DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on 09/08/25 has been entered. Claims 1-7, 9-10, 12-22 are pending in the application.
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 1-6, 9-10, 12-16, 18-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Sah (US 2003/0028509).
Regarding claim 1, Sah discloses:
A method of information storage, comprising: obtaining a plurality of target data elements, each target data element including one or more pairs of key-value data ([0027], [0037] row-column data 201 Fig. 2A);
generating, based on an order of the plurality of target data elements, a first storage file that stores key data of each of the target data elements, wherein the first storage file include a first plurality of data rows, each data row corresponding to one of the plurality of target data elements and including ordered key data of the one or more pairs of key-value data of the target data element; and generating, based on the order of the plurality of target data elements, a second storage file that stores value data of each of the target data elements, wherein the second storage file include a second plurality of data rows, each data row corresponding to one of the plurality of target data elements and including ordered value data of the one or more pairs of key-value data of the target data element ([0027] the primary key column is horizontally partitioned into separate column-files. The remaining columns are similarly horizontally partitioned into column-files, such that each of these column files aligns with the corresponding primary key column-file and each of the column-files has a equal number of entries. The result of the horizontal partitioning is a series of sets of column-files, in which the corresponding entries in the column-files for a set represent a table row [0037] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, row- column data 201 is partitioned by columns 203, 205, 207 and each column is stored in a single column- file 209, 215, 221, respectively. Each column- file 209, 215, 221 contains a header 211, 217, 223, and a data strip 213, 219, 225 containing the values of the corresponding column. The column values are maintained within the column-file in primary key order);
wherein, for each pair of key-value data of each target data element, first position information of the key data of the pair of key-value data in the storage file is same as second position information of corresponding value data of the pair of key-value data in the second storage file ([0027] the primary key column is horizontally partitioned into separate column-files. The remaining columns are similarly horizontally partitioned into column-files, such that each of these column files aligns with the corresponding primary key column-file and each of the column-files has a equal number of entries).
As per claim 2, claim 1 is incorporated, Sah further discloses:
wherein the generating, based on the order of the plurality of target data elements, the first storage file that stores the key data of each of the target data elements, comprises: determining a number of data rows of the first storage file based on a total number of the plurality of target data elements; determining a number of data columns of the first storage file based on a maximum number of the pairs of key-value data included in a target data element among the plurality of target data elements; generating the first storage file based on the number of data rows and the number of data columns; and storing, based on the order of the plurality of target data elements, key data corresponding to each target data element sequentially into the first storage file, such that key data stored in each row in the first storage file are from a same target data element, and each cell in each row stores the key data of at most one pair of key-value data ([0027] the primary key column is horizontally partitioned into separate column-files. The remaining columns are similarly horizontally partitioned into column-files, such that each of these column files aligns with the corresponding primary key column-file and each of the column-files has a equal number of entries. The result of the horizontal partitioning is a series of sets of column-files, in which the corresponding entries in the column-files for a set represent a table row. The sets are distributed across the storage nodes, with all the column-files for a set typically being stored on the same storage node. In one embodiment, the horizontal partitioning is based on key value ranges such that the set of column-files for a particular range of primary key values are stored on one node, Fig. 2A).
As per claim 3, claim 1 is incorporated, Sah further discloses:
wherein the generating, based on the order of the plurality of target data elements, the second storage file that stores the value data of each of the target data elements, comprises: determining a number of data rows of the second storage file based on a total number of the plurality of target data elements; determining a number of data columns of the second storage file based on a maximum number of the pairs of key-value data included in a target data element among the plurality of target data elements; generating the second storage file based on the number of data rows and the number of data columns of the second storage file; and storing, based on the order of the plurality of target data elements, value data corresponding to each target data element sequentially into the second storage file, such that value data stored in each row in the second storage file is from a same target data element, and each cell in each row stores the value data of at most one pair of key-value data (([0027] the primary key column is horizontally partitioned into separate column-files. The remaining columns are similarly horizontally partitioned into column-files, such that each of these column files aligns with the corresponding primary key column-file and each of the column-files has a equal number of entries. The result of the horizontal partitioning is a series of sets of column-files, in which the corresponding entries in the column-files for a set represent a table row. The sets are distributed across the storage nodes, with all the column-files for a set typically being stored on the same storage node. In one embodiment, the horizontal partitioning is based on key value ranges such that the set of column-files for a particular range of primary key values are stored on one node, Fig. 2A).
As per claim 4, claim 1 is incorporated, Sah further discloses:
further comprising: in response to a data adding instruction, obtaining new data to be added, the new data including a plurality of pairs of key-value data; adding the new data to an end of the plurality of target data elements in order; and adding key data included in the new data to an end of the first storage file, and adding the value data included in the new data to an end of the second storage file ([0026] The system 100 uses the column of linear values as the primary key for the data. Thus, new data can be appended to the end of existing data and updates of existing data are rare, [0044], [0105]-[0106]).
As per claim 5, claim 1 is incorporated, Sah further discloses:
further comprising: in response to a data query instruction of an online analytical processing platform, determining a data type of the data query instruction; querying position information of key data matching the data type in the first storage file; and querying, based on the position information, data matching the data query instruction in the second storage file ([0023]-[0024], [0108]-[0110] query processing).
As per claim 6, claim 5 is incorporated, Sah further discloses:
wherein the querying, based on the position information, the data matching the data query instruction in the second storage file comprises: retrieve, from the second storage file, value data matching the position information as the data matching the data query instruction ([0023]-[0024], [0108]-[0110] query processing).
Claims 9-10, 12-16, 18-22 recite similar claim limitations as the method of claims 1-6, except that they set forth the claimed invention as an electronic device and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, as such, they are rejected for the same reasons as applied hereinabove.
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.
Claims 7, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sah (US 2003/0028509) in view of Srinivasulu (US 2018/0349423).
As per claim 7, claim 5 is incorporated, Sah further discloses:
further comprising: performing aggregation analysis on queried data to determine at least one of an occurrence number and an occurrence proportion of each piece of value data in the queried data ([0042] number of occurrences).
Sah fails to disclose “and presenting the at least one of the occurrence number and the occurrence proportion through the online analytical processing platform”
However, Srinivasulu teaches the above limitation ([0053] the frequency values or aggregate values can represent results of queries on the source data, and can be stored in the plurality of output files).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Srinivasulu into the teaching of Sah because the references similarly disclose object or key-value storage and processing. Consequently, one of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to further modify the system as in Sah to further include the query processing as in Srinivasulu in order to “improve the performance of the systems and methods by providing new and/or improved features and/or providing benefits such as reduced resource utilization, increased capacity, improved efficiency, and reduced latency” (Srinivasulu, [0082]).
Claim 17 recites similar claim limitations as the method of claim 7, except that it sets forth the claimed invention as an electronic device, as such, it is rejected for the same reasons as applied hereinabove.
Response to Arguments
The following is in response to the amendment filed on 09/08/25.
Applicant’s arguments have been carefully and respectfully considered but are not persuasive.
Regarding 35 USC 102, on pg. 12, applicant argues that Sah fails to disclose separation of keys and values into two files.
In response to the preceding argument, examiner respectfully submits that [0027] discloses two distinct files, wherein the primary key column is partitioned into separate column files while the remaining columns are horizontally partitioned into column files which each aligning with the corresponding primary key column file. That is this paragraph states that “the primary key column is horizontally partitioned into separate column-files. The remaining columns are similarly horizontally partitioned into column-files, such that each of these column files aligns with the corresponding primary key column-file”. This reference does not suggest that they are physically “co-located”, as mentioned. Further, the claims do not even necessarily preclude keys from being stored with values.
Regarding 35 USC 102, on pg. 12, applicant argues that Sah fails to disclose or suggest ordered alignment within rows across files.
In response to the preceding argument, examiner respectfully submits that [0027] also states that “each of these column files aligns with the corresponding primary key column-file and each of the column-files has a equal number of entries”. [0037] also states that “The column values are maintained within the column-file in primary key order”.
Regarding 35 USC 102, on pg. 13, applicant argues that the newly added features provide a technical benefit not achievable by the cited prior art, and that, the system querying performance is improved.
In response to the preceding argument, examiner respectfully submits that the cited prior art discloses similar features as claimed, and thus, would provide a similar technical benefit, even if not stated explicitly.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 WILLIAM P BARTLETT whose telephone number is (469)295-9085. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 11:30-8:30, F 11-3.
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/WILLIAM P BARTLETT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2169