Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/527,002

DEMODULATION REFERENCE SIGNAL PORT MAPPING AND INDICATION SCHEMES

Non-Final OA §102§112
Filed
Dec 01, 2023
Examiner
CAI, WAYNE HUU
Art Unit
2644
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
ZTE CORPORATION
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 0m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allow Rate
709 granted / 892 resolved
+17.5% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 0m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
929
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.6%
-35.4% vs TC avg
§103
55.2%
+15.2% vs TC avg
§102
19.9%
-20.1% vs TC avg
§112
7.8%
-32.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 892 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §112
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 The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on December 1, 2023; June 20, 2024; March 21, 2025; and December 5, 2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner. Drawings The drawings were received on December 1, 2023. These drawings are acceptable. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): (b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph: The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. Claims 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Specifically, the following parameters as listed below are not defined: In claims 3, 9, 15, and 19, these parameters r, and n are not defined in claim. In claims 6, and 12, these parameters: PNG media_image1.png 31 35 media_image1.png Greyscale , c, l, and j are not defined in claim. Claim Objections Claims 6, and 12 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 6 and 12 partially recites “wf(k’) and wf(l’) are OCC parameters in frequency and time domain”. It should be corrected as - - wf(k’) and wt(l’) are OCC parameters in frequency and time domain - - Appropriate correction is required. 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)(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. Claim(s) 1-2, 7-8, 13-14, and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Yang et al. (hereinafter “Yang”, US 2020/0145266). Regarding claims 1, and 13, Yang discloses a method of wireless communication, and a communication apparatus (i.e., a UE 115 as shown in Fig. 1) comprising a processor configured to implement a method, comprising: receiving, by a communication device, a reference signal indication (i.e., a base station transmits a reference signal to a UE in wireless communications with the bae station as described in paragraph 0004); and demodulating, by the communication device, the reference signal based on a plurality of resources associated with the reference signal indication (i.e., the UE receives the reference signal 212 based on the allocated a subset of resource block by the base station as described in paragraphs 0004, 0108-0109, and Abstract). Regarding claims 2, 8, 14, and 18, Yang discloses all limitations recited within claims as described above. Yang also discloses wherein the plurality of resources are associated with at least one of: a generated sequence, a resource element or a subcarrier in a frequency domain, a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port, a number of orthogonal DMRS ports in one code division multiplexing (CDM) group, a total number of orthogonal DMRS ports for all CDM groups, a configured DMRS type, an orthogonal cover code (OCC) length, resource elements offset in one CDM group, an OCC related information in the frequency domain, or an OCC related information in the time domain (i.e., a sequence as described in Abstract, and/or one or more DMRS ports as described in paragraph 0140), and wherein the DMRS port is supported as DMRS type 1 and DMRS type 2. Regarding claims 7, and 17, Yang discloses a method of wireless communication, and a communication apparatus (i.e., a base station 105 as shown in Fig. 1) comprising a processor configured to implement a method, comprising: transmitting, by a network device to a communication device a reference signal indication (i.e., a base station transmits a reference signal to a UE in wireless communications with the bae station as described in paragraph 0004); wherein the reference signal indication indicates a plurality of resources that enable the communication device to demodulate the reference signal (i.e., the UE receives the reference signal 212 based on the allocated a subset of resource block by the base station as described in paragraphs 0004, 0108-0109, and Abstract). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 3-6, 9-12, 15-16, and 19-20 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 WAYNE CAI whose telephone number is (571)272-7798. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday, 7:00 AM-5:00 PM. 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, KATHY WANG-HURST can be reached on (571)270-5371. 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. /Wayne H Cai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Dec 01, 2023
Application Filed
Feb 03, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102, §112 (current)

Precedent Cases

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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
80%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+16.4%)
3y 0m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 892 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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