Appeal No. 2002-2237 Page 7
Application No. 09/336,046
a pointer to uniquely identify a sought after entry. It is
further argued (brief, page 7) that because Holtz's associative
memory search system is dependent upon use of a tree structure,
that it would not have been obvious to modify Holtz to utilize a
linked list structure rather than a tree structure. Appellants
add (brief, page 9) that in the sections of Holtz relied upon by
the examiner, a search of a content addressable memory is not
done for a pointer alone, but rather that a search is done for a
matrix having both a pointer and output data. It is additionally
argued (brief, page 10, and reply brief, page 3) that because the
search in Holtz is for content (i.e., the associated data/gate in
addition to a pointer), Holtz uses content addressable memory.
If Holtz used only pointers, and did not search on content, Holtz
would not have been motivated to use content addressable memory.
Moreover, appellants argue (brief, page 11) that the examiner has
made no showing of any suggestion or motivation in the prior art
as to why it would be desirable to implement a linked list using
content addressable memory in Holtz. It is lastly argued (brief,
pages 12 and 17) that “in order to implement a forward linked
list in a content addressable memory, it is necessary for a next
entry to link backwards. Thus to traverse forward in the linked
list it is necessary to access backward pointers. This use of
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