Appeal No. 2006-1497
Application No. 09/770,017
Claim 24 is illustrative of the claimed invention, and it reads as follows:
24. A computerized method for controlling storage and retrieval of data in a memory
device by constructing a data structure in which items of data are stored for search, comprising:
a) forming an assumed tree structure in which all the items of data are stored;
b) sequentially selecting a node from the assumed tree structure to select a sub-tree
structure including the selected node and any child nodes of the selected node;
c) forming an equivalent table storing at least a portion of the items of data included in
the selected sub-tree structure in a table form;
d) determining whether the selected sub-tree structure satisfies one or more
predetermined conditions; and
e) when the selected sub-tree structure satisfies the one or more predetermined
conditions, replacing the selected sub-tree structure with the equivalent table to
construct the data structure,
wherein the predetermined conditions are that: 1) an amount of memory required to
store a data structure including the equivalent table in place of the selected sub-tree
structure is smaller than that required to store the assumed tree structure; and 2)
search performance of the data structure is not lower than that of the assumed tree
structure.
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Powers et al. (Powers) 5,404,513 Apr. 4,
1995
Jeffries 6,633,879 Oct. 14, 2003
(filed Jan. 4, 2000)
Claims 7, 10, 14, 22, 24 through 27 and 29 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Powers in view of Jeffries.
Reference is made to the briefs and the answer for the respective positions of the
appellant and the examiner.
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