Appeal No. 2006-1450
Application No. 09/933,786
6. Methvin et al. state, at column 16, lines 51-52, that:
The bit mode of operation of the processor is generally
similar to its byte mode of operation.
With the above discussion in mind, we find that the Groves
reference teaches the claimed invention. First, Groves is relied
upon, inter alia, for its teaching of a byte merge logic (30)
coupled to a byte rotator (22) and a register (26), wherein the
byte merge logic (30) generates outputs (42) based in-part on
control signals including a mask field (e.g. Load Byte Merge
Mask) received from the control logic (14) to help identify which
data byte from memory that should be shifted. We agree with the
Examiner that one of ordinary skill in the art would have readily
been apprised of the fact that a byte is generally known as 8
bits. Therefore, the ordinary skilled artisan would have
recognized that shifting an entire byte is equivalent to shifting
8 bits (i.e. a plurality of bits). Furthermore, as indicated in
the Methvin reference, the ordinary skilled artisan would have
also known that a bit mode of operation of the processor is
similar to its byte mode of operation. Thus, the ordinary skilled
artisan would have found it obvious to substitute the well-known
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