Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/315,261

DOPPLER MEASUREMENT-BASED HANDOVER

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
May 10, 2023
Examiner
LAM, DUNG LE
Art Unit
2646
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
67%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 11m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 67% — above average
67%
Career Allow Rate
253 granted / 379 resolved
+4.8% vs TC avg
Strong +32% interview lift
Without
With
+31.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 11m
Avg Prosecution
21 currently pending
Career history
400
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.4%
-35.6% vs TC avg
§103
63.4%
+23.4% vs TC avg
§102
13.2%
-26.8% vs TC avg
§112
11.0%
-29.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 379 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 . 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. Claim(s) 1, 4-6, 8, 11-14 and 16-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over abc Kim (US 20230379739) in view of Wigren (US 20230341502). Regarding claims 1, 11 and 17, Kim teaches an operating method of user equipment (UE) (Figs. 15), the operating method comprising: receiving a Doppler parameter and radio resource control (RRC) configuration information, from the serving cell (Fig.15 step S1501; [0505] “the UE may receive CSI-related configuration information from the BS in step S1501..may include CSI report configuration-related information (e.g., CSI-ReportConfig of Table 6) …And/or, the CSI report configuration-related information may include usage information for a Doppler shift. And/or, the CSI resource configuration-related information may include information about at least one CSI resource set corresponding to at least one downlink signal”; [0519] And/or, the UE (100/200 of FIGS. 17 to 21) may transmit, to the BS. CSI including at least one Doppler shift-related value in step S1504. Similar Step also taught in Fig. 16 or Fig. 17 Step 1601); measuring reference signal received power (RSRP) of a reference signal (([0211] The UE measures CSI based on configuration information related to the CSI (S120) [0246] When one resource setting is configured, the resource setting (given by higher layer parameter resourcesForChannelMeasurement) is for channel measurement for L1-RSRP computation”) and a Doppler shift with reference to the RRC configuration information ([0517] the UE may receive the downlink signal from TRP1/TRP2 of FIG. 10 or FIG. 14 and determine a Doppler shift-related value based on at least one downlink signal received from TRP1/TRP2”); and reporting, to the serving cell, an RSRP_Doppler value, which is a signal metric calculated based on the measured RSRP, the measured Doppler shift, and the Doppler parameter (Fig. 15 Step S1504; [0519] And/or, the UE .. may transmit, to the BS. CSI including at least one Doppler shift-related value in step S1504. “[0416] the UE only performs measurement using the TRS .. the UE may estimate the DL Doppler shift based on the TRS, CSI reporting for a specific TRS should be supported in order to report the DL Doppler shift to the BS. In addition, based on the current standard, only a BM-related (i.e., L1-RSRP/SINR) CSI reporting operation is defined for the SSB. However, since the UE may also estimate the DL Doppler shift based on the SSB, a DL Doppler shift reporting operation based on a specific SSB may be considered together”). However, Kim does not teach transmitting a user capability comprising receive performance information of the UE to a serving cell and the Doppler parameter generated based on the user capability. In an analogous art, Wigren teaches transmitting a user capability comprising receive performance information of the UE to a serving cell ([0371] “In block 2010, the RAN node can send, to the UE, a request for UE capability of movement state determination. In block 2020, the RAN node can receive, from the UE, an indication that the UE is capable of movement state determination. In some embodiments, the positioning measurement configuration can be sent (e.g., in block 2030) after receiving the indication in block 2020.) and the Doppler parameter generated based on the user capability ([0094] “the BS .. is to transmit the paging communication to the UE may be based at least in part on an NTN capability of the UE. [0098] In some aspects, the first high Doppler configuration and the second high Doppler configuration may additionally include respective discontinuous reception (DRX) parameters that configure respective DRX configurations for the UE. In some aspects, the respective DRX parameters may be included in the high Doppler configurations based at least in part on a capability of the UE, which may be signaled to BS1 and BS2 by the UE.”) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim’s teaching of configuration information to also include Wigren’s teaching of receiving the UE capability and generating the Doppler parameter configuration tailored to the user equipment capability because tailoring to the UE capability would ensure a more fine-tuned and accurate outcome since not all UE are created equal. With further regard to claim 11, Kim teaches a User equipment (UE) (Fig. 19 comprising: a memory (104 memory) configured to store receive performance information of the UE; and a processor (102 processor). Regarding claim 4 and 12, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, wherein the RRC configuration information includes information about an aperiodic reporting of the RSRP_Doppler value (Kim [0222] As time domain behaviors of the CSI measurement and reporting, aperiodic/semi-persistent/periodic channel measurement (CM) and interference measurement (IM) are supported. A 4 port NZP CSI-RS RE pattern is used for configuring the CSI-IM. “[0231] A time domain behavior of the CSI-RS resource within the CSI resource setting included in CSI-ResourceConfig IE is indicated by higher layer parameter resourceType and may be configured to be aperiodic, periodic, or semi-persistent.”). Regarding claim 5 and 13, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, wherein the reference signal includes at least one of a tracking reference signal (TRS) (Kim, [0008] the downlink signal may be a tracking reference signal (TRS) or a synchronization block (SSB).) or a physical downlink shared channel-demodulate reference signal (PDSCH-DMRS). Regarding claim 6 and 14, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, wherein the RRC configuration information includes a channel status information-reference signal (CSI-RS) (Kim, [0016] the CSI including the at least one Doppler shift-related value may have a higher priority than CSI constituted by at least one of a.. channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS)), and the reporting of the RSRP_Doppler value to the serving cell includes reporting the RSRP_Doppler value to the serving cell by using CSI generated based on the CSI-RS. Regarding claim 8 and 16, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, wherein the reporting of the RSRP_Doppler occurs when the UE detects a measurement event (Kim, “0416] the UE only performs measurement using the TRS and does not separately report a measurement result. However, since the UE may estimate the DL Doppler shift based on the TRS, CSI reporting for a specific TRS should be supported in order to report the DL Doppler shift to the BS. In addition, based on the current standard, only a BM-related (i.e., L1-RSRP/SINR) CSI reporting operation is defined for the SSB. However, since the UE may also estimate the DL Doppler shift based on the SSB, a DL Doppler shift reporting operation based on a specific SSB may be considered together” For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation was addressed. However, this “when…” limitation is a contingent limitation and is considered optional because if the “when..” condition is not true, then the step is not performed.) Claim(s) 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over abc Kim (US 20230379739) in view of Wigren (US 20230341502) further in view of Zhu (US 20210235342) Regarding claim 9, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 8, except wherein the measurement event corresponds to the RSRP_Doppler value being equal to or greater than a threshold level (The examiner notes that positively recited active steps define the scope and patentability of a process claim. This limitation lacks a positively recited active step, thus it is considered non-limiting. For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation is addressed as followed.) In an analogous art, Zhu teach the measurement event corresponds to the RSRP_Doppler value being equal to or greater than a threshold level ([0231] “The UE 1202 may obtain the first trigger from the handover command 1218 ..the first trigger may be adjusted to include whether a doppler shift associated with the serving BS 1204 is less than a threshold or is more than a threshold amount less than a doppler shift associated with the target BS 1206. In this manner, a trigger may be associated with a doppler shift associated with a serving BS as well as one or more doppler shifts associated with one or more target BSs.”) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of RSRP Doppler value to include Zhu's teaching the measurement event corresponds to the RSRP_Doppler value being equal to or greater than a threshold level thereby allowing the system to utilize it as a handover trigger. Regarding claim 22, Kim and Wigren teach the wireless communication system of claim 17, wherein except the serving cell is configured to determine whether to initiate a handover to a target cell based on the RSRP Doppler value (The examiner notes that positively recited active steps define the scope and patentability of a process claim. This limitation lacks a positively recited active step, thus it is considered non-limiting. For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation is addressed as followed.) In an analogous art, Zhu teach the serving cell is configured to determine whether to initiate a handover to a target cell based on the RSRP Doppler value ([0231] “The UE 1202 may obtain the first trigger from the handover command 1218 ..the first trigger may be adjusted to include whether a doppler shift associated with the serving BS 1204 is less than a threshold or is more than a threshold amount less than a doppler shift associated with the target BS 1206. In this manner, a trigger may be associated with a doppler shift associated with a serving BS as well as one or more doppler shifts associated with one or more target BSs.”) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of RSRP Doppler value to include Zhu's teaching the serving cell is configured to determine whether to initiate a handover to a target cell based on the RSRP Doppler value thereby allowing the system to utilize the threshold as a handover trigger. Regarding claim 23, Kim and Wigren teach the wireless communication system of claim 22, wherein except the serving cell and the UE are configured to cooperate to perform handover to the target cell when the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to the serving cell is below a first predetermined threshold and the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to a neighbor cell is above a second predetermined threshold. (The examiner notes that positively recited active steps define the scope and patentability of a process claim. This limitation lacks a positively recited active step, thus it is considered non-limiting. For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation is addressed as followed.) In an analogous art, Zhu teach the serving cell and the UE are configured to cooperate to perform handover to the target cell when the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to the serving cell is below a first predetermined threshold and the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to a neighbor cell is above a second predetermined threshold. ([0231] “The UE 1202 may obtain the first trigger from the handover command 1218 .. the first trigger may be adjusted to include whether a doppler shift associated with the serving BS 1204 is less than a threshold or is more than a threshold amount less than a doppler shift associated with the target BS 1206. In this manner, a trigger may be associated with a doppler shift associated with a serving BS as well as one or more doppler shifts associated with one or more target BSs.” [0241] Similar to a trigger for handover from a serving BS to a target BS being associated with one or more doppler shifts for BSs, a trigger to switch beams from the serving beam 1506 to the target beam 1508 for the UE 1502 may be associated with one or more of the first doppler shift or the second doppler shift for the beams. For example, the BS 1504 may switch from the serving beam 1506 to the target beam 1508 to service the UE 1502 based at least in part on the first doppler shift being less than a threshold doppler shift, the first doppler shift being more than a threshold amount less than the second doppler shift, or the second doppler shift being greater than a threshold doppler shift.) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of RSRP Doppler value to include Zhu's teaching the serving cell and the UE are configured to cooperate to perform handover to the target cell when the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to the serving cell is below a first predetermined threshold and the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to a neighbor cell is above a second predetermined threshold thereby allowing the system to utilize the threshold as a handover trigger. Regarding claim 10, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, further comprising except performing handover to a target cell in cooperation with the serving cell when the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to the serving cell is below a predetermined threshold (The examiner notes that positively recited active steps define the scope and patentability of a process claim. This limitation lacks a positively recited active step, thus it is considered non-limiting. For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation is addressed as followed.) In an analogous art, Zhu teaches performing handover to a target cell in cooperation with the serving cell when the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to the serving cell is below a predetermined threshold. ([0231] “The UE 1202 may obtain the first trigger from the handover command 1218 .. the first trigger may be adjusted to include whether a doppler shift associated with the serving BS 1204 is less than a threshold or is more than a threshold amount less than a doppler shift associated with the target BS 1206. In this manner, a trigger may be associated with a doppler shift associated with a serving BS as well as one or more doppler shifts associated with one or more target BSs.” [0241] Similar to a trigger for handover from a serving BS to a target BS being associated with one or more doppler shifts for BSs, a trigger to switch beams from the serving beam 1506 to the target beam 1508 for the UE 1502 may be associated with one or more of the first doppler shift or the second doppler shift for the beams. For example, the BS 1504 may switch from the serving beam 1506 to the target beam 1508 to service the UE 1502 based at least in part on the first doppler shift being less than a threshold doppler shift, the first doppler shift being more than a threshold amount less than the second doppler shift, or the second doppler shift being greater than a threshold doppler shift.) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of RSRP Doppler value to include Zhu's teaching of performing handover to a target cell in cooperation with the serving cell when the RSRP_Doppler value with respect to the serving cell is below a predetermined threshold thereby allowing the system to utilize the threshold as a handover trigger. Claim(s) 2-3 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over abc Kim (US 20230379739) in view of Wigren (US 20230341502) further in view of PonsMasbernat (US 20240007915) Regarding claim 2, Kim and The operating method of claim 1, except wherein the Doppler parameter includes a shift coefficient α, and the RSRP_Doppler value is calculated according to: RSRP_Doppler=RSRP−α*Doppler_shift. In an analogous art, PonsMasbernat teach the Doppler parameter includes a shift coefficient α, and the RSRP_Doppler value is calculated according to: RSRP_Doppler=RSRP−α*Doppler_shift (The examiner notes that positively recited active steps define the scope and patentability of a process claim. This limitation lacks an active step, thus it is considered non-limiting. For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation is addressed as followed. [0111] The RSRP and RSRQ values included in the report subsequently sent to the attachment base station can be written as follows: RSRP.sub.reported(cell.sub.i)=RSRP.sub.measured(cell.sub.i)+P.sub.Offset.sub.i; with the index “reported” for modified measurements, “measured” for measured values, and “offset” for predetermined values added or subtracted to promote or handicap the cell. [0112] The added amount, that is, the predetermined value, with a positive or negative sign, for an RSRP measurement may for example be: P.sub.offset.sub.i=[f.sub.Doppler(Δ.sub.Doppler.sub.i)+f.sub.Antenna(i)+f.sub.Power Gradient(ΔRSRP.sub.i)].Math.f.sub.plane(attitude,speed,altitude) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of reference signal measurement to include PonsMasbernat 's teaching of calculating the doppler shift value in order to mitigate signal degradation and provide reliable communication in high-mobility scenarios. Regarding claim 3 and 21, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, except wherein the Doppler parameter includes a “Delta_Doppler” parameter having one of a plurality of values corresponding to different respective ranges of the Doppler shift, and the RSRP_Doppler value is calculated according to: RSRP_Doppler=RSRP−Delta_Doppler. In an analogous art, PonsMasbernat teach the Doppler parameter includes a “Delta_Doppler” parameter having one of a plurality of values corresponding to different respective ranges of the Doppler shift, and the RSRP_Doppler value is calculated according to: RSRP_Doppler=RSRP−Delta_Doppler (The examiner notes that positively recited active steps define the scope and patentability of a process claim. This limitation lacks an active step, thus it is considered non-limiting. For compact prosecution purpose, this limitation is addressed as followed. [0111] The RSRP and RSRQ values included in the report subsequently sent to the attachment base station can be written as follows: RSRP.sub.reported(cell.sub.i)=RSRP.sub.measured(cell.sub.i)+P.sub.Offset.sub.i; with the index “reported” for modified measurements, “measured” for measured values, and “offset” for predetermined values added or subtracted to promote or handicap the cell. [0112] The added amount, that is, the predetermined value, with a positive or negative sign, for an RSRP measurement may for example be: P.sub.offset.sub.i=[f.sub.Doppler(Δ.sub.Doppler.sub.i)+f.sub.Antenna(i)+f.sub.Power Gradient(ΔRSRP.sub.i)].Math.f.sub.plane(attitude,speed,altitude) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of reference signal measurement to include PonsMasbernat 's teaching of calculating the doppler shift value in order to mitigate signal degradation and provide reliable communication in high-mobility scenarios. Claim(s) 7 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over abc Kim (US 20230379739) in view of Wigren (US 20230341502) further in view of Hayashi (US 20180206138) Regarding claim 7 and 15, Kim and Wigren teach the operating method of claim 1, Kim teach the reporting of the RSRP_Doppler value to the serving cell includes reporting the RSRP_Doppler value. However, Kim does not explicitly teach wherein the RRC configuration information includes an L3 filtering coefficient, and the reporting measurement value generated by applying the L3 filtering coefficient to the result of the measurement to the serving cell. In an analogous art, Hayashi teaches wherein the RRC configuration information includes an L3 filtering coefficient ([0093] “A measurement value reported from the first layer is input into a third layer after the first layer filtering unit 13011. The measurement value input into the third layer filtering (Layer 3 filtering) unit 13012 is filtered. A configuration of the third layer filtering is provided by RRC signalling”), and the reporting measurement value generated by applying the L3 filtering coefficient to the result of the measurement to the serving cell (([0093] “A measurement value reported from the first layer is input into a third layer after the first layer filtering unit 13011. The measurement value input into the third layer filtering (Layer 3 filtering) unit 13012 is filtered. A configuration of the third layer filtering is provided by RRC signalling”) [0104] It is preferable that a filtering coefficient used for RSRP measurement based on the CRS (filterCoefficientRSRP) and a filtering coefficient used for RSRQ measurement based on the CRS (filterCoefficientRSRQ) are included in the first physical quantity configuration for EUTRA.) Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Kim's teaching of RSRP_doppler measurement value to be applied to y's teaching in order to improve the system. Citation of Prior Art The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure. Zhang (US 20230291440) teaches a user equipment (UE) may identify an uplink resource for reporting a Doppler measurement to a base station. The UE may determine a reference signal set precedes a reference point associated with the uplink resource prior to performing Doppler measurements based on the reference signals in the reference signal set. The UE may determine the Doppler measurement based on the reference signal set, or multiple reference signal sets and may transmit the Doppler measurement to the base station in the uplink resource. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUNG L LAM whose telephone number is (571)272-6497. The examiner can normally be reached Monday -Thursday 9-5pm. 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, Matthew Anderson can be reached at 571-272-4177. 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. /DUNG L LAM/ Examiner, Art Unit 2646 /MATTHEW D. ANDERSON/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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Prosecution Timeline

May 10, 2023
Application Filed
Jan 09, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
67%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+31.8%)
3y 11m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 379 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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