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 § 112
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.
Claims 8, 13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites “receiving write error information of the hard disk when a write capacity of the hard disk exceeds the hard disk available capacity.” It is unclear as to how a write capacity of a hard drive can exceed the hard disk available capacity. Such limitation would indicate that the amount of storage space in a hard drive that is able to be written to can exceed the available capacity of the hard drive, which does not seem plausible. Claim 13 and claim 20 are rejected for the same reason(s) as claim 8. No prior art has been found for claim 8.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-4, 7, 9-12 and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by O’Brien III et al. (Hereinafter O’Brien, U.S. Patent No. 11,061,814).
Regarding claim 1, O’Brien teaches:
A hard disk management method, comprising:
obtaining an available physical capacity of a hard disk (See Col. 3, lines 34-48 “An SSD may be specified as having a physical size and a logical size. The physical size (also referred to herein as “physical space”) or capacity represents the total amount of memory available on the device. The logical size (also referred to herein as “logical space”) is the amount memory allocated to a user for storing user data. The remaining amount of space is reserved for data management processes, and may be referred to herein as over-provisioning. For example, physical size may be 256 GB and the logical size may be 200 GB. The remaining 56 GB may be reserved for over-provisioning.” See Col. 11 lines 2-6 “when dynamically increasing the logical space on the flash based drives 250, the tiering mechanism 225 marks the new LBAs corresponding with the increased logical space as available for storing data associated with subsequent P/E cycles.” See Col. 17 lines 14-18 “the logical space 505 may be decreased then made available for use as over-provisioning space 510 such that the ratio of over-provisioning space 510 to logical space 505 may be dynamically adjusted to achieve particular wear profile.”);
allocating a hard disk over-provisioning (OP) capacity to the hard disk based on a configuration requirement of a service configured by the hard disk (See Col. 3, lines 51-57 “The allocation of over-provisioning space to logical space may be expressed as a ratio and varies based on intended application taking into account desired endurance and performance characteristics (as used herein, such ratio may be referred to as “over-provisioning ratio” or “allocation ratio”).” See Figure 4 and Figure 5.);
generating a setting instruction, wherein the setting instruction instructs the hard disk to divide the available physical capacity into a hard disk available capacity and the hard disk OP capacity; and
sending the setting instruction to the hard disk (See Col. 18 lines 7-8 “At step 615, the method may determine an allocation ratio indicative of the ratio of the logical space to over-provisioning space. For example, the method may issue a command to obtain the current setting for each such that the current allocation ration may be calculated.” See Col. 18, lines 12-21. See Col. 19 lines 14-22 “The method, system, and computer program product may issue a command to indicate a change in the amount of space allocated for the logical space, such as a TRIM command. The TRIM command may be directed to the SSD with logical addresses such that the logical space will be marked as unavailable. Alternatively, the space marked as unavailable may be allocated to over-provisioning space thereby increasing the over-provisioning space (and consequently, the ratio of logical to over-provisioning space).” See claim 7 of O’Brien “The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the allocation ratio includes issuing a TRIM command, small computer system interface (SCSI) command, flash command, cache command or storage system command.”).
Regarding claim 2, O’Brien teaches:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the available physical capacity of the hard disk is obtained after the hard disk is connected to a storage system of a computer or a main controller (See Col. 3, lines 34-48 “An SSD may be specified as having a physical size and a logical size. The physical size (also referred to herein as “physical space”) or capacity represents the total amount of memory available on the device. The logical size (also referred to herein as “logical space”) is the amount memory allocated to a user for storing user data. The remaining amount of space is reserved for data management processes, and may be referred to herein as over-provisioning. For example, physical size may be 256 GB and the logical size may be 200 GB. The remaining 56 GB may be reserved for over-provisioning.” See Col. 15, lines 63-65 “Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated an SSD 500 having a physical size partitioned or allocated into logical space 505 and over-provisioning space 510.” See available capacity of SSD depicted in Figure 4 and Figure 5, in which the SSD is connected to the storage system of a computer.).
Regarding claim 3, O’Brien teaches:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
determining, in response to a hard disk event reported by the hard disk, whether the hard disk OP capacity needs to be adjusted; and
in response to determining that the hard disk OP capacity needs to be adjusted:
adjusting the hard disk OP capacity and the hard disk available capacity based on the hard disk event (See Col. 16, lines 44-55 “an SSD may be monitored to determine its wear rate over time. The determined wear rate may be compared to the SSD's specified wear rate. If it is determined that the current wear rate is higher than the specified wear rate, the amount of logical space 505 may be decreased (as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 5). As a result, the amount of data written to the SSD decreases, thereby reducing the wear rate. In addition, the logical space no longer accessible (i.e., the difference between the logical space before and after being decreased) may be made available for over-provisioning space 510 thereby improving garbage collection efficiency” See Col. 17, lines 4-10 “the SSD's wear rate may be dynamically decreased to slow its wear rate to extend the SSD expect lifetime operation, or increased to provide additional logical space for improved system performance in a manner at that described above. As such, the over-provisioning space may be essentially completely adjustable using the techniques described herein” See Col. 17, lines 21-26 “a larger logical space 505 may be provided in the event it is desirable to provide additional logical space 505. Accordingly, the ratio of logical space 505 to over-provisioning space 510 may be adjusted by increasing/decreasing logical space 505 and/or decreasing/increasing over-provisioning space 510” See Figure 5, in which an over-provisioning capacity and available logical space capacity are dynamically adjusted based on a wear rate event of the SSD.); and
regenerating a setting instruction (See Col. 18 lines 7-8 “At step 615, the method may determine an allocation ratio indicative of the ratio of the logical space to over-provisioning space. For example, the method may issue a command to obtain the current setting for each such that the current allocation ration may be calculated.” See Col. 19 lines 14-22. See claim 7 of O’Brien “The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the allocation ratio includes issuing a TRIM command, small computer system interface (SCSI) command, flash command, cache command or storage system command.”), wherein a sum of the hard disk OP capacity and the hard disk available capacity remains unchanged (See Figure 5, in which the sum (i.e. total amount) of the flash drive physical size does not change when adjusting the logical space and overprovisioning space. See Col. 18, lines 14-21 “Adjusting the allocation ratio may include decreasing the logical space or decreasing the logical space and increasing the over-provisioning space by an amount up to the amount at which the logical space was decreased. Alternatively, adjusting the allocation ratio may include increasing the logical space or increasing the logical space and decreasing the over-provisioning space by an amount up to the amount at which the logical space was increased.”).
Regarding claim 4, O’Brien teaches:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
periodically obtaining state information of the hard disk (See Col. 9, lines 42-49 “In connection with obtaining a measurement regarding wear rate, the number of erasures or write operations may be used interchangeably. Continuing with FIG. 2, the wear determination unit 220 may be configured to determine a wear indicator or metric for an SSD drive by monitoring the erasure count for the drive. This information may be obtained and/or stored in a wear indicator map maintained by the SP 210.”);
determining, based on the state information, whether the hard disk OP capacity needs to be adjusted; and
in response to determining that the hard disk OP capacity needs to be adjusted:
adjusting the hard disk OP capacity and the hard disk available capacity based on the state information (See Col. 16, lines 44-55 “an SSD may be monitored to determine its wear rate over time. The determined wear rate may be compared to the SSD's specified wear rate. If it is determined that the current wear rate is higher than the specified wear rate, the amount of logical space 505 may be decreased (as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 5). As a result, the amount of data written to the SSD decreases, thereby reducing the wear rate. In addition, the logical space no longer accessible (i.e., the difference between the logical space before and after being decreased) may be made available for over-provisioning space 510 thereby improving garbage collection efficiency” See Col. 17, lines 4-10 “the SSD's wear rate may be dynamically decreased to slow its wear rate to extend the SSD expect lifetime operation, or increased to provide additional logical space for improved system performance in a manner at that described above. As such, the over-provisioning space may be essentially completely adjustable using the techniques described herein” See Col. 17, lines 21-26 “a larger logical space 505 may be provided in the event it is desirable to provide additional logical space 505. Accordingly, the ratio of logical space 505 to over-provisioning space 510 may be adjusted by increasing/decreasing logical space 505 and/or decreasing/increasing over-provisioning space 510” See Figure 5, in which an over-provisioning capacity and available logical space capacity are dynamically adjusted based on a wear rate of the SSD.); and
regenerating a setting instruction (See Col. 18 lines 7-8 “At step 615, the method may determine an allocation ratio indicative of the ratio of the logical space to over-provisioning space. For example, the method may issue a command to obtain the current setting for each such that the current allocation ration may be calculated.” See Col. 19 lines 14-22. See claim 7 of O’Brien “The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the allocation ratio includes issuing a TRIM command, small computer system interface (SCSI) command, flash command, cache command or storage system command.”), wherein a sum of the hard disk OP capacity and the hard disk available capacity remains unchanged (See Figure 5, in which the sum (i.e. total amount) of the flash drive physical size does not change when adjusting the logical space and overprovisioning space. See Col. 18, lines 14-21 “Adjusting the allocation ratio may include decreasing the logical space or decreasing the logical space and increasing the over-provisioning space by an amount up to the amount at which the logical space was decreased. Alternatively, adjusting the allocation ratio may include increasing the logical space or increasing the logical space and decreasing the over-provisioning space by an amount up to the amount at which the logical space was increased.”).
Regarding claim 7, O’Brien teaches:
The method according to claim 1, wherein before the obtaining an available physical capacity of a hard disk, the method further comprises:
sending a query instruction to the hard disk, wherein the query instruction instructs the hard disk to send the available physical capacity (See Col. 18 lines 7-8 “At step 615, the method may determine an allocation ratio indicative of the ratio of the logical space to over-provisioning space. For example, the method may issue a command to obtain the current setting for each such that the current allocation ration may be calculated.” ).
Claim 9 and claim 14 are rejected for the same reasons as claim 1. Claim 10 and claim 15 are rejected for the same reasons as claim 2. Claim 11 and claim 16 are rejected for the same reasons as claim 3. Claim 12 and claim 17 are rejected for the same reasons as claim 4.
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 5-6 and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over O’Brien III et al. (Hereinafter O’Brien, U.S. Patent No. 11,061,814) in view of Tomlin (U.S. Publication No. 2014/0101379).
Regarding claim 5, O’Brien teaches:
and regenerating a setting instruction (See Col. 18 lines 7-8 “At step 615, the method may determine an allocation ratio indicative of the ratio of the logical space to over-provisioning space. For example, the method may issue a command to obtain the current setting for each such that the current allocation ration may be calculated.” See Col. 19 lines 14-22. See claim 7 of O’Brien “The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the allocation ratio includes issuing a TRIM command, small computer system interface (SCSI) command, flash command, cache command or storage system command.”),
Tomlin teaches:
The method according to claim 3, further comprising:
dividing the hard disk available capacity into a user available capacity and a system capacity based on system information of a storage system, wherein the setting instruction instructs the hard disk to divide the available physical capacity into the user available capacity, the system capacity, and the hard disk OP capacity (See Figure 2, Figure 3A, and Figure 3B, which disclose a Sys Alloc, Sys OP, Host Alloc and Host OP. See [0030] “Examples of host data include user data and/or files, application data and/or files, driver data and/or files, OS data, data structures, and/or files, and other information provided by the host via an interface between the SSD and the host.”); and
when the hard disk OP capacity needs to be adjusted, the adjusting the hard disk OP capacity and the hard disk available capacity, and regenerating a setting instruction comprises:
adjusting the hard disk OP capacity and the system capacity based on the system information (See Figure 2, Figure 3A, and Figure 3B, which disclose a Sys Alloc, Sys OP, Host Alloc and Host OP. See Figure 2, which discloses adjustment to the OP capacity. See [0021] “if the NVM available for OP decreases (increases), by an amount, then the system data OP and the host data OP are collectively decreased (increased) by the amount while maintaining a same ratio between the system data OP and the host data OP. For a second example, if a ratio of a system data rate to a host data rate changes, then the system data OP and the host data OP are adjusted according to the change in the ratio.”),
wherein a sum of the hard disk OP capacity and the system capacity remains unchanged (See the Sys Alloc, Sys OP, Host Alloc and Host OP disclosed in Figure 2, Figure 3A and Figure 3B.”).
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to combine the memory allocation method of O’Brien with the memory allocation method of Tomlin to improve lifetime, reliability, and/or performance of a Solid-State Disk (SSD) and/or a flash memory (See abstract of Tomlin.).
Regarding claim 6, O’Brien teaches:
and regenerating a setting instruction
regenerating a setting instruction (See Col. 18 lines 7-8 “At step 615, the method may determine an allocation ratio indicative of the ratio of the logical space to over-provisioning space. For example, the method may issue a command to obtain the current setting for each such that the current allocation ration may be calculated.” See Col. 19 lines 14-22. See claim 7 of O’Brien “The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein dynamically adjusting the allocation ratio includes issuing a TRIM command, small computer system interface (SCSI) command, flash command, cache command or storage system command.”),
Tomlin teaches:
The method according to claim 5, wherein:
the system capacity comprises a system data capacity and a system OP capacity, wherein the setting instruction instructs the hard disk to divide the available physical capacity into the user available capacity, the system data capacity, the system OP capacity, and the hard disk OP capacity (See Figure 2, Figure 3A, and Figure 3B, which disclose a Sys Alloc, Sys OP, Host Alloc and Host OP. See [0030] “Examples of host data include user data and/or files, application data and/or files, driver data and/or files, OS data, data structures, and/or files, and other information provided by the host via an interface between the SSD and the host.”); and
when the hard disk OP capacity needs to be adjusted, the adjusting the hard disk OP capacity and the hard disk available capacity, comprises:
adjusting the hard disk OP capacity and the system OP capacity based on the system information (See Figure 2, Figure 3A, and Figure 3B, which disclose a Sys Alloc, Sys OP, Host Alloc and Host OP. See Figure 2, which discloses adjustment to the OP capacity. See [0021] “if the NVM available for OP decreases (increases), by an amount, then the system data OP and the host data OP are collectively decreased (increased) by the amount while maintaining a same ratio between the system data OP and the host data OP. For a second example, if a ratio of a system data rate to a host data rate changes, then the system data OP and the host data OP are adjusted according to the change in the ratio.”); and
wherein a sum of the hard disk OP capacity and the system OP capacity remains unchanged (See the Sys Alloc, Sys OP, Host Alloc and Host OP disclosed in Figure 2, Figure 3A and Figure 3B.”).
Claim 18 rejected for the same reasons as claim 5. Claim 19 rejected for the same reasons as claim 6.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See [0014] and [0019] of Lucas (U.S. Publication No. 2011/0099320).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL L WESTBROOK whose telephone number is (571)270-5028. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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/MICHAEL L WESTBROOK/Examiner, Art Unit 2139
/REGINALD G BRAGDON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2139
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