Appeal 2007-1754
Application 09/943,599
Conditional branch events (i.e., events lacking address information) are
reported with such a format using TCODE=0001 and the TDATA field
containing 1-bit branch outcome trace entries. As each new conditional
branch is encountered, a new 1-bit entry is added on the left and any other
entries shifted to the right by one bit (Mann, col. 14, ll. 7-16; Fig. 6A).
We disagree with the Examiner’s assertion that these conditional
branch results provide the claimed offset and will decide the subsequent
number of counter values to be added to the base address (Answer 16-17).
Mann’s bit-shifting technique (to the extent that such bit-shifting can be
considered as program counter values) uniquely identifies 15 different
conditional branch events for reporting purposes; it is not used as an offset
with respect to the base address. That is, the TDATA field of a
TCODE=0001 entry merely indicates that a conditional branch was taken.
When a branch target address must be reported, the conditional
branch TDATA field is then marked as complete. The target address is then
recorded in a trace entry pair, with (1) the first entry (TCODE=0010)
providing the high 16-bits of the target address, and (2) the second entry
(TCODE=0111) providing the low 16-bits of the target address (Mann, col.
14, ll. 25-34; Fig. 6B).
Simply put, the TDATA field for conditional branch events
(TCODE=0001) merely indicates a status (i.e., whether a conditional branch
was taken). Once the conditional branch TDATA field is marked as
complete, this conditional branch status indication (using TCODE=0001) is
likewise completed. Nothing in the reference expressly or inherently teaches
that this status indication data forms any part of, or constitutes an offset with
respect to, the reported address (i.e., the 32-bit data reported as a trace entry
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013