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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 now also recites the new limitation: “wherein the controller is further configured to receive, from a host processor, power consumption information indicating a total power consumption for a plurality of optimization engines controlled by the host computer, and to adjust the power consumption of the miner based on the power consumption information.”. This limitation appears to be stating that the total power consumption of the optimization engines are used to adjust the power consumption of the miner. There does not appear to be support for this feature in the specification.
The dependent claims are rejected by virtue of their dependence upon a rejected base claim.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitations “the miner’s concurrent power consumption”, “the power consumption of the miner” and the miner’s power consumption”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these terms in the claim. Further, it is unclear if all three of these terms are describing the same power consumption or three different ones.
Claim 1 recites the limitation “the rate”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for these terms in the claim.
Claim 1 now also recites the new limitation: “a controller configured to concurrently adjust a rate of executing hash functions (HR), and adjust the miner's power consumption to sustain a working point corresponding to the rate and the power consumption of the miner”. The working point power consumption that the controller is attempting to adjust too seems to be the current power consumption of the system. In other words, due to the issues recited in item 7 above, it is unclear exactly what the intended power consumption of the working point is.
Claim 1 now also recites the new limitation: “wherein the controller is further configured to receive, from a host processor, power consumption information indicating a total power consumption for a plurality of optimization engines controlled by the host computer, and to adjust the power consumption of the miner based on the power consumption information.”. This limitation appears to be stating that the total power consumption of the optimization engines are used to adjust the power consumption of the miner. It is unclear how this works. How does the power consumption of the optimization engines relate to the power consumption of the miner?
The dependent claims are rejected by virtue of their dependence upon a rejected base claim.
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 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 MICHAEL ALSIP whose telephone number is (571)270-1182. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/MICHAEL ALSIP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2136