Office Action Predictor
Last updated: April 17, 2026
Application No. 18/400,537

INDICATIONS OF PRECODER AND TRANSMISSION LAYER FOR SUBSCRIBER DATA MANAGEMENT BASED SIMULATION UPLINK TRANSMISSION

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Dec 29, 2023
Examiner
PHAM, BRENDA H
Art Unit
2412
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
ZTE Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
91%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
93%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 91% — above average
91%
Career Allow Rate
1055 granted / 1164 resolved
+32.6% vs TC avg
Minimal +2% lift
Without
With
+2.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
1189
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.9%
-31.1% vs TC avg
§103
33.2%
-6.8% vs TC avg
§102
28.7%
-11.3% vs TC avg
§112
15.2%
-24.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1164 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 29 December 2023, 09 January 2024 and 24 February 2025 is being considered by the examiner. Claims 1-20 are pending. Figures 1 and 2 of the application illustrate the claimed invention. PNG media_image1.png 587 503 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 591 702 media_image2.png Greyscale Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1-2, 4-7, 10, 16-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by YUAN et al. (US 2023/0066566 A1). Regarding claims 1, 16 and 18, YUAN et al. discloses a method of wireless communication, comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication device, from a network device, a transmission configuration information comprising indications of one or more precoders and one or more transmission layer numbers for one or more physical channel transmissions ([0082]: “the DCI may indicate a precoding matrix. For example, the DCI may indicate a TPMI index that maps to (e.g., according to a mapping received by the UE 120) a TPMI associated with the precoding matrix. The precoding matrix may include precoders for antennas in multiple layers.”); determining, by the wireless communication device, the one or more physical channel transmission based on the transmission configuration information ([0094]: “The UE 120 may determine associations of TCIs and antenna indices based at least in part on a configuration of the UE 120.”); wherein each physical channel transmission corresponds to a different transmission layer ([0097]: “the set of antenna ports may be mapped (e.g., one-to-one) to layers of a precoding matrix, indicated by the DCI”); configuring, by the wireless communication device, one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets for the one or more physical channel transmission based on the transmission configuration information ([0008]: “receive DCI that indicates a first beam and a second beam for a first set of antenna indices and a second set of antenna indices that identify sounding reference signal (SRS) antenna ports associated with multiple SRS resources of multiple SRS resource sets.”); wherein each physical channel transmission associates with an SRS resource set ([0012]: “a method of wireless communication performed by UE includes receiving DCI that indicates a first beam and a second beam for a first set of antenna indices and a second set of antenna indices that identify SRS antenna ports associated with multiple SRS resources of multiple SRS resource sets.”); and transmitting, from the wireless communication device after determining and configuring one or more physical channel transmission to the network device ([0013]: “The method may include receiving an uplink transmission from the UE based on the DCI.”). Regarding claims 2, 17 and 19, YUAN et al. teaches wherein the one or more physical channel transmission include physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmissions ([0155]: “the first set of antenna indices and the second set of antenna indices identify PUSCH antenna ports or SRS antenna ports.”). Regarding claim 4, YUAN et al. teaches wherein the SRS resource sets are configured for codebook based PUSCH transmission. ([0092]: “For example, an antenna index 435 of the precoding matrix 405 that identifies a PUSCH antenna port may also identify an SRS antenna port based at least in part on a one-to-one mapping between PUSCH antenna ports and SRS antenna ports. In some aspects, SRS antenna ports (e.g., associated with antenna indices 0-3) may be associated with a single SRS resource of an SRS resource set that has been configured for the UE 120 for codebook usage. In some aspects, the SRS antenna ports may be associated with multiple SRS resources of an SRS resource set that has been configured for the UE 120 for codebook usage.”). Regarding claims 5 and 6, YUAN et al. teaches wherein indications of the one or more precoder and the one or more transmission layer comprising a plurality of precoding matrices (][0100]: “the UE 120 may determine that a precoding matrix indicates a join transmission based at least in part on a determination that a layer (e.g., any layer) of the precoding matrix includes precoders”); wherein the plurality of precoding matrices is indicated by one or more transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) fields ([0044]: “a UE may transmit an uplink transmission using a beam. The beam may be indicated by a TCI (e.g., a TCI state) in DCI received by the UE. The UE may generate the beam for transmitting the uplink transmission using a precoding matrix. The precoding matrix may be identified by a TPMI indicated in the DCI.”); and wherein the TPMI fields are determined by downlink control information (DCI) indication or radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([0082]: “the DCI may indicate a precoding matrix. For example, the DCI may indicate a TPMI index that maps to (e.g., according to a mapping received by the UE 120) a TPMI associated with the precoding matrix. The precoding matrix may include precoders for antennas in multiple layers.”). Regarding claim 7, YUAN et al. teaches wherein the TPMI fields are determined by at least one of: maximum transmission layers, maximum number of antenna ports, or maximum coherence capability of antenna ports configured for the PUSCH transmission. ([0092]: “an antenna index 435 may identify a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) antenna port (e.g., a TPMI antenna port) or a SRS antenna port.”). Regarding claim 10, YUAN et al. teaches wherein the SRS resource sets are set to non-codebook. ([0129]: “A non-codebook SRS resource set may be used to indicate uplink CSI when the UE 120 selects an uplink precoder (e.g., instead of the base station 110 indicating an uplink precoder to be used by the UE 120. For example, when the UE 120 is configured to select an uplink precoder, the base station 110 may use a non-codebook SRS (e.g., an SRS transmitted using a resource of a non-codebook SRS resource set) to acquire uplink CSI.”). 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 3 and 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YUAN et al. (US 2023/0066566 A1) in view of ZHANG et al. (US 2024/0178955 A1), refer to PCT/CN2022/112225, filed on Aug. 12, 2022. Regarding claims 3 and 20, YUAN et al. fails to teach wherein the PUSCH transmissions are fully or partially overlapped in at least one of a time domain or a frequency domain. ZHANG et al. in the same field of invention, teaches ([0265]: “The UE is scheduled to transmit more than one PUSCH transmission simultaneously, wherein the time domain of these PUSCH transmissions are fully or partially overlapped.”). It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine ZHANG et al. with YUAN et al. so for transmit more than one PUSCH transmission simultaneously, wherein the time domain of these PUSCH transmission are fully or partially overlapped. Claims 11 and 14-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over YUAN et al. (US 2023/0066566 A1) in view of Zhang et al. (US 2019/0281588 A1). Regarding claim 11, YUAN et al. fails to teach wherein indication of the one or more precoder and the one or more transmission layer comprising a plurality of SRS resource indicator (SRI) indications; wherein the plurality of SRI indication is indicated by one or more SRI field; and wherein the SRI fields are determined DCI indication or RRC signaling. Zhang et al. in the same field of invention, teaches ([0063]: “For codebook based transmission...the UE 101 determines its PUSCH transmission precoder based on SRI, TPMI and the transmission rank, where the SRI, TPMI and the transmission rank are provided the SRS resource indicator field and the precoding information and number of layers field of the DCI, or given by the higher layer parameters”). It would have been obvious to those having ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Zhang et al. with YUAN et al. for determines its PUSCH transmission precoder based on SRI, TPMI. Regarding claim 14, Zhang et al. further teaches wherein the SRI field comprises at least one of: a first SRS resource indicator field or a second SRS resource indicator field. ([0063]: “The indicated SRI in slot n is associated with the most recent transmission of SRS resource identified by the SRI, wherein the SRS resource is prior to the PDCCH carrying the SRI before slot n.”). Regarding claim 15, Zhang et al. teaches wherein the SRI fields are determined by at least one of: maximum transmission layers, or the number of SRS resource in an SRS resource set configured for the PUSCH transmission. ([0184]: “the transmission is the PUSCH transmission, the MAC CE further indicates an SRS resource ID for each SRS resource in the subset of the configured SRS resources.”). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8-9 and 12-13 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. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BRENDA H PHAM whose telephone number is (571)272-3135. The examiner can normally be reached 571-272-3135. 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, Charles Jiang can be reached at 571-270-7191. 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. BRENDA H. PHAM Primary Examiner Art Unit 2412 /BRENDA H PHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 29, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 30, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §103
Apr 01, 2026
Response Filed

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
91%
Grant Probability
93%
With Interview (+2.0%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1164 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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