Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to a communication received on June 17, 2026.
Claims 1-26 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed June 17, 2026 has been considered. The consideration of this IDS includes all previously non-considered references from the January 26, 2026 IDS that was not considered (see final rejection, mailed March 18, 2026).
Response to Arguments
The applicant’s arguments directed at the 35 USC §102(a)(1) rejection of claims 1-26 as being anticipated by Jadhav have been considered and are persuasive. However a new grounds of rejection has been provided.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 1-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jadhav et al (US 2021/0099194, hereinafter “Jadhav”) in view of Lee et al (US 2015/0323472, hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding claims 1, 13, and 26, Jadhav teaches a method of wireless communication by a wireless device, comprising:
tracking sets of radio frequency (RF) exposures separately across a plurality of locations associated with a human body over time (¶¶55-56, wherein the sensors are used to determine the location of the mobile relative to the user’s body and the exposure is tracked separately whether the mobile device is in proximity to the head and the body); and
transmitting a first signal at a first transmit power determined based on a time-averaged RF exposure limit and at least one of the tracked sets of RF exposures (¶54 the mobile device computers time averaged utilization and compares it with a threshold; ¶58, the mobile device can reduce power of transmissions in response to the RF exposure during the time window being over a threshold, ¶56, wherein the mobile device can apply separate thresholds to different body part exposure).
Jadhav teaches tracking sets of exposures and exposures across different body locations on the human body to determine SAR limits (see ¶¶55-56 ), Jadhav does not explicitly indicate tracking the sets of exposures such that the tracked sets of RF exposures are preserved across transitions between the plurality of locations, including upon a return to a previously encountered one of the plurality of locations.
Lee teaches a wireless device which can track sets of SAR data (¶136) wherein the RF exposure can be measures for separate body parts (see ¶¶170-175, ¶151-152, and ¶157), wherein that data can be tracked over a longer period of time to determine a cumulation of SAR (see ¶168 and ¶¶149-155).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill at the effective filing date of the application to use Lee’s suggestion of SAR data tracking in Jadhav’s system. The combination would result in a database of RF exposure over a time period such as daily and RF exposure for individual body parts to show SAR accumulation. This would allow Jadhav’s UE to beyond enforcing SAR limits, also track usage behavior and show a user visuals or data about SAR exposure beyond power limiting and keeping the UE within regulator limits.
Regarding claims 2 and 14, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 1 and 13, wherein tracking the sets of RF exposures comprises:
tracking a first set of RF exposures across a first set of the locations over time (¶56, wherein the 40 seconds of RF exposure within the user’s pocket is tracked); and
tracking a second set of RF exposures across a second set of the locations over time (¶56, wherein the 20 seconds of RF exposure near the user’s head is tracked separately, wherein the first set of RF exposures does not contribute to the second set of RF exposures, and wherein the first set of the locations is different from the second set of the locations (¶56, wherein the mobile device can calculate separate thresholds to compare with the separate set of exposure data).
Regarding claims 3 and 15, Jadhav teaches the methods of claim 2 and 14, wherein:
the first set of the locations corresponds to a first exposure category; and the second set of the locations corresponds to a second exposure category (see ¶¶55-56, wherein the mobile device categorizes head location separately than the body).
Regarding claims 4 and 16, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 2 and 14, further comprising determining the first transmit power based at least in part on a maximum allowed transmit power that satisfies the time- averaged RF exposure limit in a time interval while considering the first set of RF exposures or the second set of RF exposures (¶58, wherein the RF exposure limits are taken into account when adjusting transmission power).
Regarding claims 5 and 17, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 2 and 14, wherein tracking the sets of RF exposures further comprises tracking the sets of RF exposures per antenna group among a plurality of antenna groups (¶22, wherein the RF exposures are additionally determined based upon individual antennas and their relationship with body parts, each antenna being a separate group).
Regarding claims 6 and 18, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 5 and 17, wherein:
tracking the sets of RF exposures further comprises:
tracking the first set of RF exposures per antenna group among a first set of one or more antenna groups (¶22, ¶62, ¶¶68-69, wherein antenna 0 can have a set of RF exposure state for a particular body (head or body); and
tracking the second set of RF exposures per antenna group among a second set of one or more antenna groups (¶22, ¶62, ¶¶68-69, wherein antenna 0 can have one set of RF exposure state for a particular body (head or body) and a separate antenna (group of 1 antennas) can have a separate set of exposure data, see ¶58); and
the method further comprises determining the first transmit power based at least in part on the sets of RF exposures associated with the first set of one or more antenna groups or the second set of one or more antenna groups (¶¶68-69 and ¶58, wherein based upon thresholds of RF exposures, the mobile device will adjust transmission power).
Regarding claims 7 and 19, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 2 and 14, further comprising:
determining the first transmit power based at least in part on a first maximum allowed transmit power that satisfies the time-averaged RF exposure limit in a first time interval while taking into account the first set of RF exposures (¶¶55-56 and ¶58, wherein if the user was determined to hold the phone next to their head for a time period, the mobile device would apply a first power level transmission based upon whether the measured RF exposure was over the threshold);
determining a second transmit power based at least in part on a second maximum allowed transmit power that satisfies the time-averaged RF exposure limit in a second time interval while taking into account the second set of RF exposures (¶¶55-56 and ¶58, wherein if the user was determined to hold the phone next to their body for a second 60 second rolling window then a different threshold would apply to the RF exposure threshold and might result in a different transmission power for subsequent transmissions); and transmitting a second signal at the second transmit power (¶58, wherein the transmission is based upon the most recent 60 rolling window and the determined averaged exposure time).
Regarding claims 8 and 20, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 1 and 13, wherein:
tracking the sets of RF exposures comprises tracking the sets of RF exposures across a plurality of exposure categories, each of the exposure categories is representative of a different location or a different set of locations among the plurality of locations (¶54-56 and ¶68-69, wherein the mobile device differentiates different phone locations including head location and near body location and determines exposure separately (even in the same rolling time window), and
each of the exposure categories is mutually exclusive of the other exposure categories in terms of tracking the RF exposures (¶54-56 and ¶68-69, wherein the mobile device differentiates different phone locations including head location and near body location and determines exposure separately (even in the same rolling time window).
Regarding claims 9 and 21, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 8 and 20, wherein the exposure categories include a first exposure category associated with head exposure and a second exposure category associated with non-head exposure (¶55-56, wherein the exposures can be to the head and near the body).
Regarding claim 10, and 22, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 8 and 20, wherein the exposure categories include: a first exposure category associated with head exposure; a second exposure category associated with trunk exposure; and a third exposure category associated with extremity exposure (¶55-56, wherein the sensors can determine the location of the mobile phone including, near the head, the body, and the extremities).
Regarding claims 11 and 23, Jadhav teaches the method of claims 1 and 13, further comprising determining the first transmit power based on the time-averaged RF exposure limit for a time window and the at least one of the tracked sets of RF exposures for the same time window (¶58, wherein the power of transmission can be adjusted based on the tracked RF exposure during the rolling time window).
Regarding claims 12 and 24, Jadhav teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted first signal is associated with an RF exposure distribution, and wherein the method further comprises determining a subset of the plurality of locations which experience RF exposure based on the distribution and an output of one or more sensors of the wireless device (¶¶54-56 and ¶58, wherein the 60 second rolling window can include at least two body locations, where the body locations are determined from mobile device sensors, and each RF exposure is separately determined and compared with separate thresholds to determine whether to adjust the output power).
Regarding claim 25, Jadhav teaches the apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit the first signal at the first transmit power (¶58 and ¶66, wherein the power level of transmissions are adjusted based upon the transmission parameters of the antenna transmissions).
Citation of Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. 11,432,249 issued to Sambhwani et al because it teaches tracking a per antenna or antenna grouping level RF exposure and applying different coefficients to different antenna exposures to measure time averaged RF exposure.
WO 2022/042772 issued to Zhou et al because it teaches measuring RF exposure based upon UE movement and where on the body the UE is located.
US 2025/0106785 issued to Zhou et al because it teaches scenario sets of data collection on sets of antenna regarding RF exposure.
Conclusion
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/KEVIN T BATES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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