Appeal No. 1999-2747
Application 08/757,979
reference teaches that defective cache locations may be mapped
out using validity bits, because forcing a validity bit to
indicate that the defective location does not contain valid
data would force a main memory access instead of a cache
access, thereby effectively bypassing the cache only for those
locations which contain defective or invalid data.
Handy is cited by the Examiner to teach that the MESI
cache protocol is a common protocol. The Examiner then
asserts that an artisan at the time the invention was made
would have realized that the Invalid bit of a cache using the
MESI protocol is the same Invalid bit used in non-MESI
protocol caches to indicate whether a particular cache
location is valid.
As pointed out by our reviewing court, we must first
determine the scope of the claim. "[T]he name of the game is
the claim.” In re Hiniker Co., 150 F.3d 1362, 1369, 47 USPQ2d
1523, 1529 (Fed. Cir. 1998).
We therefore consider claim 20 to determine its scope.
The preamble of this claim reads: "A method for controlling
operation of a storage array after a failure comprising the
8
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