Appeal No. 1998-2749
Application 08/637,062
Examiner finds that Hausman teaches DMA control circuitry on an
Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and a DMA
controller which is off chip to issue commands to control the
adapter 10 which contains the DMA control circuit (EA8).
Hausman discloses that DMA circuitry is contained within host
interface 200 (col. 8, lines 10-11), which is within the ASIC
chip, and then refers to the DMA controller (col. 8, lines 19 and
23), implying that the DMA controller is part of the DMA circuitry
on the ASIC chip and not off chip. While the host DMA ring buffer
is off chip in the host memory (col. 8, lines 6-10), this is not a
DMA controller. Claim 29 is not anticipated because it does not
teach locating the DMA controller external to the chip. While the
decision as to whether to locate functional components, such as
the DMA controller, on or off a chip may be within the level of
ordinary skill in the art, the rejection here is based on
anticipation, not obviousness. Accordingly, the rejection of
claim 29 is reversed. Hausman expressly discloses the internal
buffer, RX RAM FIFO 170, provided on the ASIC as recited in
claim 30; however, because claim 30 depends on claim 29, the
rejection of claim 30, and its dependent claim 31, is reversed.
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