Appeal No. 1997-4115 Page 10
Application No. 08/325,765
uniquely identified by current values stored by the output
flip-flops and a minimum of additional flip-flops.”
(Examiner’s Answer at 4.)
Washabaugh does not cure these deficiencies. Figure 3 of
the reference shows an FSM that is “separated into
combinational and sequential portions.” Col. 3, ll. 42-44.
The FSM uses a “set of flip-flops 304, 306 ... 310 [that] is
used to store the state information.” Col. 4, ll. 17-18.
Washabaugh’s flip-flops 304, 306 ... 310, however, are not
output-flip-flops.
More specifically, the flip-flops 304, 306 ... 310 are
not placed at the outputs of the FSM to encode the state of
the FSM. Instead, the flip-flops 304, 306 ... 310, merely
store an encoded value that indicates the current state of the
FSM. See col. 4, ll. 35-36. Figure 3 also shows that a
combinational network 302 generates the outputs of the FSM
based on the current state as determined from the encoded
values stored by the flip-flops 304, 306 ... 310. Because
neither Chandra nor Washabaugh even teaches the use of output
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