Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 29, 2026
Application No. 18/627,709

Candidate Cell Resource Switching and Timer Operation

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Apr 05, 2024
Priority
Apr 06, 2023 — provisional 63/457,578
Examiner
HO, DUC CHI
Art Unit
2465
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Comcast Cable Communications LLC
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allowance Rate
1113 granted / 1196 resolved
+35.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +7% lift
Without
With
+7.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
1214
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.0%
-33.0% vs TC avg
§103
39.1%
-0.9% vs TC avg
§102
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
§112
34.6%
-5.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1196 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kim (US 2025/0234385). Regarding claim 1, Kim teaches a method comprising: initiating, by a wireless device, a random access procedure for a cell; based on whether the cell is a serving cell or a candidate cell, performing at least one of: stopping a bandwidth part inactivity timer of the cell; or switching an active bandwidth part of the cell to a second bandwidth part of the cell (see paragraphs 0332 -0333; UE selects a BWP for random access procedure. Upon initiation of the Random Access procedure on a Serving Cell, after the selection of carrier for performing Random Access procedure, if PRACH occasions are not configured for the active UL BWP, the UE switch the active UL BWP to BWP indicated by initialUplinkBWP. If the Serving Cell is an SpCell, UE switches the active DL BWP to BWP indicated by initialDownlinkBWP); and transmitting, for the random access procedure and via the cell, a random access preamble (see paragraph 0357; UE transmits the selected preamble in the selected PRACH occasion in the currently active UL BWP in the selected uplink). Claims 8, 13-16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Guo et al. (US 2025/0234347 A1). Regarding claim 8, Guo et al. teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters of a cell, wherein the one or more configuration parameters indicate: a first control resource set pool index for one or more first control resource sets in an active bandwidth part of the cell; a second control resource set pool index for one or more second control resource sets in the active bandwidth part of the cell; and a single reference signal resource set associated with the first control resource set pool index; receiving, via a control resource set of the one or more first control resource sets associated with the first control resource set pool index, control information scheduling an uplink transmission; and based on the one or more configuration parameters indicating the single reference signal resource set associated with the first control resource set pool index, determining not to monitor each control resource set of the one or more second control resource sets associated with the second control resource set pool index (see paragraph 0073 – 0078; multi-DCI based multi-TRP operation may be configured for a BWP or component carrier if two CORESET pool index values (such as two CORESETPoolIndex parameter values) are configured for the CORESETs in the BWP or component carrier, where a default value (such as a default value of 0) may be assumed if a CORESETPoolIndex parameter is not provided for a CORSET in the BWP or component carrier. As described herein, a CORESETPoolIndex value may be referred to as a control set index, a control resource index, a control resource set index, a resource pool index, or a control resource set pool index, among other examples. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 200 may support one or more serving cells and each serving cell may be associated with one TAG. In other words, in such aspects in which each serving cell is associated with one TAG, one timing advance (TA) value may be used for communication on that serving cell. A TA command, which may be denoted as T.sub.A, for a TAG may indicate an adjustment of a current TA value (e.g., an N.sub.TA_old value) to a new TA value (e.g., an N.sub.TA_new value) by index values of T.sub.A=0, 1, 2, . . . , 63. For a subcarrier-spacing (SCS) of 2.sup.?*15 kHz, a new TA value may be defined in accordance with Equation 1. NTA?_?new=NTA?_?old+(TA-3?1)*1?6*6?42?(1) The UE 115-a may receive an indication of a T.sub.A value via a MAC-CE associated with a tag-Id field (indicating a TAG-Id parameter) of a ServingCellConfig information element and the MAC-CE may include two bits indicating a TAG identifier (ID) (corresponding to the tag-Id field) and six bits for indicating the TA command (such as the index value T.sub.A). A ServingCellConfig parameter also may include a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated field associated with a TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated parameter and an initialDownlinkBWP field indicating a BWP-DownlinkDedicated parameter. Each serving cell may be configured with one or multiple BWPs. The BWP-DownlinkDedicated parameter may include or indicate apdcch-Config field associated with a SetupRelease (PDCCH-Config) parameter. The PDCCH-Config parameter may include or indicate a controlResourceSetToAddModListSizeExt field (such as a controlResourceSetToAddModListSizeExt-v1610 field), a ControlResourceSet field associated with a controlResourceSetToReleaseListSizeExt parameter (such as a controlResourceSetToReleaseListSizeExt-r16 parameter), and a ControlResourceSetld field (such as a ControlResourceSetld-r16 field). The ControlResourceSet field may include a coresetPoolIndex field (such as a coresetPoolIndex-r16 field) and a controlResourceSetId field (such as a controlResourceSetId-v1610 field). Each BWP may be associated with one or multiple coresetPoolIndex fields or values. If a BWP is associated with multiple coresetPoolIndex fields or values, the BWP is associated with multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation. In some deployment scenarios, the wireless communications system 200 may support two TA values for uplink multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation on a same serving cell. For example, the ServingCellConfig information element may include a tag-Id1 field (indicating a TAG-Id1 parameter) and a tag-Id2 field (indicating a TAG-Id2 parameter). In some aspects, the TAG-Id1 parameter may indicate or correspond to a TAG 225 and the TAG-Id2 parameter may indicate or correspond to a TAG 230. In accordance with the wireless communications system 200 supporting two TA values for multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation on a same serving cell, different CORESETs may be associated with or otherwise link to different TAGs. For example, a ControlResourceSet field may correspond or point to the tag-Id1 field or the tag-Id2 field and an associated CORESET may likewise be associated with or link to the indicated TAG. In some examples, for instance, the TRP 205 may transmit the control signaling message 215-a over one or more resources (e.g., one or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) resources) of a first CORESET associated with a first CORESETPoolIndex value and the TAG 225 and the TRP 210 may transmit the control signaling message 215-b over one or more resources (e.g., one or more PDCCH resources) of a second CORSET associated with a second CORESETPoolIndex value and the TAG 230. As such, in examples in which the control signaling message 215-a schedules the uplink transmission 220-a and the control signaling message 215-b schedules the uplink transmission 220-b, the UE 115-a may perform the uplink transmission 220-a in accordance with a first TA value (e.g., a TAT) associated with the TAG 225 and may perform the uplink transmission 220-b in accordance with a second TA value (e.g., a TA2) associated with the TAG 230. Generally, the first TA value (e.g., the TAT) may define a time-domain offset between a downlink transmission 235-a and a corresponding or associated uplink transmission 240-a and the second TA value (e.g., the TA2) may define a time-domain offset between a downlink transmission 235-b and a corresponding or associated uplink transmission). Regarding claim 13, the UE may receive downlink control information (DCI) from each TRP that schedules communication between the UE and that TRP. For example, the UE may receive a first DCI message from a first TRP scheduling a first uplink transmission from the UE to the first TRP and may receive a second DCI message from a second TRP scheduling a second uplink transmission from the UE to the second TRP, see 0018. Regarding claim 14, the UEs 115 and the network entities 105 may wirelessly communicate with one another via one or more communication links 125 (e.g., an access link) over one or more carriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of RF spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure for supporting the communication links 125. For example, a carrier used for a communication link 125 may include a portion of a RF spectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP)) that is operated according to one or more physical layer channels for a given radio access technology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layer channel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals, system information), control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communications system 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrier aggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured with multiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink component carriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration, see 0035. Regarding claim 15, the UE 115 is scheduled to transmit a PUSCH over a second number of slots, see 0065. Regarding claim 16, Guo et al. teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters indicating: at least two control resource set pool indexes for a bandwidth part of a cell; and a reference signal resource set for an uplink bandwidth part of the cell, wherein the reference signal resource set is associated with a first control resource set pool index of the at least two control resource set pool indexes; and receiving, via a control resource set with a control resource set pool index of the at least two control resource set pool indexes, control information scheduling an uplink transmission via the uplink bandwidth part of the cell, wherein the control information indicates a single layer for the uplink transmission based on the control resource set pool index of the control resource set being different from the first control resource set pool index (see paragraph 0073 – 0078; ulti-DCI based multi-TRP operation may be configured for a BWP or component carrier if two CORESET pool index values (such as two CORESETPoolIndex parameter values) are configured for the CORESETs in the BWP or component carrier, where a default value (such as a default value of 0) may be assumed if a CORESETPoolIndex parameter is not provided for a CORSET in the BWP or component carrier. As described herein, a CORESETPoolIndex value may be referred to as a control set index, a control resource index, a control resource set index, a resource pool index, or a control resource set pool index, among other examples. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 200 may support one or more serving cells and each serving cell may be associated with one TAG. In other words, in such aspects in which each serving cell is associated with one TAG, one timing advance (TA) value may be used for communication on that serving cell. A TA command, which may be denoted as T.sub.A, for a TAG may indicate an adjustment of a current TA value (e.g., an N.sub.TA_old value) to a new TA value (e.g., an N.sub.TA_new value) by index values of T.sub.A=0, 1, 2, . . . , 63. For a subcarrier-spacing (SCS) of 2.sup.?*15 kHz, a new TA value may be defined in accordance with Equation 1. NTA?_?new=NTA?_?old+(TA-3?1)*1?6*6?42?(1) The UE 115-a may receive an indication of a T.sub.A value via a MAC-CE associated with a tag-Id field (indicating a TAG-Id parameter) of a ServingCellConfig information element and the MAC-CE may include two bits indicating a TAG identifier (ID) (corresponding to the tag-Id field) and six bits for indicating the TA command (such as the index value T.sub.A). A ServingCellConfig parameter also may include a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated field associated with a TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated parameter and an initialDownlinkBWP field indicating a BWP-DownlinkDedicated parameter. Each serving cell may be configured with one or multiple BWPs. The BWP-DownlinkDedicated parameter may include or indicate apdcch-Config field associated with a SetupRelease (PDCCH-Config) parameter. The PDCCH-Config parameter may include or indicate a controlResourceSetToAddModListSizeExt field (such as a controlResourceSetToAddModListSizeExt-v1610 field), a ControlResourceSet field associated with a controlResourceSetToReleaseListSizeExt parameter (such as a controlResourceSetToReleaseListSizeExt-r16 parameter), and a ControlResourceSetld field (such as a ControlResourceSetld-r16 field). The ControlResourceSet field may include a coresetPoolIndex field (such as a coresetPoolIndex-r16 field) and a controlResourceSetId field (such as a controlResourceSetId-v1610 field). Each BWP may be associated with one or multiple coresetPoolIndex fields or values. If a BWP is associated with multiple coresetPoolIndex fields or values, the BWP is associated with multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation. In some deployment scenarios, the wireless communications system 200 may support two TA values for uplink multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation on a same serving cell. For example, the ServingCellConfig information element may include a tag-Id1 field (indicating a TAG-Id1 parameter) and a tag-Id2 field (indicating a TAG-Id2 parameter). In some aspects, the TAG-Id1 parameter may indicate or correspond to a TAG 225 and the TAG-Id2 parameter may indicate or correspond to a TAG 230. In accordance with the wireless communications system 200 supporting two TA values for multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation on a same serving cell, different CORESETs may be associated with or otherwise link to different TAGs. For example, a ControlResourceSet field may correspond or point to the tag-Id1 field or the tag-Id2 field and an associated CORESET may likewise be associated with or link to the indicated TAG. In some examples, for instance, the TRP 205 may transmit the control signaling message 215-a over one or more resources (e.g., one or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) resources) of a first CORESET associated with a first CORESETPoolIndex value and the TAG 225 and the TRP 210 may transmit the control signaling message 215-b over one or more resources (e.g., one or more PDCCH resources) of a second CORSET associated with a second CORESETPoolIndex value and the TAG 230. As such, in examples in which the control signaling message 215-a schedules the uplink transmission 220-a and the control signaling message 215-b schedules the uplink transmission 220-b, the UE 115-a may perform the uplink transmission 220-a in accordance with a first TA value (e.g., a TAT) associated with the TAG 225 and may perform the uplink transmission 220-b in accordance with a second TA value (e.g., a TA2) associated with the TAG 230. Generally, the first TA value (e.g., the TAT) may define a time-domain offset between a downlink transmission 235-a and a corresponding or associated uplink transmission 240-a and the second TA value (e.g., the TA2) may define a time-domain offset between a downlink transmission 235-b and a corresponding or associated uplink transmission). Regarding claim 20, this claim has similar limitations as that of claim 15. Therefore, it is rejected under Guo for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 15. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 6. 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 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. 7. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: (a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Kim (US 20250234358 A1), in view of Guo et al. (US 2025/0234347 A1), hereinafter Guo. Regarding claim 2, Kim discloses all claimed limitations, except receiving one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters of the cell, wherein the one or more configuration parameters indicate: a first control resource set pool index for one or more first control resource sets in the active bandwidth part of the cell; a second control resource set pool index for one or more second control resource sets in the active bandwidth part of the cell; and a single reference signal resource set associated with the first control resource set pool index; receiving, via a control resource set of the one or more first control resource sets associated with the first control resource set pool index, control information scheduling an uplink transmission; and based on the one or more configuration parameters indicating the single reference signal resource set associated with the first control resource set pool index, determining not to monitor each control resource set of the one or more second control resource sets associated with the second control resource set pool index. Guo from the same endeavor as that of Kim teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters of a cell, wherein the one or more configuration parameters indicate: a first control resource set pool index for one or more first control resource sets in an active bandwidth part of the cell; a second control resource set pool index for one or more second control resource sets in the active bandwidth part of the cell; and a single reference signal resource set associated with the first control resource set pool index; receiving, via a control resource set of the one or more first control resource sets associated with the first control resource set pool index, control information scheduling an uplink transmission; and based on the one or more configuration parameters indicating the single reference signal resource set associated with the first control resource set pool index, determining not to monitor each control resource set of the one or more second control resource sets associated with the second control resource set pool index (see paragraph 0073 – 0078; multi-DCI based multi-TRP operation may be configured for a BWP or component carrier if two CORESET pool index values (such as two CORESETPoolIndex parameter values) are configured for the CORESETs in the BWP or component carrier, where a default value (such as a default value of 0) may be assumed if a CORESETPoolIndex parameter is not provided for a CORSET in the BWP or component carrier. As described herein, a CORESETPoolIndex value may be referred to as a control set index, a control resource index, a control resource set index, a resource pool index, or a control resource set pool index, among other examples. In some aspects, the wireless communications system 200 may support one or more serving cells and each serving cell may be associated with one TAG. In other words, in such aspects in which each serving cell is associated with one TAG, one timing advance (TA) value may be used for communication on that serving cell. A TA command, which may be denoted as T.sub.A, for a TAG may indicate an adjustment of a current TA value (e.g., an N.sub.TA_old value) to a new TA value (e.g., an N.sub.TA_new value) by index values of T.sub.A=0, 1, 2, . . . , 63. For a subcarrier-spacing (SCS) of 2.sup.?*15 kHz, a new TA value may be defined in accordance with Equation 1. NTA?_?new=NTA?_?old+(TA-3?1)*1?6*6?42?(1) The UE 115-a may receive an indication of a T.sub.A value via a MAC-CE associated with a tag-Id field (indicating a TAG-Id parameter) of a ServingCellConfig information element and the MAC-CE may include two bits indicating a TAG identifier (ID) (corresponding to the tag-Id field) and six bits for indicating the TA command (such as the index value T.sub.A). A ServingCellConfig parameter also may include a tdd-UL-DL-ConfigurationDedicated field associated with a TDD-UL-DL-ConfigDedicated parameter and an initialDownlinkBWP field indicating a BWP-DownlinkDedicated parameter. Each serving cell may be configured with one or multiple BWPs. The BWP-DownlinkDedicated parameter may include or indicate apdcch-Config field associated with a SetupRelease (PDCCH-Config) parameter. The PDCCH-Config parameter may include or indicate a controlResourceSetToAddModListSizeExt field (such as a controlResourceSetToAddModListSizeExt-v1610 field), a ControlResourceSet field associated with a controlResourceSetToReleaseListSizeExt parameter (such as a controlResourceSetToReleaseListSizeExt-r16 parameter), and a ControlResourceSetld field (such as a ControlResourceSetld-r16 field). The ControlResourceSet field may include a coresetPoolIndex field (such as a coresetPoolIndex-r16 field) and a controlResourceSetId field (such as a controlResourceSetId-v1610 field). Each BWP may be associated with one or multiple coresetPoolIndex fields or values. If a BWP is associated with multiple coresetPoolIndex fields or values, the BWP is associated with multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation. In some deployment scenarios, the wireless communications system 200 may support two TA values for uplink multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation on a same serving cell. For example, the ServingCellConfig information element may include a tag-Id1 field (indicating a TAG-Id1 parameter) and a tag-Id2 field (indicating a TAG-Id2 parameter). In some aspects, the TAG-Id1 parameter may indicate or correspond to a TAG 225 and the TAG-Id2 parameter may indicate or correspond to a TAG 230. In accordance with the wireless communications system 200 supporting two TA values for multi-DCI, multi-TRP operation on a same serving cell, different CORESETs may be associated with or otherwise link to different TAGs. For example, a ControlResourceSet field may correspond or point to the tag-Id1 field or the tag-Id2 field and an associated CORESET may likewise be associated with or link to the indicated TAG. In some examples, for instance, the TRP 205 may transmit the control signaling message 215-a over one or more resources (e.g., one or more physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) resources) of a first CORESET associated with a first CORESETPoolIndex value and the TAG 225 and the TRP 210 may transmit the control signaling message 215-b over one or more resources (e.g., one or more PDCCH resources) of a second CORSET associated with a second CORESETPoolIndex value and the TAG 230. As such, in examples in which the control signaling message 215-a schedules the uplink transmission 220-a and the control signaling message 215-b schedules the uplink transmission 220-b, the UE 115-a may perform the uplink transmission 220-a in accordance with a first TA value (e.g., a TAT) associated with the TAG 225 and may perform the uplink transmission 220-b in accordance with a second TA value (e.g., a TA2) associated with the TAG 230. Generally, the first TA value (e.g., the TAT) may define a time-domain offset between a downlink transmission 235-a and a corresponding or associated uplink transmission 240-a and the second TA value (e.g., the TA2) may define a time-domain offset between a downlink transmission 235-b and a corresponding or associated uplink transmission). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ what Guo teaches as described above into the system of Kim. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to optimize power consumption and allowing flexible spectrum usage. 11. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Kim, in view of Chandrashekar et al. (US 2025/0091052 A1), hereinafter Chandrashekar. Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses all claimed limitations, except wherein the cell is for a layer 1/layer 2 triggered mobility procedure. Chandrashekar from the same field of endeavor as that of Kim teaches layer 1/layer 2 triggered mobility (LTM) enables a serving cell change via L1/L2 signaling, while keeping configuration of the upper layers and/or minimizing changes of configuration of the lower layers, see 0036. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the teaching of LTM enables a serving cell change via L1/L2 signaling into the system of Kim. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to reduce latency, overhead and interruption time during handover. 12. Claims 4 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Kim, in view of Cirik et al. (US 20240032051 A1), hereinafter Cirik. Regarding claim 4, Kim discloses all claimed limitations, except based on the cell being the candidate cell: not stopping the bandwidth part inactivity timer of the cell; and not switching the active bandwidth part of the cell to the second bandwidth part of the cell. Cyrik from the same endeavor as that of Kim teaches a wireless device may stop a BWP inactivity timer if a random access procedure is initiated, and/or restart (not stopping) the BWP inactivity timer if the random access procedure is successfully completed, see 0383. (equivalent to not stopping the bandwidth part inactivity timer of the cell). Furthermore, a wireless device may switch to the default DL BWP (second BWP) from an active DL BWP (active BWP), for example, if the timer expires, see 0027. In this case, if the time is not expired, the wireless device may not switch to the default DL BWP from an active DL BWP (equivalent to not switching the active bandwidth part of the cell to the second bandwidth part of the cell). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the not stopping of the bwp inactivity of the cell and not switching the bwp of the cell to the second bwp, taught by Cirik into the system of Kim. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to reduce signaling overhead and/or decrease spectral efficiency. Regarding claim 6, Kim discloses all claimed limitations, except based on the cell being the serving cell: stopping the bandwidth part inactivity timer of the cell; and switching the active bandwidth part of the cell to the second bandwidth part of the cell. Cirik from the same endeavor as that of Kim teaches: (1) a wireless device may stop the BWP inactivity timer of the PCell (serving cell), see 0445; (2) an expiry of the inactivity timer associated with a cell may switch an active BWP to a default BWP (second BWP), for example, if the inactivity timer is configured for a serving cell, see 0340. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the stopping of the bwp inactivity of the cell and switching the bwp, taught by Cirik into the system of Kim. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to reduce signaling overhead and/or decrease spectral efficiency. 13. Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Guo, in view of Cirik et al. (US 2024/0323973 A1), hereinafter Cirik. Regarding claim 11, Guo discloses all claimed limitations, except the first control resource set pool index is equal to zero; and the second control resource set pool index is equal to one. Cirik from the same endeavor of that of Guo teaches the one or more configuration parameters 1720 may indicate, for a first coreset of the plurality of coresets, for example, a first coreset pool index 1825 (CoresetPoolIndex=0). The one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for a second coreset of the plurality of coresets, a second coreset pool index 1845 (CoresetPoolIndex=1). The one or more coreset pool indexes may comprise the first coreset pool index 1825 and the second coreset pool index 1845, see 0234. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the first coreset pool index equals to zero and the second coreset pool index equals to one, as taught by Cirik into the system of Guo. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide advantages such as reduced interference, reduced error rates and increase data rates. Regarding claim 12, Guo discloses all claimed limitations, except wherein the one or more configuration parameters indicate the single reference signal resource set for an active bandwidth part of the cell. Cirik from the same endeavor of that of Guo teaches: (1) The one or more BWPs may be referred to as active BWPs of the serving cell, see 0098; (2) the wireless device may receive one or more messages indicating two or more reference signal resource sets for a cell. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ active BWPs of the serving cell and reference signal resource sets for a cell, as taught by Cirik into the system of Guo. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide advantages such as increase data rates, reduces retransmissions, reduced battery consumption, and/or reduce latency. 14. Claims 10 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Guo et al. (US 20250234347 A1), hereinafter Guo, in view of Cirik et al. (US 2024/0323973 A1), hereinafter Cirik. Regarding claim 10, Guo discloses all claimed limitations, except the one or more configuration parameters comprise, for the single reference signal resource set, a usage parameter set to codebook or non-codebook. Cirik from the same endeavor as that of Guo teaches the one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the uplink BWP of the cell, a single SRS resource set with the usage parameter set to ‘codebook’, see 0636. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the uplink BWP of the cell, a single SRS resource set with the usage parameter set to ‘codebook’, as taught by Cirik into the system of Guo. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to provide advantages such as increase data rates, reduces retransmissions, reduced battery consumption, and/or reduce latency. Regarding claim 18, Guo discloses all claimed limitations, except wherein the control information indicating the single layer for the uplink transmission is further based on the one or more configuration parameters indicating a single reference signal resource set for the uplink bandwidth part. Cirik from the same endeavor as that of Guo teaches: (1) a wireless device may be configured (e.g., via an RRC layer) with one or more downlink BWPs per serving cell and one or more uplink BWPs per serving cell, see 0098; (2) the DCI may schedule/be configured to schedule a plurality of cells comprising the cell and a second cell. The one or more configuration parameters may indicate a single reference signal resource set for the second cell, see 0785. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ the one or more configuration parameters may indicate, for the uplink BWP of the cell, a single SRS resource set with the usage parameter set to ‘codebook’, as taught by Cirik into the system of Guo. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to enable a wireless device to select from multiple resource sets and/or multiple transmission configuration indicator states for communicating via the cell and to provide advantages such as increase data rates, reduces retransmissions, reduced battery consumption, and/or reduce latency. 15. Claims 9 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being obvious over Guo et al. (US 20250234347 A1), hereinafter Guo, in view of Kim (US 20250234385 A1). Regarding claim 9, Guo discloses all claimed limitations, except initiating a random access procedure for the cell; based on whether the cell is a serving cell or a candidate cell, performing at least one of: stopping a bandwidth part inactivity timer of the cell; or switching an active bandwidth part of the cell to a second bandwidth part of the cell; and transmitting, for the random access procedure and via the cell, a random access preamble. Kim from the same endeavor as that of Guo teaches a method comprising: initiating, by a wireless device, a random access procedure for a cell; based on whether the cell is a serving cell or a candidate cell, performing at least one of: stopping a bandwidth part inactivity timer of the cell; or switching an active bandwidth part of the cell to a second bandwidth part of the cell (see paragraphs 0332 -0333; UE selects a BWP for random access procedure. Upon initiation of the Random Access procedure on a Serving Cell, after the selection of carrier for performing Random Access procedure, if PRACH occasions are not configured for the active UL BWP, the UE switch the active UL BWP to BWP indicated by initialUplinkBWP. If the Serving Cell is an SpCell, UE switches the active DL BWP to BWP indicated by initialDownlinkBWP); and transmitting, for the random access procedure and via the cell, a random access preamble (see paragraph 0357; UE transmits the selected preamble in the selected PRACH occasion in the currently active UL BWP in the selected uplink). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ a mechanism to stop a BWP inactivity timer of the cell or switching an active BWP of the cell to a second BWP of the cell and transmitting for the random access procedure and via the cell a random access preamble, as taught by Kim into the system of Guo. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to facilitate introduction of various services, 5G communication system targets supporting higher data rate and smaller latency. Regarding claim 17, this claim has similar limitations as those of claim 9. Therefore, it is rejected under Guo-Kim for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 9. Allowable subject matter 16. Claims 5, 7 and 19 are rejected based on its dependency, would be allowable if rewritten or amended to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion 17. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Shih et al. (US 2019/0182870 A1) is cited, and considered pertinent to the instant specification. 18. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC C HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3147. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-4pm. 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, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420 (Gary.mui@uspto.gov). The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see https://ppair-my.uspto.gov/pair/PrivatePair. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /DUC C HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 05, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
93%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+7.3%)
2y 4m (~2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
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