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 .
This is a response to the amendment, filed 1/24/26.
Claims 1, 3-5, 10-11, 13-15, and 20 remain pending.
Response to Amendment/Argument
Applicant has amended the claims with new limitations, changing the scope of the claimed invention. The office action has been modified to address the new claims.
Applicant's arguments filed 1/24/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the prior art does not include a namespace information in the instruction. This argument is not persuasive. Applicant’s argument using Fig. 4 only applies to access of a namespace over a remote network. Access to a namespace in the local network (i.e. access to local NVM NS 1-1 or 1-2; Fig. 1) does not require steps in Fig. 4. For access to local namespace: [0047] “… NVMe controllers 112A, 112B receive from their host CPUs (e.g., CPU A, CPU B) NVMe commands directed to their local NVMe namespaces (e.g., NVM NS 1-1 and NVM NS 1-2, or NVM NS 2-1 and NVM NS 2-2) and provide the CPUs the I/O access to their local namespaces”.
For access over the remote network, the NVMoe protocol is used to transmit the NVMe command over the external network switch [0048]. [0049] “To achieve this, the extended NVMe controller 112 converts the NVMe commands directed to a remote namespace into a format suitable for transmission over the external network so that the commands can be transmitted to another extended NVMe controller 112 locally coupled (such as coupled via a local storage interface) to the remote namespace.”
NVME controller 112A schedules and execute commands: [0068] “The extended NVMe controller 112 can also include a scheduling and arbitration logic module (or a scheduler and arbiter) that will schedule 410 administrative (Admin) and input/output (I/O) submission queues for processing and transmission of the received commands and/or data.” Therefore, it is maintained that the prior art cited does teach the instruction including a namespace identifier (when access the local namespaces) to perform instruction scheduling, each namespace identifier corresponds to a set of logical addresses, and at the host side, logical addresses are applied to make access requests to the non-volatile memory (each namespace NSID map to a MAC address to access store devices; 0047, 0052-0055).
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.
Claim(s) 1, 3-5, 10-11, 13-15, and 20 are is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Huang (US20150378606).
As to claim 1, 11:
Huang teaches a data storage device (storage device; 0056-0059), associated method of operation (0018, 0042, 0044, 0067), comprising:
a non-volatile memory (NVME; 0003, 0008-0016); and
a controller (NVME controller; 0009-0017), coupled to the non-volatile memory , and configured to operate the non-volatile memory in response to requests from host side, wherein; the controller has an instruction cache, operative to cache instructions issued from the host side (buffer pool/storage to store NVME commands received from host; 0072, 0097, 0006, 0011, 0044, 0046-0048); and
based on information carried by the instructions, the controller schedules and executes the instructions to operate the non-volatile memory (for access local name spaces NVM NS 1-1/2, NVME controller 112A schedules and execute commands; 0067-0069, 0043; based on priority; 0069; [0068] “The extended NVMe controller 112 can also include a scheduling and arbitration logic module (or a scheduler and arbiter) that will schedule 410 administrative (Admin) and input/output (I/O) submission queues for processing and transmission of the received commands and/or data.”).
Huang teaches the information carried by each instruction includes a namespace identifier (local namespace NVM NS 1-1 and 1-2 each has a separate namespace ID; [0049] “Typically, an NVMe controller has a 64-bit host identifier (HSID) and an NVMe namespace has a 32-bit namespace identifier”; an NVMe instruction to local namespace NVM NS 1-1 would have that as the namespace identifier; 0047, 0049); and each namespace identifier corresponds to a set of logical addresses, and at the host side, logical addresses are applied to make access requests to the non-volatile memory (each namespace NSID map to a MAC address to access store devices in local namespace; 0047, 0052-0055); host can be on same side as the local namespace and NVMe controller: [0056] “In one embodiment, a host and storage device share the same MAC address and the same physical port on an extended NVMe controller. For example, both a host and a storage device may be coupled to the same NVMe controller, which has a single Ethernet MAC interface. In such a case, the host and storage device share the same MAC address.”
As to claim 3, 13:
Huang teaches the different namespace identifiers correspond to the different priority levels (command include namespace ID, each associated with a priority level; 0069); and the controller first executes instructions with a higher priority namespace identifier in the instruction cache before executing instructions with a lower priority namespace identifier in the instruction cache (commands with higher priority are fetched and executed before commands with lower priority; 0069).
As to claim 4, 8, 14:
Huang teaches the different namespace identifiers correspond to the different processing bandwidths (namespace ID associated with command identifies size/length of command; 0073).
As to claim 5, 9, 15:
Huang teaches during a first time interval, the controller prioritizes executing instructions with a first namespace identifier in the instruction cache; and during a second time interval, the controller prioritizes executing instructions with a second namespace identifier in the instruction cache (commands with higher priority are fetched and executed first before commands with lower priority are fetched and executed; 0069).
As to claim 10, 20:
Huang teaches the information carried by each instruction includes a function identifier defined for device virtualization (CMD_ID identify command with I/O virtualization; 0054, 0073, 0076); and the different information of namespace and function combinations correspond to the different priority levels or processing bandwidths for the controller to schedule execution of the instructions (commands have associated priority levels; commands with higher priority are fetched and executed before commands with lower priority; 0069).
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAN NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-4198. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am -4:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Tim Vo can be reached at (571)272-3642. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/THAN NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2138