Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 23, 2026
Application No. 19/086,283

Handling of Busyness Indications by a Node of an Integrated-Circuit Data Processing Apparatus

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 21, 2025
Priority
Mar 05, 2025 — EU 25300011.1
Examiner
SHIU, HO T
Art Unit
2443
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
ARM Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 11m
Est. Remaining
69%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allowance Rate
338 granted / 469 resolved
+14.1% vs TC avg
Minimal -3% lift
Without
With
+-3.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 6m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
502
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
10.3%
-29.7% vs TC avg
§103
61.5%
+21.5% vs TC avg
§102
13.6%
-26.4% vs TC avg
§112
8.8%
-31.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 469 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status Claims 1-20 are pending in this application. 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 04/03/2026, 06/05/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. 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. Claims 1 and 3-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Filippo (US 2018/0225216). Re Claims 1, Filippo discloses A data processing network comprising: an integrated-circuit data processing apparatus ([0072]-[0073], integrated circuit device); and at least one external device, external to the integrated-circuit data processing apparatus ([0077]-[0078], [0087], fig. 1, 4, external memory device, external ram devices, 110, 120, 170, 180 are external devices to integrated circuit device 100. Master or requesting node 400 communicates with salve node 410 via point of coherencey 420); the integrated-circuit data processing apparatus comprising: an interconnect system ([0073], fig. 1, the interconnected CPU clusters, interconnected C2C); at least one target device, the at least one target device coupled to the interconnect system ([0077], fig. 1, targets of data access associated with the CPU); and a requesting node, coupled to the interconnect system, the requesting node configured to receive requests from the at least one external device, and output the requests to a target device of the at least one target device via the interconnect system, thereby acting as a bridge for the at least one external device ([0085]-[0088], the PoC/PoS receives data access request from a data access requesting node (example CPU 132) to route the data access request for fulfillment by one or more data storage nodes (target device)); wherein the requesting node is configured to receive at least one busyness indication from at least one of the target devices, and, based on the received busyness indication(s), to throttle its outputting of requests received from the at least one external device to at least one of the at least one target devices via the interconnect system ([0115], detecting an indication that the datasource agent in the system is busy and can reduce the request rate by a predetermined amount or proportion until the indication shows the agent is no longer overloaded or busy. [0116], shows the level of busy-ness an agent in the system servicing he requests). Re Claim 3, Filippo discloses comprising at least one target device of a first type, and at least one target device of a second type, wherein the requesting node is configured to throttle its outputting of requests to target devices of the first type and the second type independently ([0099]-[0100], different device types comprises classification information identifying a classification fo the one or more data storage nodes which fulfill the data access request, ie., CPU cache memory, cluster cache memory, interconnect cache memory, and external memory. [0113]-[0115], the controller detects an indication in the datasource field agent in the system depending on the busy indication and vary the issuing of data access requests by that data access requesting node in response to the source indication.) . Re Claim 4, Filippo discloses wherein the first type is local, on-chip target devices and the second type is remote, off-chip target devices ([0092] data access requests was fulfilled on-chip or off-chip.). Re Claim 5, Filippo discloses wherein the first type is a peer external device, and the second type is a memory device ([0077], cache memory of a peer device, cache memory at chip to chip or external memory device. [0100], rank 5 relates to on-chip cache memories associated with the source. Ranks 1-4 are associated with external memories). Re Claim 6, Filippo discloses comprising at least one external device of a first type, and at least one external device of a second type, wherein the requesting node is configured to throttle its outputting of requests received from external devices of the first type and the second type independently ([0099]-[0102], different device types comprises classification information identifying a classification of the one or more data storage nodes which fulfill the data access request, ie., CPU cache memory, cluster cache memory, interconnect cache memory, and external main memory. [0113]-[0115], the controller detects an indication in the datasource field agent in the system depending on the busy indication and vary the issuing of data access requests by that data access requesting node in response to the source indication. The request rate is reduced by the busy indication of the source. There are multiple source types as indicated by the different classification.). Re Claim 7, Filippo discloses wherein the first type are external devices having a first quality of service class and the second type are external devices having a second quality of service class, the second quality of service class being different to the first quality of service class ([0100]-[0102], different rankings in the classifications of data sources between rank 8 and rank 1). Re Claim 8, Filippo discloses wherein the first type of external device is a device associated with a first device identifier, and the second type of external device is a device associated with a second device identifier ([0097], [0100]-[0102]. There are multiple data sources. A DataSource field indicates an attribute information that indicates the identity of the node which services the data access request such as a serial number). Re Claim 9, Filippo discloses wherein the requesting node is configured to limit its number of outstanding requests to at least one of the target device(s) to an outstanding-request-threshold, and wherein the requesting node is configured to vary the outstanding-request-threshold based on the received busyness indication(s) ([0113]-[0115], the controller detects an indication in the datasource field agent in the system depending on the busy indication and vary the issuing of data access requests by that data access requesting node in response to the source indication. The request rate is reduced by the busy indication of the source. There are multiple source types as indicated by the different classification.). Re Claim 10, Filippo discloses wherein the received busyness indication(s) may be indicative of one of at least a first busyness level and a second busyness level, wherein the requesting node is configured to: compare the number of first level busyness indications received in a sampling window to a first threshold, and if the number of first level busyness indications received in the sampling window exceeds the first threshold, to decrement the outstanding-request-threshold by a decrement value ([0115], determines with the DataSource field shows agent busy for at least a predetermined number of cycles, it can reduce the request rate by a predetermined amount or proportion until the indication is lifted that the agent is no longer overloaded or busy to the threshold level). Re Claim 11, Filippo discloses generate an overview busyness indication ([0115], indicate the data source is overloaded or busy); and based on the overview busyness indication indicating a low level of busyness, increment the outstanding-request-threshold by an increment value ([0115], determines with the DataSource field shows agent is not oversubscribed (busy), it can increase the rate of requests by a predetermined amount or proportion at each predetermined period). Re Claim 12, Filippo discloses wherein the increment value is lower than the decrement value ([0115], determines with the DataSource field shows agent is not oversubscribed (busy), it can increase the rate of requests by a predetermined amount or proportion at each predetermined period). Re Claim 13, Filippo discloses wherein the first threshold, the second threshold, the increment value, the decrement value and a magnitude of the sampling window are configurable ([0115], determines with the DataSource field shows agent is not oversubscribed (busy), it can increase the rate of requests by a predetermined amount or proportion at each predetermined period). Re Claim 14, Filippo discloses wherein the outstanding-request-threshold is a first outstanding-request-threshold, associated with a first request type, the requesting node further configured to limit its number of outstanding requests of a second request type to a second outstanding-request-threshold, the value of the first outstanding-request-threshold being independent of the value of the second outstanding-request-threshold ([0099]-[0102], different device types comprises classification information identifying a classification of the one or more data storage nodes which fulfill the data access request, ie., CPU cache memory, cluster cache memory, interconnect cache memory, and external main memory. [0113]-[0115], the controller detects an indication in the datasource field agent for the datasource its using to complete the request fulfillment in the system. The determination of the datasource is busy or not busy depends on the relevancy to the threshold level with respect to being oversubscribed or busy. The request rate is reduced until the indication associated with the DataSource field indicates the agent in the source system is no longer overloaded of busy to the threshold level). Re Claim 15, Filippo discloses wherein the requesting node is configured to filter the busyness indications received from the at least one target device such that the number of busyness indications counted in response to a particular request is limited to a maximum of one ([0115], determines with the DataSource field shows agent busy for at least a predetermined number of cycles, it can reduce the request rate by a predetermined amount or proportion until the indication is lifted that the agent is no longer overloaded or busy to the threshold level. A number of 1 is included in the threshold level of a predetermined amount). With respect to claim 16, they are similar to claim 1 and therefore are rejected for the same reasons above. Re Claim 17, Filippo discloses the requesting node throttling its outputting of requests based on at least one of the type of the target device for the request and/or the type of the external device issuing the request ([0099]-[0100], different device types comprises classification information identifying a classification fo the one or more data storage nodes which fulfill the data access request, ie., CPU cache memory, cluster cache memory, interconnect cache memory, and external memory. [0113]-[0115], the controller detects an indication in the datasource field agent in the system depending on the busy indication and vary the issuing of data access requests by that data access requesting node in response to the source indication.). 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 2 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being Unpatentable over Filippo and in view of Radi (US 2025/0004812). Re Claim 2, Filippo does not disclose, however Radi disclsoes wherein the requesting node is configured to throttle its outputting of write requests and read requests independently ( [0070]-[0073], separate processing rates for read requests and for write requests). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Filippo’s data and read/write requests with Radi’s read and write requests in order to separate processing rates. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve determining the processing rates available for the resource. Re Claim 18, Filippo does not disclose, however Radi discloses A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable code for fabrication of the data processing network of claim 1 (Radi [0111], storage medium). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Filippo’s system with Radi’s computer-readable medium to execute the memory management. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve determining the systems that process the management of the data access. Claims 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being Unpatentable over Filippo and in view of Bakshi (US 6,836,785). Re Claim 19, Filippo discloses a data processing network comprising: an integrated-circuit data processing apparatus ([0072]-[0073], integrated circuit device); and at least one downstream resource, external to the integrated-circuit data processing apparatus ([0077]-[0078], [0087], fig. 1, 4, external memory device, external ram devices, 110, 120, 170, 180 are external devices to integrated circuit device 100. Master or requesting node 400 communicates with salve node 410 via point of coherencey 420); the integrated-circuit data processing apparatus comprising: an interconnect system ([0073], fig. 1, the interconnected CPU clusters, interconnected C2C); at least one requesting node, ([0085]-[0088], the PoC/PoS receives data access request from a data access requesting node); and a resource node, associated with the at least one downstream resource and coupled to the at least one requesting node via the interconnect system, wherein the resource node is configured to receive requests from a requesting node via the interconnect system directed towards the at least one downstream resource, thereby acting as a bridge for the at least one downstream resource ([0085]-[0088], the PoC/PoS receives data access request from a data access requesting node (example CPU 132) to route the data access request for fulfillment by one or more data storage nodes (target device). Filippo does not disclose, however Bakshi discloses the resource node comprising a buffer, for storing outstanding requests awaiting response from the at least one downstream resource, wherein the resource node is configured to generate at least one busyness indication responsive to a request from a requesting node, the busyness indication based on a number of storage elements occupied in the buffer of the resource node (col. 1, lines 49-65, throttling incoming requests to a server including a variable sized buffer for holding incoming requests prior to processing by the server.) It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Filippo’s requests on data access management with Bakshi’s incoming requests in order to hold the number of requests in the buffer. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to improve incoming requests to a server by utilizing a buffer to holding incoming requests prior to processing by the server. Re Claim 20, one of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Filippo for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 19. In addition, Bakshi discloses wherein the resource node comprises a first buffer, associated with downstream resources of a first type, and a second buffer associated with downstream resources of a second, different type, and wherein the resource node is configured to generate a busyness indication in response to a request directed to a downstream resource of the first type based on a number of storage elements occupied in the first buffer (col. 1, lines 49-65, The number of requests that are held in a queue by the buffer can be dependent on the overload status of the server. If the server is not overloaded, the number of requests that are held in the buffer can be large, such as the full capacity of the buffer). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HO T SHIU whose telephone number is (571)270-3810. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri (9:00am - 5:00pm). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Taylor can be reached at 571-272-3089. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /HO T SHIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2443 HO T. SHIU Examiner Art Unit 2443 /NICHOLAS R TAYLOR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 21, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 08, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
69%
With Interview (-3.4%)
3y 6m (~1y 11m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 469 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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