Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/689,932

FEEDBACK METHOD FOR CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION, METHOD FOR PROCESSING FEEDBACK INFORMATION, TERMINAL, BASE STATION AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §101§102§103
Filed
Mar 07, 2024
Examiner
LIU, JUNG-JEN
Art Unit
2473
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
ZTE CORPORATION
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 7m
To Grant
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allow Rate
1070 granted / 1198 resolved
+31.3% vs TC avg
Minimal +5% lift
Without
With
+4.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
36 currently pending
Career history
1234
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
§103
71.4%
+31.4% vs TC avg
§102
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
§112
2.9%
-37.1% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1198 resolved cases

Office Action

§101 §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 . DETAILED ACTION Allowable Subject Matter 1a. Claims 15-17 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101 1a. 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. 1b. Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention contains non-statutory transitory subject matter in the respective claims. Regarding Claim 20, the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter because the claimed limitation “computer readable storage medium” in the claim, may include subject matter with transitory properties, such as online storage in cloud. Applicant may amend the limitation in the claim to “non-transitory computer readable storage medium” to overcome the rejection. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 2. 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 2a. Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kwak (US 20190215086 A1). 2b. Summary of the Cited Prior Art Kwak discloses a method for CSI reporting in communication system. 2c. Claim Analysis Regarding Claim 1, Kwak discloses: A method for feeding back channel state information (Fig 26), comprising: performing sampling (Fig 26, Step 2640; see: [0130] … LTE also provides a codebook subsampling function for periodic CSI reporting) on initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2; Examiner’s Note: RI, wCQI, OMI1, … are initial channel information before sampling) to obtain check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information); and feeding back the check information (Fig 26, Steps 2650, TRANSMIT FEEDBACK INFORMATION …). Regarding Claim 2, Kwak discloses: acquiring first type codebook information (Table 29, Codebook Types; see: [0169] … Type I CSI reporting can report the channel state to an eNB through RI, PMI, CQI, and CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) based on codebook as in LTE; Examiner’s Note: channel state information is encoded with a specific type of codebook, and functions as first type codebook information) according to the initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2, before sampling); and feeding back the first type codebook information (Fig 26, Steps 2650, TRANSMIT FEEDBACK INFORMATION …). Regarding Claim 3, Kwak discloses: wherein, performing joint encoding (Table 10, Joint Codebook; see: [0131] … when the number of CSI-RS ports set by the eNB is 8, an RI and a PMI1 reported in a submode 1 of a PUCCH mode 1-1 can be jointly encoded as shown in Table 10 below) on the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the encoded sampled feedback objects may function as check information) and the first type codebook information (Table 29, Codebook Types; see: [0169] … Type I CSI reporting can report the channel state to an eNB through RI, PMI, CQI, and CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) based on codebook as in LTE; Examiner’s Note: channel state information is encoded with a specific type of codebook, and functions as first type codebook information) in a same coding block to obtain joint encoded information; and (Table 10, Joint Codebook; see: [0131] … when the number of CSI-RS ports set by the eNB is 8, an RI and a PMI1 reported in a submode 1 of a PUCCH mode 1-1 can be jointly encoded as shown in Table 10 below); feeding back the joint encoded information (Fig 26, Steps 2650, TRANSMIT FEEDBACK INFORMATION …). Regarding Claim 4, Kwak discloses: wherein a feedback priority (Table 29, Codebook Types; see: [0237] Priority determination method 4: priority of CSI reporting and/or beam management information is determined according to the codebook type) of the check information is not higher than a feedback priority of the first type codebook information (see: [0268] In this manner, the Type II CSI reporting requires higher UE complexity than the Type I CSI reporting, and thus, contains more information. Therefore, by allowing the UE to prioritize the Type II CSI reporting, the eNB may acquire a larger amount of information. Examiner’s Note: first type codebook contains more information than check information, and has higher priority). Regarding Claim 5, Kwak discloses: wherein the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information) is fed back according to a first period (Fig 3, wCQI/PMI may functions as a first period), and the first type codebook information (Table 29, Codebook Types; see: [0169] … Type I CSI reporting can report the channel state to an eNB through RI, PMI, CQI, and CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) based on codebook as in LTE; Examiner’s Note: channel state information is encoded with a specific type of codebook, and functions as first type codebook information) is fed back according to a second period (Fig 3, sCQI may functions as a second period), the second period being less than the first period (see: PNG media_image1.png 200 400 media_image1.png Greyscale PNG media_image2.png 200 400 media_image2.png Greyscale Examiner’s Note: the feedback timing is determined by subframe resource, less information occupies less resources and timing period). Regarding Claim 6, Kwak discloses: wherein the performing sampling (Fig 26, Step 2640; see: [0130] … LTE also provides a codebook subsampling function for periodic CSI reporting) on initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2; Examiner’s Note: RI, wCQI, OMI1, … are initial channel information before sampling) comprises at least one of: performing sampling on the initial channel information at a port; performing sampling (Table 12: see: [0134] As another example, when the number of CSI-RS ports set by the eNB is 8, a PMI2 reported in a PUCCH mode 2-1 can be subsampled as shown in Table 12 below) on the initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2; Examiner’s Note: RI, wCQI, OMI1, … are initial channel information before sampling) at a data stream (Examiner’s Note: CQI, PMI, … etc. are based on data stream, as known in the art); performing sampling on the initial channel information at a subcarrier; performing sampling on the initial channel information at a physical resource block; performing sampling on the initial channel information at a time-domain sample point; or performing sampling on the initial channel information at a beam. Regarding Claim 7, Kwak discloses: wherein the performing sampling (Fig 26, Step 2640; see: [0130] … LTE also provides a codebook subsampling function for periodic CSI reporting) on initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2; Examiner’s Note: RI, wCQI, OMI1, … are initial channel information before sampling) to obtain check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information) comprises: performing sampling (Fig 26, Step 2640; see: [0130] … LTE also provides a codebook subsampling function for periodic CSI reporting) on the initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2; Examiner’s Note: RI, wCQI, OMI1, … are initial channel information before sampling) to obtain sampled information (see: [0130] … Because an amount of information that can be transmitted at one time through the PUCCH is limited, various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling); and obtaining the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information based on sampling method) according to the sampled information (see: [0130] In addition, LTE also provides a codebook subsampling function for periodic CSI reporting; Examiner’s Note: sampling is based on provided sampling function). Regarding Claim 8, Kwak discloses: wherein the obtaining the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information based on sampling method) according to the sampled information (see: [0130] In addition, LTE also provides a codebook subsampling function for periodic CSI reporting; Examiner’s Note: sampling is based on provided sampling function) comprises at least one of: the check information corresponding to the sampled information of the initial channel information on at least one port; the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information based on sampling method) corresponding to the sampled information of the initial channel information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2; Examiner’s Note: RI, wCQI, OMI1, … are initial channel information before sampling) on at least one data stream (Examiner’s Note: CQI, PMI, … etc. are based on data stream, as known in the art); the check information corresponding to the sampled information of the initial channel information on at least one subcarrier; the check information corresponding to the sampled information on of the initial channel information at least one physical resource block; the check information corresponding to the sampled information of the initial channel information on at least one time-domain sample point; or the check information corresponding to the sampled information of the initial channel information on at least one beam. Regarding Claim 9, Kwak discloses: obtaining location information (see: [0083] Referring again to Table 1, QCL-CRS-info sets quasi co-location information for CoMP. CSI-IM config is used to set frequency and time position of CSI-IM for measuring interference. Examiner’s Note: CSI config include location or co-location information for coordinated multi-points (CoMP) interference) corresponding to the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information); and feeding back the location information (Fig 26, Steps 2650, TRANSMIT FEEDBACK INFORMATION …). Regarding Claim 10, Kwak discloses: wherein the location information (see: [0083] Referring again to Table 1, QCL-CRS-info sets quasi co-location information for CoMP. CSI-IM config is used to set frequency and time position of CSI-IM for measuring interference. Examiner’s Note: CSI config include location or co-location information for coordinated multi-points (CoMP) interference) comprises at least one of: a port index (see: [0080] … The number of ports of a corresponding CSI-RS is set through setting the number of antennas; Examiner’s Note: a plurality of ports and antennas implies port number or port index) of the sampled information at the initial channel information (see: [0130] … Because an amount of information that can be transmitted at one time through the PUCCH is limited, various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information); a data stream index of the sampled information at the initial channel information; a subcarrier index of the sampled information at the initial channel information; a physical resource block index of the sampled information at the initial channel information; a time-domain sample point index of the sampled information at the initial channel information; or a beam of the sampled information at the initial channel information. Regarding Claim 11, Kwak discloses: wherein the check information is fed back (Fig 26, Steps 2650) through a physical control channel or a high layer signaling (see: [0130] … the periodic feedback of the UE is transmitted to the eNB via the PUCCH; Examiner’s Note: PUCCH is Physical Uplink Control Channel). Regarding Claim 12, Kwak discloses: receiving a network performance identifier (Fig 25, Steps 2610-2620; see: [0015] … The method includes transmitting CSI feedback configuration information to a terminal; identifying a CSI reporting to be performed based on the CSI feedback configuration information; Examiner’s Note: identifying performance information CSI implies an identifier); and determining a feedback type of the channel state information according to the network performance identifier (Fig 25, Steps 2610-2620; see: [0015] … receiving the identified CSI reporting from the terminal. The CSI reporting is identified based on types of CSI reportings; Examiner’s Note: identifying performance information CSI implies an identifier and type). Regarding Claim 13, Kwak discloses: wherein the network performance identifier (Fig 25, Steps 2610-2620; see: [0015] … The method includes transmitting CSI feedback configuration information to a terminal; identifying a CSI reporting to be performed based on the CSI feedback configuration information) is indicated as a first-type codebook (Tables 11, PMI and codebook index; see: [0129] … the feedback information includes RI, PMI, and CQI; Examiner’s Note: see Table 11, network performance RI PMI mapping to various type of codebook index), and the feedback type of the channel state information (Fig 26, Steps 2610-2620; see: [0015] … receiving the identified CSI reporting from the terminal. The CSI reporting is identified based on types of CSI reportings) is determined to be the first-type codebook (see: Table 11, Relationship between the first PMI value and codebook index); or the network performance identifier is indicated as a second-type codebook, and the feedback type of the channel state information is determined to be the second-type codebook. 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. 3a. Claims 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwak (US 20190215086 A1) in view of Chen (US 20260012236 A1). 3b. Summary of the Cited Prior Art Kwak discloses a method for CSI reporting in communication system. Chen discloses a method for codebook sampling for CSI feedback. 3c. Claim Analysis Regarding Claim 14, Kwak discloses: A method for processing feedback information (Fig 27), comprising: receiving (Fig 27, Step 2730) check information (see: [0130] … Because an amount of information that can be transmitted at one time through the PUCCH is limited, various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information); receiving (Fig 27, Step 2730) first type codebook information (Table 29, Codebook Types; see: [0169] … Type I CSI reporting can report the channel state to an eNB through RI, PMI, CQI, and CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) based on codebook as in LTE; Examiner’s Note: channel state information is encoded with a specific type of codebook, and functions as first type codebook information); performing processing (Fig 27, Step 2730; see: [0318] In step 2730, the eNB receives feedback information from the UE at a predetermined timing; Examiner’s Note: eNB starts processing the feedback information as implied) on the first type codebook information to obtain verification information (see: [0015] … The CSI reporting is identified based on types of CSI reportings; Examiner’s Note: CSI identifier may function as verification information) corresponding to the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information); and determining a network performance identifier (see: [0013] …. the CSI can be efficiently identified despite a limited amount of information being used for the CSI reporting; Examiner’s Note: CSI identifier may function as network performance identifier) according to the verification information (see: [0015] … The CSI reporting is identified based on types of CSI reportings; Examiner’s Note: CSI identifier may also function as verification information) and the check information (see: [0130] … various feedback objects, such as RI, wCQI, sCQI, PMI1, wPMI2, and sPMI2 may be transmitted on the PUCCH through subsampling; Examiner’s Note: the sampled feedback objects may function as check information). Kwak discloses receiving feedback (Fig 27, Step 2730), but does not discloses receiving check information and first type codebook information separately and sequentially. However, Chen discloses transmitting and receiving CSI reports separately based on the codebooks and reporting types: receiving check information (Fig 4B, Report 1 RI; Table 1; see: [0029] If PUCCH mode 2-1 is selected in block 202, then block 207 generates report 1 comprising RI and a precoding type indicator (PTI)); receiving first type codebook information (Fig 4B, Report 2 W1/W2/CQI; Table 1; see: [0029] … If PTI=0, then block 210 generates report 2 comprising a wideband W1, …). 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 Kwak’s method for CSI reporting in communication system with Chen’s method for codebook sampling for CSI feedback with the motivation being to improve spectral efficiency (Chen, [0006]). Regarding Claim 18, the claim discloses similar features as of Claim 14, and is rejected accordingly. Further, Kwak discloses I/O transceiver, processor and memory in control unit (Figs 28-29). Regarding Claim 19, the claim discloses similar features as of Claim 14, and is rejected accordingly. Further, Kwak discloses I/O transceiver, processor and memory in control unit (Figs 28-29). Regarding Claim 20, the claim discloses similar features as of Claim 1 or 14, and is rejected accordingly. Further, Kwak discloses I/O transceiver, processor and memory in control unit (Figs 28-29). 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

Mar 07, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 18, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §101, §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
89%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+4.7%)
2y 7m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1198 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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