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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
1. 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.
2. The claims are generally narrative and indefinite, failing to conform with current U.S. practice. They appear to be a literal translation into English from a foreign document and are replete with grammatical and idiomatic errors. In claim 1, 11, the applicant claimed: “each having replica cells arranged in a direction and number according to the direction and number in which memory cells performing MAC operations together in a Computer-In-Memory (CIM) cell array are arranged.”
“…arranged in a direction and number according to the direction and number..” really doesn’t make sense. Please correct and fix.
Allowable Subject Matter
3. Claims 1-20 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
4. With respect to independent claims 1, there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to a refresh determination module that compares voltage levels of signals output from each of the plurality of replica MAC arrays with MAC operation results according to weights stored in replica cells of the plurality of replica MAC arrays and activates a refresh enable signal for refreshing memory cells of the CIM cell array.
5. With respect to dependent claims 2-10, since these claims are depending on claim 1, therefore claims 2-10 are allowable subject matter.
6. With respect to independent claims 11, there is no teaching, suggestion, or motivation for combination in the prior art to a refresh determination module that compares voltage levels of signals output from each of the plurality of replica MAC arrays with MAC operation results according to weights stored in replica cells of the plurality of replica MAC arrays and activates a refresh enable signal for refreshing memory cells of the CIM cell array.
7. With respect to dependent claims 12-20, since these claims are depending on claim 11, therefore claims 12-20 are allowable subject matter.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure, Zheng et al (US patent 10,978,134).
Zheng et al (US patent 10,978,134) shows multiply accumulate array and refresh enable.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Han Yang whose telephone is (571) 270-3048. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8am-5pm with alternate Friday off. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Richard Elms can be reached on (571) 272-1869. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is (571) 273-8300.
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). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
HY
07/10/2026
/HAN YANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2824
Prosecution Insights