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 07/06/2026.
This action has been made NON-FINAL.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 07/06/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/29/2026 is being considered by the examiner. A signed IDS is hereby attached.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant alleged the following: “However, Woop does not disclose any process of evaluating how much storage remains available in memory after data has been stored, nor any process of using that remaining availability to dynamically select a number of top level of nodes based on post- storage memory availability.” The examiner is not persuaded. In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., post- storage memory availability) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
The Applicant alleged the following: “In short, Woop in Figure 1, [0071], [0074], and [0076] does not disclose anything about determining, based on the amount of storage that is available in the first memory after the storage of the first data associated with the plurality of first nodes 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 in independent claims 1, 46, and 49.” The examiner is not persuaded. The examiner maintains Woop and LEE discloses the Applicant’s claim language. More specifically, LEE’s teachings in Figure 4; Figure 9B; Paragraphs 0028; 0139 discloses the Applicant’s claim language. Moreover, Paragraph 0139specifically recites the following “According to various embodiments, the state 910 of the storage resource of the first partition 232 may include information about the entire storage space and a remaining storage space. In this case, the state 910 of the storage resource of the first partition 232 may include at least one of an absolute value of the entire storage space and a remaining storage space (e.g., the entire storage space: 7664128 blocks, the remaining storage space: 3746 blocks) or a percentage value (e.g., a remaining storage space: 0.04%).” Moreover, Figure 4 of Lee discloses the Applicant’s claim language.
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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.
The Applicant alleged the following: “However, Woop fails to disclose or suggest evaluating the remaining storage space available in memory after data has been stored, and using this remaining storage space availability to help select the number of top levels for storage. In conclusion, Woop neither discloses nor suggests determin[ing, based on the amount of storage that is available in the first memory after the storage of the first data associated with the plurality of first nodes 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 Applicant is rehashing arguments already addressed above. Th examiner maintains the combination of Woop and Lee discloses “remaining storage space available in memory” in Figure 4; Figure 9B; Paragraphs 0028; 0139 of LEE. Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
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, 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.
Claim(s) 1 and 31-49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WOOP, US Patent Application Publication Number: US 20210287431 in view of LEE, US 20210004240.
Claim 1:
Woop discloses an apparatus for graphics processing (See WOOP Figure 1 & Abstract) but failed to specifically disclose an amount of storage in a first memory that is available for storing. Lee discloses this feature in Figure 4; Figure 9B; Paragraphs 0028; 0139.
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have further modified Woop by the teachings of LEE to enable improved storage of data by monitoring the available space (See LEE Abstract; Paragraphs 0002-0005). Additionally, both of the references teach features that are directed to analogous art and they are directed to the same field of endeavor, such as, graphic processing. This close relation between both references highly suggests an expectation of success.
As modified:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses the following:
a memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080);
and at least one processor coupled to the memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080) and configured to:
obtain a bounding volume hierarchy (BVH) structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03801) comprising a plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) and a plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), wherein the plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), comprises a plurality of first nodes and a plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), each of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) comprises at least one node of the plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), and the BVH structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03802) is associated with geometry data for a plurality of primitives in a scene (See WOOP Paragraphs 0123; 0334);
identify an amount of storage in a first memory that is available for storing (See LEE Figure 4; Figure 9B; Paragraphs 0028; 0139) at least some of the plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376; 0384-0386; 04853);
store, in the first memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080), first data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376);
determine, based on the amount of storage that is available (See LEE Figure 4; Figure 9B; Paragraphs 0028; 0139) in the first memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080) after the storage of the first data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) and on a hierarchy of the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), a number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) to store in the first memory (See WOOP Paragraphs 0264; 0334; 0337; 0375-03764);
and store, in the first memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080), second data associated with the number of top levels of the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0264; 0334; 0337; 0375-03765).
Claim 31:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses store second data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) and the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) in a second memory (See WOOP 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 WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 32:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses calculate (See WOOP 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 WOOP 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 WOOP Paragraphs 0103-0105).
Claim 33:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the first address (See WOOP Paragraphs 0103-0105) of the plurality of first nodes is calculated based on an offset value of the first memory (See F WOOP igure 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 WOOP 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 WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376).
Claim 34:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses perform, based on at least one of the first data or the second data (See WOOP 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 WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376).
Claim 35:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein at least one of the first data or the second data (See WOOP 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 WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) in the BVH structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03806).
Claim 36:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein at least one of the first data or the second data (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is retrieved based on the hierarchy of the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), wherein the first memory is a graphics memory and the second memory is a system memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 37:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein to retrieve at least one of the first data or the second data (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376), the at least one processor (See WOOP 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 WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 38:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is associated with a first amount of rays in a ray tracing process (See WOOP Paragraphs 0076; 0109-0111) for the plurality of primitives in the scene, and wherein the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP 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 WOOP Paragraphs 0076; 0109-0111).
Claim 39:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the hierarchy of the plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is associated with a node identifier (ID) for each of the plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraph 0505) and a level ID for each of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) in the BVH structure (See WOOP 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 WOOP Paragraphs 0084) and the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) corresponds to a second section of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313).
Claim 40:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the BVH structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03808) is allocated based on the first section of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) and the second section of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313), and wherein each level of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) includes a different level ID compared to other levels of the plurality of levels (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313).
Claim 41:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) corresponds to high level nodes (See WOOP Figure 43; Paragraphs 0312-0313) in the BVH structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-03809) and the plurality of second nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) corresponds to low level nodes in the BVH structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-038010).
Claim 42:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the high-level nodes include a root node (See WOOP Paragraphs 0334; 0335; 0337; 0468; 0470) in the BVH structure (See WOOP Figure 40; 42; 43; Paragraphs 0363, 0370, 0375, 0379-038011) and the low-level nodes include a plurality of leaf nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0334; 0375-0376;0468; 0470).
Claim 43:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the plurality of nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) includes a plurality of internal nodes and a plurality of leaf nodes (See WOOP 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 WOOP Paragraphs 0189; 0334; 0335), and wherein the plurality of leaf nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0334; 0375-0376;0468; 0470) is associated with the geometry data for the plurality of primitives (See WOOP Paragraphs 0189).
Claim 44:
The combination of Woop and Lee discloses wherein the first data associated with the plurality of first nodes (See WOOP Paragraphs 0337; 0375-0376) is equal to the identified amount of storage (See WOOP Paragraph 0485) in the first memory (See WOOP Figure 1; Paragraphs 0071-0080).
Claim 45:
The combination of Woop and Lee 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 WOOP 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.
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 September 18, 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