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 .
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
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 1-20 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.
Referring to claims 1-18, the recited “first redundancy ratio” is indefinite. The definition of what a “first redundancy ratio” is changes throughout the claims creating a lack of clarity on how to interpret the term. For example, data writing method claim 1 recites a “first redundancy ratio” as “a ratio of a first quantity of data bits comprising in the first to-be-written data to a second quantity of redundant bits comprised in the first redundant data.” However, claim 3 then recites that the “first redundancy ratio” is “based on a data memory space in the memory and an ECC memory space in the memory”. Claims 4 then recites the “first redundancy ratio” is “a ratio of a first size of the data memory space to a second size of the ECC memory space.” Claims 5-9 continue to define a “first redundancy ratio” differently than what independent claim 1 defines it as creating multiple definitions of “first redundancy ratio” since claims 3-9 are dependent on claim 1. Processing claims 11-18 have the same issue.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claims 2, 12, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The claims recite, “further comprising obtaining the first redundancy ratio corresponding to the memory”. This is not considered further limiting because the “first redundancy ratio” is inherently already “obtained” in independent claims 1, 11, and 19, otherwise the claimed “ECC encoding on the first to-be-written data based on a first codeword length to obtain redundant data” wouldn’t be possible since the “first codeword length is based on a first redundancy ratio corresponding to the memory”. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-5, 9, 11-15, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by US 2003/0037299 A1 to Smith (herein referred to as Smith).
Referring to claims 1, 11, and 19, Smith discloses a data writing method, processing system, and corresponding computer program product comprising: obtaining first to-be-written data to be written into a memory in a processing system (Figure 1, element 102 depicts an example of a payload to be written to memory); performing error correction code (ECC) encoding on the first to-be-written data based on a first codeword length to obtain first redundant data, wherein the first codeword length is based on a first redundancy ratio corresponding to the memory, and wherein the first redundancy ratio is a ratio of a first quantity of data bits comprised in the first to-be-written data to a second quantity of redundant bits comprised in the first redundant data ([0026-0029] describes multiple examples of codewords with different redundancy ratios, for example, 128 bit payload and 8 bit parity); obtaining a memory type of the memory ([0046] describes a determination module for the memory type to be identified by); and writing the first to-be-written data and the first redundant data into the memory based on the memory type (Figure 2 depicts a storage device that the data and redundant data is written to).
Referring to claims 2, 12, and 20, Smith discloses further comprising obtaining the first redundancy ratio corresponding to the memory (as previously explained, it is inherent that the first redundancy ratio would have to be “obtained” in order to the ECC encoding to work as claimed; Figure 5, ECC Library 510 stores the various ECC codes available that define redundancy ratios).
Referring to claims 3 and 13, Smith discloses wherein the first redundancy ratio is based on a data memory space in the memory and an ECC memory space in the memory (Figures 1 and 2 depict how the ratio between data and redundancy is dynamically configurable).
Referring to claims 4 and 14, Smith discloses further comprising using a ratio of a first size of the data memory space to a second size of the ECC memory space as the first redundancy ratio (Figures 1 and 2 depict how the ratio between data and redundancy is dynamically configurable as well as the memory space sizing for each type of data).
Referring to claims 5 and 15, Smith discloses wherein the first redundancy ratio is based on the data memory space, the ECC memory space, and an isolated memory space in the memory (Figure 7, step 724 depicts that memory space is mapped out, i.e. isolated as it becomes defective).
Referring to claims 9 and 18, Smith discloses wherein the first redundancy ratio is based on a reading of a recorded first redundancy ratio corresponding to the memory (Figure 5, ECC Library 510 stores the various ECC codes available that define a redundancy ratio).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Justin Knapp whose telephone number is (571)270-3008. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (ET).
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Justin R. Knapp
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2112
/JUSTIN R KNAPP/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2112
Prosecution Insights