DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1-17 have been examined and are pending.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, or 365(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/05/2023 has been found to be in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Specification
5. The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Examiner’s Comment
6. As a means to expedite prosecution and reduce further pendency of the instant Application, Examiner notes efforts were carried out to propose amendments to place instant Application in better form for allowance. Examiner contacted undersigned Chad Walters (Reg. No. 48,022) on January 26, 2026, and via telephonic voicemail message, Examiner requested amendments to claims 16-17, as the only outstanding rejection is made below. No response has been received.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
7. 35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
8. Claims 16-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. Claim 16 is directed to a computer program product that is not tied to a non-transitory computer storage medium. Claim 17, directed to a carrier is also not tied to a non-transitory computer storage medium. Since a non-transitory computer-readable medium is absent, the claims therefore lack a necessary functional and structural interrelationship and do not produce a useful, concrete and tangible result(s). Examiner respectfully suggests the Applicant amend the claim to reflect only the non-transitory interpretations of a medium as provided by the definition within the originally-filed disclosure.
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 1-15 are allowed.
10. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: a completed search of the available patent literature and non-patent literature has been conducted by the Examiner and none of the cited references either suggest or disclose, individually or in combination, a method comprising at least determining, based on monitoring (a beam scheduling), a probability that a current DL channel transmission is scheduled in a default beam (bd), and responsive to the probability that the current DL channel transmission is scheduled in the default beam (bd) is at or below a scheduling threshold (T), skipping buffering of a DL channel transmission in the default beam (bd).
Considered of particular relevance is United States Patent Application Publication 2020/0350957 A1 to Zhou et al., disclosing a determination for receiving and buffering a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) via one or more default beams (Zhou: [0005]). In [0048], Zhou further discloses “In some cases, the base station may send the PDSCH transmission close in time to or overlapping with the PDCCH transmission. If the offset between the PDCCH transmission and the PDSCH transmission is below a time threshold, the UE may not be able to decode to control information in the PDCCH with enough time to configure receive parameters used to receive and decode the PDSCH transmission. Accordingly, the UE and base station may configure a default receive beam for buffering the PDSCH transmission while the UE receives and decodes the PDCCH control information. However, in cases where the UE has established communication links with multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), the UE may buffer a PDSCH over a single default receive beam when the timing offset of the PDCCH transmissions and PDSCH transmission are below the threshold.” However, Zhou does not expressly disclose determining, based on monitoring (a beam scheduling), a probability that a current DL channel transmission is scheduled in a default beam (bd), and responsive to the probability that the current DL channel transmission is scheduled in the default beam (bd) is at or below a scheduling threshold (T), skipping buffering of a DL channel transmission in the default beam (bd).
Also of particular relevance is United States Patent Application Publication 2021/0227418 A1 to Hwang et al. (hereinafter “Hwang”). Hwang is of similar endeavor, in that Hwang is operable to determine a reception of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and a PDSCH (Hwang: [0006]). Hwang discloses in [0250-0265], [0279-0284], and [0286-0293] that the UE may be operable to skip buffering of the PDSCH in knowing that the PDSCH has been received during a PDCCH process/reception. Although Hwang discloses restricting PDSCH buffering is determined per a bandwidth part (BWP) either autonomously at the UE or by signaling by a base station (Hwang: [0290-0291]), Hwang does not expressly disclose determining, based on monitoring (a beam scheduling), a probability that a current DL channel transmission is scheduled in a default beam (bd), and responsive to the probability that the current DL channel transmission is scheduled in the default beam (bd) is at or below a scheduling threshold (T), skipping buffering of a DL channel transmission in the default beam (bd).
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
11. Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
12. The prior art made of record (please see attached PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Examiner notes the following references not by order of relevance, but to include relevant portions Applicant should consider when issuing a response.
US PGPub 2019/0281587 A1 to Zhang et al. at [0083], [0276];
US PGPub 2020/0296697 A1 to Hwang et al. at [0006-0012], [0163], [0233-0236];
US PGPub 2020/0350957 A1 to Zhou et al. at [0089];
US PGPub 2022/0217579 A1 to Seo et al. at [0313-0319];
US PGPub 2022/0225338 A1 to Zhu et al. at [0101], [0117], [0132-0133], [0143-0145], [0175]; and
US PGPub 2023/0362968 A1 to Xi et al. at [0110].
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV whose telephone number is (571)270-7163. The examiner can normally be reached M, T, R, F 5:00 AM-5:00 PM, W 5:00 AM-3:00 PM (EDT).
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, Michael Thier can be reached at (571) 272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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BENJAMIN H. ELLIOTT IV
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/BENJAMIN H ELLIOTT IV/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474 January 28, 2026