CTFR 18/538,579 CTFR 85309 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 1. 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 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 2. 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. 07-07-aia AIA 07-07 3. 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 – 07-08-aia AIA (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. 07-20-aia AIA 4. 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. 07-23-aia AIA 5. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. 07-20-02-aia AIA 6. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. 07-21-aia AIA 7. Claim s 1-4, 10-13, 19, 22, 23, 25, 28 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Landis et al. (US 2021/0377813 A1, hereinafter “Landis”) in view of Wang et al. (US 2019/0174497 A1, hereinafter “Wang”) . Regarding claims 1 and 10 , Landis teaches a wireless communication device ( e.g., UE 115a of fig. 4 ), comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors and storing processor-executable code that, when executed by the one or more processors ( figs. 6-8, ¶ [0138], ¶ [0143] ), is configured to cause the wireless communication device to: receive, from a transmitting device via a wireless channel between the wireless communication device and the transmitting device, one or more reference signals over a set of tones ( 405 of fig. 4, ¶ [0101] At 405, UE 115- a may receive, one or more reference signals, which may be used by UE 115- a to determine signal quality across a set of frequency resources . ); transmit, to the transmitting device, a tone report that indicates a first subset tones, of the set of tones, over which a signal quality of the one or more signals satisfy a threshold ( 410-425 of fig. 4, ¶ [0102], By performing signal quality measurements, UE 115- a may determine which frequency resources (e.g., which subcarriers) experience strong fading, have spurs, experience strong interference, distortion, or otherwise have poor signal quality. ¶ [0103], UE 115- a may select, for tone reservation, a set of frequency resources of the candidate frequency resources that have lower signal quality than at least one or more other frequency resources within the set of candidate frequency resources. ¶ [0105], ¶ [0106], UE 115- a may perform signal quality measurements at 410 on all of the candidate frequency resources, and may select for tone reservation from among the frequency resources that have at least the threshold signal quality (e.g., may select one or more frequency resources that have the lowest signal quality among those frequency resources with a signal quality that satisfies the threshold). ¶ [0107]-¶ [0109] ); receive, from the transmitting device a data transmission over a second subset of tones, of the set of tones, that excludes one or more tones of the first subset tones ( 430 of fig. 4, ¶ [0110], UE 115- a may receive, downlink information (e.g., data or control information) from the base station 105- a over the frequency resources that were not selected for tone reservation ); and receive, from the transmitting device, a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction signal over the one or more tones of the first subset of tones excluded from the second subset of tones ( 430 of fig. 4, ¶ [0110], UE 115- a may receive, over the frequency resources that were selected for tone reservation, one or more signals configured to reduce PAPR associated with the received information (e.g., to reduce a PAPR associated with a combination of the reserved frequency resources and the frequency resources used to carry the downlink information ). Landis does not explicitly teach transmit, to the transmitting device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which a signal strength of the one or more reference signals is below a threshold. However, Landis teaches transmit, to the transmitting device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which a signal quality of the one or more reference signals satisfies a threshold (i.e., one or more tones having low signal quality) ( fig. 4, ¶ [0103]-¶ [0109] ). Further, it is well known in the art that low signal quality state is determined based on a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and/or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) being below a threshold value, where multiple thresholds are used to distinguish multiple signal-quality states, as evidenced by ¶ [0040] of Wang. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to determine a low signal quality based on signal strength of the one or more reference signals being below a threshold value and to transmit, to the transmitting device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which the signal quality is low (determined based on a signal strength of the one or more reference signals being below a threshold) in the system of Landis. The motivation for doing this is a matter of design choice ( ¶ [0040] of Wang ). Regarding claims 19 and 25 , Landis teaches a wireless communication device ( e.g., base station 105a of fig. 4 ), comprising: one or more processors; and one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors and storing processor-executable code that, when executed by the one or more processor ( figs. 9-12, ¶ [0165], ¶ [0170 ), is configured to cause the wireless communication device to: transmit, to a receiving device via a wireless channel between the wireless communication device and the receiving device, one or more reference signals over a set of tones ( 405 of fig. 4, ¶ [0101] At 405, base station 105- a may transmit, and UE 115- a may receive, one or more reference signals, which may be used by UE 115- a to determine signal quality across a set of frequency resources ); receive, from the receiving device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which a signal quality of the one or more reference signals that satisfy a threshold ( 410-425 of fig. 4, ¶ [0102], By performing signal quality measurements, UE 115- a may determine which frequency resources (e.g., which subcarriers) experience strong fading, have spurs, experience strong interference, distortion, or otherwise have poor signal quality. ¶ [0103], UE 115- a may select, for tone reservation, a set of frequency resources of the candidate frequency resources that have lower signal quality than at least one or more other frequency resources within the set of candidate frequency resources. ¶ [0105], ¶ [0106], UE 115- a may perform signal quality measurements at 410 on all of the candidate frequency resources, and may select for tone reservation from among the frequency resources that have at least the threshold signal quality (e.g., may select one or more frequency resources that have the lowest signal quality among those frequency resources with a signal quality that satisfies the threshold). ¶ [0107]-¶ [0109] ); transmit, to the receiving device a peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction signal over the one or more tones of the first subset of tones excluded from a second subset of tones, of the set of tones, that excludes one or more tones of the first subset of tones ( 430 of fig. 4, ¶ [0110], base station may transmit, and UE 115- a may receive, over the frequency resources that were selected for tone reservation, one or more signals configured to reduce PAPR associated with the received information (e.g., to reduce a PAPR associated with a combination of the reserved frequency resources and the frequency resources used to carry the downlink information ); and transmit, to the receiving device a data transmission over a second subset of tones ( 430 of fig. 4, ¶ [0110], At 430, base station 105- a may transmit, and UE 115- a may receive, downlink information (e.g., data or control information) from the base station 105- a over the frequency resources that were not selected for tone reservation ). Landis does not explicitly teach receive, from the receiving device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which a signal strength of the one or more reference signals is below a threshold. However, Landis teaches receive, from the receiving device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which a signal quality of the one or more reference signals satisfy a threshold (i.e., one or more tones having low signal quality) ( fig. 4, ¶ [0103]-¶ [0109] ). Further, it is well known in the art that low signal quality state is determined based on a reference signal received power (RSRP), a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), and/or a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) being below a threshold value, where multiple thresholds are used to distinguish multiple signal-quality states, as evidenced by ¶ [0040] of Wang. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective fling date of the invention, to determine low signal quality based on a signal strength being below a threshold and to receive, from the receiving device, a tone report that indicates a first subset of tones of the set of tones, over which a signal quality is low (determined based on signal strength of the one or more reference signals being below a threshold) in the system of Landis. The motivation for doing this is a matter of design choice ( ¶ [0040] of Wang ) Regarding claims 2 and 11 , Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the tone report indicates one or more channel measurements that include received energy associated with the first subset of tones tones, signal to noise ratio (SNR) associated with the first subset of tones, or channel capacity associated with the first subset of tones ( Landis: ¶ [0102], Based on performing the measurements, UE 115- a may determine a level of interference, an amount of channel fading, a received signal power, an extent of harmonic distortion, or any combination thereof ). Regarding claims 3 and 12, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the tone report includes a list of resource indices that correspond to the first subset of tones ( Landis: fig. 4, ¶ [0103]. ¶ [0104], ¶ [0105], In some examples, UE 115- a may report up to a fixed number of selected frequency resources (e.g., the UE 115- a may be configured to select and indicate a fixed number of frequency resources for tone reservation). ¶ [0108] ). Regarding claims 4 and 13, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the tone report indicates one or more frequency clusters that include the first subset of tones ( Landis: ¶ [0106], ¶ [0107] ). Regarding claims 22 and 28 , Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the tone report includes a list of resource indices that correspond to the first subset of tones ( Landis: fig. 4, ¶ [0103]. ¶ [0104], ¶ [0105], In some examples, UE 115- a may report up to a fixed number of selected frequency resources (e.g., the UE 115- a may be configured to select and indicate a fixed number of frequency resources for tone reservation). ¶ [0108] ). Regarding claims 23 and 29 , Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 19, wherein the tone report indicates one or more frequency clusters that include the first subset of tones ( Landis: ¶ [0106], ¶ [0107] ) . 07-22-aia AIA 8. Claim s 5, 14, 24 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Landis in view of Wang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Pezeshki et al. (US 2022/0255694 A1, hereinafter “Pezeshki”) . Regarding claims 5 and 14, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the tone report includes a differential report that indicates changes between tones indicated by a previous tone report and the first subset of tones. Pezeshki teaches wherein the report includes a differential report that indicates changes between previous report and the one or more candidate ( ¶ [0068], the differential reporting technique may also be utilized over the time domain. For example, the receiving device 404 may indicate in the report for the transmitting device 402 that the EPRE value for the RS may be increased or decreased by a certain amount (i.e., the receiving device 404 may indicate a difference) with respect to the previous EPRE value in an immediately preceding time instance. ¶ [0059], ¶ [0064] ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to utilize a differential report that indicates changes between tones indicated by a previous tone report and the first subset of tones to reduce communication overhead ( ¶ [0059] of Pezeshki ). Regarding claims 24 and 30 , Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 19. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the tone report includes a differential report that indicates changes between tones indicated by a previous candidate tone report and the first subset of tones. Pezeshki teaches wherein the report includes a differential report that indicates changes between previous report and the one or more candidate ( ¶ [0068], the differential reporting technique may also be utilized over the time domain. For example, the receiving device 404 may indicate in the report for the transmitting device 402 that the EPRE value for the RS may be increased or decreased by a certain amount (i.e., the receiving device 404 may indicate a difference) with respect to the previous EPRE value in an immediately preceding time instance. ¶ [0059], ¶ [0064] ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to utilize a differential report that indicates changes between tones indicated by a previous tone report and the first subset of tones in the system of Landis in view of Wang to reduce communication overhead ( ¶ [0059] of Pezeshki ) . 07-22-aia AIA 9. Claim s 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Landis in view of Wang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Vitthaladevuni et al. (2022/0284282 A1, hereinafter “Vitthaladevuni”) . Regarding claims 6 and 15, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the processor- executable code, when executed by the one or more processors, is configured to further cause the wireless communication device to: perform entropy encoding on the tone report prior to transmission to the transmitting device. Vitthaladevuni teaches perform entropy encoding on the tone report prior to transmission to the transmitting device ( fig. 2, ¶ [0095], UE 115- a may then perform the differential encoder operation, the entropy encoder operation, or both before sending the further encoded, quantized, and compressed dataset to base station 105- a ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to perform entropy encoding on the tone report prior to transmission to the transmitting device in the system of Landis in view of Wang to further reduce a quantity of bits in the transmission ( ¶ [0091] of Vitthaladevuni ) . 07-22-aia AIA 10. Claim s 7 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Landis in view of Wang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Landis (US 2022/0312276 A1, hereinafter “Landis’76”) . Regarding claims 7 and 16, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the tone report is transmitted via uplink control information (UCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), or a radio resource control (RRC) message. Landis’76 teaches wherein the report is transmitted via uplink control information (UCI), a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), or a radio resource control (RRC) message ( ¶ [0091], UE 115- a may transmit the report via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) signaling, or uplink control information (UCI) signaling ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to transmit the tone report via UCI, a MAC-CE, or an RRC message in the system of Landis in view of Wang to further improve industrial applicability . 07-22-aia AIA 11. Claim s 8, 9, 17, 18, 20, 21, 26, and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Landis in view of Wang as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Gao et al. (US 2025/0055530 A1, hereinafter “Gao”) . Regarding claims 8 and 17, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the tone report is transmitted periodically. Gao teaches a report is transmitted periodically ( ¶ [0141], the network device 110 may configure the terminal device 120 to report the CSI report associated with a set of capability parameters periodically ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to transmit the tone report periodically in the system of Landis in view of Wang to utilize conventional techniques in the art. Regarding claims 9 and 18, Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 1. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the processor- executable code, when executed by the one or more processors, is configured to further cause the wireless communication device to: receive, from the transmitting device, a request for tone reporting, wherein the tone report is transmitted in response to the request. Gao teaches receive, from the transmitting device, a request for reporting, wherein the report is transmitted in response to the request ( ¶ [0141], Alternatively, in some other embodiments, the network device 110 also may transmit a message to trigger the terminal device 120 to report an aperiodic CSI report associated with a set of capability parameters. ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention to transmit the tone report in response to the request from the transmitting device in the system of Landis in view of Wang to utilize conventional techniques in the art. Regarding claims 20 and 26 , Landis in view of Wang teaches the wireless communication device of claim 19. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the processor- executable code, when executed by the one or more processors, is configured to further cause the wireless communication device to: receive, from the receiving device during an association process, tone reporting capabilities associated with the receiving device; and transmit, to the receiving device, a tone reporting configuration message that indicates tone parameters that correspond to the one or more channel measurements, the tone report, or a combination thereof. Gao teaches receive, from the receiving device during an association process, reporting capabilities associated with the receiving device; and transmit, to the receiving device, a reporting configuration message that indicates one or more parameters that correspond to the one or more channel measurements, the report, or a combination thereof ( fig. 2, ¶ [0125], the terminal device 120 transmits 210 capability-related information to the network device. ¶ [0128], ¶ [0140], the network device 110 also may transmit 220 the related configuration to the terminal device 120. In one example embodiment, the related configuration may be generated based on the capability- related information received from the terminal device 120. ¶ [0141], [0141] In some embodiments, the network device 110 may configure the terminal device 120 to report the CSI report associated with a set of capability parameters periodically. ¶ [0157]. ) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to receive, from the receiving device during an association process, tone reporting capabilities associated with the receiving device, and to transmit, to the receiving device, a tone reporting configuration message that indicates tone parameters that correspond to the one or more channel measurements, the tone report, or a combination thereof in the system of Landis in view of Wang to enable efficient reporting ( ¶ [0144] of Gao ). Regarding claims 21 and 27 , Landis in view of Wang and Gao teaches the wireless communication device of claim 20. Landis does not explicitly teach wherein the first subset of tone parameters include tone selection criteria, a maximum number of tones, a maximum number of frequency clusters, a maximum number of layers, a report granularity, one or more entropy encoder parameters, or a combination thereof. Gao teaches wherein the one or more parameters include tone selection criteria, a maximum number of tones, a maximum number of frequency clusters, a maximum number of layers, a report granularity, one or more entropy encoder parameters, or a combination thereof ( ¶ [0315], at least one set of capability parameters comprising at least one of the following: identity information of the set of capability parameters, a maximum number of SRS ports, a coherent type, a maximum number of uplink layers, a maximum number of downlink layers, a maximum number of RS ports, a maximum number of codewords, or a maximum number of MIMO layers ). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to include in the first subset of tone parameters a tone selection criteria, a maximum number of candidate tones, a maximum number of frequency clusters, a maximum number of layers, a report granularity, one or more entropy encoder parameters, or a combination thereof in the system of Landis in view of Wang and Gao to enable efficient reporting ( ¶ [0144] of Gao ). Response to Arguments 12. Applicant’s arguments filed on March 16, 2026 have been considered but are moot in view of new ground(s) of rejection Conclusion 07-40 AIA 13. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL . See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. 14. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANDISH RANDHAWA whose telephone number is (571)270-5650. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday (9 AM-7 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, Chirag Shah can be reached at 571-272-3144. 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. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MANDISH K RANDHAWA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 2 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 3 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 4 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 5 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 6 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 7 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 8 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 9 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 10 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 11 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 12 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 13 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 14 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 15 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 16 Art Unit: 2477 Application/Control Number: 18/538,579 Page 17 Art Unit: 2477
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