DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because a broadest reasonable interpretation for the claimed “computer readable storage medium” include transitory signal which is non-statutory.
Claim Objections
Claims 2-3 and 6-8 are objected to because of the following informalities:
In claim 7, line 9, delete the extra “and”.
In claim 2, change “Receiving” to “receiving”.
In claims 2 and 4-7, change “Updating” to “updating”.
In claims 3 and 4, change “When” to “when”.
In claim 3, change “Identifying” to “identifying”.
In claim 6, change “Using” to “using”.
In claim 7, change “Determining” to “determining”.
In claim 8, change “A target” to “a target”.
In claim 8, change “An attribute” to “an attribute”.
In claim 8, change “An iteration” to “an iteration”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang (US 2020/0,175,219).
Referring to claims 1 and 8-10, Yang discloses a parameterized cell data renewal method (fig. 1, automated place and route EDA system 100; para.0023), wherein the method comprises:
identifying a target basic graphics primitive (fig.4, netlist of IC 410) according to state identifiers (fig. 4, initial parameters 410) of basic graphics primitives (fig. 4, PCell 410),
wherein the basic graphics primitives are a smallest graphics primitive forming a parameterized cell (fig. 6, such as PCell transistor T1 in netlist of IC; para. 0050, PCell),
wherein the state identifiers are to label whether configuration parameters (fig. 4, adjusted initial PCell parameters 420) of the basic graphics primitives are consistent with attribute data (fig. 7, transistor annotations; para. 0052, such as x2 and N-type), and the configuration parameters are to designate the attribute data of graphics primitives (fig. 10, parameterized PCell transistor connections; para. 0054);
renewing (fig. 4, updating netlist of IC according to adjusted PCell parameters 430) the attribute data of the target basic graphics primitive according to the configuration parameters; and
iterating and renewing (fig. 3, re-netlisting 226 based on updated PCell contents 224 after adjusted PCell parameter 222) the attribute data of the parameterized cell based on the attribute data of the target basic graphics primitive.
As to claim 2, Yang discloses the method of claim 1, comprises:
receiving configuration parameters of the basic graphics primitives (fig. 4, obtain initial parameter 410; fig. 3, via EDA interaction 247); and
updating (fig. 4, adjust initial parameter 420; fig. 3, updating PCell content 224) the state identifiers of the basic graphics primitives to be a first state (fig. 4, state of need re-netlisting to Yes 225), and the first state is to indicate the configuration parameters of graphics primitives are not consistent with the attribute data (fig. 4, need to re-netlisting 226).
As to claim 3, Yang discloses the method of claim 1, comprises:
when the state identifiers of the basic graphics primitives are the first state (fig. 4, state of need re-netlisting to Yes 225);
identifying the basic graphics primitives to be the basic graphics primitive (fig. 4, need to re-netlisting 226).
As to claim 4, Yang discloses the method of claim 1, comprises:
when the target basic graphics primitive is correlated with other basic graphics primitives on the attribute data (fig. 3, state of no need to re-netlist 225);
updating the attribute data of the other basic graphics primitive (fig. 3, adjust netlist parameter 228).
As to claim 5, Yang discloses the method of claim 2, comprises:
updating the state identifiers of the target basic graphics primitive to be a second state (fig. 3, state of no need to re-netlist 225) and the second state is to indicate that the configuration parameters of the basic graphics primitives are consistent with the attribute data (fig. 3, adjust netlist parameter 228).
As to claim 6, Yang discloses the method of claim 5, comprises:
using the target basic graphics primitive as an input graphics primitive (fig. 3, adjusted netlist 227/228 to EDA interaction 247) of an iteration (fig. 3, EDA 240 starts another PCell update for a new netlist content 227 and parameter 228) and updating model (fig. 4, updated netlist of IC 440);
updating a parent node graphics primitive (fig. 4, update netlist of IC 430, e.g., parent node graphics primitive is the netlist that currently has adjusting ongoing) of the input graphics primitive via the iteration and updating models (figs. 3-4); and
using the updated parent node graphics primitive as the input graphics primitive of the iteration and updating model until the updated parent node graphics primitive has no parent node graphics primitive (fig. 3, adjust netlist content 227 and parameter 228 through EDA interaction 247 until no adjustment of netlist is needed).
As to claim 7, Yang discloses the method of claim 1, comprises:
determining all child node graphics primitives (fig. 4, netlist that needs to re-netlisting 225/226) of the parent node graphics primitive that the input graphics primitive belongs to;
updating attribute data (fig. 3, adjust netlist content 227) of a first child node graphics primitive (fig. 3, result netlist after re-netlisting 226), wherein the first child node graphics primitive comprises the child node graphics primitive whose state identifiers are marked the first state (fig. 3, state of needing re-netlist 225) among all the child node graphics primitives; and
updating the attribute data of the parent node graphics primitive (fig. 3, adjust netlist content 227) according to the attribute data of all the child node graphics primitives and obtaining the update parent node graphics primitive (fig. 3, output adjusted netlist contents 227 to EDA interaction 247 for another iteration of PCell parameter adjustment 222); and
updating (fig. 3, adjust PCell parameter 222) the state identifier of the updated parent node graphics primitive to be the second state (fig. 3, updated PCell content 224 to no need of re-netlist 225).
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to examiner Cheng-Yuan Tseng whose telephone number is (571)272-9772, and fax number is (571)273-9772. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Friday from 09:00 to 17:30 Eastern Time. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alicia Harrington can be reached on (571)272-2330. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571)273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866)217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call (800)786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or (571)272-1000.
/CHENG YUAN TSENG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2615