parameters. In combination with the teaching that the parameters may include a Host ID and whether a partition is a host or network source, the correspondence between the LUN and the data attribute is interpreted to be set when the memory space of the memory is configured as the at least two types of data partitions in the host.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding claim 16: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 14, from which claim 16 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches in a case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the external data of the electronic device, determining, by the controller, at least one physical memory block satisfying a first condition in the memory as the physical memory block corresponding the logic unit number, the first condition comprising: the physical memory block is not full, and the second data is not stored, wherein the second data is data in the second type of data partition; and in a case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the internal data of the electronic device, determining, by the controller, at least one physical memory block satisfying a second condition in the memory as the physical memory block corresponding the logic unit number, the second condition comprising: the physical memory block is not full, and third data is not stored, wherein the third data is data in the first type of data partition. ([0075-0076] and [0100-0104], Earhart teaches that after partition definition, the partition may be filled, and that when it is full, it is made read-only, and that writing continues to fill the blocks of a partition. While not explicit, the partition (which is composed of blocks) being made read-only only when it is full would obviously mean that it can be written to until all blocks are full, which would further mean that for all successful writes, the write is performed when there is a block that satisfies a condition comprising that the physical memory block is not full. Further, since the data may be steered to different partitions based on host ID/data source, the claimed determining a block satisfying a first or second condition comprising that the partition does not store the data of a different type is obvious. The combination then teaches that when the data is external data, a non-full block part of a partition that does not contain internal data, and that when the data is internal data, a non-full block part of a partition that does not contain external data is taught, and the claim is obvious.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding claim 17: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 16, from which claim 17 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches a correspondence between the type of data partition and a physical memory block where data in the data partition is located is a non-fixed configuration relationship, and... in the case where the attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the external data of the electronic device, determining, by the controller, at least one physical memory block satisfying the first condition from all writable physical memory blocks of the memory as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; and… in the case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the internal data of the electronic device, determining, by the controller, at least one physical memory block satisfying the second condition from all writable physical memory blocks of the memory as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; ([0062], Earhart teaches an embodiment where extendable partitions can grow as needed, by assigning additional blocks from a free pool to keep the partition from filling up. The extendability is interpreted to be the non-fixed configuration relationship. Further, in [0055] and [0077] Earhart describes the free pool as a pool of data blocks that are erased or fresh, meaning they do not store any data of any partition, and therefore always fulfill the requirement of being not full and not containing data of a different partition. As discussed with respect to claim 5, the determining a first condition and second condition for external and internal data, respectively, are obvious, and since a block from the free pool may be assigned to grow a partition, a block from the free pool being assigned is necessarily a block that is not full, and a block that does not contain data of a different partition type, and always satisfies the first or second condition when the data is external or internal data, respectively.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding claim 18: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 16, from which claim 18 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches a correspondence between the type of data partition and a physical memory block where data in the data partition is located is a fixed configuration relationship, and… in the case where the attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the external data of the electronic device, determining, by the controller, at least one physical memory block that is not full from individual physical memory blocks preconfigured for the first type of data partition as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; and… in the case where the data attribute is configured to indicate that the first data is the internal data of the electronic device, determining, by the controller, at least one physical memory block that is not full from individual physical memory blocks pre-configured for the second type of data partition as the physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number; ([0061], Earhart teaches an embodiment where static partitions are defined as a fixed set of blocks that cannot change unless they are destroyed, which is interpreted as the fixed configuration relationship. Further, as discussed with respect to claim 5, the controller determines a block from a partition that is not full to write to, and that since write data is steered according to the parameters of a corresponding partition, the determining at least one physical memory block that is not full from individual physical memory blocks preconfigured for the first type of data partition when the data is external, and the determining at least one physical memory block that is not full from the individual physical memory blocks preconfigured for the second type of data partition when the data is internal is obvious.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding claim 19: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 12, from which claim 19 depends.
Erickson/Earhart further teaches setting a data type of the first data according to the type of the data partition into which the first data is written, and wherein the data type is to manage the first data or the physical memory block where the first data is located ([0073], Earhart teaches that the parameters being set per partition enables implementation of multiple features based on data type or source. The data being written into a data partition which enables multiple features according to the data type or source associated with the partitions is interpreted to be the setting the data type of the data according to the data partition into which the data is written, and wherein the data type is used to manage the block.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the same reasons as in claim 12.
Regarding Claim 20: Erickson teaches a memory system, comprising:
A memory, wherein memory space of the memory is divided into at least two types of data partitions, the at least two types comprising: a first type corresponding to external data of an electronic device comprising the computer system, wherein the external data is data stored on the electronic device that originates external to the electronic device; and a second type corresponding to internal data of the electronic device, wherein the internal data is data stored on the electronic device that originates within the electronic device; ([0017], Erickson teaches that a server may use a portion of its memory for local processes, and may allocate a portion of the memory as far memory for another server. The portions of memory used for local processes are interpreted as the second type of data partition corresponding to internal data of the electronic device, storing data that originates within the electronic device, and the portions of memory allocated to be used as far memory of another server are interpreted as the first type of data partition corresponding to external data of the electronic device, storing data that originates external to the electronic device.)
Wherein a physical memory block corresponding to the first type of data partition is different from a physical memory block corresponding to the second type of data partition ([0024], Erickson teaches that a donor server uses a portion of the local memory in the donor server labeled private as local memory for the processes executing in the donor server, and that there is another, different portion also labeled private and allocated as far memory for processes executing in the other requester server. Furthermore, in [0023], Erickson describes the memory being of different physical kinds, with one or more sections of it being considered private and associated with the various processes. Since the physical memory has sections that are private, and the portions for the types of data partition are also described as labeled private, the physical blocks corresponding to the first type of data partition are interpreted to be different from the physical blocks corresponding to the second type of data partition.)
While Erickson teaches that the memory portions are read/write enabled for the processes, for local processes and for other servers’ processes, Erickson does not appear to explicitly disclose a controller configured to: receive a write command, wherein the write command comprises first data to be written into the memory and a logical unit number (LUN) to which the first data is to be written, and the logical unit number is specified according to the type of data partition; instruct the memory to write the first data into a physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number in the memory according to the logical unit number.
However, Earhart teaches a controller configured to: receive a write command, wherein the write command comprises first data to be written into the memory and a logical unit number (LUN) to which the first data is to be written, and the logical unit number is specified according to the type of data partition; instruct the memory to write the first data into a physical memory block corresponding to the logical unit number in the memory according to the logical unit number. ([0037], [0039] and [0100], Earhart teaches that a read/write controller may receive host data from a host, and that write requests may be mapped to a partition, and steered to different partitions based on data type, host ID, or data source, and that the controller will then transfer the data to storage ports for storage to the storage system to perform the program operations. Furthermore, in [0058-0070], Earhart teaches that the partitions may be defined according to certain parameters, including a data type and source, and that the partitions comprise a certain number of data blocks. Since the write commands are steered to the partitions according to the parameters, and that the controller performs program operations to operate the physical memory chips, the write requests are interpreted to be the claimed host sending a write command to a controller comprising first data to be written and a LUN to which the data is to be written, with the LUN being specified according to the type of data partition, and the controller instructing the memory to write the data into a physical memory block corresponding to the LUN according to the LUN.)
Erickson and Earhart are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, memory management.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined the teachings of Erickson and Earhart to achieve the result of the local/far memory partitioned memory system, which comprises a host which may send a write command specifying a LUN according to a type of data partition to a controller which instructs the memory to write the data into a block corresponding to the LUN.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to organize and manage the data of an array, optimized for the type of traffic as discussed in Earhart [0051].
Claims 9, 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Erickson et al., U.S. Pub. No. 20230376412 (hereinafter “Erickson”) in view of
Earhart, U.S. Pub. No. 20160274970 (hereinafter “Earhart”) further in view of
Professor Adam Morgan, “Windows 10 - File Explorer Drives - How to Manage Files on USB Flash Stick & Hard Drive - Management”. Retrieved from Internet: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=var7-5tvwUo>, April 23, 2019 (hereinafter ‘Morgan’).
Regarding claim 9: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 1, from which claim 9 depends.
Erickson/Earhart do not appear to explicitly disclose in a case where the first type of data partition has been loaded, display an unload control on an interactive interface; and in a case where a trigger operation on the unload control is received, unload the first type of data partition in an interface of a resource manager of the host.
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However, Morgan teaches in a case where the first type of data partition has been loaded, display an unload control on an interactive interface; and (at 3:58, Morgan teaches a back button that can be pressed to unload the external drive partition while the contents of the external drive partition have been loaded in the Windows File Explorer interface).
Morgan further teaches in a case where a trigger operation on the unload control is received, unload the first type of data partition in an interface of a resource manager of the host. (at 3:59, Morgan teaches that upon clicking the back button, the Windows File Explorer interface properly unloads the external drive partition by returning to the directory before it and unloading the contents of the
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external drive partition from the interface)
Erickson/Earhart and Morgan are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, managing and using data partitions.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined The computer system of claim 1, as disclosed by Erickson and Earhart, wherein the host is further configured to: in a case where the first type of data partition has been loaded, display an unload control on an interactive interface; and in a case where a trigger operation on the unload control is received, unload the first type of data partition in an interface of a resource manager of the host, as disclosed by Morgan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to access, browse, close, and manage the data of the various partitions, as Morgan discusses by showing various files and documents in various partitions accessible through the Windows File Explorer between 1:35 and 3:02.
Regarding claim 10: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 1, from which claim 10 depends.
Erickson/Earhart do not appear to explicitly disclose in a case where the first type of data partition has not been loaded, display a load control on an interactive interface; and in a case where a trigger operation on the load control is received, load the first type of data partition in an interface of a resource manager of the host.
However, Morgan teaches in a case where the first type of data partition has not been loaded, display a load control on an interactive interface; and (at 3:58, Morgan teaches a button in the Windows File Explorer interface that represents the external drive partition, that is seen when in a menu that does not show the contents of the external drive partition).
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Morgan teaches in a case where a trigger operation on the load control is received, load the first type of data partition in an interface of a resource manager of the host. (at 3:52, Morgan teaches that upon double clicking the button representing the drive, the Windows File Explorer interface properly loads the external drive partition to be displayed)
Erickson/Earhart and Morgan are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, managing and using data partitions.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined The computer system of claim 1, as disclosed by Erickson and Earhart, wherein the host is further configured to: in a case where the first type of data partition has not been loaded, display a load control on an interactive interface; and in a case where a trigger operation on the load control is received, load the first type of data partition in an interface of a resource manager of the host, as disclosed by Morgan.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to access, browse, close, and manage the data of the various partitions, as Morgan discusses by showing various files and documents in various partitions accessible through the Windows File Explorer between 1:35 and 3:02.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Erickson et al., U.S. Pub. No. 20230376412 (hereinafter “Erickson”) in view of
Earhart, U.S. Pub. No. 20160274970 (hereinafter “Earhart”) further in view of
Techy Druid, “Share and Access USB Storage in TP-Link Router”. Retrieved from Internet: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2sLtVdZ5fI>, May 8, 2023 (hereinafter ‘Druid’).
Regarding claim 11: The combination of Erickson and Earhart teaches all limitations of claim 1, from which claim 11 depends.
Erickson/Earhart do not appear to explicitly disclose in response to the electronic device being coupled to an external device via a Universal Serial Bus interface, display a trigger control corresponding to the first type of data partition on an interactive interface; and in a case where a selection operation on the trigger control is received, allow the first type of data partition to be accessed at the external device side.
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However, Druid teaches in response to the electronic device being coupled to an external device via a Universal Serial Bus interface, display a trigger control corresponding to the first type of data partition on an interactive interface; and (at 3:08, Druid teaches configuring a newly connected USB drive, which includes a button on an interactive interface on the host that triggers allowing the selected partition of the drive to be accessible to all other devices on the network, including those other than the host).
Druid teaches in a case where a selection operation on the trigger control is received, allow the first type of data partition to be accessed at the external device side. (at 3:17, Druid teaches that after pressing the save button, the USB drive partitions are accessible on the network “Once you have configured the USB storage sharing on the router, you can access the shared files from any wired or wireless device on the same network”. Additionally, at 6:44, Druid demonstrates accessing the partition from a device other than the host.)
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Erickson/Earhart and Druid are analogous art because they are from the same field of endeavor, systems and methods for operating a shared storage.
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined The computer system of claim 1, as disclosed by Erickson/Earhart, wherein the host is further configured to: in response to the electronic device being coupled to an external device via a Universal Serial Bus interface, display a trigger control corresponding to the first type of data partition on an interactive interface; and in a case where a selection operation on the trigger control is received, allow the first type of data partition to be accessed at the external device side, as disclosed by Druid.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification in order to intuitively configure a particular type of available storage technology to be more accessible to the entire network without compromising security, including devices that typically would not have the correct connectors to use it normally as demonstrated in Druid 5:59.
Conclusion
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/K.H.P./Examiner, Art Unit 2133
/ROCIO DEL MAR PEREZ-VELEZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2133