DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claims 1-8 and 10-21 are pending.
Claim 9 has been cancelled.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-8 and 10-21 are objected to because of the following informalities:
The claim 1 recites, “A packet matching method, comprising: determining multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to a key value of a packet; indexing addresses in multiple counter groups respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters, wherein one counter is indexed in one counter group; determining one target counter from the multiple counters; acquiring a target entry at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory according to the address of the target counter; and in a case where the target entry is equal to the key value, determining that the packet matches the target entry.”
Claim 1 is objected to for lack of clarity because the preamble should specify the hardware or device performing the steps. Please amend the preamble to identify the physical apparatus to ensure the method claim is clearly defined.
Claims 2-8 and 12-16 are depending on claim 1 and therefore they are also objected.
Claim 10 recites "the computer-readable storage medium" in lines 1-2. For clarity and consistency, it is suggested to revise as “the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium”.
The claim 11 recites, “An electronic device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to run the computer program so as to execute following operations”. Please insert a colon ":" after comprising so that a processor and memory are in the body of the claim.
Claims 17-21 are depending on claim 11 and therefore they are also objected.
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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3-4, 10-11, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHAO et al. (Pub. No.: US 20180270152 A1), hereinafter ZHAO, in view of Sui et al. (Pub. No.: US 20190303762 A1), hereinafter Sui.
With respect to claim 1, ZHAO teaches A packet matching method, comprising ([0020], packet matching):
determining multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to a key value of a packet ([0031, 0038-0040], multiple key values (Keys) are extracted from the packet according to the identified operation type, Hash calculation results are from Hash calculation is performed for the extracted key values);
indexing addresses in multiple counter groups respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters, wherein one counter is indexed in one counter group (fig. 3, [0022, 0055-0057], indexing addresses in multiple counter groups / multiple different Types respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters / Types, wherein one counter / Type is indexed in one counter group / one Type group);
determining one target counter from the multiple counters (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057], determining one target counter / Type from the multiple counters / Types);
acquiring a target entry ([0023, 0054-0058], Hash index table entry) according to the address of the target counter (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057], the address of the target counter / type); and
in a case where the target entry is equal to the key value, determining that the packet matches the target entry ([0023, 0054-0058], According to the fields of Type and Key, the packet matching with the Hash index table entry may be determined).
ZHAO does not explicitly teach at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory.
However, Sui teaches at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory ([0073], written back to corresponding position of the off-chip memory ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of ZHAO with the teachings of Sui, in order to improve the overall efficiency to execute the neural networks on a computational platform (Sui, [0004]).
With respect to claim 3, the combination of ZHAO and Sui teaches the method of claim 1. ZHAO teaches wherein determining the multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to the key value of the packet comprises: extracting the key value of the packet ([0031]); and determining, according to multiple Hash functions preset by a classifier ([0031-0040]), the multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to the key value ([0031-0040]), wherein one Hash function is used for determining one Hash calculation result ([0031-0040]).
With respect to claim 4, the combination of ZHAO and Sui teaches the method of claim 1. ZHAO teaches wherein before determining the multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to the key value of the packet, the method further comprises: acquiring multiple Hash calculation results of an entry to be inserted, wherein the multiple Hash calculation results are determined according to multiple Hash functions preset by a classifier, one Hash function is used for determining one Hash calculation result, and one Hash function corresponds to one counter group ([0031-0040]); and inserting the entry to be inserted into an empty position in a Hash table according to the multiple Hash calculation results, and maintaining the multiple counter groups, wherein the number of counters contained in each counter group is equal to a capacity of the Hash table, the addresses of counters in each counter group are respectively in one-to-one correspondence with Hash table positions in the Hash table, and the addresses of the counters are the Hash calculation results (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057]).
With respect to claim 10, ZHAO teaches A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and the computer program, when running on a processor, causes the processor to execute following operations (fig. 7, [0093], non-transitory storage, a CPU, a forwarding chip and memory):
determining multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to a key value of a packet ([0031, 0038-0040], multiple key values (Keys) are extracted from the packet according to the identified operation type, Hash calculation results are from Hash calculation is performed for the extracted key values);
indexing addresses in multiple counter groups respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters, wherein one counter is indexed in one counter group (fig. 3, [0022, 0055-0057], indexing addresses in multiple counter groups / multiple different Types respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters / Types, wherein one counter / Type is indexed in one counter group / one Type group);
determining one target counter from the multiple counters (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057], determining one target counter / Type from the multiple counters / Types);
acquiring a target entry ([0023, 0054-0058], Hash index table entry) according to the address of the target counter (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057], the address of the target counter / type); and
in a case where the target entry is equal to the key value, determining that the packet matches the target entry ([0023, 0054-0058], According to the fields of Type and Key, the packet matching with the Hash index table entry may be determined).
ZHAO does not explicitly teach at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory.
However, Sui teaches at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory ([0073], written back to corresponding position of the off-chip memory ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of ZHAO with the teachings of Sui, in order to improve the overall efficiency to execute the neural networks on a computational platform (Sui, [0004]).
With respect to claim 11, ZHAO teaches An electronic device (fig. 7, [0093], packet processing apparatus), comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory stores a computer program, and the processor is configured to run the computer program so as to execute following operations (fig. 7, [0093], non-transitory storage, a CPU, a forwarding chip and memory):
determining multiple Hash calculation results corresponding to a key value of a packet ([0031, 0038-0040], multiple key values (Keys) are extracted from the packet according to the identified operation type, Hash calculation results are from Hash calculation is performed for the extracted key values);
indexing addresses in multiple counter groups respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters, wherein one counter is indexed in one counter group (fig. 3, [0022, 0055-0057], indexing addresses in multiple counter groups / multiple different Types respectively according to the multiple Hash calculation results, so as to determine multiple counters / Types, wherein one counter / Type is indexed in one counter group / one Type group);
determining one target counter from the multiple counters (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057], determining one target counter / Type from the multiple counters / Types);
acquiring a target entry ([0023, 0054-0058], Hash index table entry) according to the address of the target counter (fig. 3, [0023, 0055-0057], the address of the target counter / type); and
in a case where the target entry is equal to the key value, determining that the packet matches the target entry ([0023, 0054-0058], According to the fields of Type and Key, the packet matching with the Hash index table entry may be determined).
ZHAO does not explicitly teach at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory.
However, Sui teaches at a corresponding position of an off-chip memory ([0073], written back to corresponding position of the off-chip memory ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of ZHAO with the teachings of Sui, in order to improve the overall efficiency to execute the neural networks on a computational platform (Sui, [0004]).
With respect to claim 18, this claim recites the method of claim 3, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 19, this claim recites the method of claim 4, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 5-8, 12-17, and 20-21 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pub. No.: US 20160191384 A1; “Shelar”, ([0061])
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/KIET TANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469