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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 3/17/2026 have been accepted. Claims 1-19 are still pending. Claims 1 is amended.
Specification
The abstract of the disclosure is objected to because the abstract is a recitation of the claims. The claims themselves are the legal bounds and legal description of the invention. The use of the legal phraseology of the claims should be avoided when writing the abstract. The abstract itself should be a short and concise summarization of the invention in its entirety, or at least the key features of the invention that can be summarized in the allotted space. Correction is required. See MPEP § 608.01(b).
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1-19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-17 of U.S. Patent No. 12,169,639. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the independent claims of the instant application are broader method and system claim versions of those presented in the patent and the dependent claims are either the same as those in the patent or cover material that would still fall under the coverage of the patent.
Instant Application
Patent
1. (Currently Amended) A method for managing data between a host and a storage device comprising: receiving a read command from a host, wherein the read command specifies to read first data that is to be read from non-volatile storage memory of the storage device, and wherein the read command specifies a Compute Function (CF) to be performed with the first data read from the non-volatile storage memory; in response to receiving the read command, reading the first data from the non-volatile storage memory and performing the CF using the first data read from the non-volatile storage memory and second data obtained from a storage that is external to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device to determine a computation result; and transferring the computation result to the host.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, before transferring the computation result, storing the computation result in a drive buffer of the storage device that is separate from the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second data is obtained from a bus-addressable memory, and wherein the command includes a physical address of the bus-addressable memory.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the bus-addressable memory is in the host.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the bus-addressable memory is in another storage device.
17. A method, comprising: receiving, by a controller of a storage device, a command from a host to read data from or write data to non-volatile storage of the storage device, wherein the read or write command contains a set of parameters including: an identification of a Compute Function (CF), locations of first and second data for the CF, an address type for one or both of the locations of the first and second data, wherein the address type is configured to specify that one or both of the locations is either a bus-addressable physical memory or the non-volatile storage memory, and first and second numbers of logical blocks of the first and second data, respectively, wherein the first and second numbers of logical blocks for the data for the CF are different; in response to receiving the command, performing, by the controller, the CF using the first and second data, wherein at least one of the first and second data comprises internal data stored in the storage device or external data transferred from the host to determine a computation result; storing the computation result in a drive buffer of the storage device that is separate from the non-volatile storage; and transferring data between the drive buffer and the host in accordance with the command.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the second data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the internal data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the CF comprises one of a database query language function, a Reed-Solomon or Erasure coding operation, a data encryption operation, or a database stable operation.
2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the CF comprises one of an mathematical or arithmetic operation, a logical operation, a Boolean operation, a bitwise operation, a compare operation, a string operation, a database query language function, a Reed-Solomon or Erasure coding operation, a data encryption operation, or a database stable operation; the mathematical or arithmetic operation comprises one or more of: add, subtract, multiply, divide or Galois field (GF); the logical operation comprises one or more of: AND, OR, NAND, NOR, NOT or XOR; the Boolean operation comprises one or more of: AND, OR, or XOR; the bitwise operation comprises one or more of: logical shift, arithmetic shift, or rotate; the compare operation comprises one or more of: greater than, less than, or not equal to; the string operation comprises one or more of a copy, find, or compare; and the database query language function comprises one or more of: AVG( ), FIRST( ), LAST( ), MAX( ), MIN( ), and SUM( ).
8. A method for managing data between a host and a storage device comprising: receiving a command from a host to write first data to non-volatile storage memory of the storage device, wherein the command specifies a Compute Function (CF) to be performed with the first data; in response to receiving the command, performing the CF using the first data and second data obtained from a storage that is external to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device to determine a computation result; and transferring the computation result to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising, before transferring the computation result, storing the computation result in a drive buffer of the storage device that is separate from the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the second data is obtained from a bus-addressable memory, and wherein the command includes a physical address of the bus-addressable memory.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the bus-addressable memory is in the host.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the bus-addressable memory is in another storage device.
17. A method, comprising: receiving, by a controller of a storage device, a command from a host to read data from or write data to non-volatile storage of the storage device, wherein the read or write command contains a set of parameters including: an identification of a Compute Function (CF), locations of first and second data for the CF, an address type for one or both of the locations of the first and second data, wherein the address type is configured to specify that one or both of the locations is either a bus-addressable physical memory or the non-volatile storage memory, and first and second numbers of logical blocks of the first and second data, respectively, wherein the first and second numbers of logical blocks for the data for the CF are different; in response to receiving the command, performing, by the controller, the CF using the first and second data, wherein at least one of the first and second data comprises internal data stored in the storage device or external data transferred from the host to determine a computation result; storing the computation result in a drive buffer of the storage device that is separate from the non-volatile storage; and transferring data between the drive buffer and the host in accordance with the command.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the second data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the internal data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
14. A storage device comprising: a non-volatile storage memory; and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to: receive a command from a host to write first data to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device, or read first data from the non-volatile storage device, wherein the command specifies a Compute Function (CF) to be performed with the first data; in response to receiving the command, perform the CF using the first data and second data obtained from a storage that is external to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device to determine a computation result; if the command is to write the first data, transfer the computation result to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device; and if the command is to read the first data, transfer the computation result to the host.
15. The storage device of claim 14, further comprising a drive buffer that is separate from the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device, wherein before transferring the computation result, the controller is configured to store the computation result in the drive buffer.
16. The storage device of claim 14, wherein the second data is obtained from a bus-addressable memory, and wherein the command includes a physical address of the bus-addressable memory.
17. The storage device of claim 16, wherein the bus-addressable memory is in the host.
18. The storage device of claim 16, wherein the bus-addressable memory is in another storage device.
16. A storage device, comprising: a non-volatile storage; and a controller having a drive buffer separate from the non-volatile storage and a processor configured to: receive a command from a host to read data from or write data to the non-volatile storage, wherein the read or write command contains a set of parameters including: an identification of a Compute Function (CF), locations of first and second data for the CF, an address type for one or both of the locations of the first and second data, wherein the address type is configured to specify that one or both of the locations is either a bus-addressable physical memory or the non-volatile storage memory, and first and second numbers of logical blocks of the first and second data, respectively, wherein the first and second numbers of logical blocks for the data for the CF are different; in response to receiving the command, perform the CF using the first and second data, wherein at least one of the first and second data comprises internal data stored in the storage device or external data transferred from the host to determine a computation result; store the computation result in the drive buffer; and transfer data between the drive buffer and the host in accordance with the command.
19. The storage device of claim 16, wherein the second data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the internal data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
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 1-3, 5, 8-10, 12, 14-16, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piszczek et al. (US Patent 9,092,152, hereafter referred to as Piszczek) in view of Kim et al. (US PGPub 2017/0220410, hereafter referred to as Kim).
Regarding claim 1, Piszczek teaches a method for managing data between a host and a storage device comprising: receiving a read command from a host wherein the read command specifies first data that is to be read from non-volatile storage memory of the storage device (Abstract, states that a read or write command can be received that has control bits that identify a computational operation (compute function) to be performed. Col. 3, lines 38-47, states that the commands can come from a host), and wherein the read command specifies a Compute Function (CF) to be performed with the first data read from the non-volatile storage memory (Col. 3, lines 34-37, states the external memory can be flash memory. Col. 4, line 58-Col. 5 line 14, describes processing a read request which involves retrieving data from the external flash memory and performing the computational operation on it), in response to receiving the read command, reading the first data form the non-volatile storage memory and performing the CF using the first data read from the non-volatile storage memory and second data obtained from a storage that is external to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device to determine a computation result (Col. 4, line 58-Col. 5 line 14, state that when a read command is received the computational operation can be determined and the result can be written to memory. While not explicitly stated that data from another memory is used, Col. 5, lines 1-4, states the operations can be add, subtract multiply, and divide which are operations that require an additional piece of data to be used in conjunction with the data read from the non-volatile memory. Since Piszczek teaches operations that require two pieces of data and data that can be external to the non-volatile memory being used for an operation (Col. 4, lines 33-54, in the description of a write command) one of ordinary skill would recognize that the additional data for an operation specified in a read command can come from a storage that is external to the non-volatile memory). Piszczek does not teach transferring the computation result to the host.
Kim teaches and transferring the computation result to the host (Paragraph [0089], states the computation result can be sent to the host). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Piszczek to use the RAID protocol of Kim so as to select the most efficient mode from a plurality of recovery modes (Kim, Paragraph [0105]).
Regarding claim 2, Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claim 1. Piszczek further teaches before transferring the computation result, storing the computation result in a drive buffer of the storage device that is separate from the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device (Col. 4, lines 33-47, as stated in the rejection to claim 1, the data in the write command and data retrieved from the external memory can be placed in buffers which are separate from the external memory). The combination of and reason for combining are the same as those given in claim 1.
Regarding claim 3, Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claim 1. Piszczek further teaches wherein the second data is obtained from memory (Col. 4, lines 33-45, as the data in the write command has to be stored in a memory to begin with it means it has be obtained from a memory), a bus-addressable memory (Col. 8, lines 24-29, states the memory is bus-addressable), and wherein the command includes a physical address of the bus-addressable memory (Col. 9, lines 16-29, show that the commands include a physical address for the bus-addressable memory). Since Piszczek and Kim teach both obtaining the second data from memory and bus-addressable memory It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the memory that the second data is in with a bus-addressable memory to obtain the predictable result of wherein the second data is obtained from a bus-addressable memory.
Regarding claim 5, Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claim 3. Piszczek further teaches wherein the bus-addressable memory is in another storage device (Col. 4, lines 33-45, since the second data comes from a memory device at the host it means it is in another storage device). The combination of and reason for combining are the same as those given in claim 1.
Regarding claim 8-10 and 12, claims 8-10 and 12 are the method claims associated with claims 1-3 and 5. Since Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claims 1-3 and 5 and Piszczek further teaches receiving a command from a host to write first data to non-volatile storage memory of the storage device and transferring the computation result to the non-volatile storage memory of the storage device (Abstract and Col. 4, lines 33-47 as stated in the rejection to claim 1), they also teach all the limitations to claims 8-10 and 12; therefore the rejections to claims 1-3 and 5 also apply to claims 8-10 and 12.
Regarding claims 14-16 and 18, claims are the device claims associated with claims associated with claims 1-3, 5, 8-10, and 12. Since Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations of claims and Piszczek further teaches a non-volatile memory and a controller (Fig. 9 shows the flash memory and controllers), they also teach all the limitations 14-16 and 18; therefore the rejections to claims 1-3, 5, 8-10, and 12 also apply to claims 14-16 and 18.
Claims 4, 11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piszczek and Kim as applied to claims 3, 10, and 16 above, and further in view of Chiang et al. (US PGPub 2017/0228302, hereafter referred to as Chiang).
Regarding claim 4, Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claim 3. Piszczek and Kim do not teach wherein the bus-addressable memory is in the host.
Chiang teaches wherein the memory is in the host (Fig. 1 and Paragraph [0017], shows a host system with multiple different memories). Since both Piszczek/Kim and Chiang teach the use of multiple memories It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the location of the bus-addressable memory of Piszczek and Kim to be in the host as taught in Chiang to obtain the predictable result of wherein the bus-addressable memory is in the host (as all this does is specify the location).
Regarding claim 11, claim 11 is the method claim associated with claim 4. Since Piszczek, Kim, and Chiang teach all the limitations of claim 4, they also teach all the limitations of claim 11; therefore the rejection to claim 4 also applies to claim 11.
Regarding claim 17, is the device claim associated with claim 4. Since Piszczek, Kim, and Chiang teach all the limitations of claim 4 and Piszczek further teaches a non-volatile memory and a controller (Fig. 9 shows the flash memory and controllers), they also teach all the limitations to claim 17; therefore the rejection to claim 4 also applies to claim 17.
Claims 6 , 13, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piszczek and Kim as applied to claims 1, 8, and 14 above, and further in view of Wang et al. (US PGPub 2021/0096816, hereafter referred to as Wang).
Regarding claim 6, Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claim 1. Piszczek and Kim do not teach wherein the second data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
Wang teaches wherein the second data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device (Paragraph [0040], states that one of the parameters can be a coefficient that is part of a lookup table). Since both Piszczek/Kim and Wang teach internal data it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the data of Piszczek and Kim with that of Wang to obtain the predictable result of wherein the internal data comprises coefficient data stored in a coefficient table of the storage device.
Regarding claim 13, claim 13 is the method claim associated with claim 6. Since Piszczek, Kim, and Wang teach all the limitations of claim 6, they also teach all the limitations of claim 13; therefore the rejection to claim 6 also applies to claim 13.
Regarding claim 19, is the device claim associated with claim 6. Since Piszczek, Kim, and Wang teach all the limitations of claim 6 and Piszczek further teaches a non-volatile memory and a controller (Fig. 9 shows the flash memory and controllers), they also teach all the limitations to claim 19; therefore the rejection to claim 6 also applies to claim 19.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Piszczek and Kim as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Raghava et al. (US PGPub 2019/0108145, hereafter referred to as Raghava).
Regarding claim 7, Piszczek and Kim teach all the limitations to claim 1. Piszczek and Kim do not teach wherein the CF comprises one of a database query language function, a Reed-Solomon or Erasure coding operation, a data encryption operation, or a database stable operation.
Raghava teaches wherein the CF comprises one of a database query language function, a Reed-Solomon or Erasure coding operation, a data encryption operation, or a database stable operation (Paragraphs [0045] and [0051], states that some of the functions can be encryption). Since both Piszczek/Kim and Raghava teach the use of compute functions it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the compute functions of Piszczek and Kim with those of Raghava to obtain the predictable result of wherein the CF comprises one of a database query language function, a Reed-Solomon or Erasure coding operation, a data encryption operation, or a database stable operation.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 3/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant argues that the references, particularly Piszczek, do not teach the amended limitations to claim 1. The examiner respectfully disagrees. As stated in the rejection to claim 1, the operations that can be specified in the read command can be add, subtract, multiply, and divide, which require two pieces of data to perform. Since Piszczek teaches operations that require two pieces of data and data that can be external to the non-volatile memory being used for an operation (Col. 4, lines 33-54, in the description of a write command) one of ordinary skill would recognize that the additional data for an operation specified in a read command can come from a storage that is external to the non-volatile memory. Therefore the rejections still hold.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/NICHOLAS A. PAPERNO/Examiner, Art Unit 2132
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