Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/642,914

APPLYING PORT DIVERSITY OF VIRTUAL ARRAY FOR IMPROVING SENSING CAPABILITY WITH JOINT COMMUNICATION LINKS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 23, 2024
Examiner
BYTHROW, PETER M
Art Unit
3648
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
MediaTek Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
892 granted / 1018 resolved
+35.6% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+10.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
14 currently pending
Career history
1032
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
§103
33.8%
-6.2% vs TC avg
§102
34.1%
-5.9% vs TC avg
§112
19.1%
-20.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1018 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
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 . 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)(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(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kumari (US 2023/0358853). Claim 1: Kumari discloses A method of joint communication and sensing of a target obstacle, comprising: deploying a joint communication and sensing transceiver, comprising a transmitter (TX) having at least two transmitting antennas and a receiver (RX) having at least one receiving antenna (para 0049, 0050, 0059-0062, 0065, 0069) transmitting at least two radio frequency (RF) signals carrying data to a communication receiver by the at least two transmitting antennas (para 0080-0085, 0096-0099); and receiving at least one reflected radio frequency (RF) signal reflected by the target obstacle by the at least one receiving antenna (para 0080-0085, 0096-0099); wherein the at least two RF signals transmitted by the at least two transmitting antennas are applied with cyclic shift diversity (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080-0085); and wherein the at least two RF signals transmitted by the at least two transmitting antennas contain TX-varying phase rotations (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080-0085, 0117) Claim 2: Kumari discloses the at least two RF signals are cyclic shifted in time domain (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080-0085) Claim 3: Kumari discloses a virtual receiving array is generated by the at least two transmitting antennas and the at least one receiving antenna (fig 3, para 0065, 0080, 0081, 0148, 0159) Claim 4: Kumari discloses the at least two transmitting antennas form at least one transmitting array (fig 3, para 0065, 0080, 0081) Claim 5: Kumari discloses wherein the at least two radio frequency (RF) signals are orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) signals (para 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081) Claim 6: Kumari discloses wherein the at least two radio frequency (RF) signals form virtually orthogonal transmitter (TX) ports that are distinguishable at each of the at least one receiving antenna of the joint communication and sensing transceiver (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081, 0148, 0159) Claim 7: Kumari discloses the TX-varying phase rotations are determined based on spatial domain information of the communication receiver (para 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081) Claim 8: Kumari discloses the spatial domain information is a transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI) adopted by the communication receiver and sent from the communication receiver (para 0071, 0072, 0078, 0080, 0081) Claim 9: Kumari discloses the at least two transmitting antennas form at least one transmitting array and wherein the cyclic shift diversity and the TX-varying phase rotation for each of the at least two transmitting antennas are chosen for the at least one transmitting array to generate a beam pattern of an Angle of Departure (AoD) whose angular frequency-domain flatness mainlobe direction aligns with that of a phase vector of the TPMI (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0078, 0080, 0081, 0148, 0159) Claim 10: Kumari discloses A method of joint communication and sensing a target obstacle, comprising: deploying a joint communication and sensing transceiver, comprising a transmitter (TX) having at least two transmitting antennas and a receiver (RX) having at least one receiving antenna (para 0049, 0050, 0059-0062, 0065, 0069) transmitting at least two radio frequency (RF) signals carrying data to a communication receiver by the at least two transmitting antennas (para 0080-0085, 0096-0099); and receiving at least one reflected radio frequency (RF) signal reflected by the target obstacle by the at least one receiving antenna (para 0080-0085, 0096-0099); wherein the at least two RF signals transmitted by the at least two transmitting antennas are applied with cyclic shift diversity (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080-0085, 0117) Claim 11: Kumari discloses the at least two RF signals are cyclic shifted in time domain (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080-0085) Claim 12: Kumari discloses a virtual receiving array is generated by the at least two transmitting antennas and the at least one receiving antenna (fig 3, para 0065, 0080, 0081, 0148, 0159) Claim 13: Kumari discloses the at least two transmitting antennas form at least one transmitting array (fig 3, para 0065, 0080, 0081) Claim 14: Kumari discloses the at least two radio frequency (RF) signals are orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) signals (para 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081) . Claim 15: Kumari discloses the at least two radio frequency (RF) signals form virtually orthogonal transmitter (TX) ports that are distinguishable at each of the at least one receiving antenna of the joint communication and sensing transceiver (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081, 0148, 0159) Claim 16: Kumari discloses an azimuth angle and an elevation angle of the target obstacle is obtained (para 0090, 0093) Claim 17: Kumari discloses a device capable of joint communication and sensing of a target obstacle, comprising: a joint communication and sensing transceiver, comprising a transmitter (TX) having at least two transmitting antennas and a receiver (RX) having at least one receiving antenna (para 0049, 0050, 0059-0062, 0065, 0069) wherein the at least two transmitting antennas transmit data on at least two cyclic shifted radio frequency (RF) signals to a communication receiver (para 0080-0085, 0096-0099); and wherein the at least one receiving antenna receives at least one reflected cyclic shifted radio frequency (RF) signal reflected by the target obstacle (para 0080-0085, 0096-0099); and wherein at least two cyclic shifted radio frequency (RF) signals contain TX-varying phase rotations (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080-0085, 0117) Claim 18: Kumari discloses the at least two cyclic shifted radio frequency (RF) signals form virtually orthogonal transmitter (TX) ports that are distinguishable at each of the at least one receiving antenna of the joint communication and sensing transceiver (para 0065, 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081, 0148, 0159) Claim 19: Kumari discloses the TX-varying phase rotations are determined based on spatial domain information of the communication receiver (para 0071, 0072, 0080, 0081) Claim 20: Kumari discloses the spatial domain information is a transmit precoder matrix indicator (TPMI) adopted by the communication receiver and sent from the communication receiver (para 0071, 0072, 0078, 0080, 0081) Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER M BYTHROW whose telephone number is (571)270-1468. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 830am-5pm. 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, Resha Desai can be reached at (571) 270-7792. 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 http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. 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. /PETER M BYTHROW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 23, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 07, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12601834
DETECTION SYSTEM COMPRISING A PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA, AND ASSOCIATED DETECTION METHOD
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12591039
RECTENNA ARRAY FOR DETECTING POWER RADIATED PATTERN OF MICROWAVE OR MILLIMETER-WAVE SIGNALS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 31, 2026
Patent 12585010
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IN-VEHICLE SENSING WITH RADAR
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 24, 2026
Patent 12578428
Method for Estimating a Mounting Position of a Radar Sensor
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12578423
HIGH FREQUENCY CIRCUIT AND RADAR DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+10.7%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1018 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month