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 § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 9, 12 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Chan, et al (US Patent No. 9,921,978 B1, hereinafter referred to as Chan).
Claim 9 is an independent claim and Chan discloses an operating method of a storage system, the operating method comprising:
providing, from a storage device (storage device 120, see FIG. 1, 3 and 4), a random value stored in a first buffer to a host (storage device transmits challenge message to data processing device (host as claimed), where the challenge message includes challenge data 420 that is based on…the random number (RN), col. 7, lines 48-52; first data store 332 that stores random number (RN) generated by the RNG 340, col. 7, lines 1-3, 37-39);
generating, in the host, a signature based on a first command and the random value (the data processing device 110 produces keying material 270 that is derivative of the key 265, col. 8, lines 21-28; the response message 450 includes information 460 based on both (i) the keying material (K) 270 and/or (ii) the return value (RV), col. 8, lines 30-32, the return value (RV) is equivalent to the random number (RN), col. 7, lines 66-67 and col. 8, line 1);
providing, from the host, the first command (access request message from the data processing device 110, col. 7, lines 45-46) and the signature to the storage device (data processing device 110 generates and transmits a response message 450, col. 8, lines 28-29);
storing, in the storage device, the signature in a second buffer (recover and/or temporarily store a return value 280 associated with the response data included in a response message sent from the data processing device in response to the challenge message, col. 7, lines 8-16);
verifying, in the storage device, the signature based on the random value (determine match between the return value (RV) and the random number (RN), col. 10, lines 8-16); and
executing, in the storage device, the first command based on a result of the verifying (if a match is determined between the return value (RV) and the random number (RN), the data processing device now has access to the stored content of the storage device in order to control operations of the storage device, col. 10, lines 4-16).
As per claim 12, claim 9 is incorporated and Chan further discloses further comprising: providing, in the storage device, the host with a request for the random value and the signature based on whether the signature corresponding to the first command exists in the second buffer (in the event that the data processing device 110 has not been authorized subsequent to the most recent random number generation, logic 415 within the storage device 120 generates a challenge message including the random number, col. 7, lines 45-56; the examiner notes that Chan’s lack of authorization for the most recent random number generation would mean that a challenge response message is not temporarily stored, showing “whether the signature corresponding to the first command exists in the second buffer” as claimed).
Claim 16 is an independent claim and Chan discloses a storage system comprising:
a storage device configured to provide a random value (storage device transmits challenge message to data processing device, where the challenge message includes challenge data 420 that is based on…the random number (RN), col. 7, lines 48-52; first data store 332 that stores random number (RN) generated by the RNG 340, col. 7, lines 1-3, 37-39), and, based on a received command and a signature (recover a return value 280 associated with the response data included in a response message sent from the data processing device in response to the challenge message for an access request, col. 7, lines 8-16; col. 6, lines 19-23), verify the signature (determine match between the return value (RV) and the random number (RN), col. 10, lines 8-16), and execute the command when verification is completed (if a match is determined between the return value (RV) and the random number (RN), the data processing device now has access to the stored content of the storage device in order to control operations of the storage device, col. 10, lines 4-16); and
a host configured to receive the random value (storage device transmits challenge message to data processing device, where the challenge message includes challenge data 420 that is based on…the random number (RN), col. 7, lines 48-52; first data store 332 that stores random number (RN) generated by the RNG 340, col. 7, lines 1-3, 37-39), generate the signature based on the random value and the command (data processing device 110 generates and transmits a response message 450, col. 8, lines 28-29; the response message 450 includes information 460 based on both (i) the keying material (K) 270 and/or (ii) the return value (RV), col. 8, lines 30-32, the return value (RV) is equivalent to the random number (RN), col. 7, lines 66-67 and col. 8, line 1; challenge process with response message is for an access request (see col. 6, lines 19-23 and col. 7, lines 45-49)), and provide the command (access request message, col. 7, lines 45-46) and the signature to the storage device (data processing device 110 generates and transmits a response message 450, col. 8, lines 28-29; response message transmitted to storage device, see FIG. 4 - 450).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-8 are allowed.
Claims 10-11, 13-15 and 17-20 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior arts, whether alone or in combination, fail to teach or suggest “in response to the verification being completed, delete the random value from the first buffer and execute the first command” as claimed in independent claim 1, when considered in conjunction with all other claimed limitations. Additionally, the prior arts, whether alone or in combination, fail to teach or suggest the entirety of the claimed subject matter in dependent claims 10, 13, 15 and 17, when considered in conjunction with all limitations of intervening claims. Claim 11 is allowable based at least on the incorporation of the subject matter of claim 10, claim 14 is allowable based at least on the incorporation of the subject matter of claim 13, and claims 18-20 are allowable based at least on the incorporation of the subject matter of claim 17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US Patent No. 11,714,561 B2 and Pub. No. US 2022/0019356 A1 – generally teach using random numbers for verifying commands for a storage device, but the random numbers are generated at the host, not at the storage device.
Pub. No. US 2022/0100425 A1 – generally teaches ordering of commands received from a host device for a storage device.
CN 113297071 A – generally teaches removing random variables after using the random variable to verify a target algorithm.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JONATHAN A BUI whose telephone number is (571)270-7168. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9AM - 530PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas R Taylor can be reached at (571) 272-3889. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JONATHAN A BUI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443