Appeal No. 1998-3359
Application 08/572,347
teaches that during each control period, the specified control
function is performed and is prioritized. In lines 48-52,
DiGiulio teaches that if at any point a higher priority
function requires additional processor time, the required time
is appropriated from the lowest remaining priority function.
Turning to figure 5 of DiGiulo, we note that the figure
shows four priority schemes for executing within 1
millisecond. In particular, figure 5 shows a top priority,
second priority, third priority and fourth priority. These
motor functions are prioritized so as if a particular control
function requires additional processing time above that which
has been allocated, then time is appropriate from a lower
priority control function. Thus, each motor control function
is allocated an amount of time that may not be sufficient to
complete its execution. As a result, the execution of the
motor control functions must be constantly monitored along
with the time remaining to determine if the time appropriate
is necessary.
We note that Appellants’ claim 1 recites “[a]n improved
method of controlling a mailing machine wherein said mailing
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