Appeal No. 2002-2259
Application No. 09/083,959
before they are added to the system. Kinoshita determines
compatibility of processors in a multiprocessor system by
comparing their generation numbers which are included in a
compatibility table (col. 1, lines 32-44). Kinoshita further
updates a current generation number managing table into a spare
table which is used for determining the compatibility of
generation numbers among the processors after the update (col. 4,
lines 21-24). However, as stated by Appellants (brief, page 7),
the compatibility table of Kinoshita is used to compare the
updated generation number of the processors to those already
present in the multiprocessor system. There is no comparison in
Kinoshita for determining the revision numbers of processors that
are compatible with all current processors before the updated
processor has been added.
In fact, none of the references recognize the importance of
presenting to a user the model and revision numbers of the
compatible processors so that the user can select which processor
to add when upgrading the multiprocessor system. Therefore,
contrary to the Examiner’s position, comparing the types of
current processors with a compatibility table and determining the
types of the processors that are compatible with all current
8
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007