CTNF 18/930,695 CTNF 83889 DETAILED ACTION This is in response to the application filed on October 29, 2024. A preliminary amendment was filed on December 28, 2024, canceling Claim 1 and adding Claims 2 – 21. Claims 2 – 21, of which Claims 2, 10, and 18 are in independent form, are presented for examination. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 statements (IDSs) submitted on December 28, 2024, January 8, 2025, January 10, 2025, January 12, 2025, January 14, 2025, January 16, 2025, January 17, 2025, and January 18, 2025 were filed before the mailing date of the current action. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 101 Analysis Claims 2, 10, and 18 are directed to encrypting data in direct memory access channels between a PCIe device and system memory. The claims do not recite an abstract idea, law of nature, or natural phenomenon. Therefore, the claims satisfy Step 2A, Prong One of the 2019 Revised 101 Patent Eligibility Guidelines as patent eligible subject matter. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. 07-34-01 Claims 5, 13, and 21 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. 07-34-03 AIA 1. The term “ substantially ” in claim 5, 13, and 21 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “ substantially ” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. The limitation “substantially at line speed” is indefinite . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-15 AIA Claim (s) 2 – 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102( a)(1 ) as being anticipated by PGPub. 2017/0220494 (hereinafter “Shacham”) . 2 Regarding Claims 2, 10, and 18 , Shacham discloses an apparatus [Fig. 1] comprising: a cryptographic controller interposed between a peripheral component interface express (PCIe) device and a system memory device [Abstract; Figs. 2, 4, 5]; and a programmable hardware key storage to store multiple keys to be used by the cryptographic controller to establish secure direct memory access (DMA) channels between the PCIe device and the system memory device [Fig. 2; Para. 0031, 0034]; wherein the cryptographic controller is to include key lookup logic to request at least one key of the multiple keys from the programmable hardware key storage, the cryptographic controller to use the at least one key to encrypt data packets transmitted to the PCIe device and decrypt encrypted data packets received from the PCIe device to produce decrypted data and provide the decrypted data to a memory subsystem corresponding to the system memory device [Figs. 4 and 5; Para. 0042, 0045]; wherein the cryptographic controller is to identify the at least one key of the multiple keys as a function of one or more of one or more identifier or address bits included in headers of one or more of the data packets [Figs. 4 and 5; Para. 0042, 0045]. 3. Regarding Claims 3, 11, and 19 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2, 10, and 18. Shacham further discloses that the PCIe device comprises a non-volatile memory express (NVMe) device and the system memory device comprises a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device [Para. 0023, 0029]. 4. Regarding Claims 4, 12, and 20 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2, 10, and 18. Shacham further discloses that (New) The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the NVMe further comprises a static access memory (SRAM) module [Para. 0005; SSD, HDD, USB storage, eMMC]. 5. Regarding Claims 5, 13, and 21 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2, 10, and 18. Shacham further discloses that the cryptographic controller is to encrypt and decrypt the data packets substantially at line speed [Figs. 4 and 5]. 6. Regarding Claims 6 and 14 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2 and 10. Shacham further discloses that the cryptographic controller one of encrypts or decrypts the data in the data packet as a function of one or more of Index bits of the data packet, a Logical Block Address (LBA) Offset of the data in the data packet, a physical address associated with the data in the data packet and LBA and/or file information [Figs. 4 and 5; Para. 0042, 0045]. 7. Regarding Claims 8 and 16 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2 and 10. Shacham further discloses that the cryptographic controller is to request multiple keys from the programmable hardware key storage, the cryptographic controller to use the multiple keys to establish the secure DMA channels between the PCIe device and the system memory device [Abstract; Figs. 4 and 5; Para. 0021, 0036-37, 0045]. 8. Regarding Claims 9 and 17 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2 and 10. Shacham further discloses that the cryptographic controller is to encrypt data packets using a first key of the multiple keys associated with a first entity, a second key of the multiple keys associated with a second entity, or a combination thereof [Abstract; Figs. 4 and 5; Para. 0021, 0036-37, 0045] . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 7 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shacham, in view of PGPub. 2019/0102577 (hereinafter “Gueron”) . 9. Regarding Claims 7 and 15 , Shacham discloses the limitations of Claims 2 and 10. Shacham, however, does not specifically disclose that the at least one key comprises a 256-bit key. Gueron discloses a system and method for encrypting and decrypting data within memory [Abstract]. Gueron further discloses that the keys can be 256-bit keys [Para. 0014]. It would have been obvious to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the current invention to incorporate the teachings of Gueron with Shacham since both systems provide cryptographic services for data stored in system memory. The combination enables the Shacham system to utilized 256-bit keys. The motivation to do so is to provide improved security with a relatively large key size (obvious to one skilled in the art) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. PGPub. 2017/0026171 . Contacts Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tae K. Kim, whose telephone number is (571) 270-1979. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday (10:00 AM - 6:30 PM EST). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jorge Ortiz-Criado, can be reached on (571) 272-7624. The fax phone number for submitting all Official communications is (703) 872-9306. The fax phone number for submitting informal communications such as drafts, proposed amendments, etc., may be faxed directly to the examiner at (571) 270-2979. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197 (toll-free). /TAE K KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/930,695 Page 2 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/930,695 Page 3 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/930,695 Page 4 Art Unit: 2496 Application/Control Number: 18/930,695 Page 5 Art Unit: 2496
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