Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 17/629,227

CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION REFERENCE SIGNAL (CSI-RS) RESOURCES AND PORTS OCCUPATION FOR FINER PRECODING MATRIX INDICATION (PMI) GRANULARITY

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jan 21, 2022
Priority
Aug 06, 2019 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2019099349
Examiner
JAIN, RAJ K
Art Unit
2411
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
6 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
6-7
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
718 granted / 819 resolved
+29.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+7.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
19 currently pending
Career history
862
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
1.6%
-38.4% vs TC avg
§103
70.2%
+30.2% vs TC avg
§102
18.7%
-21.3% vs TC avg
§112
4.8%
-35.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 819 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. Claim(s) 1,5,8,13-15,19 and 25,29-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BABAEI et al (US 20240007888 A1), priority to provisional app 62/615287 dated Jan 9, 2018) hereinafter as BABAEI in view of WANG et al (US 20210234583 A1) hereinafter as WANG. Regarding claim(s) 1,15, BABAEI discloses a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) (See Fig(s). 1 with UE 110b), comprising: receiving a channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration comprising one or more CSI reporting settings (See Fig(s). 1, See ¶ ..451, 492… a gNB may transmit one or more RRC message comprising one or more CSI configuration parameters comprising at least: one or more CSI-RS resource settings; one or more CSI reporting settings, and one CSI measurement setting…one of skill in the arts will appreciate that a geNB transmitting is interpreted that a UE within a network is receiving the RRC message), wherein each CSI reporting setting is associated with one or more subbands for CSI and each subband for CSI comprises a frequency domain (FD) unit for channel quality information (CQI) feedback and one or more FD units for precoding matrix indicator (PMI) feedback (See ¶ .. 522-526… CSI reporting setting configuration defines a CSI reporting band as a subset of subbands of the bandwidth part, where the ReportFreqConfiguration indicates: [0524] the CSI-ReportingBand as a contiguous or non-contiguous subset of subbands in the bandwidth part for which CSI may be reported…further See ¶ .. 556… In the frequency domain, the CSI reference resource is defined by the group of downlink physical resource blocks corresponding to the band to which the derived CQI value relates.). BABAEI fails to disclose - determining, for each of the CSI reporting settings, at least one of an amount of CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resources occupation or an amount of CSI-RS ports occupation, based at least in part on (i) a how many FD units for PMI feedback within a single FD unit for CQI feedback or (ii) a how many FD units for PMI feedback within all of the subbands for CSI; and sending an indication of a CSI processing capability of the UE, the CSI processing capability comprising an indication of at least one of a number of CSI-RS resources supported by the UE or a number of CSI-RS ports supported by the UE. WANG discloses - determining, for each of the CSI reporting settings, at least one of an amount of CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resources occupation or an amount of CSI-RS ports occupation, based at least in part on based at least in part on (i) a how many FD units for PMI feedback within a single FD unit for CQI feedback or (ii) a how many FD units for PMI feedback within all of the subbands for CSI. (See Fig(s). 3, See ¶ 92,110, 522, the frequency domain vector is determined based on the quantity of frequency domain units included in the frequency domain occupation bandwidth of the CSI measurement resource); sending an indication of a CSI processing capability of the UE, the CSI processing capability comprising an indication of at least one of a number of CSI-RS resources supported by the UE or a number of CSI-RS ports supported by the UE (See ¶ 116-117, the quantity of to-be-reported frequency domain units may be indicated by using the foregoing signaling of reporting band. The quantity of to-be-reported frequency domain units may be all or some of frequency domain units in the frequency domain occupation bandwidth of the CSI measurement resource.). UE feedback within FD units and PMI provides a gNB to estimate the downlink channel quality by the CSI report from UE (e.g, PMI / RI report) and select the best codebook matrix best fit for the downlink signal transmission. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of WANG within BABAEI, so as to have a UE feedback with CQI and PMI providing a gNB node to estimate the downlink channel quality by the CSI report from UE (e.g, PMI / RI report) and select the best codebook matrix best fit for the downlink signal transmission. Further with regards to claim 15, BABAEI discloses a network entity performing mirrored method of claim 1 (See Fig(s). 4A-4D). Regarding claim(s) 3, BABAEI discloses wherein the CSI reporting configuration comprises a CSI request triggering one or more of the CSI reporting settings (See Fig(s). 31. example Triggering/Activation of CSI Reporting for the possible CSI-RS Configurations). Regarding claim(s) 5, 19, WANG discloses wherein determining at least one of the amount of CSI- RS resources occupation or the amount of CSI-RS ports occupation is based on the number of the FD units for PMI feedback within a single FD unit for CQI feedback (See ¶ .92, 110, 522, the frequency domain vector is determined based on the quantity of frequency domain units included in the frequency domain occupation bandwidth of the CSI measurement resource). Reasons for combining same as claim 1. Regarding claim(s) 8, 23, WANG discloses wherein determining at least one of the amount of CSI- RS resource occupation or the amount of CSI-RS ports occupation is based on the number of the FD units for PMI feedback within all of the subbands for CSI. ((See ¶ 92, 110, 522, the frequency domain vector is determined based on the quantity of frequency domain units included in the frequency domain occupation bandwidth of the CSI measurement resource). Reasons for combining same as claim 1. Regarding claim(s) 13, 29, BABAEI discloses wherein determining at least one of the amount of CSI- RS resource occupation or the amount of CSI-RS ports occupation is further based on a type of the codebook associated with the CSI reporting setting (See ¶ .. 499, 506. one or more CSI Type (I or II); one or more codebook configuration parameters; a report quantity indicator indicating CSI-related or L1-RSRP-related quantities to report; Regarding claim(s) 14 and 30, BABAEI discloses each CSI reporting setting comprises one or more CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resources (See ¶ .. 492; and each CSI-RS resource comprises one or more CSI-RS ports (See ¶ .. 508,535). Allowable Subject Matter Claim(s) 2,4,6-7,9-12,16-18,20-22,24-28 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments, filed April 15, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1,5,8,13-15,19 and 25,29-30 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made for Applicant’s consideration. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Raj Jain whose telephone number is (571) 272-3145. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th ~8 ~6. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached on 571-272-3123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to Patent Center, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form. /RAJ JAIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 9 earlier events
Jul 01, 2025
Response Filed
Aug 21, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Oct 22, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 21, 2025
Request for Continued Examination
Dec 05, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Jan 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Apr 15, 2026
Response Filed
May 13, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

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DATA TRANSMISSION DURRING RRC INACTIVE STATE IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION
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Patent 12568472
CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION REPORTING BASED ON SUB-RESOURCE POOLS FOR SIDELINK COMMUNICATIONS
3y 1m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Patent 12568514
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT APPARATUS, WIRELESS COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
2y 8m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Patent 12568512
Method and Apparatus for Determining Sidelink Transmission Resource
2y 10m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

6-7
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+7.6%)
2y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 819 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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