Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/695,173

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 25, 2024
Examiner
TOWFIGHI, AFSHAWN M
Art Unit
2469
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
LG Electronics Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allow Rate
828 granted / 946 resolved
+29.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
28 currently pending
Career history
974
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
§103
39.4%
-0.6% vs TC avg
§102
34.3%
-5.7% vs TC avg
§112
10.6%
-29.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 946 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 3/25/24, 3/31/25, 11/3/25 is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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. 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. Claims 1, 2, 4-9, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Park et al (Pub No: 2019/0190669). As to claim 1, Park teaches a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Park, [0007], a method by a UE in a wireless communication system), the method comprising: receiving, from a base station, configuration information related to sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission (Park, [0007], receiving from a base station, configuration for SRS resource set); receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) (Park, [0014][0080][0501], receiving DCI from a base station); and transmitting, to the base station, a SRS based on the DCI and the configuration information (Park, [0336]-[0350], transmitting the SRS based on the configuration parameters and DCI), wherein the configuration information includes information related to at least one available slot offset for each of at least one SRS resource set (Park, [0017][0341][0373], the configuration information includes subframe offset for the SRS resource set), and wherein a number of the at least one available slot offset configured for each of the at least one SRS resource set is same (Park, Table 8, a number of the offsets are the same). As to claim 2, Park teaches wherein: based on the number of the at least one available slot offset configured for each of the at least one SRS resource set being greater than 1 (Park, Table 8, the number of the offset is greater than 1), the DCI includes a offset indicator field related to a specific available slot offset among the at least one available slot offset (Park, [0017], [0349-0350], the DCI includes offset to indicate as such) As to claim 4, Park teaches wherein: the DCI includes an SRS request field related to at least one triggered SRS resource set among the at least one SRS resource set (Park, Table 6 [0351], the DCI includes a SRS request field relating to trigger type) As to claim 5, Park teaches wherein: the SRS is transmitted to the base station based on the at least one triggered SRS resource set indicated by the SRS request field (Park, [0350]-[0357], the SRS is transmitted to the base station (cell) based on the trigger indicated by the SRS request field). As to claim 6, Park teaches wherein: the SRS is transmitted to the base station based on a specific available slot offset indicated by the DCI among the at least one available slot offset configured for the at least one triggered SRS resource set (Park, Table 6 [0351], the DCI includes a SRS request field relating to trigger type). As to claim 7, Park teaches wherein: the number of the at least one available slot offset set for the at least one SRS resource set is 1 to 4 (Park, Table 8, offsets 1-4). As to claim 8, Park teaches wherein: the configuration information includes information related to a resource type of the at least one SRS resource set to aperiodic (Park, [0013], the configuration related to an aperiodic type). As to claim 9, Park teaches a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system (Park, [0007], a a UE in a wireless communication system), the UE comprising: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor (Park, [0021], a UE with transceiver and processor) is configured to: receive, from a base station through the at least one transceiver, configuration information related to sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission (Park, [0007], receiving from a base station, configuration for SRS resource set); receive, from the base station through the at least one transceiver, downlink control information (DCI) (Park, [0014][0080][0501], receiving DCI from a base station); and transmit, to the base station through the at least one transceiver, a SRS based on the DCI and the configuration information (Park, [0336]-[0350], transmitting the SRS based on the configuration parameters and DCI), wherein the configuration information includes information related to at least one available slot offset for each of at least one SRS resource set (Park, [0017][0341][0373], the configuration information includes subframe offset for the SRS resource set), and wherein a number of the at least one available slot offset configured for each of the at least one SRS resource set is same (Park, Table 8, a number of the offsets are the same). As to claim 11, Park teaches a base station a wireless communication system, the base station comprising: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver (Park, [0047], a base station); wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE) through the at least one transceiver, configuration information related to sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission (Park, [0007], send from a base station, configuration for SRS resource set); transmit, to the UE through the at least one transceiver, downlink control information (DCI) (Park, [0014][0080][0501], sending DCI from a base station); and receive, from the UE through the at least one transceiver, the SRS based on the DCI and the configuration information (Park, [0336]-[0350], transmitting the SRS based on the configuration parameters and DCI), wherein the configuration information includes information related to at least one available slot offset for each of at least one SRS resource set (Park, [0017][0341][0373], the configuration information includes subframe offset for the SRS resource set), and wherein a number of the at least one available slot offset configured for each of the at least one SRS resource set is same (Park, Table 8, a number of the offsets are the same). Allowable Subject Matter Claim 3 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Jiang et al (Pub No: 2021/0212101) [0084]. Chen et al (Patent No: 11,533,202) Fig 1, 2 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM -5:00 PM. 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, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. 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. /AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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Prosecution Timeline

Mar 25, 2024
Application Filed
Feb 19, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
88%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+9.1%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 946 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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