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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 7-9, 11-13, 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YANG (CN 112306732 A), in view of Hoang (US 20210117257 A1)
Regarding Claim 1, YANG teaches:
A method of reporting a hardware fault, comprising: obtaining, by a computing device (YANG, [0001], The invention relates to the technical field of BIOS, especially relates to an automatic error correction control method in a server, a device, an electronic device and a computer readable storage medium.), at least a first threshold (Yang, Fig. 1, S102, [0043], wherein the time interval of the adjacent two error message is less than the preset interval time is regarded as continuous receiving.) and a second threshold (Yang, Fig. 1, S102, [0042], judging whether the continuously received error reporting message reaches the preset number based on the BIOS program) by using an algorithm (Yang, [0047], the error counting can be performed by the BIOS program) of an independent processing unit, (Yang, [0047], Whenever the CPU receives a fault, the error counting can be performed by the BIOS program)
determining, by the computing device based on the first threshold, that consecutive correctable errors (CEs) occur; (Yang, Fig. 1, S102, [0043], wherein the time interval of the adjacent two error message is less than the preset interval time is regarded as continuous receiving.)
counting, by the computing device, a quantity of the consecutive CEs; (Yang, Fig. 1, S102, [0042], judging whether the continuously received error reporting message reaches the preset number based on the BIOS program)
and stopping, by the computing device, a reporting of a CE interruption based on the quantity of the consecutive CEs and the second threshold, wherein the CE interruption is used to advertise an occurrence of an CE. (Yang, Fig. 1, S102->S103, [0049], closing the reporting function aiming at the correctable error. )
YANG does not explicitly teach:
wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are stored in the independent processing unit;
However, Hoang teaches:
wherein the first threshold and the second threshold are stored in the independent processing unit; (Hoang, Fig. 7, 710, Management Engine. [0045] Management engine 710 represents a processing element of information handling system 700 separate from the processor and from a service processor. Examiner's note: Threshold like 722 and 724 are stored inside the management engine)
Therefore, it would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to one of ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains to combine YANG with a management engine storing thresholds as taught by Hoang, to provide various warnings when the number of accumulated errors exceeds one or more of warning threshold 722 and critical threshold 724 (Hoang, [0046])
Regarding Claim 2, YANG in view of Hoang teaches:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, by the computing device, a third threshold by using the algorithm of the independent processing unit, (Yang, [0053], after the preset waiting time, restarting the reporting function of the correctable error, and continuing to receive the error-reporting message capable of correcting error from the hardware and subsequent steps thereof.)
wherein the third threshold is stored in the independent processing unit; (Hoang, Fig. 7, 710, Management Engine. [0045] Management engine 710 represents a processing element of information handling system 700 separate from the processor and from a service processor. Examiner's note: Threshold like 722 and 724 are stored inside the management engine, it would have been obvious to also store the third threshold from YANG (preset waiting time) inside the management engine)
and after the stopping, by the computing device, the reporting of the CE interruption based on the quantity of the consecutive CEs and the second threshold, the method further comprises: continuing, by the computing device, to report the CE interruption based on the third threshold and a duration for which the reporting of the CE interruption is stopped. (Yang, [0052] - [0053], As a specific embodiment, the automatic error correction control method in the server provided by the embodiment of the invention on the basis of the above content, after closing the reporting function of the correctable error, further comprising:after the preset waiting time, restarting the reporting function of the correctable error, and continuing to receive the error-reporting message capable of correcting error from the hardware and subsequent steps thereof. )
Regarding Claim 4, YANG in view of Hoang teaches:
The method according to claim 2, further comprising: obtaining, by the computing device, a fourth threshold by using the algorithm of the independent processing unit, (Yang, [0057], counting the closing times of the reporting function, so that when the closing time reaches the preset upper limit, locking the closing state of the reporting function.)
wherein the fourth threshold is stored in the independent processing unit; (Hoang, Fig. 7, 710, Management Engine. [0045] Management engine 710 represents a processing element of information handling system 700 separate from the processor and from a service processor. Examiner's note: Threshold like 722 and 724 are stored inside the management engine, it would have been obvious to also store the fourth threshold from YANG (the preset upper limit) inside the management engine)
and after the continuing, by the computing device, to report the CE interruption based on the third threshold and the duration for which the reporting of the CE interruption is stopped, the method further comprises: counting, by the computing device, a target quantity of times, (Yang, [0057], counting the closing times of the reporting function, so that when the closing time reaches the preset upper limit, locking the closing state of the reporting function.)
wherein the target quantity of times is a quantity of times of resuming the reporting of the CE interruption after the reporting of the CE interruption is stopped; (Yang, [0057], counting the closing times of the reporting function, so that when the closing time reaches the preset upper limit, locking the closing state of the reporting function. (Machine translated) Examiner's note: count of closing times = quantity of times of resuming the reporting for those cases)
and permanently prohibiting, by the computing device, the reporting of the CE interruption based on the target quantity of times and the fourth threshold. (Yang, [0057], counting the closing times of the reporting function, so that when the closing time reaches the preset upper limit, locking the closing state of the reporting function.)
Regarding Claim 5, YANG in view of Hoang teaches:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the computing device based on the first threshold, that consecutive CEs occur comprises: determining, by the computing device based on the first threshold by using a basic input output system (BIOS), that consecutive CEs occur; (Yang, Fig. 1, S102, [0042], judging whether the continuously received error reporting message reaches the preset number based on the BIOS program;)
and the stopping, by the computing device, the reporting of the CE interruption based on the quantity of the consecutive CEs and the second threshold comprises: stopping, by the computing device, the reporting of the CE interruption based on the quantity of the consecutive CEs and the second threshold by using the BIOS. (Yang, Fig. 1, S102->S103, [0042], judging whether the continuously received error reporting message reaches the preset number based on the BIOS program; if yes, entering S103. [0049] S103: closing the reporting function aiming at the correctable error.)
Regarding Claim 7, YANG in view of Hoang teaches:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the independent processing unit is any one of:an intelligent management unit (IMU), a management engine (ME), a BMC, or an OS. (Hoang, Fig. 7, 710, Management Engine. )
Regarding Claim 8,
The device of claim 8 performs the same method steps as the method of claim 1, and claim 8 is therefore rejected using the same rationale set forth above in the rejection of claim 1
YANG in view of Hoang further teaches:
a central processing unit (CPU) (Yang, [0047] Whenever the CPU receives a fault)
configured to store a basic input output system (BIOS) (Yang, [0047]the error counting can be performed by the BIOS program)
Regarding Claims 9 and 11,
The device of claims 9 and 11 performs the same method steps as the method of claims 2 and 4, and claims 9 and 11 are therefore rejected using the same rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 2 and 4
Regarding Claim 12,
The device of claim 12 performs the same method steps as the method of claim 1, and claim 12 is therefore rejected using the same rationale set forth above in the rejection of claim 1
YANG in view of Hoang further teaches:
a central processing unit (CPU) (Yang, [0047] Whenever the CPU receives a fault)
a storage chip configured to store a basic input output system (BIOS) or a baseboard management controller (BMC) chip (Yang, [0047]the error counting can be performed by the BIOS program. Examiner’s note: BIOS is stored by default on non-volatile memory chip.)
Regarding Claims 13, 15-17,
The device of claims 13, 15-17 performs the same method steps as the method of claims 2, 4-5 and 7, ands claims 13, 15-17 are therefore rejected using the same rationale set forth above in the rejection of claims 2, 4-5 and 7.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3, 6, 10, 14 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
YANG (CN 112306732 A): The invention claims an automatic error correction control method in server, device, electronic device and computer readable storage medium, the automatic error correction control method in the server comprises: receiving an error-reporting message from the hardware capable of correcting errors; judging whether the continuously received error reporting message reaches the preset number based on the BIOS program; wherein the time interval of the adjacent two error message is less than the preset interval time is regarded as continuous receiving; if so, closing the reporting function of the correctable error. The invention is based on BIOS technology, after identifying a lot of correctable error reporting, closing the reporting switch capable of correcting error, so as to stop error reporting, so as to reduce the blocking and downtime phenomenon under the operating system, effectively ensuring the stability of the system operation.
Hoang (US 20210117257 A1): An information handling system includes a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) coupled to a memory controller. The memory controller provides interrupts to a processor each time a read transaction from the DIMM results in a correctable read error. The processor instantiates a failure predictor that receives the interrupts, accumulates a count of the interrupts, and provides an error indication when the count exceeds an error threshold. In accumulating the count, the failure predictor increments the count each time the predictor receives a particular interrupt and decrements the count in accordance with an error leak rate. The error leak rate has a first value when a training coefficient for the DIMM is greater than a deviation threshold, and has a second value when the training coefficient for the DIMM is less than the deviation threshold.
HUANG (US 20190310908 A1): A method for controlling a correctable error reporting function and applicable to a server device is provided, including: receiving, by control unit, a plurality of first error messages sent by a first hardware component in which a plurality of correctable errors occurs in a plurality of hardware components; determining, by the control unit, according to the first error messages, error types of the errors occurring in the first hardware component; determining, by the control unit, whether the number of occurrences of the errors of the error types that occur in the first hardware component within first preset duration reaches a preset number of times; and if the determining result is yes, controlling, by the control unit, the first hardware component to stop performing an error reporting function corresponding to the first error type.
Guo (US 20250238298 A1): Embodiments described herein are generally directed to a software CE counter and leaky bucket for PCIe and CXL devices. In an example, when a burst of CEs exceeding an error threshold is reported by a PCIe or CXL device associated with a computer system, CE reporting for the device is disabled and a notification is issued to the BMC. Responsive to receipt of the notification, the BMC performs threshold-based error rate monitoring. An error counter is decremented by the BMC in accordance with a leak rate of a leaky bucket implemented by the BMC for the device. During periodic error monitoring performed by the BMC for new CEs logged by the device, the error counter is incremented when a new correctable error has been logged by the device since a prior error monitoring interval. Based on the error counter, the BMC distinguishes between persistent and temporal errors of the device.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to XINYUAN YU whose telephone number is (571)272-7140. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bryce Bonzo can be reached at 571-272-3655. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/XINYUAN YU/Examiner, Art Unit 2113 /BRYCE P BONZO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2113