Appeal No. 2002-1311
Application No. 09/042,291
Representative claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
Claim 1. A graphics memory system comprising:
a memory controller receiving a first quantity of Z coordinates and pixel
colors, each pixel color being associated with one location on a display
screen, each Z coordinate representing a depth in 3-dimensional space of
a pixel, each pixel color having a row and column address associated there-
with, each row and column address corresponding to a memory location in
a memory element such that each pixel color is associated with a particular
memory location in the memory element, the memory controller receiving
a plurality of Z coordinates from the memory element, the memory controller
comparing each Z coordinate received from the memory element with each Z
coordinate of the first quantity in accordance with a Z comparison test to
determine whether a pixel color associated with a compared Z coordinate of
the first quantity should be written into the memory element, wherein if the
Z coordinate of the first quantity passes the Z comparison test, a determination
is made that a pixel color associated with the compared Z coordinate of the first
quantity that passes the Z comparison test is to be saved in the memory element,
wherein after the Z comparison test has been performed on all of the Z
coordinates of the first quantity, pixel colors associated with the Z coordinates
that passed the Z comparison test are saved in the memory element at the memory
locations associated with the pixels, wherein the memory element comprises an
image buffer region and a Z buffer region, the image buffer region being separate
from the Z buffer region, wherein Z coordinates are stored in the Z buffer region and
pixel colors are stored in the image buffer region.
The examiner relies on the following reference:
Gonzalez-Lopez et al. 5,043,921 Aug. 27, 1991
(Gonzalez-Lopez)
Claims 1, 12, 19, 20 and 29 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) “as being unpatentable
by Gonzalez-Lopez et al. (‘G-L’, U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,921) in view of In re Larson (‘Larson’),
-2-
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