Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 27, 2026
Application No. 18/303,514

OPERATION EXPANSION POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR ACCESS POINTS

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Apr 19, 2023
Examiner
HUA, QUAN M
Art Unit
2645
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
4 (Final)
72%
Grant Probability
Favorable
5-6
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 72% — above average
72%
Career Allowance Rate
467 granted / 645 resolved
+10.4% vs TC avg
Strong +21% interview lift
Without
With
+21.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 11m
Avg Prosecution
41 currently pending
Career history
688
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
§103
51.8%
+11.8% vs TC avg
§102
18.1%
-21.9% vs TC avg
§112
18.4%
-21.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 645 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 . Claims 1, 2, 4-19, 21-30 are pending. Response to Arguments The amendments of 9/29/2026 is considered. The arguments generally dispute that reference Park does not disclose a plurality of operating parameters including at least one: a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size. The examiner asserts that the recited “a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size” are not only vague in themselves but ambiguous as to their scope/context. A “quantity of spatial stream” under BRI can be any of a number of named streams, a maximum stream the UE can possibly use, or a minimum the UE can possibly use/support. In this case, the number of antenna port in Park can represent at least a minimum number of stream a UE can utilize (i.e. one stream per port). An RU size is not just limited to size of resource block, but also include a number of resources/resource blocks. The claims never recite any further clarification or special definition, and the rejection does not have to rely on the specific interpretation preferred by the Remarks. Applicant argues the references of record Awoniyi-Oteri et al. (US 2023/0033336) in view of Park et al. (US 2018/0254812) do not disclose information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate a wireless node is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters and receiving a first request to modify at least one of those. Applicant argues Parks is directed to CSI configuration/reporting. Applicant argue that Park discloses antenna-port count of CSI-RS resource and L is antenna-port count of CSI report unit, and that an antenna port may map to multiple physical elements. Applicant argues Parks uses number for layers for the number of signal streams and equates rank with layers and that L is not a quantity of spatial stream. Applicant also argues K, a count of CSI-RS resources, is not an RU size. The examiner respectfully disagrees. Awoniyi-Oteri teaches the criteria, the options, and the request in at least ¶0118-0128. Specifically, the base station determines that the UE can send a beam reconfiguration update request and transmits measurement configuration to the UE for adjustment. The reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters. That transmitted information to the UE indicates to the UE that it is allowed to request modification and indicates options for the modification. Awoniyi-Oteri is not relied for the three named parameters. Park supplies at least a quantity of spatial streams and an RU size. At least ¶0020, 0292-0295, 0304-0308 discloses that the UE has received CSI-RS resource configuration, including antenna port counts, and the UE may request reconfiguration of K, the number of CSI-RSI resources, and/or L (the number of antenna ports of the report unit). The claim simply does not whose streams, the manner of those streams being transmitted, on which link, or whether the quantity is a maximum or a minimum the UE should or allowed to use, or whether it is a quantity of streams per antenna. The term is recited in vacuum and is too broad to be construed in the specific preferred way the Remarks demands. Park’s port count equate at least a minimum of quantity of streams being supported. Park does not have to use the exact wording “spatial streams”. ¶0223 defining antenna ports that are mapped to physical elements does not disqualify the antenna ports count from the BRI of the claim term. ¶0243-0246 or 0114 are not cited or relied upon for the rejection and are outside of the ground of rejection. K is RU size. The claim does not impose a specific definition for RU size. A number of resources unit (quantity) is well within BRI of the term “size”, which does not have to rigidly applied the meaning of dimension. Applicant argues the reason to combine is deficient, alleging Park in ¶0020 addresses only a mismatch between CSI-RS reference port count and CSI port-unit port count. Applicant argues this does not explain why POSITA would transmit criteria and options for spatial-stream quantity, transmit power, or RU size, or would receive a request to modify one of those parameters or treat L as a stream quantity and K as a resource size. The examiner respectfully disagrees. Awoniyi-Oteri already has the UE request modification of beam operating parameters, including beam width and TRP. Parks teaches the inclusion in a request to the base station a reconfiguration of CSI-RS resources and the number of report-unit antenna ports. ¶0021-0022 of Park states the effect of such a request, and thus give the reason: smoother feedback, and prevention of error caused by ambiguity between the resource count and the report-unit port count. A POSITA would add those fields to the request that Awoniyi-Oteri already carries for that benefit. Both the references are a UE request to a base station to change a configured beam or resource parameter, so the combination does not change Awoniyi-Oteria’s principle of operation. The reason is clearly articulated in Park and tied to the modification, not a highlight reasoning or uses the claim as a roadmap. Furthermore, referring now to the independent claim 1, the choices of a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size also appear to be arbitrary, all things considered, because the outcome of the claimed method does not appear to have any special purposes or effect specifically tied to those three (vs. other alternatives). As written, those three options appear to happen to be chosen for reconfiguration rather than a deliberate choice to cause a particular outcome in the result of the process, therefore undermining the allegation that POSITA would not combine Park’s parameters to Awoniyi-Oteri request. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-12, 14-19, 21-24, 26-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Awoniyi-Oteri et al. (US 2023/0033336) in view of Park et al. (US 2018/0254812). As to claim 1: Awoniyi-Oteri discloses An apparatus for wireless communications, the apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver (Fig. 14, 16, Abstract, ¶0185 Base station, with transceiver 1615), comprising: One or more memories storing computer executable code; One or more processors configured to, individually or collectively, execute the computer executable code to cause the apparatus to (Fig. 16, processor, memory with software) and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: Transmit, via the at least one transceiver, information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate a wireless node is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters; (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, ¶0096-0097, 0118, 0120-0122, base station outputs configuration data for UE, indicating UE to perform necessary measurements and requests reconfiguration updates as appropriate, the reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters such as beamwidth, TRP change etc. See also “the base station 105-e may determine that the UE 115-e has a capability to perform beam update requests that are based on pose information from an XR application, and that the connection is to exchange XR traffic. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE 115-e is to perform beam measurements and use pose information to determine preferred beam or beam adjustment (…) the base station 105-e may transmit, and the UE 115-e may receive, the measurement configuration” via the transceiver) Receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first request that requests the apparatus to modify the at least one or more wireless operating parameters; and perform, via the at least one transceiver, one or more actions based on the first request based on the information. (¶0099, 0101-0107, a change request sent to the base station. 0108-0114, base station, responsive to the received request, activates the changed beam or beam sequences and appropriate timing for communication with new beam configuration. See also Fig. 8, 830, 835) Awoniyi-Oteri discloses the reconfiguration to be requested from the UE to the network including various operating parameters such as beam width, TRPs etc., however does not explicitly disclose they also include at least one of : a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size. Park, in a related field of endeavor of beam management in a user equipment, for example ¶0017-0020, 0308, a UE might receive a wireless operating configuration from a base station (¶0292-0295) and UE might send beam modification request in which the UE can also request reconfiguration of number of resources allocated and number of antenna ports (i.e. number of concurrent streams). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the beam reconfiguration request from the UE in AWONIYI-OTERI can also incorporate resource/antenna ports reconfiguration requests. This implementation advantageously promote smooth feedback process between UE and eNB, and the clarification of resources and antenna numbers can prevent report errors (¶0020 of Park). As to claim 2: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, Awoniyi-Oteri discloses wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, additional information that indicates an update to at least one of: the one or more criteria or the one or more options. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0083, mobility of the UE, misalignment causes further updates for new necessary beam adjustments. See also 865, update to the UE on the acceptance of new option(s)) As to claim 4: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the one or more options include one or more options to increase or decrease a quantity of active primary channels or a quantity of active links. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0095, initial communication include a beam pair. ¶0102-0106, beam change request can include multiple (N) beams) As to claim 5: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein at least one of the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size is associated with an operating mode. (Awoniyi-Oteri, ¶0107, 0128, beam width, timer, i.e. timing for inactive and active states of each beam/width. In view of Park, the operating parameters includes at least resource size and stream number) As to claim 6: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more criteria depend on at least one of: an amount of traffic that the wireless node has to send or has sent, a type of traffic that the wireless node has to send or has sent, a type of the wireless node, a capability of the second node, a battery state of the second wireless node, or a quantity of requests that the wireless node has sent in a period of time. (Awoniyi-Oteri, ¶0119, bandwidth to be increased, decreased or change (i.e. based on quantity of data). ¶0118, configuration for UE is based on capability) As to claim 7: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the one or more criteria include different criteria corresponding to different options for modifying the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size. (Awoniyi-Oteri ,See ¶0098, 0119, several beam choices if met with measurement criteria, corresponding to options to be chosen and included in UE’s change requests; Park, ¶0020, resource size, quantity of streams ) As to claim 8: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein processing the first request comprises: performing the one or more actions further based on the wireless node failing to meet at least one of the criteria. (Awoniyi-Oteri, ¶0140, base station to continue to iterate if measurements indicate adverse effects) As to claim 9: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of: decreasing an amount of credit associated with the wireless node; rejecting one or more requests from the second node for a period of time; reducing how often the wireless node is served by the apparatus for a period of time; or disassociating the wireless node from the apparatus. (Awoniyi-Oteri See at least, ¶0088, 0035 results of adjustments/further adjustment include at least increase or reduction of beam width, 0119, increase or decrease bandwidth (i.e. amount of credit), ¶0108, timer value of each beam which indicates timing of beam sequence, i.e. how often a beam is “on” or changed, thus serving the UE) As to claim 10. Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 8, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to select the one or more actions based on a previous action. (Awoniyi-Oteri Fig. 8, action 860 is based on beams set provided in action 815, and also based on action 855) As to claim 11: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to: perform the one or more actions based on the wireless node meeting at least one of the one or more criteria, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of: increasing an amount of credit associated with the wireless node; or increasing how often the wireless node is served by the apparatus. (Awoniyi-Oteri See at least, ¶0088, 0035 results of adjustments/further adjustment include at least increase or reduction of beam width, 0119, increase or decrease bandwidth (i.e. amount of credit), ¶0108, timer value of each beam which indicates timing of beam sequence, i.e. how often a beam is “on” or changed, thus serving the UE) As to claim 12. Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the information further indicates at least one of: a type of a frame to use for signaling the first request for the apparatus to modify the quantity at least one of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size, whether the frame should be protected, a type of protection for the frame, or whether the frame should be individually addressed or group addressed. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0078 0097, base station provide information for resource grant to be used for sending request, report, and data by UE. ¶0101, resource grant include CRS frame, such as PUSCH or PUCCH) As to claim 14: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to at least one of: decrypt the first request; validate the first request based on a message integrity check (MIC); transmit, via at least one transceiver, a response to the first request; encrypt content of the response to the first request; or protect the content of the response to the first request via a MIC. (Awoniyi-Oteri , See at least Fig. 7, step 735-740) As to claim 15: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processor further cause the apparatus to: transmit, via at least one transceiver, a response to the first request, wherein the response indicates at least one of: whether the first request is granted or denied, a reason if the first request is denied, or additional information not previously indicated in the information. (See Awoniyi-Oteri, at least Fig. 7, step 740, “change confirmation”, also optionally (i.e. “or” in the claim), ¶0137-0139, 0109-0113, new values of beam and width, which weren’t included in initial configuration) As to claim 16: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 15, wherein the additional information indicates at least one of one or more wireless nodes to which the modification indicated in the first request applies, or one or more actions for the second wireless node to perform. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0109-0114, TRP ID, i.e. id of transmitter, also new beam sequences change for the UE to change communication ) As to claim 17: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, further comprising: wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as an access point (AP). (Awoniyi-Oteri Fig. 7 and 8, bases station include transceiver to receive and transmit communications with UE, for example beam request and beam change confirmation) As to claim 18: Awoniyi-Oteri discloses: An apparatus for wireless communications, the apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver; One or more memories storing computer executable code and one or more processors configured to, individually or collectively, execute the computer executable code to cause the apparatus to: (Fig. 12, processor and memory with transceiver): receive, via the at least one transceiver, information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate the apparatus is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters; (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, ¶0096-0097, 0118, 0120-0122, receive from base station outputs configuration data for UE, indicating UE to perform necessary measurements and requests reconfiguration updates as appropriate, the reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters such as beamwidth, TRP change etc. See also “the base station 105-e may determine that the UE 115-e has a capability to perform beam update requests that are based on pose information from an XR application, and that the connection is to exchange XR traffic. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE 115-e is to perform beam measurements and use pose information to determine preferred beam or beam adjustment (…) the base station 105-e may transmit, and the UE 115-e may receive, the measurement configuration” via the transceiver) transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a first request that requests the wireless node to modify the at least one or more wireless operating parameters; and perform, via the at least one transceiver, one or more actions based on the first request based on the information. (¶0099, 0101-0107, a change request sent by UE to the base station. 0108-0114, base station, responsive to the received request, activates the changed beam or beam sequences and appropriate timing for communication with new beam configuration. See also Fig. 8, 830, 835) Awoniyi-Oteri discloses the reconfiguration to be requested from the UE to the network including various operating parameters such as beam width, TRPs etc., however does not explicitly disclose they also include at least one of : a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size Park, in a related field of endeavor of beam management in a user equipment, for example ¶0017-0020, 0308, a UE might receive a wireless operating configuration from a base station (¶0292-0295) and UE might send beam modification request in which the UE can also request reconfiguration of number of resources allocated and number of antenna ports (i.e. number of concurrent streams). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the beam reconfiguration request from the UE in AWONIYI-OTERI can also incorporate resource/antenna ports reconfiguration requests. This implementation advantageously promote smooth feedback process between UE and eNB, and the clarification of resources and antenna numbers can prevent report errors (¶0020 of Park). As to claim 19: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors further cause the apparatus to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, additional information that indicates an update to at least one of: the criteria or the options; and transmit, via at least one transceiver, a second request that requests the first wireless node to modify the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size based on the additional information. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0083, mobility of the UE, misalignment causes further updates for new necessary beam adjustments. See also 865, update to the UE on the acceptance of new option(s), Park, ¶0020, 0292-0295, resource, number of streams) As to claim 21: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the one or more options include one or more options to increase or decrease a quantity of active primary channels or a quantity of active links. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0095, initial communication include a beam pair. ¶0102-0106, beam change request can include multiple (N) beams) As to claim 22: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein: at least one of the wireless operating parameters is associated with an operating mode, . (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0107, 0128, beam width, timer, i.e. timing for inactive and active states of each beam/width, Park, ¶0020, 0295) and the one or more criteria include different criteria corresponding to different options for modifying at least one of the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size. (See Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0098, 0119, several beam choices if met with measurement criteria, corresponding to options to be chosen and included in UE’s change requests. Park, ¶0020, 0295) As to claim 23: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more criteria depend on at least one of: an amount of traffic that the apparatus has to send or has sent, a type of traffic that the apparatus has to send or has sent, a type of the apparatus, a capability of the apparatus, a battery state of the apparatus, or a quantity of requests that the apparatus has sent in a period of time, in accordance with the criteria. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0119, bandwidth to be increased, decreased or change (i.e. based on quantity of data). ¶0118, configuration for UE is based on capability) As to claim 24: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the information further indicates at least one of: a type of a frame to use for signaling the first request for the wireless node to modify the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size, whether the frame should be protected, a type of protection for the frame, or whether the frame should be individually addressed or group addressed. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0078 0097, base station provide information for resource grant to be used for sending request, report, and data by UE. ¶0101, resource grant include CRS frame, such as PUSCH or PUCCH) As to claim 26: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors further cause the apparatus to at least one of: protect the first request via at least one of encryption or a message integrity check (MIC); receive, via the at least one transceiver, a response to the first request; decrypt content of the response to the first request; or validate the content of the response to the first request via a MIC. (See Awoniyi-Oteri at least Fig. 7, step 735-740) As to claim 27: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein to receive, the at least one transceiver, a response to the first request, wherein the response indicates at least one of: whether the first request is granted or denied, a reason if the first request is denied, or additional information not previously indicated in the information. (See Awoniyi-Oteri at least Fig. 7, step 740, “change confirmation”, also optionally (i.e. “or” in the claim), ¶0137-0139, 0109-0113, new values of beam and width, which weren’t included in initial configuration) As to claim 28: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 27, wherein: the additional information indicates at least one of: (i) one or more wireless nodes to which the modification indicated in the first request applies, or (ii) one or more actions for the apparatus to perform, and the one or more processors further cause the apparatus to at least one of: generate a second request based on the additional information; or perform the one or more actions. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0109-0114, TRP ID, i.e. id of transmitter, also new beam sequences change for the UE to change communication at. The UE thus moved to communication via the changed beams) As to claim 29: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, further comprising: wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as a wireless station. (Awoniyi-Oteri Fig. 7 and 8, UE include transceiver to receive and transmit communications with base station, for example beam request and beam change confirmation) As to claim 30: Awoniyi-Oteri discloses a method for wireless communications at a wireless node, the method comprising: Transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate a wireless node is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters; (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, ¶0096-0097, 0118, 0120-0122, base station outputs configuration data for UE, indicating UE to perform necessary measurements and requests reconfiguration updates as appropriate, the reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters such as beamwidth, TRP change etc. See also “the base station 105-e may determine that the UE 115-e has a capability to perform beam update requests that are based on pose information from an XR application, and that the connection is to exchange XR traffic. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE 115-e is to perform beam measurements and use pose information to determine preferred beam or beam adjustment (…) the base station 105-e may transmit, and the UE 115-e may receive, the measurement configuration” via the transceiver) Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a first request that requests the apparatus to modify the at least one or more wireless operating parameters; and perform, via the at least one transceiver, one or more actions based on the first request based on the information. (¶0099, 0101-0107, a change request sent to the base station. 0108-0114, base station, responsive to the received request, activates the changed beam or beam sequences and appropriate timing for communication with new beam configuration. See also Fig. 8, 830, 835) Awoniyi-Oteri discloses the reconfiguration to be requested from the UE to the network including various operating parameters such as beam width, TRPs etc., however does not explicitly disclose they also include at least one of : a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size Park, in a related field of endeavor of beam management in a user equipment, for example ¶0017-0020, 0308, a UE might receive a wireless operating configuration from a base station (¶0292-0295) and UE might send beam modification request in which the UE can also request reconfiguration of number of resources allocated and number of antenna ports (i.e. number of concurrent streams). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the beam reconfiguration request from the UE in AWONIYI-OTERI can also incorporate resource/antenna ports reconfiguration requests. This implementation advantageously promote smooth feedback process between UE and eNB, and the clarification of resources and antenna numbers can prevent report errors (¶0020 of Park). Claim(s) 13, 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Awoniyi-Oteri et al. (US 2023/0033336) in view of Park et al. (US 2018/0254812) in view of Bhamri et al. (WO 2022/087190). As to claims 13, 25: Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1/18, however is silent on a modification at least one of the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size indicated in the first request will be valid for at least one duration; and the at least one duration is at least one of: indicated in the information. Bhamri, in a related field of beamforming, discloses a wireless node such as a UE might receive a configurations for wireless operation wherein such configuration includes configuration duration of validity for the beam configuration (Abstract, ¶0084). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the configuration information from the network in Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park to incorporate the duration of validity. The inclusion of duration of validity can be beneficial in reducing signal overhead as the network does not need to individually track each beam’s validity by delegating the timer locally to the UE. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 2020/0351818 - Wireless communications for network access configuration are described. A base station may configure a monitoring gap for a wireless device, based on information received from the wireless device. The wireless device may use the monitoring gap to communicate with another base station associated with another wireless network. THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUAN M HUA whose telephone number is (571)270-7232. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30-6:30. 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, Anthony Addy can be reached at 571-272-7795. 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. /QUAN M HUA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Show 2 earlier events
Sep 02, 2025
Response Filed
Dec 01, 2025
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Feb 02, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Feb 27, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Mar 02, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 29, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Sep 29, 2026
Response Filed
Oct 14, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12772271
TERMINAL APPARATUS, BASE STATION APPARATUS, AND METHOD
3y 3m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12772154
SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR ASSIGNING CELL IDENTIFICATION
3y 3m to grant Granted Oct 20, 2026
Patent 12757107
MULTI-OPERATOR CORE NETWORK (MOCN) INTELLIGENT CBRS RADIO CONTROL
3y 9m to grant Granted Oct 06, 2026
Patent 12745097
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DESIGN PLANNING OF A CELLULAR NETWORK
3y 7m to grant Granted Sep 22, 2026
Patent 12739220
Uninterrupted Media Play and Call Management Audio Interface
3y 6m to grant Granted Sep 15, 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

5-6
Expected OA Rounds
72%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+21.2%)
2y 11m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 645 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