Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/655,706

NON-CELL-DEFINING SYNCHRONIZATION SIGNAL BLOCKS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
May 06, 2024
Examiner
AHMED, ATIQUE
Art Unit
2413
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
80%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 10m
To Grant
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 80% — above average
80%
Career Allow Rate
369 granted / 460 resolved
+22.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
37 currently pending
Career history
497
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
66.6%
+26.6% vs TC avg
§102
11.4%
-28.6% vs TC avg
§112
11.4%
-28.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 460 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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. 2. This office action is a response to an application filed on 05/06/2024 where claims 1- 18 are pending. Drawings 3 . The drawings were received on 05/06/2024 . These drawing are acceptable. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. 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 . 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. Claim(s) 1 - 3, 6-9, 12-15, 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou et al. (US 20250184803 A1) hereinafter Hou and further in view of Xiong et al. (US 20230224880 A1)hereinafter Xiong As to claim 1 . Hou teaches An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories, being configured to: ([0 292 ][02 95 ] Fig. 7 , terminal includes processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, he processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication apparatus 700 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 702 and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) receive a configuration for a bandwidth part (BWP), the configuration indicating a non-cell-defining synchronization signal block (NCD-SSB) included in the BWP ([0021] terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device. The first configuration information includes a configuration parameter of X non-cell-defining synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel blocks NCD-SSBs in a first bandwidth part BWP,) and perform a measurement using the NCD-SSB during an active state of the BWP. ([ 0136][0162][0163] terminal device perform measurement using NCD-SSB configured by network device in active BWP) Hou does not teach , and the BWP overlapping with one or more frequency resources associated with a cell-defining synchronization signal block (CD-SSB); Xiong teaches and the BWP overlapping with one or more frequency resources associated with a cell-defining synchronization signal block (CD-SSB );([0084][0085] UE assumes SS/PBCH block transmission for NCD-SSB and/or CD-SSB if the PDSCH resource allocation overlaps with PRBs containing SS/PBCH block transmission resource, a frequency domain resource of a SS/PBCH block ) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Xiong with the teaching of Hou because Xiong teaches that a CD-SSB is a SSB that allow a user equipment (UE) to obtain physical cell ID and system information block 1 and to perform measurement on the CD-SSB, paging or system information reception in the frequency of CORESET #0 indicated by the MIB. (Xiong [0047]) C l aim 7 are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 1. As to claim 13 . Hou teaches A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for wireless communication, the set of instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: ([0295] Fig. 7, the communication apparatus 700 include a processor 701, processor 701 is coupled to a memory 702 and/or a transceiver 703, the processor 701 may execute a software program stored in the memory and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) receive a configuration for a bandwidth part (BWP), the configuration indicating a non-cell-defining synchronization signal block (NCD-SSB) included in the BWP, ([0021] terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device. The first configuration information includes a configuration parameter of X non-cell-defining synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel blocks NCD-SSBs in a first bandwidth part BWP,) and perform a measurement using the NCD-SSB during an active state of the BWP ([ 0136][0162][0163] terminal device perform measurement using NCD-SSB configured by network device in active BWP Hou does not teach and the BWP overlapping with one or more frequency resources associated with a cell-defining synchronization signal block (CD-SSB); Xiong teaches and the BWP overlapping with one or more frequency resources associated with a cell-defining synchronization signal block (CD-SSB); );([0084][0085] UE assumes SS/PBCH block transmission for NCD-SSB and/or CD-SSB if the PDSCH resource allocation overlaps with PRBs containing SS/PBCH block transmission resource, a frequency domain resource of a SS/PBCH block ) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Xiong with the teaching of Hou because Xiong teaches that a CD-SSB is a SSB that allow a user equipment (UE) to obtain physical cell ID and system information block 1 and to perform measurement on the CD-SSB, paging or system information reception in the frequency of CORESET #0 indicated by the MIB. (Xiong [0047]) As to claim 2 the combination of Hou and Xiong specifically Hou teaches , wherein the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories, are configured to: ([0292][0295] Fig. 7, terminal includes processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, he processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication apparatus 700 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 702 and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) receive a downlink transmission based at least in part on resolving a collision between the downlink transmission and the NCD-SSB. ([0203] network device may further send a configuration parameter of the plurality of configured NCD-SSBs to the terminal device, a problem of how the terminal device performs rate matching when a plurality of NCD-SSBs are configured in one BWP can be further resolved, impact on PDSCH demodulation can be avoided) C l aims 8 and 1 4 are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 2 . As to claim 3. the combination of Hou and Xiong specifically Hou teaches , wherein the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories, are configured to: ([0292][0295] Fig. 7, terminal includes processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, he processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication apparatus 700 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 702 and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) Hou does not teach refrain from transmitting an uplink transmission based at least in part on resolving a collision between the uplink transmission and the NCD-SSB. Xiong teaches refrain from transmitting an uplink transmission based at least in part on resolving a collision between the uplink transmission and the NCD-SSB. ([0048] when SSB is not present in a separate initial DL BWP or RRC-configured active DL BWP, if a semi-statically configured or dynamically scheduled UL transmission is collided with a CD-SSB that is not configured in the separate initial DL BWP or RRC-configured active DL BWP, the UL transmission is canceled.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Xiong with the teaching of Hou because Xiong teaches that a CD-SSB is a SSB that allow a user equipment (UE) to obtain physical cell ID and system information block 1 and to perform measurement on the CD-SSB, paging or system information reception in the frequency of CORESET #0 indicated by the MIB. (Xiong [0047]) C l aims 9 and 1 5 are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 3 . As to claim 6 the combination of Hou and Xiong specifically Hou teaches wherein the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories, are configured to: ([0292][0295] Fig. 7, terminal includes processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, he processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication apparatus 700 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 702 and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) perform beam management using the NCD-SSB. ( [0182] one burst set includes eight NCD-SSBs on a same frequency, SSB indexes corresponding to the eight NCD-SSBs on the same frequency are 0 to 7, and the eight SSBs on the same frequency are sent in different directions at different moments by using beams i.e., beam management, the beam information may include a quantity of swept beams, a beam transmit direction, a beam width, and the like of each NCD-SSB in the X NCD-SSBs.) C l aims 12 and 1 8 are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 6 . Claim(s) 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou, Xiong and further in view of Wang et al. (US 20250220532 A1)hereinafter W ang As to claim 4. the combination of Hou and Xiong specifically Hou teaches wherein the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories, are configured to: ([0292][0295] Fig. 7, terminal includes processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, he processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication apparatus 700 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 702 and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) the combination of Hou and Xiong does not teach transmit a random access preamble based at least in part on determining a random access occasion using the NCD-SSB. Wang teaches transmit a random access preamble based at least in part on determining a random access occasion using the NCD-SSB . ([0258] When the NCD-SSB corresponds to the random access preamble used for handover, the terminal device may send, to the first cell, the random access preamble corresponding to the NCD-SSB.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Wang with the teaching of Hou and Xiong because Wang teaches that using random access preamble associated with the NCD-SSB would avoid a conflict between the random access preamble used for handover and a random access preamble used for initial access thus further improving a success rate of group handover.(Wang [0259]) C l aims 10 and 1 6 are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 4 . Claim(s) 5 , 11, 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hou, Xiong and further in view of Lei et al. (US 20230199812 A1)hereinafter Lei As to claim 5. the combination of Hou and Xiong specifically Hou teaches , wherein the one or more processors, individually or collectively and based at least in part on information stored in the one or more memories, are configured to: ([0292][0295] Fig. 7, terminal includes processor 701 is coupled to the memory 702 and the transceiver 703, he processor 701 may execute various functions of the communication apparatus 700 by running or executing a software program stored in the memory 702 and invoking data stored in the memory 702.) the combination of Hou and Xiong does not teach transmit a random access preamble based at least in part on determining a random access occasion using the CD-SSB. Lei teaches transmit a random access preamble based at least in part on determining a random access occasion using the CD-SSB. ([0147] Performing the initial access may include transmitting a random access preamble during a RO having an SSB-to-RO mapping based on a CD-SSB) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine teaching of Lei with the teaching of Hou and Xiong because Lei teaches that dedicated physical random access channel (PRACH) resources would enable the network to identify a reduced capability of the UE during initial access thereby allowing to schedule Msg 3/PUCCH within an UL BWP supported by the UE. (Lei [0120]) C l aims 11 and 1 7 are interpreted and rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claim 5 . Conclusion 5. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. AI; Jianxun et al. [US 20250008394 A1] METHOD OF MEASUREMENT CONFIGURATION WANG; Lihui [US 20250023667 A1] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING PHYSICAL LAYER OPERATION, AND TERMINAL HE; Linhai et al. [US 20230354125 A1] ENHANCED MEASUREMENT OBJECT CONFIGURATIONS AND PROCEDURES Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ATIQUE AHMED whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-6244 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT 9:30 - 7:30 PM M-F Eastern . 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, FILLIN "SPE Name?" \* MERGEFORMAT Un Cho can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 5712727919 . 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. /ATIQUE AHMED/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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Prosecution Timeline

May 06, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 27, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (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 (+15.9%)
2y 10m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 460 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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