DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is in reply to papers filed on 2025-01-12. Claims 1-29 are pending. Claims 1, 15, 20 is/are independent.
Information Disclosure Statement PTO-1449
The Information Disclosure Statement(s) submitted by applicant on 2024-08-12, 2025-01-12 has/have been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97. Form PTO-1449 signed and attached hereto.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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.
Claim(s) 29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. § 112 ¶ 2 (pre-AIA ) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
In claim 29 , the phrase "limiting a range of data memory addresses that can be accessed by an instruction based on an instruction tag associated with the instruction and data tags for the data within the range of data memory contains information" (emphasis added) makes the claims ambiguous and therefore indefinite. Because the underlined portion of the claim makes the claim grammatically unparsable, is leaves a person having ordinary skill in the art unable to determine what the Applicant does and does not regard as the invention. See Ex parte Kenichi Miyazaki, 89 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1207, *11 (BPAI 2008).
Summary of Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102
The following table summarizes the rejections set forth in detail below of the claims over the prior art.
Claim No.
DeHon '368
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Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of AIA 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.
(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.
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-29 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102 as being anticipated by U.S. Publication 20170177368 to DeHon et al. (hereinafter "DeHon '368"). DeHon '368 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2).
Per claim 1 (independent):
DeHon '368 discloses a secure processor (modified RISC processor 12 [DeHon '368 ¶ 0089])
DeHon '368 discloses an interface configured to receive an executable program comprising instructions and associated instruction tags (execution unit 18 is subject to policies embodied in tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0095-0096, 0082]; programmable unit for metadata processing (PUMP) processes tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0081]; enforces control flow integrity policies [DeHon '368 ¶ 0261, 0149, 0096, 0082]; current instruction (CI) tags are used to enforce execution policies [DeHon '368 ¶ 0096, 0082])
DeHon '368 discloses instruction execution hardware (execution unit 18 is subject to policies embodied in tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0095-0096, 0082])
DeHon '368 discloses tag processing hardware (execution unit 18 is subject to policies embodied in tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0095-0096, 0082]; programmable unit for metadata processing (PUMP) processes tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0081]; enforces control flow integrity policies [DeHon '368 ¶ 0261, 0149, 0096, 0082]; current instruction (CI) tags are used to enforce execution policies [DeHon '368 ¶ 0096, 0082])
DeHon '368 discloses configured to process information in the associated instruction tags to enforce at least one specific context-dependent behavior for a respective instruction during execution of the respective instruction (enforces control flow integrity policies [DeHon '368 ¶ 0261, 0149, 0096, 0082]; cache, memory are made wider to hold tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0094]; execution unit 18 is subject to policies embodied in tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0095-0096, 0082])
DeHon '368 discloses prevent unauthorized modifications of the instruction tags before, during and after execution (tags modified only according to rules [DeHon '368 ¶ 0156-0157])
Per claim 2 (dependent on claim 1):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses the interface is further configured to receive data and associated data tags, associated with at least one operand of a respective instruction (cache, memory are made wider to hold tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0094]; instruction tags, data tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0096]; caches [DeHon '368 ¶ 0109-0112, 0125])
DeHon '368 discloses each data tag contains information processed by the tag processing hardware, to selectively prevent operations involving an associated operand (privilege levels [DeHon '368 ¶ 0199-0202]; programmable unit for metadata processing (PUMP) processes tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0081]; current instruction (CI) tags are used to enforce execution policies [DeHon '368 ¶ 0096, 0082])
Per claim 3 (dependent on claim 2):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 2 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses the tag processing hardware is further configured to process information in the associated data tag to enforce at least one of access, use, and storage of respective data and selectively authorize modification of the associated data tag under control of the tag processing hardware and the executable program dependent on the associated instruction tags and the associated data tag, thereby permitting enforcement of context-specific behavior using associated instruction tags in conjunction with at least one data tag of an operand for the respective instruction (tags modified only according to rules [DeHon '368 ¶ 0156-0157]; instruction tags, data tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0096])
Per claim 4 (dependent on claim 3):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 3 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses the tag processing hardware is configured to write the contents of a processor register and a data tag associated with the processor register into a memory location when permitted by the information in the associated instruction tag associated with a respective instruction performing the write in conjunction with the data tag associated with the processor register and a data tag associated with the memory location that is written to by the respective instruction (tags control permission for reads/writes between memory and registers [DeHon '368 ¶ 0301, 0339, 0533])
Per claim 5 (dependent on claim 3):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 3 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses the tag processing hardware is configured to read the contents of a memory location and a data tag associated with the memory location into a processor register when permitted by the information in the associated instruction tag associated with a respective instruction performing the read in conjunction with a data tag associated with the memory location that is read to by the respective instruction (tags control permission for reads/writes between memory and registers [DeHon '368 ¶ 0301, 0339, 0533])
Per claim 6 (dependent on claim 2):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 2 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses information in the associated instruction tag, along with the data tags associated with operands cited in the instruction together determine whether the instruction is able to complete successfully (tags control permission for reads/writes between memory and registers [DeHon '368 ¶ 0301, 0339, 0533])
Per claim 7 (dependent on claim 2):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 2 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses information in the associated instruction tag along with the data tags associated a memory location targeted for use by the instruction together determine whether the instruction is able to complete successfully (tags control permission for reads/writes between memory and registers [DeHon '368 ¶ 0301, 0339, 0533])
Per claim 8 (dependent on claim 2):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 2 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses the instruction tag associated with an instruction allows the instruction to update (a) the data tag of the at least one operand in a register modified by the respective instruction, or (b) the data tag of a memory location accessed by the respective instruction, to indicate that final access on the operand has been completed (tags modified only according to rules [DeHon '368 ¶ 0156-0157]; instruction tags, data tags [DeHon '368 ¶ 0096])
Per claim 9 (dependent on claim 1):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses a range of data memory addresses that can be accessed by the instruction is limited by information in the associated instruction tag and a data tags associated with the memory location (tags control permission for reads/writes between memory and registers [DeHon '368 ¶ 0301, 0339, 0533])
Per claim 10 (dependent on claim 1):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses instruction tags are placed in a uniform-sized fields located at regular intervals within the executable code for the executable program (regularly placed, uniform tag sizes [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111]; a tag corresponds to an instruction [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111])
Per claim 11 (dependent on claim 10):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 10 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses a plurality of instruction tags within each field have a one-to-one correspondence to a plurality of instructions in the executable program and are adjacent to the field containing instruction tags (regularly placed, uniform tag sizes [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111]; a tag corresponds to an instruction [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111])
Per claim 12 (dependent on claim 11):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses a size of each field containing instruction tags and a placement interval of the field of instruction tags within the executable program are predetermined (regularly placed, uniform tag sizes [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111]; a tag corresponds to an instruction [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111])
Per claim 13 (dependent on claim 10):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 10 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses the fields appear at least once within a single cache line within an instruction cache closest to the secure processor (tag stored in cache line[DeHon '368 ¶ 0122-0123, 0563])
Per claim 14 (dependent on claim 1):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
DeHon '368 discloses instruction tags are placed in variable-sized fields placed within the executable program, with a plurality of instruction tags within each field having a one-to-one correspondence to a plurality of instructions in the executable program that are adjacent to the field, and wherein each field has information that indicates a size of the tag field and how the instruction tags correspond one-on-one to instructions adjacent to the field (variable tag sizes [DeHon '368 ¶ 0126]; ; a tag corresponds to an instruction [DeHon '368 ¶ 0111])
Per claim 15 (independent):
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 1 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 16 (dependent on claim 15):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 15 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 2 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 17 (dependent on claim 16):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 16 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 3 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 18 (dependent on claim 17):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 17 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 4 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 19 (dependent on claim 17):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 17 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 5 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 20 (independent):
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 1 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 21 (dependent on claim 20):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 20 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 3 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 22 (dependent on claim 21):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 21 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 4 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 23 (dependent on claim 21):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 21 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 5 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 24 (dependent on claim 21):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 21 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 6 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 25 (dependent on claim 21):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 21 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 8 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 26 (dependent on claim 20):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 20 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 12 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 27 (dependent on claim 20):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 20 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 13 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 28 (dependent on claim 20):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 20 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 14 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 29 (dependent on claim 20):
DeHon '368 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 20 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 9 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THEODORE C PARSONS whose telephone number is (571)270-1475. The examiner can normally be reached on MTWRF 7:30-4:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jung Kim can be reached on (571) 272-3804. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THEODORE C PARSONS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494