Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/432,774

DETERMINING INTERFERENCE IN A TEST CHANNEL

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Feb 05, 2024
Priority
Jan 24, 2024 — CN 202410097776.3
Examiner
HOQUE, FARHANA AKHTER
Art Unit
2858
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Litepoint Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
86%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 86% — above average
86%
Career Allowance Rate
749 granted / 871 resolved
+18.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 5m
Avg Prosecution
20 currently pending
Career history
885
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.1%
-37.9% vs TC avg
§103
71.7%
+31.7% vs TC avg
§102
22.9%
-17.1% vs TC avg
§112
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 871 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 § 102 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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Olgaard et al. (U.S. Patent No. 11,032,725 B1). With respect to claim 1, Olgaard et al. discloses a test system (system and method for testing wireless data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT); see abstract) comprising: a signal receiver (see signal receiver 12a shown in Fig. 2; col. 5, lines 66-67) configured to receive (i) a reference signal (see signal 13 shown in Fig. 2) and (ii) a test channel signal (col. 6, lines 14-17); and one or more processing devices configured to compare a version of the reference signal to a version of the test channel signal to determine whether there is a predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 2, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, further comprising: a signal generator configured to output the reference signal (see controller with a plurality of control signal ports to initiate respective ones of a plurality of test control sequences; col. 2, lines 27-37); wherein the signal receiver is configured to receive the reference signal from the signal generator and to receive at least part of the test channel signal from the test channel (see signal receiver 12a shown in Fig. 2; col. 5, lines 66-67), the test channel signal comprising at least part of a copy of the reference signal (col. 6, lines 14-17); and wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to compare the version of the reference signal to the version of the test channel signal to determine if there is a difference between the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 3, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 2, wherein if the difference is less than a predefined threshold, then the test channel signal does not have the predefined amount of interference (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 4, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 3, wherein the predefined threshold is based, at least in part, on radio frequency (RF) and baseband stability of the test system (col. 6, lines 5-7). With respect to claim 5, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 2, wherein if the difference is greater than a predefined threshold, then the test channel signal does have the predefined amount of interference (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values); and wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to cause the signal generator to output a copy of reference signal again if the difference is greater than the predefined threshold (col. 7, lines 4-10). With respect to claim 6, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 3, wherein the predefined threshold is based, at least in part, on radio frequency (RF) and baseband stability of the test system (col. 6, lines 5-7). With respect to claim 7, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 2, wherein the signal generator comprises a vector signal generator (VSG) (see VSG 12g shown in Fig. 2); wherein the signal receiver comprises a vector signal analyzer (VSA) and an antenna (col. 6, lines 5-13); and wherein the test system further comprises switches configured to connect the VSG to the VSA in a first configuration (col. 6, lines 5-13), to connect the VSG to the antenna in a second configuration (col. 6, lines 5-7), and to connect the VSA to the antenna in the second configuration (see the different configurations in Fig. 4 of the connection between the VSA and VSG with the different sequences; col. 11, lines 36-50). With respect to claim 8, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein determining whether there is the predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal comprises performing a correlation between the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 9, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to synchronize the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal prior to determining whether there is the predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 10, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein the reference signal and the test channel signal comprise radio frequency (RF) signals (col. 6, lines 5-7); and wherein the test channel comprises a wireless test channel (col. 1, lines 44-48). With respect to claim 11, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein the reference signal and the test channel signal comprise radio frequency (RF) signals (col. 6, lines 5-7); and wherein the test channel comprises a wired test channel (col. 1, lines 44-48). With respect to claim 12, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein the test channel signal comprises at least one of interference from one or more other signals in the test channel or a signal directed to the test system by a device under test (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 13, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein the test channel signal comprises a data packet that will cause an acknowledgement if received by a device (col. 2, lines 51-60). With respect to claim 14, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 1, wherein when the one or more processing devices determine that there is the predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal, the one or more processing devices are configured to ignore data packets from the test channel (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 15, Olgaard et al. discloses a method comprising: receiving, at a signal receiver, (i) a reference signal and (ii) a test channel signal (see signal receiver 12a shown in Fig. 2; col. 5, lines 66-67); and comparing a version of the reference signal to a version of the test channel signal to determine whether there is a predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 16, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: outputting the reference signal from a signal generator (see controller with a plurality of control signal ports to initiate respective ones of a plurality of test control sequences; col. 2, lines 27-37); wherein the signal receiver receives the reference signal from the signal generator and receives at least part of the test channel signal from the test channel, the test channel signal comprising at least part of a copy of the reference signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values); and wherein comparing the version of the reference signal to the version of the test channel signal comprises comparing the version of the reference signal to the version of the test channel signal to determine if there is a difference between the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 17, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 16, wherein if the difference is less than a predefined threshold (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values), then the test channel signal does not have the predefined amount of interference . With respect to claim 18, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 17, wherein the predefined threshold is based, at least in part, on radio frequency (RF) and baseband stability of a system that performs the method (col. 6, lines 5-7). With respect to claim 19, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 16, wherein if the difference is greater than a predefined threshold, then the test channel signal does have the predefined amount of interference (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values); and wherein the method comprises causing the signal generator to output a copy of reference signal again if the difference is greater than a predefined threshold (col. 7, lines 12-25). With respect to claim 20, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 17, wherein the predefined threshold is based, at least in part, on radio frequency (RF) and baseband stability of a system that performs the method (col. 6, lines 5-7). With respect to claim 21, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 16, wherein the signal generator comprises a vector signal generator (VSG) (col. 12, lines 40-50; see VSG 12g shown in Fig. 2); wherein the signal receiver comprises a vector signal analyzer (VSA) and an antenna (see VSA 12a shown in Fig. 2); and wherein the method further comprises configuring switches to connect the VSG to the VSA in a first configuration (see VSG 12g and VSA 12a shown in Fig. 2; col. 12, lines 40-50), to connect the VSG to the antenna in a second configuration (col. 6, lines 5-13), or to connect the VSA to the antenna in a second configuration (col. 6, lines 5-13). With respect to claim 22, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein determining whether there is the predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal comprises performing a correlation between the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal (col. 1, line 63-col. 2, line 6). With respect to claim 23, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising: synchronizing the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal prior to determining whether there is interference in the test channel signal (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values). With respect to claim 24, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the reference signal and the test channel signal comprise radio frequency (RF) signals (col. 6, lines 5-7); and wherein the test channel comprises a wireless test channel (see signal receiver 12a shown in Fig. 2; col. 5, lines 66-67). With respect to claim 25, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the reference signal and the test channel signal comprise radio frequency (RF) signals (col. 6, lines 5-7); and wherein the test channel comprises a wired test channel (see signal receiver 12a shown in Fig. 2; col. 5, lines 66-67). With respect to claim 26, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the test channel signal comprises at least one of interference from one or more other signals in the test channel or a signal directed to a system that performs the method by the DUT (DUT see element 14 shown in Fig. 2). With respect to claim 27, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein the test channel signal comprises a data packet that will cause an acknowledgement if received by a device (col. 5, lines 5-12). With respect to claim 28, Olgaard et al. discloses the method of claim 15, wherein when there is the predefined amount of interference in the test channel signal (DUT see element 14 shown in Fig. 2), the method further comprises ignoring data packets from the test channel (col. 5, lines 5-12). With respect to claim 29, Olgaard et al. discloses a test system comprising: a signal generator to output a data packet to a test channel; a signal receiver configured to receive (i) a reference signal and (ii) a test channel signal (col. 6, lines 5-7); and one or more processing devices configured to compare a version of the reference signal to a version of the test channel signal to make an inference about whether a data packet reached a device under test (DUT) via the test channel (col. 6, lines 30-45), and to determine a performance metric based on the inference (col. 3, lines 16-30). With respect to claim 30, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 29, wherein the one or more processing devices configured to ignore data packets on the test channel if the inference is that the data packet did not reach the DUT (system and method for testing wireless data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT); see abstract). With respect to claim 31, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 30, wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to determine that there is a predefined amount of interference on the test channel if a difference between the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal exceeds a threshold (col. 3, lines 16-30), the inference being that the data packet did not reach the DUT if the predefined amount of interference is determined (system and method for testing wireless data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT); see abstract). With respect to claim 32, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 31, wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to cause the signal receiver to implement a long capture comprised of a predefined number of data packets when interference is detected (system and method for testing wireless data packet signal transceiver device under test (DUT); see abstract). With respect to claim 33, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 31, wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to determine that there is a predefined amount of interference on the test channel if a difference between the version of the reference signal and the version of the test channel signal exceeds a threshold (col. 6, lines 30-45; responsive signals are received by the tester receiver circuitry 12a and analyzed such as by measuring and comparing various physical signal characteristics against specified values); and wherein the wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to output a trigger in response to determining that there is the predefined amount of interference on the test channel (col. 4, lines 34-43), the trigger for instructing that further action be taken (col. 7, lines 56-65). With respect to claim 34, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 31, wherein the one or more processing devices are configured to ignore data packets that are received when there is the predefined amount of interference on the test channel (col. 7, lines 56-65). With respect to claim 35, Olgaard et al. discloses the test system of claim 29, wherein the performance metric comprises a packet error rate (col. 6, lines 44-49). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FARHANA AKHTER HOQUE whose telephone number is (571)270-7543. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm. 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, Eman A Alkafawi can be reached at 571-272-4448. 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. /FARHANA A HOQUE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2858
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 05, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 28, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
86%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+11.2%)
2y 5m (~1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 871 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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