Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 18, 2026
Application No. 18/693,408

SKIPPING CONTROL ELEMENT UPLINK TRANSMISSIONS WHEN USING SEMI-PERSISTENT SCHEDULING

Final Rejection §102
Filed
Mar 19, 2024
Priority
Nov 22, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2021131992
Examiner
DEAN, JR, JOSEPH E
Art Unit
2647
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
2 (Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
662 granted / 761 resolved
+25.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
22 currently pending
Career history
785
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.8%
-37.2% vs TC avg
§103
51.3%
+11.3% vs TC avg
§102
27.5%
-12.5% vs TC avg
§112
6.2%
-33.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 761 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 . Applicant amended claims 1, 6-9, 13-17 and 20-30. Status of claims: Claims 1-30 are pending in this office action. 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)(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. Claim(s) 1-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a1) as being anticipated by Babaei et al. (US20180324889)(hereinafter Babaei). Per claim 1, Babaei discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (paragraph 0222, processor and memory), configured to: receive, from a base station, a semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) configuration associated with the UE (paragraph 0178, i.e. for SPS may be provided to the UE using RRC configuration and/or using grant/DCI) , wherein the SPS configuration indicates a duration of an uplink period for transmission of one or more control elements (paragraph 0192 and 0194, i.e. In an example, a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) even if the wireless device has no data to transmit and a grant/DCI may activate SPS for a wireless device. The grant/DCI may indicate a TTI duration for the SPS) ;determine whether a buffer of data intended for the base station is empty (paragraph 0191, i.e. he UE may skip UL transmissions for a configured uplink grant if no data is available for transmission in the UE buffer) ; increase the duration of the uplink period based at least in part on a determination that the a buffer is empty (paragraph 0192 and 0195 In an example, a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) even if the wireless device has no data to transmit. and the wireless device may increment the first state variable after a TTIj duration. The wireless device may reset the first state variable after a first number (e.g., Kj) is reached. In an example, the first number may be pre-configured. In an example, RRC may configure a SPS period (e.g., an absolute period e.g., in terms of TTIs).; and transmit a control element of the one or more control elements based at least in part on the increased duration of the uplink period(paragraph 0200,Fig 15, i.e. In an example, the DCI may indicate one or more transmission durations up to a first value. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or more transmission durations may correspond to a transport block/packet duration. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or more transmission durations may correspond to a transmission time interval (TTI). In an example, a transmission duration in the one or more transmission durations may correspond to a PUSCH transmission duration. The first value may be a maximum transmission duration value. In an example, a transmission duration in the one or more transmission durations may correspond to one or more logical channels). Per claim 2, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the SPS configuration is associated with a period of five or fewer subframes.(paragraph 0205, i.e. When the physical layer is configured for uplink spatial multiplexing, the MAC layer may receive one or more grants (e.g., up to two grants e.g., one per HARQ process) for a same TTI from lower layers) Per claim 3, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control element is associated with a period of 40 or fewer milliseconds( paragraph 0124, i.e. Other subframe durations such as including 0.5 msec, 1 msec, 2 msec, and 5 msec may also be supported. Subframe(s) may consist of two or more slots (e.g. slots 206 and 207and see paragraphs 0192 and 0193, i.e. . a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) even if the wireless device has no data to transmit and in an example implementation, direction of a TTI for downlink and/or uplink transmission may be flexible. In an example, a plurality of TTI durations may be used by a wireless device and/or base station. In an example, a base station may configure a SPS for a wireless device with periodicity less than 1 ms)’ Per claim 4, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 3 (PHR). Per claim 5, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 3(BSR). Per claim 6, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1, see paragraph 0192, BSR or PHR. Per claim 7, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the duration of the uplink period associated with the control element is increased no higher than a maximum duration,(paragraph 0175 and 0200, i.e. The configuration parameters for a logical channel may indicate if a logical channel may be mapped to a TTI type/duration and/or a numerology and/or a service type (e.g., URLLC, eMBB, eMTC, etc.). The configuration parameters for a logical channel may indicate the maximum TTI duration that a logical channel may be mapped to and n an example, a transmission duration in the one or more transmission durations may correspond to a PUSCH transmission duration. The first value may be a maximum transmission duration value). Per claim 8, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control element is randomly selected from [[a]]the one or more plurality of control elements within a period of time (paragraph 0147 and 0192, i.e. This may involve a UE transmitting a random access preamble and an eNB responding with an initial TA command NTA (amount of timing advance) within a random access response window. The start of the random access preamble may be aligned with the start of a corresponding uplink subframe at the UE assuming NTA=0 and a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE [e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.] even if the wireless device has no data to transmit). Per claim 9, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:transmit [[the]]another control element within a subsequent uplink period,associated with the SPS configuration, based on expiry of a maximum duration [paragraph 0175 and 0192, i.e. In an example, a wireless device configured with uplink skipping may transmit an acknowledgement (e.g., SPS confirmation MAC CE) after receiving a DCI activating or releasing a SPS. In an example, a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) even if the wireless device has no data to transmit]. Per claim 10, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the UE is connected to a long term evolution (LTE) network, and the maximum duration is 200 milliseconds(paragraph 0155, i.e. .LTE connected to a UE. Also see paragraph 0124, FIG. 2 shows an example FDD frame timing. Downlink and uplink transmissions may be organized into radio frames 201. In this example, radio frame duration is 10 msec. Other frame durations, for example, in the range of 1 to 100 msec may also be supported, examiner interprets that LTE could be 20 msec per frame of 10 frames). Per claim 11, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 9, wherein the UE is connected to a New Radio (NR) network, and the maximum duration is 500 milliseconds(paragraph 0126,Fig 4, i.e. NR carrier, and see paragraph 0124, FIG. 2 shows an example FDD frame timing. Downlink and uplink transmissions may be organized into radio frames 201. In this example, radio frame duration is 10 msec. Other frame durations, for example, in the range of 1 to 100 msec may also be supported, examiner interprets that NR could be 50 msec per frame of 10 frames). Per claim 12, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 9, examiner interprets when the buffer has data its sends out the data as SPS configuration, see paragraph 0192. Per claim 13, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) including an SPS cell radio network temporary identifier (SPS-CRNTI) for the UE; and transmit [[the]]another control element within a subsequent uplink period,associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the DCI [paragraph 0180 and 0192, i.e. . In an example, RRC may comprise an index identifying an SPS configuration for a cell. In an example, the DCI employing SPS RNTI and triggering an SPS may include the index of the SPS that is triggered (initialized) or released and In an example, a wireless device configured with uplink skipping may transmit an acknowledgement (e.g., SPS confirmation MAC CE) after receiving a DCI activating or releasing a SPS. In an example, a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) even if the wireless device has no data to transmit]. Per claim 14, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, from the base station, a transmit power control (TPC) command; and transmit another control element within a subsequent uplink period, associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the TPC command (paragraph 0183 and 0185, i.e. n an example, base station may configure this field if uplink power control subframe sets are configured by tpc-SubframeSet, in which case this field may apply for uplink power control subframe set). Per claim 15, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) associated with aperiodic channel feedback; and transmit [[the]]another control element within a subsequent uplink period,associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the DCI (paragraph 0192, i.e. .In an example, a wireless device configured with uplink skipping may transmit an acknowledgement (e.g., SPS confirmation MAC CE) after receiving a DCI activating or releasing a SPS. In an example, a wireless device configured with SPS uplink skipping may transmit one or more signal and/or MAC CE (e.g., CSI and/or BSR and/or PHR, etc.) even if the wireless device has no data to transmit). Per claim 16, Babaei discloses the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:receive, from the base station, a dynamic grant; and transmit another control element within a subsequent uplink period,associated with the SPS configuration, based on receiving the dynamic grant (paragraph 0199, type 1 and 2 grant, where’s activation and deactivation for other configuration parameters). Per claim 17, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1. Per claim 18, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 4. Per claim 19, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 5. Per claim 20, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 6. Per claim 21, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 7. Per claim 22, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 8. Per claim 23, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 9. Per claim 24, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 12. Per claim 25, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 13. Per claim 26, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 14. Per claim 27, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 15. Per claim 28, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 16. Per claim 29, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1, see paragraph 0201, non transitory medium. Per claim 30, refer to the same rationale as explained in claim 1. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH E DEAN, JR whose telephone number is (571)270-7116. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-3:30. 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. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Alison Slater can be reached at 571-270-0375. 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. /JOSEPH E DEAN, JR/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 19, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 25, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Apr 28, 2026
Interview Requested
May 07, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
May 16, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
May 19, 2026
Response Filed
Aug 03, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
87%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+8.8%)
2y 4m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 761 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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