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 05/05/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim(s) 1-4 and 6-18 is/are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-15 and 17 of U.S. Patent No. US-12293195-B2 (hereinafter “Pat ‘195”). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Per claim 1 (independent):
Claim 1 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 1 of the instant application.
Claims / App Language
Pat ‘195 Language
1
A storage device comprising:
a memory device including one or more boot partitions; and
a memory controller configured to perform a rebuild operation that restores:
a first part of system data, which includes active boot partition information for an activated boot partition among the one or more boot partitions and is used for handling a read request from an external device; and
a second part of system data for performing a background operation of the storage device.
1
A storage device comprising:
a memory device including one or more boot partitions configured to store boot data for executing an operating system; and
a memory controller coupled to the memory device and configured to perform, upon receiving power, a rebuild operation to restore a first part of system data including active boot partition information associated with an activated boot partition among the one or more boot partitions and provide the active boot partition information to a host and to restore a second part of system data after providing the active boot partition information,
wherein, upon receiving, by the memory controller, from the host, a boot partition read request based on the active boot partition information, the memory controller transmits, to the host, the boot data stored in a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information,
wherein the first part of system data includes system data for performing an internal operation of the memory device and the memory controller according to a read request, a write request, or an erase request from the host, and
wherein the second part of system data includes system data for performing a background operation of the memory device and the memory controller.
Per claim 2 (dependent on claim 1):
Claim 2 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 2 of the instant application.
Per claim 3 (dependent on claim 1):
Claim 3 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 3 of the instant application.
Per claim 4 (dependent on claim 3):
Claim 4 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 4 of the instant application.
Per claim 6 (dependent on claim 5):
Claim 6 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 6 of the instant application.
Per claim 7 (dependent on claim 1):
Claim 7 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 7 of the instant application.
Per claim 8 (dependent on claim 7):
Claim 8 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 8 of the instant application.
Per claim 9 (dependent on claim 7):
Claim 9 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 9 of the instant application.
Per claim 10 (dependent on claim 7):
Claim 10 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 10 of the instant application.
Per claim 11 (independent):
Claim 11 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 11 of the instant application.
Claims / App Language
Pat ‘195 Language
11
A method of operating a storage device including one or more boot partitions, the method comprising:
performing a rebuild operation to restore a first part of system data that includes active boot partition information for an activated boot partition among the one or more boot partitions;
enabling the storage device to respond to a read request using the first part of system data; and
restoring a second part of system data for performing a background operation of the storage device
11
A method of operating a storage device including one or more boot partitions configured to store boot data for executing an operating system, the method comprising:
performing, upon receiving power, a rebuild operation to restore a first part of system data including active boot partition information associated with an activated boot partition among the one or more boot partitions;
transmitting the active boot partition information to a host, upon restoration of the first part of system data;
restoring a second part of system data including system data for performing a background operation of the storage device, after the first part of system data is restored; and
transmitting, to the host, the boot data stored in a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information in response to receiving, from the host, a boot partition read request based on the active boot partition information,
wherein the first part of system data includes system data for performing an internal operation of the storage device according to a read request, a write request, or an erase request from the host.
Per claim 12 (dependent on claim 11):
Claim 11 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 12 of the instant application.
Per claim 13 (dependent on claim 11):
Claim 11 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 13 of the instant application.
Per claim 14 (dependent on claim 13):
Claim 12 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 14 of the instant application.
Per claim 15 (dependent on claim 11):
Claim 13 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 15 of the instant application.
Per claim 16 (dependent on claim 15):
Claim 14 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 16 of the instant application.
Per claim 17 (dependent on claim 15):
Claim 15 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 17 of the instant application.
Per claim 18 (dependent on claim 11):
Claim 17 of Pat ‘195 anticipates all of the limitations in claim 18 of the instant application.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 11-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senthurpandi, US- 20140101426-A1 (hereinafter “Senthurpandi ‘426”) in view of Kumagai, US-20150046749-A1 (hereinafter “Kumagai ‘749”) and BYUN, US-20190303292 -A1 (hereinafter “BYUN ‘292”).
Per claim 1 (independent):
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: A storage device comprising:
a memory device including one or more boot partitions; and
a memory controller configured to perform a rebuild operation that restores:
a first part of system data, which includes active boot partition information for an activated boot partition among the one or more boot partitions and is used for handling a read request from an external device
(FIG. 1, [0036], a device 300 (a storage device) for establishing a enterprise operating system may interface via universal serial bus (USB) interface 310 with the host platform 200; FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310 (a memory device), processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (including one or more boot partitions), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; FIG. 4, [0051], steps performed with regard to a secure boot device … At step 400, the device (including the memory device) is coupled to a host platform (an external device), such as through the USB interface described above; [0052], At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 (of the host platform, i.e., the external device) locks the public partition 318 and unlocks the OS partition 312 (an activated boot partition among the one or more boot partitions). At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) (obtained by restoring a first part of system data) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device, that is, provides an active boot partition information (e.g., boot sector information and/or a selection of OS in a list of available operating systems; see [0055] and [0076]) to an external device ... At step 414, the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform (the first part of system data is used for handling a read request from an external device – in other words, the OS partition is to be understood as handling boot-related read requests, e.g., the MBR, boot sector information, or a boot image, etc., issued by the host platform during the boot sequence); [0041], the OS partition are organized according to a CDFS format, access to which may only be obtained via the device firmware … The .iso image file on the OS partition (the first part of system data to be restored for the OS partition 312 by the booting process) may include secured operating system source files).
Senthurpandi ‘426 does not teach but Kumagai ‘749 discloses: restores:
a first part of system data; and
a second part of system data
(FIG. 2 and 5, [0063], When the specific key has been pressed ... to change the second partition 34 to an active partition ... The settings (changes to the partitions; a first part of system data) are retained (restored) in the partition table in the boot block 31 by the switching program 32 (step 35) and control is then transferred to the boot block (MBR) 31; [0064], The boot block (MBR) 31 searches the partition table for an active partition (step 36) and loads an initial program loader (IPL) to boot an OS from that active partition (step S7); [0066], The restoration program ... restores the system on the first partition 33 to its initial state using backup data (step S10) – restore a second part of system data.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 with the restoration of the system by using the backup data based on changing an active partition information from which an OS is to be booted as the specific key is pressed as taught by Kumagai ‘749 because it would efficiently restore a system to its initial state (for example, the state at the time when it is shipped) [0040]. Additionally, Kumagai ‘749 is analogous to the claimed invention because it teaches the configuration of partition tables that the boot block (MBR) contains [0057].
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 does not disclose but BYUN ‘292 discloses: a second part of system data for performing a background operation of the storage device (FIG. 1, [0100], As command operations corresponding to a plurality of commands received from the host 102 are performed, in the case where a background operation, for example, a garbage collection operation ... a map update operation and a map flush operation, is performed – performing a background operation, the controller 130 (of the memory system 110, that is, the storage device) loads and stores (restores) data corresponding to the background operation, that metadata (a second part of system data) and user data, in the buffer/cache in the memory 144 of the controller 130; [0094], Metadata may include first map data ... and second map data (the second part of system data) ... for data stored in memory blocks; note that the second map data is not itself a background operation, but may be utilized as metadata for background operations such as garbage collection, etc.; FIG. 5, [0103], The controller 130 generates and updates first map data and second map data which include information indicating that the user data are stored in pages in the memory blocks of the memory device 150; [0104], the controller 130 generates and updates the first map data and the second map data, and stores them (restores a second part of system data for performing a background operation) in a second buffer 520 in the memory 144. In particular, the controller 130 stores L2P segments 522 of the first map data and P2L segments 524 of the second map data).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 with the updating of P2L segments of the second map data corresponding to the programmed data and storing of the updated map segments in buffer via the memory controller as taught by BYUN ‘292 because it would minimize complexity and performance deterioration of a memory system and maximize use efficiency of a memory device [0005]. Additionally, BYUN ‘292 is analogous to the claimed invention because it teaches the controller may perform an operation requested by the host in the memory device [0070].
Per claim 2 (dependent on claim 1):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 does not disclose but BYUN ‘292 discloses: The storage device of claim 1, wherein the memory device stores the first part of system data and the second part of system data respectively in a first system block and a second system block (FIG. 5, [0104], the controller 130 generates and updates the first map data and the second map data, and stores them in a second buffer 520 in the memory 144. In particular, the controller 130 stores L2P segments 522 (a first system block) of the first map data and P2L segments 524 (a second system block) of the second map data.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 with the updating of the map data corresponding to the programmed data and storing of the updated map segments in buffer via the memory controller as taught by BYUN ‘292 because it would minimize complexity and performance deterioration of a memory system and maximize use efficiency of a memory device [0005].
Per claim 3 (dependent on claim 1):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 1, wherein, before the memory controller transmits the active boot partition information to the external device and receives a boot partition read request, the memory controller performs a rebuild operation for transmitting, to the external device, boot data stored in a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information (FIG. 4, [0051], steps performed with regard to a secure boot device … At step 400, the device is coupled to a host platform (the external device), such as through the USB interface described above; [0052], At step 404, user executes the enterprise operating system management application 215 (FIG. 2) on the host platform 200. At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 locks the public partition 318 and unlocks the OS partition 312 (a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information). At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform – the memory controller performs a rebuild operation for transmitting boot data. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device (transmits the active boot partition information to the external device by the memory controller) … At step 414, (in subsequent to receiving, by the memory controller, a boot partition read request) the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform).
Per claim 4 (dependent on claim 3):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 3 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 3, wherein, before the memory controller receives the boot partition read request from the external device, the memory controller controls the memory device to read the boot data stored in the boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information (FIG. 4, [0052], At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform – the memory controller controls the memory device to read the boot data stored in the boot partition. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device. In one example, the OS partition 312 is presented as a CDFS formatted device. At step 414, (after receiving the boot partition read request from the external device by the memory controller) the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform).
Per claim 5 (dependent on claim 1):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 1, wherein a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information (FIG. 4, [0052], At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 locks the public partition 318 and unlocks the OS partition 312 –a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information).
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of BYUN ‘292 does not teach but Kumagai ‘749 discloses: the boot partition includes an activated first boot partition and an inactivated second boot partition (FIG. 4, [0057], of the configuration of partition tables that the boot block (MBR) shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 contains; [0058], the MBR is provided, for each individual partition defined on the hard disk, with a table that contains boot information (active/inactive); [0059], Concerning the boot information, for example, "80 h" is set for active partition – an activated first boot partition and "00 h" is set for inactive partition – an inactivated second boot partition; [0039], The first partition 33 corresponds to an area used by the user in normal processing, an ordinary operating system (OS) that is stored in the first partition 33 is activated; [0040], The second partition 34 corresponds to a backup area. This partition has a recovery (or restoration) program and backup data for restoring a system on the first partition 33 to its initial state (for example, the state at the time when it is shipped) and is used in recovery (or restoration) processing.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of BYUN ‘292 with the restoration of the system by using the backup data based on changing an active partition information from which an OS is to be booted as invoked by the BIOS as taught by Kumagai ‘749 because it would efficiently restore a system to its initial state (for example, the state at the time when it is shipped) [0040].
Per claim 11 (independent):
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: enabling the storage device to respond to a read request using the first part of system data (FIG. 1, [0036], a device 300 (the storage device) for establishing a enterprise operating system may interface via universal serial bus (USB) interface 310 with the host platform 200; FIG. 4, [0051], steps performed with regard to a secure boot device … At step 400, the device is coupled to a host platform, such as through the USB interface described above; [0052], At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 locks the public partition 318 and unlocks the OS partition 312. At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) (obtained by restoring the first part of system data) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device ... At step 414, the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform (the device 300 is enabled to respond to a read request from the host platform using the first part of system data – in other words, the OS partition is to be understood as handling boot-related read requests, e.g., the MBR, boot sector information, or a boot image, etc., issued by the host platform during the boot sequence).
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim 1 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to claim 1.
Per claim 12 (dependent on claim 11):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting the active boot partition information to an external device, upon restoration of the first part of system data (FIG. 4, [0051], steps performed with regard to a secure boot device … At step 400, the device is coupled to a host platform, such as through the USB interface described above; [0052], At step 404, user executes the enterprise operating system management application 215 (FIG. 2) on the host platform 200. At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 locks the public partition 318 and unlocks the OS partition 312. At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) (obtained by restoring the first part of system data) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device – transmitting the active boot partition information to an external device ... At step 414, the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform).
Per claim 13 (dependent on claim 11):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The method of claim 11, further comprising transmitting, to an external device, boot data stored in a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information in response to receiving, from the external device, a boot partition read request based on the active boot partition information (FIG. 4, [0052], At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device. In one example, the OS partition 312 is presented as a CDFS formatted device (note that [0055] and [0076] teach providing boot data or boot image corresponding to a selected operating system, that is, corresponding to the active boot partition information, to the host platform for booting). At step 414, the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 (in response to receiving, from the external device, a boot partition read request) and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform (transmits, to an external device, boot data stored in a boot partition based on the active partition information)).
Per claim 14 (dependent on 13):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and Nayak ‘878 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 13 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The method of claim 13, further comprising reading the boot data stored in the boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information, before the boot partition read request is received from the external device (FIG. 4, [0052], At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 locks the public partition 318 and unlocks the OS partition 312 (the boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information). At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition (via reading the boot data stored in the boot partition) and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device. In one example, the OS partition 312 is presented as a CDFS formatted device (in response to receiving, from the external device, the boot partition read request). At step 414, the host platform boots from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform.).
Per claim 15 (dependent on 11):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and Nayak ‘878 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The method of claim 11, wherein the performing of the rebuild operation of restoring the first part of system data further includes restoring status information of a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information (FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310, processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (a boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform for the first time, the flag status in NOR flash (status information of the boot partition) is set as 0 (zero) and , as such, only the public partition and command partition are active (accessible) ... When the enterprise operating system application is executed (for the rebuild operation of restoring the first system data), the application sends commands to the portable enterprise platform device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) – restoring status information of a boot partition, which leads to booting the host platform from the OS partition 312 and the operating system on the OS partition is loaded into the host platform, that is, restoring the first part of system data).
Per claim 16 (dependent on 15):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and Nayak ‘878 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 15 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The method of claim 15, wherein the performing of the rebuild operation of restoring the first part of system data further includes generating the active boot partition information, based on the status information (FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310, processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (the active boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform for the first time, the flag status in NOR flash (the status information) is set as 0 (zero) and , as such, only the public partition and command partition are active (accessible) ... When the enterprise operating system application is executed (for the rebuild operation of restoring the first system data), the application sends commands to the portable enterprise platform device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) – generating the active boot partition information, for example, by choosing an OS as recited in [0055]).
Per claim 17 (dependent on claim 15):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 15 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The method of claim 15, wherein the status information includes at least one of: whether the boot partition is activated; an identity of the boot partition; or whether the boot partition is locked (FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310, processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (the boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform for the first time, the flag status in NOR flash (storing information of the boot partition) is set as 0 (zero) and , as such, only the public partition and command partition are active (accessible) – whether the boot partition is locked ... When the enterprise operating system application is executed, the application sends commands to the portable enterprise plat-form device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) – whether the boot partition is activated.).
Per claim 18 (dependent on claim 11):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 11 above, incorporated herein by reference.
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim 2 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to claim 2.
Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 and Sasidharan et al., US-20190340058-A1 (hereinafter “Sasidharan ‘058”).
Per claim 6 (dependent on claim 5):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 5 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 does not teach but Sasidharan ‘058 discloses: The storage device of claim 5, wherein the first boot partition and the second boot partition have storage spaces having a same size (FIG. 6, [0035], a host device 600 may be any suitable computing platform capable of accessing memory on a storage device (the storage device) using NVMe procedures that provide for a boot partition; [0036], The NVMe controller 614 includes one or more processors 616 that include components for saving crash information in a NAND boot partition 617 and/or a RAM virtual boot partition 619 of a RAM 621; [0039], a boot partition … provides an area of NVM storage that can be read without the host device initializing queues … or enabling the data storage controller … Two boot partitions of equal size (storage spaces having a same size) are specified. With two boot partitions (the first boot partition and the second boot partition), the host device may update one and verify the contents before marking the boot partition as active.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 with the two boot partitions of equal size in an area of NVM storage for the host device to handle crash-dump information as taught by Sasidharan ‘058 because the host device may update one and verify the contents before marking the boot partition as active without valid firmware installed in the SSD [0023][0039]. Additionally, Sasidharan ‘058 is analogous to the claimed invention because it teaches an SSD data storage system 100 configured to control access to an NVM data storage device (such as a NAND) 104 by a host device 102 [0024].
Claim(s) 7-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 and Shechter et al., US-20180107417 -A1 (hereinafter “Shechter ‘417”).
Per claim 7 (dependent on claim 1):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 1, wherein the memory controller includes:
a boot partition controller configured to control the memory device to activate or deactivate a boot partition corresponding to the active boot partition information; and
the boot partition controller configured to store status information of the boot partition
(FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310 (the memory device), processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (a boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform for the first time, the flag status in NOR flash (storing status information of the boot partition) is set as 0 (zero) and , as such, only the public partition and command partition are active (accessible) – deactivate the boot partition ... When the enterprise operating system application is executed, the application sends commands to the portable enterprise plat-form device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) – activate the boot partition).
Senthurpandi ‘426 does not disclose “a boot partition status register” but Shechter ‘417 disclose: a boot partition status register configured to store status information of the boot partition (FIG. 12A, [0144], a non-volatile memory device 110 configured to efficiently transition between power states; [0149], The transition manager 126 may be configured to efficiently transition the non-volatile memory device 110 to/from different power states in response to host commands ... storing the resume data 162 within one or more of the AON partition 114 of the ODM 112, the HMB 160, NV memory 130, and/or the like; [0154], The resume dataset 1162B may include ... NVMe registers corresponding to the NVMe EXPRESS standard ... a boot partition information register, a boot partition read select register, a boot partition memory buffer location register – a boot partition status register).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 with the storing of the resume data by the NVMe registers including a boot information register, etc. in a non-volatile memory device as taught by Shechter ‘417 because it would efficiently transition the non-volatile memory device to/from different power states in response to host commands [0149]. Additionally, Shechter ‘417 is analogous to the claimed invention because it teaches that a memory device may be configured to leverage memory resources of a host computing device to efficiently transition between different power states [ABSTRACT].
Per claim 8 (dependent on claim 7):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 and Shechter ‘417 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 7 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 7, wherein the boot partition controller controls the memory device to store data in the boot partition or to read data stored in the boot partition under the control of the external device (FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device (the storage device) includes a storage 310, processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (the boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the enterprise operating system application (in the host platform of FIG. 1, i.e., the external device) is executed, the application sends commands (under the control of the external device) to the portable enterprise platform device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) – to store data in the boot partition or to read data stored in the boot partition under the control of the external device).
Per claim 9 (dependent on claim 7):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 and Shechter ‘417 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 7 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 7, wherein the boot partition controller generates the active boot partition information based on the status information stored in the boot partition status NOR flash (FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310, processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (the boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform; [0046], When the enterprise operating system application is executed, the application sends commands to the portable enterprise platform device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) (storing the status information in the boot partition status NOR flash); FIG. 4, [0052], At step 406, the enterprise operating system management application 215 ... unlocks the OS partition 312. At step 408, the boot management module 314 executes from the OS partition and at step 410, the boot management module 314 reboots the host platform - generates the active boot partition information. At step 412, the OS partition 312 (FIG. 3) is presented to the host platform as the primary boot device).
Senthurpandi ‘426 does not disclose “the boot partition status register” but Shechter ‘417 disclose: the boot partition status register configured to store status information of the boot partition (FIG. 12A, [0144], a non-volatile memory device 110 configured to efficiently transition between power states; [0149], The transition manager 126 may be configured to efficiently transition the non-volatile memory device 110 to/from different power states in response to host commands ... storing the resume data 162 within one or more of the AON partition 114 of the ODM 112, the HMB 160, NV memory 130, and/or the like; [0154], The resume dataset 1162B may include ... NVMe registers corresponding to the NVMe EXPRESS standard ... a boot partition information register, a boot partition read select register, a boot partition memory buffer location register – the boot partition status register).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 with the storing of the resume data by the NVMe registers including a boot information register, etc. in a non-volatile memory device as taught by Shechter ‘417 because it would efficiently transition the non-volatile memory device to/from different power states in response to host commands [0149].
Per claim 10 (dependent on claim 7):
Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 and Shechter ‘417 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 7 above, incorporated herein by reference.
Senthurpandi ‘426 discloses: The storage device of claim 7, wherein the boot partition controller stores information on whether the boot partition is activated; an identity of the boot partition; or whether the boot partition is locked (FIG. 3, [0039], The enterprise operating system device includes a storage 310, processor 338, which may be a microcontroller … Storage 310 may be logically organized into partitions including an operating system (OS) partition 312 (the boot partition), public partition 318, secured partition 320 and command partition 322 … the OS partition 312 … may include a boot management module 314 and one or more enterprise operating systems 316; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform; [0046], When the portable enterprise platform device is connected to a host platform for the first time, the flag status in NOR flash (storing information of the boot partition) is set as 0 (zero) and , as such, only the public partition and command partition are active (accessible) – whether the boot partition is locked ... When the enterprise operating system application is executed, the application sends commands to the portable enterprise plat-form device to unlock the operating system (OS) partition (LUN 0) – whether the boot partition is activated.).
Senthurpandi ‘426 does not disclose “the boot partition status register” but Shechter ‘417 disclose: the boot partition status register configured to store status information of the boot partition (FIG. 12A, [0144], a non-volatile memory device 110 configured to efficiently transition between power states; [0149], The transition manager 126 may be configured to efficiently transition the non-volatile memory device 110 to/from different power states in response to host commands ... storing the resume data 162 within one or more of the AON partition 114 of the ODM 112, the HMB 160, NV memory 130, and/or the like; [0154], The resume dataset 1162B may include ... NVMe registers corresponding to the NVMe EXPRESS standard ... a boot partition information register, a boot partition read select register, a boot partition memory buffer location register – the boot partition status register.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Senthurpandi ‘426 in view of Kumagai ‘749 and BYUN ‘292 with the storing of the resume data by the NVMe registers including a boot information register, etc. in a non-volatile memory device as taught by Shechter ‘417 because it would efficiently transition the non-volatile memory device to/from different power states in response to host commands [0149].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
THOM et al., US-20210263746-A1 – the resilient boot controller may switch host access from a high-integrity memory bank to a low-integrity memory bank upon detection of a storage memory switch condition. After completion of an early secure boot phase, subsequent boot and operational code may be read and executed from the low-integrity memory bank until the next system reset.
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/SANGSEOK PARK/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2499
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