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 .
Application Status
This office action is responsive to the amendments filed on 03/04/2026.
This action has been made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 03/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant alleged the following: “However, dividing the primary beams into sub-quadrants neither discloses nor suggests anything about determining a number of a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes to store in the first memory, let alone determining based on the amount of storage in the first memory and a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes, as in independent claim 1, and similarly recited in independent claims 46 and 49. In other words, Woop discloses dividing the primary beams into sub-quadrants but does not disclose or suggest which of these sub-quadrants may be stored in the memory.” The examiner is not persuaded. The examiner maintains Woop discloses the amount of storage in paragraph 0485. Woop goes on to disclose “a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes, a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes to store in the first memory” in Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376. Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
The Applicant alleged the following: “Again, the traversal operation disclosed in Woop neither discloses nor suggests anything about determining a number of a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes to store in the first memory, let alone determining based on the amount of storage in the first memory and a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes, as in independent claims 1, 46, and 49.” The examiner is not persuaded. The Applicant is rehashing arguments already previously addressed (See Above Response).
The Applicant alleged the following: “As illustrated above, Woop stores the inner traversal locally. In other words, Woop does not determine which nodes to store in the memory. Instead, Woop discloses storing the inner traversal, that may include all the nodes, locally. By storing all nodes locally within the memory, Woop's memory arrangement may face performance issues as it may require large amounts of memory to store all the nodes. In conclusion, Woop neither discloses nor suggests determin[ing], based on the amount of storage in the first memory and on a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes, a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes to store in the first memory, as recited in independent claims 1, 46, and 49.” The examiner is not persuaded. The examiner maintains Woop discloses the amount of storage in paragraph 0485. Woop goes on to disclose “a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes, a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes to store in the first memory” in Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376. MPEP § 2106 states Office personnel are to give claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the supporting disclosure. In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054-55, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027-28 (Fed Cir. 1997). Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1 and 31-49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by WOOP, US Patent Application Publication Number: US 20210287431.
Claim 1:
Woop discloses an apparatus for graphics processing (See Figure 1 & Abstract), comprising:
a memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080);
and at least one processor coupled to the memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080) and configured to:
obtain a bounding volume hierarchy (BVH) structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03801) comprising a plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) and a plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), wherein the plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), comprises a plurality of first nodes and a plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), each of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) comprises at least one node of the plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), and the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03802) is associated with geometry data for a plurality of primitives in a scene (See Paragraphs 0123; 0334);
identify an amount of storage in a first memory that is available for storing (See Paragraph 0384-0386; 04853) at least some of the plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376);
store, in the first memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080), first data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376);
determine, based on the amount of storage in the first memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080) and on a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) to store in the first memory (See Paragraphs 0264; 0334; 0337; 0375-03764);
and store, in the first memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080), second data associated with the number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0264; 0334; 0337; 0375-03765).
Claim 31:
Woop discloses store second data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) and the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) in a second memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080); and
retrieve, after storing the first data and the second data, at least one of the first data from the first memory or the second data from the second memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 32:
Woop discloses calculate (See Paragraph 0264), prior to retrieving at least one of the first data or the second data, at least one of a first address of the plurality of first nodes or a second address of the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), wherein the first data or the second data is retrieved based on the calculated first address or the calculated second address (See Paragraphs 0103-0105).
Claim 33:
Woop discloses wherein the first address (See Paragraphs 0103-0105) of the plurality of first nodes is calculated based on an offset value of the first memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080) and a node identifier (ID) for each of the plurality of first nodes, and wherein the second address of the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is calculated based on a base address of the second memory and a node ID for each of the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376).
Claim 34:
Woop discloses perform, based on at least one of the first data or the second data (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), at least one of a ray triangle intersection for a plurality of internal nodes of the plurality of nodes or a ray box intersection for a plurality of leaf nodes of the plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376).
Claim 35:
Woop discloses wherein at least one of the first data or the second data (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is retrieved based on a node identifier (ID) for each of the plurality of nodes or a level ID for each level of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) in the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03806).
Claim 36:
Woop discloses wherein at least one of the first data or the second data (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is retrieved based on the hierarchy of the plurality of first nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), wherein the first memory is a graphics memory and the second memory is a system memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 37:
Woop discloses wherein to retrieve at least one of the first data or the second data (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), the at least one processor (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080) is configured to fetch at least one of the first data from the first memory or the second data from the second memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 38:
Woop discloses wherein the plurality of first nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is associated with a first amount of rays in a ray tracing process (See Paragraphs 0076; 0109-0111) for the plurality of primitives in the scene, and wherein the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) are associated with a second amount of rays in the ray tracing process, wherein the first amount of rays is different from the second amount of rays (See Paragraphs 0076; 0109-0111).
Claim 39:
Woop discloses wherein the hierarchy of the plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is associated with a node identifier (ID) for each of the plurality of nodes (See Paragraph 0505) and a level ID for each of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) in the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03807), wherein the plurality of first nodes corresponds to a first section of the plurality of levels (See Paragraphs 0084) and the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) corresponds to a second section of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313).
Claim 40:
Woop discloses wherein the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03808) is allocated based on the first section of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) and the second section of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313), and wherein each level of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) includes a different level ID compared to other levels of the plurality of levels (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313).
Claim 41:
Woop discloses wherein the plurality of first nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) corresponds to high level nodes (See Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) in the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03809) and the plurality of second nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) corresponds to low level nodes in the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-038010).
Claim 42:
Woop discloses wherein the high-level nodes include a root node (See Paragraphs 0334; 0335; 0337; 0468; 0470) in the BVH structure (See Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-038011) and the low-level nodes include a plurality of leaf nodes (See Paragraphs 0334; 0375-0376;0468; 0470).
Claim 43:
Woop discloses wherein the plurality of nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) includes a plurality of internal nodes and a plurality of leaf nodes (See Paragraphs 0334; 0375-0376;0468; 0470), wherein the plurality of internal nodes is associated with a plurality of bounding boxes for the plurality of primitives (See Paragraphs 0189; 0334; 0335), and wherein the plurality of leaf nodes (See Paragraphs 0334; 0375-0376;0468; 0470) is associated with the geometry data for the plurality of primitives (See Paragraphs 0189).
Claim 44:
Woop discloses wherein the first data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is equal to the identified amount of storage (See Paragraph 0485) in the first memory (See Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 45:
Woop discloses wherein the apparatus is a wireless communication device, the apparatus further comprising at least one of an antenna or a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (See Paragraph 0078).
Claim 46:
Claim 46 is rejected on the same basis as claim 1.
Claim 47:
Claim 47 is rejected on the same basis as claim 31.
Claim 48:
Claim 48 is rejected on the same basis as claim 32.
Claim 49:
Claim 49 is rejected on the same basis as claim 1.
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent No.: 11282260 discloses organizing a scene as a number of bounding volumes in a hierarchical data structure.
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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEREE N BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-4229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAID BROOME can be reached at (571) 272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHEREE N BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612 May 2, 2026
1 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
2 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
3 Paragraph 0485 recites “The size of the quantized BVH node 5510 can scale based on the width (e.g., number of children) stored in each node, with amount of storage used to store the child references and the bounding box values for the child nodes increasing with each additional node.”
4 Paragraph 0334 recites “top of the tree structure”.
5 Paragraph 0334 recites “top of the tree structure”.
6 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
7 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
8 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
9 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
10 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
11 The examiner notes it is implicit that the entire BVH structure is stored in system memory.
Prosecution Insights