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 .
Claims 1 to 21 are presented for examination. The preliminary amendment filed 11-20-2024 canceled claim 1 and added new claims 2 to 21.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the information disclosure statement submitted on 11-20-2024 have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449).
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.
Claims 2, 7, 9, 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hamo et al. (USPAP 2016/0170824).
Claim 2, 9 and 16:
Hamo substantially teaches the claimed invention. Hamo teaches a system including a memory device (140) coupled to a host (110) via of an interconnect (130) wherein the memory device may include one or more integrated circuit (IC) die and any type of memory technology (see par. 00210). Hamo teaches that communication between the host and the memory is based on a UniProSM standard by way of a protocol stack (110) in host and a protocol stack (150) in the memory device (see par. 0023). Hamo teaches that the protocol stack comprises a physical layer, an adapter layer, a data link layer, a network layer and a transport layer (see fig. 1 and par. 0025 et seq.). Hamo teaches that the system communicates to the memory device one or more frames (132) via of the interconnect and through a processor to detect any errors associated with receiving the one or more frames (see par. 0026).
Hamo teaches that the protocol stack of the memory device may process packets from host to provide access to memory array (170) via operation of access logic (175) (see par. 0027). Hamo teaches that detection of error associated with the frame results in the generation of NAC message (134) and NAC message includes two components with the first component representing a negative acknowledgement and the second component comprising an error code or other identifier for the detected error (see par. 0027). Hamo teaches a memory device receiving a data frame from the host coupled to the memory device and that one or more data frames have a structure of a header portion and a payload portion (see fig. 5, par. 0030 and par. 0042).
Hamo teaches that the errors detected may relate to a format of the data frame, content of the data frame, and/or a state of hardware to receive or otherwise process the data frame. Hamo teaches that a frame evaluation logic, detects errors based on a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) information included in the data frame (see par. 0032). Hamo teaches that the errors detected are adapted for a UniProSM standard and that frame processing and generating may include operation specified in a UniProSM standard which comprises a set a physical layer, a physical adapter layer, a data link layer, a network layer, and a transport layer (see fig. 2 and par. 0033 et seq.).
Hamo teaches that the physical adapter indicates an error based on the received physical symbol, I.e., if a correct exception physical (PHY) symbol was received or a correct exception PHY symbol was received immediately after another exception PHY symbol (see par. 0039). Hamo teaches that when an error is detected, transmitting a NAC control frame that is generated by a frame generator (346) (see par. 0034). Hamo also teaches that the NAC message may include operations adapted from conventional UniProSM techniques such as communicating an identifier of an error type (see par. 0034). Hamo teaches that the frame generator may generate a NAC message that includes bot a value that classifies the NAC message as negative acknowledgement and an error identifier that specifies a particular type of error that is the cause of the NAC message (see par. 0035). Hamo teaches sending the NAC message from the memory device by frame generator to a host via of MPHY Tx (332) (see par. 0035).
Hamo fails to teach or fairly suggest or render obvious the combination of elements with the novel element of “determining an error condition associated with a set of layers of a protocol stack based at least in part on the data payload of the data frame;” however, this teaching is obvious to the teachings of Hamo because Hamo teaches a method for quickly identifying errors of transmitted data communicated between a memory device and a host based on a protocol stack utilizes determining a type of error based on the format of the data frame.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the apparatus having circuitry that sends a NAC message from a memory device to a host when an error is detected of Hamo to include the limitation of “determining an error condition associated with a set of layers of a protocol stack based at least in part on the data payload of the data frame” because Hamo teaches a method and an apparatus for error handling to quickly identify any problems of the transmitted data are based on the detection of errors due to a format of the data frame as well as adapted for the UniProSM standard that supports a protocol stack. This modification would have been obvious because a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ a method and an apparatus for error handling that utilizes the UniProSM standards that supports communication NAC messages based on the types of errors detected to quickly identify errors in the transmitted data as taught by Hamo (see par. 0019 et seq.).
As per claims 7 and 14, Hamo teaches that the protocol stack is based on a UniPro SM standard (see par. 0024).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3 to 6, 8, 10-13, 15, and 17 to 21 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pan et al. (USPAP 2023/0291688) discloses a data transmission method and electronic device.
Radulescu (WO 2012052487 A1) discloses a system and method for high-speed serial communication transceiver.
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/Shelly A Chase/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2112