Appeal No. 2005-0001
Application No. 09/268,902
power grid of an integrated circuit where the length and width of the power
source grid lines are determined from the layout and used to determine the
current density in, and voltage drop across, the grid lines. (See column 6, lines
6-15 and 26-35). Thus, we find that the skilled artisan would have been
motivated to use Brasen’s system to determine the resistance (admittance) of the
lines in the power source grid, as Mitsuhashi does not disclose a system to
perform the calculations. Accordingly, we sustain the examiner’s rejection of the
claims in group D, claims 12, 14, 27, and 29 .
Group E (Claims 36-38)
On pages 22 though 28 of the brief, appellant presents arguments
directed to the claims in this group. On page 23 of the brief, appellant argues:
Mitsuhashi does not appear to teach or suggest a program storage
medium, readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of
instructions executable by the computer for analyzing an electrical
characteristic in wire segments forming a power-bus grid in an
integrated circuit core, where the program comprises instructions
for (i) accepting design information of an integrated circuit core
entered in response to a prompt.
The remainder of appellant’s arguments on pages 23 through 28 of the brief are
the same as presented with respect to claims 1 and 2.
As stated supra, we find that the combination of Mitsuhashi, Huddleston
and Tuan teach the limitations claims 36 and 28 have in common with claims 1
and 2. Regarding the limitation of “ a program storage medium, readable by a
computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the
computer,” we find that Mitsuhashi teaches this limitation. As stated supra,
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