Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/500,027

ACKNOWLEDGMENT (ACK) PROCESSING ASSOCIATED WITH MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL (MAC) HEADER VERIFICATION, PAYLOAD VERIFICATION, OR BOTH

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Nov 01, 2023
Examiner
NGUYEN, KHAI MINH
Art Unit
2641
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
3 (Non-Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
1133 granted / 1300 resolved
+25.2% vs TC avg
Minimal +4% lift
Without
With
+4.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
34 currently pending
Career history
1317
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
§103
49.7%
+9.7% vs TC avg
§102
21.4%
-18.6% vs TC avg
§112
7.0%
-33.0% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1300 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION Response to Arguments Applicant's arguments filed 6/18/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. When Examiner rejected the application, Examiner did not apply the claimed to specification of application. Examiner rejected based on claim language. 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 1-20, 24-25, 32-35, 39, and 49-51 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over VIGER PASCAL (GB 2523151 A) in view of SeoK (US 20230155793 A1). Considering claim 1, Viger teaches a wireless device (Fig.6-7), comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (Fig.6, pg.10, lines 5-13), the processing system configured to cause the wireless device to: transmit an indication of a processing capability to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header (Fig.3a-c, pg.2, lines 15-18, pg.6, lines 16-22: receive MAC data frames from a transmitting node, pg.7, lines 2-11: verifying the integrity of a header of the data packet, pg.20, lines 6-14: MAC header 321 of MPDU data frame 320), a payload, or both, the processing capability being either: a processing latency associated with the verification (pg.3, lines 27-31: latency, pg.37, lines 2-26: verifying the integrity of the header), or a threshold quantity of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) supported for the verification within a short interframe spacing (SIFS) time interval, or both the processing latency and the threshold quantity of MPDUs; receive one or more MPDUs that solicit an acknowledgment frame (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: At the end of the burst, the transmitting node transmits a Block ACK request (BAR) frame 410 to request the receiving node to acknowledge receipt of the received frames); and transmit the acknowledgment frame in accordance with the processing capability (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: receiving node must immediately reply with a Block ACK (BA) frame 420 containing the acknowledgement status for each data frame of the previous burst of data frames). Viger does not clearly teach transmit, to second wireless device, an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both. Seok teaches transmit (AP may transmit), to second wireless device (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4), an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both (Fig.1, 22, [0171]-[0174] uplink MU-MIMO Poll frame directed to the STAB may include a receiver address (e.g., address 1 field in the MAC Header) set to a broadcast address, a transmitter address (e.g., address 2 field in the MAC Header) to a BSSID, and the AIDs of the STAB requesting uplink MU-MIMO transmission in a payload, [0178]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine or modify of Seok to Viger to order to reduce signaling overhead. Considering claim 18, Viger teaches a wireless device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (Fig.6, pg.10, lines 5-13), the processing system configured to cause the wireless device to: receive an indication of a processing capability to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header (Fig.3a-c, pg.2, lines 15-18, pg.6, lines 16-22: receive MAC data frames from a transmitting node, pg.7, lines 2-11: verifying the integrity of a header of the data packet, pg.20, lines 6-14: MAC header 321 of MPDU data frame 320), a payload, or both, the processing capability being either: a processing latency associated with the verification (pg.3, lines 27-31: latency, pg.37, lines 2-26: verifying the integrity of the header), or a threshold quantity of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) supported for the verification within a short interframe spacing (SIFS) time interval, or both the processing latency and the threshold quantity of MPDUs; transmit one or more MPDUs that solicit an acknowledgment frame (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: At the end of the burst, the transmitting node transmits a Block ACK request (BAR) frame 410 to request the receiving node to acknowledge receipt of the received frames); and receive the acknowledgment frame in accordance with the processing capability (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: receiving node must immediately reply with a Block ACK (BA) frame 420 containing the acknowledgement status for each data frame of the previous burst of data frames). Viger does not clearly teach transmit, to second wireless device, an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both. Seok teaches transmit (AP may transmit), to second wireless device (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4), an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both (Fig.1, 22, [0171]-[0174] uplink MU-MIMO Poll frame directed to the STAB may include a receiver address (e.g., address 1 field in the MAC Header) set to a broadcast address, a transmitter address (e.g., address 2 field in the MAC Header) to a BSSID, and the AIDs of the STAB requesting uplink MU-MIMO transmission in a payload, [0178]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine or modify of Seok to Viger to order to reduce signaling overhead. Considering claim 32, Viger teaches a method for wireless communications by a wireless device, comprising: transmitting an indication of a processing capability to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header (Fig.3a-c, pg.2, lines 15-18, pg.6, lines 16-22: receive MAC data frames from a transmitting node, pg.7, lines 2-11: verifying the integrity of a header of the data packet, pg.20, lines 6-14: MAC header 321 of MPDU data frame 320), a payload, or both, the processing capability being either: a processing latency associated with the verification (pg.3, lines 27-31: latency, pg.37, lines 2-26: verifying the integrity of the header), or a threshold quantity of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) supported for the verification within a short interframe spacing (SIFS) time interval, or both the processing latency and the threshold quantity of MPDUs; receiving one or more MPDUs that solicit an acknowledgment frame (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: At the end of the burst, the transmitting node transmits a Block ACK request (BAR) frame 410 to request the receiving node to acknowledge receipt of the received frames); and transmitting the acknowledgment frame in accordance with the processing capability (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: receiving node must immediately reply with a Block ACK (BA) frame 420 containing the acknowledgement status for each data frame of the previous burst of data frames). Viger does not clearly teach transmit, to second wireless device, an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both. Seok teaches transmit (AP may transmit), to second wireless device (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4), an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both (Fig.1, 22, [0171]-[0174] uplink MU-MIMO Poll frame directed to the STAB may include a receiver address (e.g., address 1 field in the MAC Header) set to a broadcast address, a transmitter address (e.g., address 2 field in the MAC Header) to a BSSID, and the AIDs of the STAB requesting uplink MU-MIMO transmission in a payload, [0178]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine or modify of Seok to Viger to order to reduce signaling overhead. Considering claim 49, Viger teaches a method for wireless communications by wireless device, comprising: receiving an indication of a processing capability to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header (Fig.3a-c, pg.2, lines 15-18, pg.6, lines 16-22: receive MAC data frames from a transmitting node, pg.7, lines 2-11: verifying the integrity of a header of the data packet, pg.20, lines 6-14: MAC header 321 of MPDU data frame 320), a payload, or both, the processing capability being either: a processing latency associated with the verification (pg.3, lines 27-31: latency, pg.37, lines 2-26: verifying the integrity of the header), or a threshold quantity of MAC protocol data units (MPDUs) supported for the verification within a short interframe spacing (SIFS) time interval, or both the processing latency and the threshold quantity of MPDUs; transmitting one or more MPDUs that solicit an acknowledgment frame (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: At the end of the burst, the transmitting node transmits a Block ACK request (BAR) frame 410 to request the receiving node to acknowledge receipt of the received frames); and receiving the acknowledgment frame in accordance with the processing capability (Fig.4, pg.22, lines 16-20: receiving node must immediately reply with a Block ACK (BA) frame 420 containing the acknowledgement status for each data frame of the previous burst of data frames). Viger does not clearly teach transmit, to second wireless device, an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both. Seok teaches transmit (AP may transmit), to second wireless device (STA1, STA2, STA3, and STA4), an indication of a processing capability of the wireless device to perform verification of a medium access control (MAC) header, a payload, or both (Fig.1, 22, [0171]-[0174] uplink MU-MIMO Poll frame directed to the STAB may include a receiver address (e.g., address 1 field in the MAC Header) set to a broadcast address, a transmitter address (e.g., address 2 field in the MAC Header) to a BSSID, and the AIDs of the STAB requesting uplink MU-MIMO transmission in a payload, [0178]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine or modify of Seok to Viger to order to reduce signaling overhead. Considering claims 2, 19, 33, 50, Viger teaches wherein a duration associated with the one or more MPDUs is extended according to the processing capability (Fig.3-4, pg.20, lines 3-20). Considering claims 3, 34, Viger teaches wherein, to transmit the acknowledgment frame, the processing system is configured to cause the wireless device to: transmit the acknowledgment frame in accordance with the SIFS time interval according to the duration associated with the one or more MPDUs being extended (Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30). Considering claims 4, 20, 35, 51, Viger teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: transmit a request to accommodate the processing capability, wherein the duration associated with the one or more MPDUs is extended in accordance with the request to accommodate the processing capability (Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30). Considering claim 5, Viger teaches wherein the request to accommodate the processing capability comprises a request for a packet extension (pg.20, lines 3-20 and pg.44, lines 14-15). Considering claim 6, Viger teaches wherein the duration associated with the one or more MPDUs is extended in accordance with end-of-frame padding (3302), one or more null frames, or both (Fig.3-4). Considering claim 7, Viger teaches wherein: the one or more MPDUs correspond to an aggregate-MPDU (A-MPDU) format; and the one or more MPDUs comprise an A-MPDU or a single MPDU (SMPDU) (Fig.3-4). Considering claims 8, 39, Viger teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: verify one or more MAC headers (Fig.3a-c, pg.2, lines 15-18, pg.6, lines 16-22: receive MAC data frames from a transmitting node, pg.7, lines 2-11: verifying the integrity of a header of the data packet, pg.20, lines 6-14: MAC header 321 of MPDU data frame 320), one or more payloads, or both corresponding to the one or more MPDUs; and perform duplicate detection in accordance with the verifying the one or more MAC headers, the one or more payloads, or both, wherein the acknowledgment frame indicates a result of the duplicate detection (pg.6, lines 9-30: duplication of retransmitted data packets). Considering claim 9, Viger teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: update a scoreboard to indicate the verified one or more MAC headers, the verified one or more payloads, or both, wherein the acknowledgment frame is in accordance with the scoreboard (pg.30, lines 21-25). Considering claim 10, Viger teaches wherein: the scoreboard comprises a bitmap (Fig.8, pg.48, lines 18-21); and a bit of the bitmap indicates whether a corresponding MPDU of the one or more MPDUs passes the verifying (Fig.8, pg.48, lines 18-21). Considering claim 11, Viger teaches wherein the scoreboard comprises a first scoreboard (pg.20, line 27 to pg.21, line 11), and the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: verify one or more frame check sequences (FCSs) corresponding to the one or more MPDUs; and update a second scoreboard to indicate the verified one or more FCSs (Fig.3-4, pg.20, lines 16-18). Considering claims 12, 24, Viger teaches wherein the acknowledgment frame is output in accordance with the SIFS time interval (Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30: receiving node must immediately reply with a Block ACK (BA) frame). Considering claims 13, 25, Viger teaches wherein the acknowledgment frame comprises a first acknowledgment frame indicating frame check sequence (FCS) verification corresponding to the one or more MPDUs (The MPDU data frame 320 also comprises a FCS (Frame Check Sequence) field 323, which is a conventional CRC-32 checksum (i.e. error detection code), used to validate the integrity of the MPDU data frame 320), and the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: transmit a second acknowledgment frame indicating the verification corresponding to the one or more MPDUs in accordance with a time interval different than the SIFS time interval according to the processing capability (Fig.3-4, Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30: two Block ACK mechanisms: immediate and delayed block acknowledgment). Considering claim 14, Viger teaches wherein, to transmit the indication of the processing capability, the processing system is configured to cause the wireless device to: transmit a management frame, a beacon frame, an action frame, a probe request frame, a probe response frame, an association request frame, an association response frame, a reassociation request frame, a reassociation response frame, or any combination thereof comprising one or more fields indicating the processing capability (Fig.3-4). Considering claim 15, Viger teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: receive a second indication of an acknowledgment policy set to Block Ack in accordance with the processing capability (Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30: The latter standard defines two Block ACK mechanisms: immediate and delayed block acknowledgment), wherein the acknowledgment frame is transmitted in accordance with a time interval different than the SIFS time interval according to the acknowledgment policy set to Block Ack (pg.20, line 27 to pg.21, line 11). Considering claim 16, Viger teaches wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless device to: receive a block acknowledgment request frame indicating the time interval different than the SIFS time interval (pg.20, line 27 to pg.21, line 11), wherein the acknowledgment frame is transmitted further in accordance with the block acknowledgment request frame (Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30: The latter standard defines two Block ACK mechanisms: immediate and delayed block acknowledgment). Considering claim 17, Viger teaches wherein: the acknowledgment frame comprises a multi-station (STA) block acknowledgment frame; and the multi-STA block acknowledgment frame comprises an association identifier, an acknowledgment type indicator (Fig.4a-c, pg.22, lines 16-30), a traffic identifier, or any combination thereof that indicate that the acknowledgment frame verifies one or more frame check sequences (FCSs), one or more MAC headers, one or more payloads, or any combination thereof corresponding to the one or more MPDUs. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KHAI MINH NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-7923. The examiner can normally be reached 6-3. 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 Appiah can be reached at 571-272-7904. 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. /KHAI M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
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Prosecution Timeline

Nov 01, 2023
Application Filed
Dec 18, 2025
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 04, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 06, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
May 28, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 18, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jun 22, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Sep 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
87%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+4.5%)
2y 4m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 1300 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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