Appeal No. 95-5030
Application 07/815,694
and tail pointers to keep track of the items received from each
input data device, and each new entry for each input device
causes an updating of the corresponding tail pointer. See Sakon
at page 6, lines 10-18. Sakon on page 11 describes the
initializing of the head position and tail position pointers for
each input data memory unit.
With reference to Sakon's Figure 3B, we agree that the order
numbers are necessary to keep track and maintain the order of
receipt of data across all three data input devices. In other
words, the second item from input device number 2 may not be the
second item received overall. However, neither claim 1 nor 25
requires plural data input devices. Both claims require only a
source of data for transfer, e.g., a single data input device.
From that perspective, the head and tail position pointers of
Sakon are sufficient to maintain order for a single input device
and the order numbers of Sakon which apply to items from all
three input devices are irrelevant. It would appear that even
without the benefit of order numbers, the head and tail position
pointers for each input data memory would reveal which items are
prior to which items from the same input device. Since Sakon
discloses updating the tail position pointer as each new item is
14
Page: Previous 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007