Prosecution Insights
Last updated: May 04, 2026
Application No. 18/681,475

DATA TRANSMISSION METHOD, APPARATUS, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Feb 05, 2024
Priority
Sep 16, 2021 — CN 202111088653.6 +1 more
Examiner
YAO, KWANG BIN
Art Unit
2473
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Datang Mobile Communications Equipment Co. Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
23%
Grant Probability
At Risk
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
49%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 23% of cases
23%
Career Allowance Rate
5 granted / 22 resolved
-35.3% vs TC avg
Strong +26% interview lift
Without
With
+26.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 10m
Avg Prosecution
2 currently pending
Career history
24
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
§103
53.9%
+13.9% vs TC avg
§102
19.8%
-20.2% vs TC avg
§112
18.7%
-21.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 22 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . DETAILED ACTION Allowable Subject Matter 1a. Claims 2-7 and 11-16 are objected to as dependent upon rejected claims, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Canceled Claims 1b. Claims 9, 18, 20-27 and 29-30 are canceled. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 2. 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. 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. 2a. Claims 1, 8, 10, 17, 19, 28 and 31-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rao (US 20220053367 A1) in view of Pan (US 20210352521 A1). 2b. Summary of the Cited Prior Art Rao discloses a method for handling packet loss. Pan discloses a method for serving QoS flow in a wireless network. 2c. Claim Analysis Regarding Claim 1, Rao discloses: A data transmission method (Fig 12), wherein the method is applied to a terminal (Fig 16, Device 1605), and the method comprises: Determining (Fig 12, Steps 1230-1240), at a user plane air interface protocol layer (Fig 3, User plane protocol stack, PDCP; see: [0161] …. the SDAP/PDCP/RLC/MAC layer may be referred to as higher than the PHY layer; see also: [0276] …. the UE 1215 may identify data traffic that is to be transmitted based on (e.g., according to) the uplink grant received at 1220, the downlink transmission (e.g., configuration information, control information) received at 1225, determining the first PDCP discard timer at 1230, or any combination thereof) a plurality of Internet protocol (IP) packets belonging to a same data frame; if a quantity of an IP packet with transmission error in the plurality of IP packets is greater than or equal to a quantity threshold, at the user plane air interface protocol layer (Fig 3, User plane protocol stack, PDCP), (see: [0194] …. the timer associated with discarding PDCP SDUs is more likely to be exceeded in high-BLER scenarios; and see: [0238] … the determination component 908 may determine the modified timer value based at least in part on a plurality of thresholds for a BLER, Block Error Rate; Examiner’s Note: Rao discloses PDCP packets error rate exceeds BLER threshold); stopping a transmission of a remaining IP packet (see: [0041] … In some aspects, the timer is disabled based at least in part on the BLER satisfying a threshold; see also: [0194] …. the timer associated with discarding PDCP SDUs is more likely to be exceeded in high-BLER scenarios; [0248] … may inhibit transmission of the data traffic and cause the first PDCP discard timer to discard data units) in the plurality of IP packets, or lowering a transmission priority of the remaining IP packet to prioritize a transmission of other data frames on a quality of service (QoS) flow where the data frame is located or prioritize a transmission of a data frame on other QoS flows. Rao does not disclose IP packet belong to a same PDCP data frame. However, Pan discloses IP packet belong to a same PDCP data frame: determining, at a user plane air interface protocol layer (Fig 5, PDCP), a plurality of Internet protocol (IP) packets belonging to a same data frame (Fig 5, PDCP SN and IP packet; see: [0124] … UE and network side can determine the position of the IP packet inside each PDCP PDU; see also: [0188] …send PDCP SDUs belonging to the IP flow as uncompressed packet; Examiner’s Note: Pan discloses PDCP SDU associated with IP flow); if a quantity of an IP packet (Fig 5, PDCP SN and IP packet; see: [0124] … UE and network side can determine the position of the IP packet inside each PDCP PDU; see also: [0188] … send PDCP SDUs belonging to the IP flow as uncompressed packet; Examiner’s Note: Pan discloses PDCP SDU associated with IP flow) with transmission error in the plurality of IP packets is greater than or equal to a quantity threshold, at the user plane air interface protocol layer; stopping a transmission of a remaining IP packet in the plurality of IP packets (Fig 5, PDCP SN and IP packet; see: [0124] … UE and network side can determine the position of the IP packet inside each PDCP PDU; see also: [0188] … send PDCP SDUs belonging to the IP flow as uncompressed packet; Examiner’s Note: Pan discloses PDCP SDU associated with IP flow). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to integrate Rao’s method for handling packet loss with Pan’s method for serving QoS flow in a wireless network with the motivation being to improve scheduling in a wireless communication system (Pan, [0002]). Regarding Claim 8, Rao discloses: wherein the quantity threshold is equal to 1, or the quantity threshold is pre-configured by a network device for the terminal for each DRB or each QoS flow, or the quantity threshold is specified by a protocol (Fig 3, User plane protocol stack, PDCP; see: [0194] …. the timer associated with discarding PDCP SDUs is more likely to be exceeded in high-BLER scenarios; and see: [0238] … the determination component 908 may determine the modified timer value based at least in part on a plurality of thresholds for a BLER, Block Error Rate; Examiner’s Note: Rao discloses packets error rate exceeds BLER threshold specified by PDCP protocol), wherein the data transmission method (Fig 12) further comprises: receiving configuration information from a network device (Fig 12, Configuration/Control Information 1225; see: [0274] At 1225, the base station 1205 may transmit a downlink transmission to the UE 1215, where the downlink transmission includes control information, configuration information, or both); wherein the configuration information (Fig 12, Configuration/Control Information 1225) comprises at least one of the following: whether to allow stopping a transmission (see: [0041] … In some aspects, the timer is disabled based at least in part on the BLER satisfying a threshold; see also: [0194] …. the timer associated with discarding PDCP SDUs is more likely to be exceeded in high-BLER scenarios; [0248] … may inhibit transmission of the data traffic and cause the first PDCP discard timer to discard data units) of an IP packet at the user plane air interface protocol layer (Fig 3, User plane protocol stack, PDCP; see: [0161] …. the SDAP/PDCP/RLC/MAC layer may be referred to as higher than the PHY layer), or whether to allow lowering a transmission priority of an IP packet at the user plane air interface protocol layer; or a manner of determining an IP packet transmission error, or the quantity threshold. Rao does not disclose IP packet at the user plane air interface protocol layer. However, Pan discloses IP packet at the PDCP layer: whether to allow stopping a transmission of an IP packet at the user plane air interface protocol layer (Fig 5, PDCP SN and IP packet; see: [0124] … UE and network side can determine the position of the IP packet inside each PDCP PDU; see also: [0188] … send PDCP SDUs belonging to the IP flow as uncompressed packet; Examiner’s Note: Pan discloses PDCP SDU associated with IP flow). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to integrate Rao’s method for handling packet loss with Pan’s method for serving QoS flow in a wireless network with the motivation being to improve scheduling in a wireless communication system (Pan, [0002]). Regarding Claims 10 and 17, the claims disclose similar features as of Claims 1 and 8, and are rejected accordingly. Regarding Claim 19, the apparatus claim discloses similar features as of Claim 1, and is rejected accordingly. Further, Rao discloses about apparatus in Fig 16. Regarding Claim 28, the apparatus claim discloses similar features as of Claim 1, and is rejected accordingly. Further, Rao discloses about apparatus in Fig 16. Regarding Claim 31, the claim discloses similar features as of Claim 1, and is rejected accordingly. Regarding Claim 32, the claim discloses similar features as of Claim 1, and is rejected accordingly. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jung-Jen Liu whose telephone number is 571-270-7643. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang B. Yao can be reached on 571-272-3182. 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. /JUNG LIU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Feb 05, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12598645
RECEIVE REORDERING BUFFER CONTROL FOR LATENCY SENSITIVE TRAFFIC
3y 3m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12490334
MULTICASTING USING SMALL DATA TRANSMISSION
2y 9m to grant Granted Dec 02, 2025
Patent 12471155
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DATA COMMUNICATION AT A PRIMARY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION APPARATUS IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN AUXILIARY WIRELESS COMMUNICATION APPARATUS
2y 1m to grant Granted Nov 11, 2025
Patent null
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ROBUST TRANSMISSION IN AN ORTHOGONAL FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXED COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
Granted
Patent null
METHOD OF ACCELERATING NETFLOW DATA FILTERING
Granted
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
23%
Grant Probability
49%
With Interview (+26.3%)
2y 10m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 22 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance 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