Appeal No. 1999-2555
Application No. 08/503,625
programmable to emulate avionics devices of the aircraft."
Schefter (page 120) and Covault (page 50) state that computers
which are exact duplicates of the computers which will be
aboard the space shuttle are used. Therefore, the CPU and
programmable input/output emulator, which are parts of those
computers, must be duplicates of the hardware used on the
space shuttle. The examiner, however, asserts (Answer, pages
4-5) that "it was notoriously old and well known in the art
that full 'prime hardware incorporation' is not necessary for
a simulator, i.e., that incorporation of an operative avionic
subsystems [sic] is counterproductive to the desired cost
benefit of simulation."
Although we agree with the examiner that generally
simulations of components are cheaper than the actual
hardware, we find a lack of evidence in the record which would
support the examiner's conclusion that it would have been
obvious to use a software simulation within the computer for
most, but not all, of the computer. In other words, in the
face of the explicit teachings of Schefter and Covault to
duplicate the entire computer, why would the skilled artisan
have been motivated to duplicate only the operational flight
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