DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 2-12, 17-27 is/are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Sartore (US 20090235038 A1) in view of Spiers et al. (US 20060080515 A1).
1. (Canceled)
Sartore discloses:
2. (New) In a hybrid memory system having volatile memory (VM) and non-volatile memory (NVM), a method for determining if a data storage operation into the NVM is successful, comprising:
predicting an ending point in the NVM for the data storage operation based on an amount of data to be stored in the data storage operation; (par 89, 126; fig 10: 1004)
implementing the data storage operation; (fig 13: 1306; par 106)
an actual ending point of the data storage operation; and (par 126: the image is identified (either through pointers, registers or other mechanisms))
However, Sartore does not explicitly disclose, while Spiers teaches:
comparing an actual ending point with the predicted ending point of the data storage operation; and (par 51)
indicating that the data storage operation failed if the actual and predicted ending points do not substantially match. (par 51)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine operations in NVM of Sartore with operations in NVRAM of Spiers. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to avoid data loss prior to the data being written to the media. (Spiers: par 4)
3. (New) The method of claim 2, wherein the data storage operation is a backup operation from the VM to the NVM. (fig 13: 1304, 1306; par 106)
4. (New) The method of claim 3, wherein the backup is in response to a trigger condition. (par 105)
5. (New) The method of claim 4, wherein the trigger condition is an impending power loss. (par 105)
6. (New) The method of claim 4, wherein the trigger condition is an onset of power loss. (par 105)
7. (New) The method of claim 4, wherein the trigger condition is a host computer request. (par 105; fig 1: 106)
8. (New) The method of claim 2, wherein the data storage operation is a transfer of data from a host computer. (par 126: image of the volatile memory is saved in non-volatile memory)
9. (New) The method of claim 2,
However, Sartore does not explicitly disclose, while Spiers teaches:
wherein the amount of data to be stored in the data storage operation includes data associated with error identification. (par 51; fig 12: 656)
10. (New) The method of claim 2,
However, Sartore does not explicitly disclose, while Spiers teaches:
wherein the amount of data to be stored in the data storage operation includes data associated with error correction. (par 38, 57: ECC; claim 15)
11. (New) The method of claim 2, further comprising
erasing a portion of the NVM before implementing the data storage operation, and (par 89; fig 10)
determining an amount of erased NVM remaining in the erased portion following the data storage operation. (par 79, 89-90)
12. (New) The method of claim 11, further comprising using the determination of the amount of erased NVM remaining in the erased portion to indicate the extent to which the data storage operation was successfully performed. (par 89)
Claim(s) 17-27 is/are rejected as being the HMS system implemented by the hybrid memory system of claim(s) 2-12, and is/are rejected on the same grounds.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 13-16, 28-31 is/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
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KATHERINE LIN whose telephone number is (571)431-0706. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday; 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bryce Bonzo can be reached on (571) 272-3655. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KATHERINE LIN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2113
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