Appeal 2007-0468
Application 10/750,320
Appellants have invented a method and apparatus for adjusting a
control signal applied to a substrate to maintain a substantially constant
frequency ratio between a signal related to a target circuit frequency and a
signal related to a leakage current (Figure 1A; Specification 3).
Claim 1 is representative of the claims on appeal, and it reads as
follows:
1. An apparatus comprising:
a substrate;
a target timing circuit formed on the substrate, the target timing circuit
having a frequency related to a target frequency;
a leakage timing circuit formed on the substrate, the leakage timing
circuit having a frequency related to a leakage current; and
a control unit to maintain a substantially constant ratio between the
frequency related to the target frequency and the frequency related to the
leakage current.
The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on
appeal is:
Mizuno US 6,166,577 Dec. 26, 2000
Teraoka US 6,333,571 B1 Dec. 25, 2001
Klemmer US 6,337,601 B1 Jan. 8, 2002
Miyazaki US 6,489,833 B1 Dec. 3, 2002
Kudo US 6,708,289 B1 Mar. 16, 2004
(filed May 30, 2000)
Chen US 6,883,078 B2 Apr. 19, 2005
(filed Apr. 24, 2002)
The Examiner rejected claims 1, 2, 6 to 18, 26, 27, and 29 under 35
U.S.C. § 102(b) based upon the teachings of Mizuno. The Examiner
2
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