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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on December 18, 2024 and November 25, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the Examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 17-20 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 17, line 2: remove “is transmitted”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-8 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Park (US# 2023/0402071).
Regarding claim 1, Park teaches a storage device comprising: a storage controller configured to transmit a command and an address with a command/address line separated from a data line [0050, lines 1-4; see also 0156, lines 1-7 and Figure 4 for bus lines]; and a nonvolatile memory device (110) [0140, lines 1-3] configured to sense read data and reliability data from a memory area corresponding to the address and to transmit the read data and the reliability data to the storage controller [0109, lines 1-8], wherein the storage controller is configured to transmit a setting signal associated with controlling output of the reliability data to the nonvolatile memory device using the command/address line [0109, lines 8-25; also setting signal may be interpreted as previous address or command signal that reads parity bit, as setting signal is not claimed to be separate and distinct from command for reading data and reliability data] [Also, claim language of “command/address line” and “data line” does not preclude each line from transmitting command/address/data as the claims do not specify that a specific line only transmits a certain type or types of data].
Regarding claim 2, Park teaches wherein the nonvolatile memory device is configured to transmit the reliability data to the storage controller via the command/address line [from parity bit 0109, lines 8-11].
Regarding claim 3, Park teaches wherein the read data is hard-decision data associated with the memory area [0111, lines 1-3], and the reliability data is soft-decision data corresponding to the memory area [0113. Lines 1-9].
Regarding claim 4, Park teaches wherein the reliability data corresponds to compressed data of the soft-decision data [0043, lines 1-4].
Regarding claim 5, Park teaches, wherein the setting signal includes at least one of a start signal, a compression rate change signal [0223, lines 1-3 and 17-22], and an end signal, the start signal, the compression rate change signal, and the end signal associated with compressing the soft-decision data.
Regarding claim 6, Park teaches wherein the nonvolatile memory device comprises a compression circuit configured to perform a compression operation on the soft-decision data in response to the setting signal [0043].
Regarding claim 7, Park teaches wherein the storage controller is configured to transmit the command or the address in the form of a packet [0033] including a header part and a body part, respectively [while not explicitly recited, transmission packets are well known to include header and body portions, including various other portions such as footer].
Regarding claim 8, Park teaches wherein a bit value of the header part (address) is defined according to a transmission direction of data transmitted to the command/address line [read address defines ‘transmission direction” by way of which memory is selected for data retrieval].
Regarding claim 16, Park teaches operating method of a nonvolatile memory device, comprising: receiving a command and an address requesting soft-decision data through a command/address line separated from a data line [0036, lines 1-5; each bus line may send any type of data as the lines have not been claimed to have exclusive data types, as argued supra]; sensing a memory area corresponding to the command and the address to generate the soft-decision data and hard-decision data; and transmitting at least one of the soft-decision data or the hard-decision data to a storage controller in response to a start signal (read command) provided through the command/address line [0036 & 0061; decision data read from memory, loaded into cache, and sent to host via controller.
Regarding claim 17, Park teaches wherein the memory device transmits the soft-decision data is transmitted to the storage controller via the command/address line, and the hard-decision data is transmitted via the data line [as noted above, the two “lines” have not been claimed to only carry specific types of data, and therefore may send command, address, and r/w data; 0058, 0061].
Regarding claim 18, Park teaches, further comprising: compressing the soft-decision data [0043, lines 1-4].
Regarding claim 19, Park teaches: receiving a compression ratio change signal associated with adjusting the compression ratio of the soft-decision data from the storage controller via the command/address line [0223, lines 1-3 and 17-22].
Regarding claim 20, Park teaches wherein the receiving the command or the address includes receiving the command or the address in the form of a packet via the command/address line [0033].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-14 are allowed over the prior art of record
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Brian R. Peugh whose telephone number is (571) 272-4199. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:30am to 3:30pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Rocio Del Mar Perez-Velez, phone number 571-270-5935, can be reached. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 703-872-9306.
Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist whose telephone number is 571-272-2100.
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/BRIAN R PEUGH/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2133