Ex parte Connell

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

May 22, 1998

08441560 (B.P.A.I. May. 22, 1998)

Application for patent filed May 15, 1995.1
1
THIS OPINION WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR PUBLICATION
The opinion in support of the decision being entered today
(1) was not written for publication in a law journal and
(2) is not binding precedent of the Board.
Paper No. 13
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
_____________
BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
_____________
Ex parte LAWRENCE E. CONNELL

_____________
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,5601
______________
ON BRIEF
_______________
Before HAIRSTON, JERRY SMITH and FLEMING, Administrative Patent
Judges.
FLEMING, Administrative Patent Judge.
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
2
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is a decision on appeal from the final rejection
of claims 1 through 7, all of the claims pending in the present
application.
The invention relates to electronic testing of digital
integrated circuits. Appellant discloses on page 5 of the
specification that Figure 1 is a system block diagram
illustrating a general configuration of an addressable serial
test system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the
invention. Serial shift or serial access register 103 is used to
serially transfer both address and data for both controlling and
observing internal logic nodes of a digital system. A data
stream containing address and data information is serially
applied to scan input 104 and clocked into serial access register
103. Once register 103 is loaded, the address information is
applied to address bus 101 and data information is applied to a
global bi-directional data bus 100.
The address is used to specify which subset of a
multiplicity of subsets of the internal logic nodes are to be
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
3
selected, while the data is used to program the state of those
nodes selected. The nodes are constructed of various forms of
storage elements including latches, flip-flops and other memory
elements.
On page 6 of the specification, Appellant discloses
that address decoding logic 107 is remotely located near a subset
of internal nodes, subsystem block 2, to be selected. Subsystem
block 2 depicts a subset of internal storage nodes, memory
elements A through P, which can be loaded with program data
applied to data bus 100. During normal system operation, storage
elements A through P operate as simple D flip-flops with a D data
input, a C clock input and a Q output. During a test mode of
operation, storage elements A through P are loaded with the
program data supplied from the serial access register 103 via
global bi-directional data bus 100. Once the serial access
register 103 is loaded with the address and program data, the
control input 102 is then enabled and the address decoder output
111 is activated. Address decoder 107 decodes the address
received on address bus 101. Address decoder output 111 is
applied to load control input LD of storage elements A through P.
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
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When activated, input LD will then cause the program data applied
to test inputs TI through data bus 100 to be loaded in parallel
into storage elements A through P. Appellant discloses that
this feature advantageously provides increased flexibility in
specifying input test stimulus for each subset of internal nodes
that are selected by the address.
The independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. An addressable serial test system comprising:
a serial shift register having a clock input, a serial
data input, and a plurality of parallel outputs, wherein a data
stream is clocked into the serial shift register via a shift
clock signal and reflected at the plurality of outputs;
an address decoder having a plurality of inputs con-
nected to a portion of the plurality of outputs of the serial
shift register, and an output for providing a selection signal
dependent on the data stream reflected at the portion of the
plurality of outputs of the serial shift register;
a system clock for generating a system clock signal;
a storage element having a clock input coupled to the
system clock signal, a data input residing at a logical state, an
output, a load input coupled to the selection signal provided by
the address decoder, and a test data input coupled to another
portion of the plurality of outputs of the serial shift register,
wherein the output is alternately forced to another logical state
by the selection signal dependent on the data stream present at
the test data input, and forced to the logical state of the data
input by the system clock.

The Examiner relies on the following reference:
Edwards et al. (Edwards) 5,271,019 Dec. 14, 1993
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
5
Claims 1 through 7 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over Edwards.
Rather than reiterate the arguments of Appellant and
the Examiner, reference is made to the brief and answer for the
respective details thereof.
OPINION
We will not sustain the rejection of claims 1 through 7
under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
The Examiner has failed to set forth a prima facie
case. It is the burden of the Examiner to establish why one
having ordinary skill in the art would have been led to the
claimed invention by the express teachings or suggestions found
in the prior art, or by implications contained in such teachings
or suggestions. In re Sernaker, 702 F.2d 989, 995, 217 USPQ 1, 6
(Fed. Cir. 1983). "Additionally, when determining obviousness,
the claimed invention should be considered as a whole; there is
no legally recognizable 'heart' of the invention." Para-Ordnance
Mfg. v. SGS Importers Int’l, Inc., 73 F.3d 1085, 1087, 37 USPQ2d
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
6
1237, 1239 (Fed. Cir. 1995), cert. denied, 117 S.Ct. 80 (1996)
citing W. L. Gore & Assocs., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d
1540, 1548, 220 USPQ 303, 309 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied,
469 U.S. 851 (1984).
Appellant argues on pages 3 and 4 of the brief that
Edwards fails to teach or suggest a storage element having a
selection signal input coupled to the load output of the address
decoder and a test data input element coupled to another portion
of the plurality of outputs of the serial shift register. Appel-
lant points out that with the claimed structure any data can be
forced into the storage element in a test mode, where in the
Edwards system the storage element can only be forced to one
fixed logical state.
We note that Appellant’s independent claims 1, 4 and 6,
all recite the above structure as argued by Appellant. In par-
ticular, Appellant's claim 1 recites "a storage element having a
clock input coupled to the system clock signal, a data input
residing at a logical state [and] an output." We note that
Edwards teaches a storage element as shown in Figures 1A and 3
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
7
having a clock input, a data input D and an output Q. However,
Appellant's claim 1 further recites that the storage element
comprises "a load input coupled to the selection signal provided
by the address decoder, and a test data input coupled to another
portion of the plurality of outputs of the serial shift register,
wherein the output is alternately forced to another logical state
by the selection signal dependent on the data stream present at
the test data input, and forced to the logical state of the data
input by the system clock."
In reviewing Edwards, we fail to find that Edwards
teaches or suggests this claimed structure, a load input and a
test data input different from the data input. In column 4,
lines 5-16, Edwards teaches that scan latches of a system under
test are divided into groups in which each group may be
addressed. In column 4, lines 27-40, Edwards teaches when a
group is addressed, the addressed group is connected to a group
addressing and initializing circuit. The circuit simultaneously
initializes all the latches of an address group to a predefined
initial state. In column 7, lines 3-13, Edwards teaches the
structure of the scan latch. In particular, Edwards teaches that
each scan latch has a D input terminal for receiving data and a Q
output terminal for outputting the stored data. Also, each scan
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
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latch has a clock input, a SET and RST for respectively setting
the state of its stored data to all logic "1" or resetting it to
a logic "0" irrespective of the data on the D input terminal.
However, Edwards fails to teach or suggest the storage element
having an additional load input coupled to the selection signal
provided by the address decoder and an additional test data input
coupled to another portion of the plurality of outputs of the
serial shift register as claimed by Appellant.
We have not sustained the rejection of claims 1 through
7 under 35 U.S.C. § 103. Accordingly, the Examiner's decision is
reversed.
REVERSED
KENNETH W. HAIRSTON )
Administrative Patent Judge )
)
)
) BOARD OF PATENT
JERRY SMITH ) APPEALS AND
Administrative Patent Judge ) INTERFERENCES
)
)
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
9
)
MICHAEL R. FLEMING )
Administrative Patent Judge )
Appeal No. 97-4407
Application 08/441,560
10
Steven G. Parmelee
Motorola, Inc.
1303 East Algonquin Road
Schaumburg, IL 60196