Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/263,122

ORBITAL ANGULAR MOMENTUM TRANSMITTER CIRCLE SELECTION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 26, 2023
Priority
Apr 02, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2021085228
Examiner
WEISSBERGER, LUNA T
Art Unit
2415
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
75%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 75% — above average
75%
Career Allowance Rate
170 granted / 226 resolved
+17.2% vs TC avg
Strong +24% interview lift
Without
With
+23.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
258
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.2%
-36.8% vs TC avg
§103
71.4%
+31.4% vs TC avg
§102
11.4%
-28.6% vs TC avg
§112
10.8%
-29.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 226 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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 . The Examiner thanks the Applicant for the well-prepared amendment. The Examiner appreciates the Applicant’s effort to carefully analyze the Office action, and make appropriate arguments and amendments. Status of Claims Claims 1, 3-8, and 31-41 responded on May 15, 2026 are pending, claims 1 and 5-8 are amended. Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114 A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on May 27, 2026 has been entered. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 4 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant’s arguments, see pg. 8, filed May 15, 2026, with respect to drawings have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objection of drawings has been withdrawn. 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 4 and 31 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sasaki et al. (US 2020/0296599 A1, hereinafter "Sasaki") in view of Mengnan et al. (US 2023/0421214 A1, hereinafter "Mengnan") . Regarding claim 4, Sasaki discloses a first device (Sasaki Fig. 2 10) for wireless communication, the first device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit one or more reference signals according to a respective orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes via each transmitter circle of a plurality of transmitter circles (Sasaki, [0043] the transmitting station 10 transmits a known reference signal; The transmitting station 10 determines a multiplex number and a transmission mode by using the fed-back channel information; The receiving station 20 performs a separation process on OAM mode signals received in each UCA (i.e. a plurality of transmitter circles)); receive a plurality of channel gain measurements (Sasaki, [0015, 0088] The receiving station may further include a unit estimating channel information between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna by using a known reference signal transmitted from the transmitting station; receiving antennae adaptively select a modulation method or an encoding method according to a reception SNR for each mode by taking into consideration superimposed noise); and transmit one or more messages to a second device using one or more transmitter circles according to a power loading scheme based at least in part on the plurality of channel gain measurements, wherein the power loading scheme is associated with one or more orbital angular momentum modes of the plurality of orbital angular momentum modes (Sasaki, table 3 [0088] from…Table 3, the transmitting and receiving antennae adaptively select a modulation method or an encoding method according to a reception SNR for each mode by taking into consideration superimposed noise). Sasaki discloses channel gain measurement but does not explicitly disclose wherein each channel gain measurement of the plurality of channel gain measurements is associated with a respective orbital angular momentum mode-transmitter circle pairing based at least in part on the one or more reference signals. Mengnan from the same field of endeavor discloses receive a plurality of channel gain measurements, wherein each channel gain measurement of the plurality of channel gain measurements is associated with a respective orbital angular momentum mode-transmitter circle pairing based at least in part on the one or more reference signals (Mengnan, [0110] where both the transmitting node 102 uses a central antenna element and the receiving node 104 uses a central antenna element, and the P-loop UCA transmission (P≥1) can be adopted, the compensation node may determine or obtain the compensation parameters for the receiving node based on received signal. In particular embodiments, the compensation node may determine a compensation parameter KT,p,m for an mth transmitting antenna according to the following mathematical formula). It would have been obvious for one with ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified OAM communication disclosed by Sasaki and reference signal and parameters determination disclosed by Mengnan with a motivation to make this modification in order to improve the efficiency of existing dimensions (Mengnan, [0003]). Regarding claim 31, Sasaki discloses transmitting an indication of an association between a set of reference signal resources for the one or more reference signals and a respective orbital angular momentum mode-transmitter circle pairing (Sasaki, [0141] a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna, a reflector or a lens of a parabola antenna is provided. Herein, antennae are disposed such that a propagation axis passing through the center of each UCA matches a symmetric axis of a paraboloid of the parabola antenna, and thus a high received signal gain can be obtained). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 1, 3, 5-8, and 32-41 are allowed. A search has been performed and no prior art has been found that solely, or in any reasonable combination, reads on the claims as recited. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Regarding claim 1, Sasaki (US 2020/0296599 A1) discloses a first device in Fig. 2 for wireless communication, the first device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a reference signal using a center transmitter circle of a plurality of transmitter circles, the center transmitter circle being at a center of one or more of the plurality of transmitter circles in [0043]; receive, from a second device, an indication of one or more parameters associated with communications between the second device and the first device in [0043]; determine, based at least in part on the reference signal and the one or more parameters in [0043]; and transmit a message to the second device using the transmitter circle according to the orbital angular momentum mode in [0058]. Mengnan (US 2023/0421214 A1) discloses determine, based at least in part on the reference signal a transmitter circle of the plurality of transmitter circles for an orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes for communications with the second device in [0110]. Either singularly or in combination, fail to anticipate or render the limitation " determine, based at least in part on the reference signal and the one or more parameters, a transmitter circle of the plurality of transmitter circles for an orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes for communications with the second device". Regarding claim 5, Sasaki discloses a first device in Fig. 2 for wireless communication, the first device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a first reference signal of a first polarization according to an orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes using one or more transmitter circles of a plurality of transmitter circles in [0043]; transmit a second reference signal of a second polarization according to the orbital angular momentum mode of the plurality of orbital angular momentum modes using the one or more transmitter circles of the plurality of transmitter circles, the second polarization different from the first polarization in [0043, 19]; receive, from a second device, an indication of one or more parameters associated with communications between the second device and the first device in [0043]; determine, based at least in part on the reference signal and the one or more parameters in [0043]; and transmit a message to the second device using the transmitter circle according to the orbital angular momentum mode in [0058]. Mengnan discloses determine, based at least in part on the reference signal, a transmitter circle of the plurality of transmitter circles for an orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes for communications with the second device in [0110]. Either singularly or in combination, fail to anticipate or render the limitation " determine, based at least in part on the one or more parameters, the first reference signal, and the second reference signal, a transmitter circle of a plurality of the one or more transmitter circles for the orbital angular momentum mode of the plurality of orbital angular momentum modes for communications with the second device". Regarding claim 8, Sasaki discloses a first device in Fig. 2 for wireless communication, the first device comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a reference signal using a center transmitter circle of a plurality of transmitter circles, the center transmitter circle being at a center of one or more of the plurality of transmitter circles in [0043]; receive, from a second device, an indication of one or more parameters associated with communications between the second device and the first device in [0043]; determine, based at least in part on the reference signal and the one or more parameters in [0043]; and transmit a message to the second device using the transmitter circle according to the orbital angular momentum mode, wherein the transmitter circle comprises at least a center transmitter circle of the plurality of transmitter circles, and wherein the center transmitter circle is at a center of one or more of the plurality of transmitter circles in [0058]. Mengnan from the same field of endeavor discloses determine, based at least in part on the reference signal, the transmitter circle of the plurality of transmitter circles for an orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes for communications with the second device in [0110]. Either singularly or in combination, fail to anticipate or render the limitation " determine, based at least in part on the reference signal and the one or more parameters, a transmitter circle of the plurality of transmitter circles for an orbital angular momentum mode of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes for communications with the second device". Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "comments on Statement of Reasons for allowance". Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUNA WEISSBERGER whose telephone number is (571)272-3315. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm. 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) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571)270-1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /LUNA WEISSBERGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 1 earlier event
Jun 10, 2025
Response after Non-Final Action
Oct 29, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jan 28, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 19, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
May 15, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
May 27, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
May 29, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 06, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12706692
BALANCED CODING SCHEME
3y 11m to grant Granted Aug 11, 2026
Patent 12676774
CHANNEL ESTIMATION METHOD, APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM
3y 2m to grant Granted Jul 07, 2026
Patent 12671544
METHOD, DEVICE AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR COMMUNICATION
3y 7m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Patent 12671478
CHANNEL INFORMATION OBTAINING METHOD AND RELATED DEVICE
2y 11m to grant Granted Jun 30, 2026
Patent 12640867
SOUNDING METHOD AND APPARATUS IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
3y 7m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
75%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+23.7%)
3y 0m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 226 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month