Appeal No. 97-0266
Application No. 08/176,370
whether the source or destination operand designator is used
before or after it is stored is not clear from these
definitions. On the other hand, Tran indicates (column 5,
lines 12-16) that "[if] a match occurs between the source
operand and the previous-stored destination operand in reorder
buffer 22 and the data is valid, then reorder buffer 22 will
supply the data to an appropriate functional unit"
(underlining added for emphasis). Thus, as pointed out by
appellants, Tran stores the destination operands in the
reorder buffer and then compares them to source operands,
contrary to the claimed limitation of storing only the source
operands.
The examiner further mentions (Answer, page 5) that
"Popescu shows . . . a bypass path to permit the result of an
execution (destination indicator) on one clock cycle as an
operand (source indicator) on the next cycle." We agree that
Popescu uses such a bypass path, and that the bypass path,
viewed in a vacuum, would meet the claimed limitation.
However, the examiner has not even stated that it would have
been obvious to modify Tran. Consequently, the examiner's
reason for presenting Popescu is unclear. To support the
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