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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/12/24 and 4/07/25 were considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 8/7/2024 have been accepted by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because they are directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 1 recites "predict, based on the first operating information, a time-to-ready (TTR) value that indicates an amount of time the data storage device will be at an operational state following a power loss recovery of the data storage device". The BRI of this limitation encompasses mental processes, wherein a human could predict a time mentally. Furthermore, the Instant Specification [0047] describes this prediction as being performed using a mathematical equation. Accordingly, the limitation falls under mental process as well as mathematical calculations. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
The additional elements, namely a memory, a controller coupled to the memory and configured to at least: obtain first operating information for a data storage device, the first operating information associated with a first time interval during operation of the data storage device do not integrate the invention into a practical application. The memory and the controller are generic computing components. The obtaining first information amounts to no more than insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of data gathering.
The additional elements, namely a memory, a controller coupled to the memory and configured to at least: obtain first operating information for a data storage device, the first operating information associated with a first time interval during operation of the data storage device do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. The memory and the controller are generic computing components. The obtaining first information amounts to no more than insignificant extra-solution activity in the form of data gathering, which is well-understood, routine and conventional as per MPEP 2106.05(d)(ii) - sending and receiving data over a network.
Accordingly, the claim is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claims 2-6 are rejected as having the same deficiencies as their parent claim.
Claim 7 is similarly rejected as Claim 1 wherein the abstract idea if recited as a predicting step.
Claims 8-11 are rejected as having the same deficiencies as their parent claim.
Claim 12 is similarly rejected as Claim 1 wherein the abstract idea if recited as a determining step.
Claims 13-15 are rejected as having the same deficiencies as their parent claim.
Claim 16 is similarly rejected as Claim 1 wherein the abstract idea if recited as a determining step.
Claims 17-19 are rejected as having the same deficiencies as their parent claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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 3-6, 9-12, 15-20 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.
Regarding Claims 3, 6, 9, 15, 18, the term “future service requirement” is subjective and lacks objective boundaries.
Regarding Claims 5, 6, 11, 12, 17, 20, the term “representation information” is functional but undefined thus making the scope unclear. It is not clear what this term refers to.
Regarding Claims 4-6, 10-11, 16-17, 19-20, the term referred to as “level” is ambiguous without structural or basic definition. Although the spec gives examples for this term it does not clearly define what is required of it or what the levels correspond to.
Regarding Claims 4, 10, 16, 19, the claimed “correspondence” renders the claim indefinite since the term is vague and the nature of the relationship is not defined.
All other dependent claims not addressed, if any, are rejected as having the same deficiencies as their corresponding parent claims.
Clarification is required. Claims will be examined as best understood in light of their 112 deficiencies.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dedrick [US 2019/0278498].
Claim 1, Dedrick discloses a method implemented by a configuration apparatus for generating a specification parameter of a solid-state drive (SSD) [Abstract], wherein the method comprises: collecting running status information of the SSD [receiving usage data from each of a plurality of solid state storage drives, Abstract], wherein the running status information indicates a running status of the SSD; generating a configuration command based on the running status information, wherein the configuration command comprises representation information of the specification parameter; and sending the configuration command to the SSD [predicting service life and adjusting available logical storage capacity, Abstract].
Claim 2, Dedrick discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the specification parameter of the SSD comprises at least one of drive writes per day (DWPD), data retention, a program/erase (P/E) count, or a capacity of over provisioning (OP) [wherein service life is an indication of data retention, Abstract].
Claim 3, Dedrick discloses the method of claim 2, wherein generating the configuration command comprises: obtaining a future service requirement for the specification parameter based on the running status information; and generating the configuration command based on the future service requirement, wherein the specification parameter meets the future service requirement [the predicted service life is an indication of the future service requirement as it is limited by the service life and adjusting available logical storage capacity based on the service life, Abstract].
Claim 4, Dedrick discloses the method of claim 3, further comprising configuring a level table comprising a plurality of levels, wherein each of the levels comprises a correspondence between at least two of the DWPD, the data retention, or the P/E count [par. 0035, performance level indication, use of lookup table].
Claim 5, Dedrick discloses the method of claim 4, wherein the representation information comprises a target level, and wherein generating the configuration command further comprises: obtaining the target level from the levels based on the future service requirement; and generating the configuration command based on the target level [see par. 0035-0037].
Claim 6, Dedrick discloses the method of claim 5, wherein the representation information further comprises a capacity of target OP and wherein the method further comprises: determining, based on the future service requirement, setting a level that corresponds to a maximum DWPD and that is of the at least two levels as the target level; reducing a capacity of current OP in the SSD based on the maximum DWPD to obtain the capacity of the target OP; and further generating, the configuration command based on the capacity of the target OP [see par. 0035-0037].
Claims 7-20 are rejected using the same rationale as that presented for claims 1-6 above, as best interpreted based on outstanding 112 deficiencies in the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Muthiah [US 2023/0401005]; Proactive Storage Operation Management Using Thermal States. See Abstract.
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/MIDYS ROJAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2133