Appeal No. 2002-1180
Application No. 08/924,552
with the definition of MIMO controller on pages 16-17 and page
14, lines 1-10 of the specification. Therefore, the controller
of Kobayashi...is a MIMO controller” (Paper No. 11-page 4).
The examiner’s explanation, at page 5 of the answer, differs
slightly, with the examiner now contending that Kobayashi
discloses the claimed MIMO because it discloses one controller
(column 13, lines 11-13) that simultaneously reads the embedded
servo signals (column 5, lines 25-29) by a plurality of heads
(multiple-inputs - see col. 12, lines 33-34); “and;
simultaneously and independently controlling of each of the
plurality of heads (multiple-outputs - see col. 12, lines 34-44)”
(answer-page 5).
While independent claim 19 does appear to be rather broad,
we agree with appellants that Kobayashi does not disclose the
claimed MIMO. While Figure 8 of Kobayashi appears to disclose
the control of multiple microactuators, as appellants state, at
page 15 of the brief, “this is not accomplished with a multiple-
input, multiple-output controller.” Rather, Kobayashi uses a
plurality of single-input, single-output (SISO) controllers, with
each controller controlling one data head. The examiner has not
convincingly pointed to anything in Kobayashi which provides an
-8–
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007