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Authored by: Ian Al on Saturday, July 21 2012 @ 04:14 AM EDT |
Your definition fits many 'field programmable' devices including the CD-R I
mentioned. As you implicitly say, there is nothing programmable about a PROM. In
the same way, there is nothing programmable in FPGAs, write-once gate arrays,
CD-Rs or other write-once permanent memory devices.
My programmable CD-R might be playable as a music CD.
The patently obvious point remains that the FPGA is not changed by the
'programming'. If an FPGA or computer has its programming on a ROM, does the
'final manufacture' of the ROM turn the combination of components into a new
machine? I think PolR's arguments come rolling in to say 'no' because what is
manufactured into the ROM is a series of instructions.
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Regards
Ian Al
Software Patents: It's the disclosed functions in the patent, stupid![ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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