Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/697,414

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONIZATION FOR RACH AND SDT IN SSB-LESS DL BWP

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Mar 29, 2024
Examiner
LY, ANH VU H
Art Unit
2472
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 8m
To Grant
88%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allow Rate
933 granted / 1047 resolved
+31.1% vs TC avg
Minimal -1% lift
Without
With
+-0.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
29 currently pending
Career history
1076
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.2%
-34.8% vs TC avg
§103
35.1%
-4.9% vs TC avg
§102
31.7%
-8.3% vs TC avg
§112
14.4%
-25.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1047 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. Claim Objections Claim s 5, 7, 8, 26, and 30 are objected to because of the following informalities: Regarding claim 5, in line 5, replace “the UE the RA procedure or the SDT procedure” with --the UE--. Regarding claim 7, in line 3, replace “a first UL BWP” with --the first UL BWP--. Regarding claim 8, in line 3, replace “a device type” with --a type of device--. Regarding claim 26, in line 16, replace “a device type” with --a type of device--. Regarding claim 30, in line 13, replace “a device type” with --a type of device--. Appropriate correction is required. 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim s 1 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li et al (US 2024/0224338 A1) . Regarding claim s 1 and 29 , Li discloses a n apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 15) , comprising: a memory (Fig. 15, memory 1520) ; and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Fig. 15, processor 1510 coupled to memory 1520) and configured to: receive a configuration for a first downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) bandwidth part (BWP) pair including information indicative of at least one of a control resource set (CORESET), a search space (SS) set, and a set of UL resource occasions for a random access (RA) procedure or a small data transmission (SDT) procedure, the first DL and UL BWP pair including a first DL BWP and a first UL BWP (5 th paragraph, monitoring PDCCH by the UE to obtain SIB1, SIB1 containing information of an initial DL BWP, configuration of an initial UL BWP, configuration of random access, and other common configurations of the cell) ; initiate at least one of the RA procedure or the SDT procedure in the first DL and UL BWP pair (6 th paragraph, initiating a random access procedure by using configuration of random access in the configurations of the initial UL BWP and receiving RAR and MSG4 on CORESET #0 during the random access procedure) ; and perform time or frequency synchronization during the RA procedure or the SDT procedure, using a synchronization signal block (SSB) of a serving cell configured in a second DL BWP or a DL reference signal of the serving cell configured in the second DL BWP ( 83 rd - 84 th paragraph s , RedCap UE may use the initial DL BWP separately configured for the RedCap UE during a random access procedure. RedCap U E may receive the signal in the initial DL BWP . The received signal being a downlink reference signal. Herein, downlink reference signal is used for synchronization. The initial DL BWP of RedCap UE is different from the initial DL BWP/UL BWP configured in SIB1 by cell to all UEs. The initial DL BWP of RedCap UE is the second DL BWP, as claimed) . Allowable Subject Matter Claim s 2- 2 5 are 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. Claims 26-38 and 30 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art does not teach or fairly suggest that wherein a first DL BWP of the first DL and UL BWP pair does not include the SSB, and a quasi co- location (QCL) source, and a spatial relation configuration and receive an early indication from the UE for one or more of a type of a device , a first request for a first on-demand transmission of the SSB or the DL reference signal, or other assistance information for adaptive scheduling in at least one of a random access message or an SDT message from the UE in a first UL BWP in the first DL and UL BWP pair , as specified in independent claims 26 and 30. Conclusion Islam et al (US 2023/0144052 A1), same assignee, discloses bandwidth part switching for synchronization (Figs. 16-19). Lei et al (US 2023/0269817 A1), same assignee, discloses bandwidth part switching for monitoring SSB (108 th paragraph). Lei et al (US 2023/0269639 A1), same assignee, discloses bandwidth part switching for monitoring SSB (110 th paragraph). Wu et al (US 2020/0412512 A1), generally related, discloses BWP switching after successful random access completion (Fig. 5). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FILLIN "Examiner name" \* MERGEFORMAT ANH VU H LY whose telephone number is FILLIN "Phone number" \* MERGEFORMAT (571)272-3175 . The examiner can normally be reached FILLIN "Work Schedule?" \* MERGEFORMAT M-F 8am-5pm . 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 Nick Jensen can be reached at FILLIN "SPE Phone?" \* MERGEFORMAT 571-270-5443 . 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. FILLIN "Examiner Stamp" \* MERGEFORMAT ANH VU H. LY Primary Examiner Art Unit 2472 /ANH VU H LY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 29, 2024
Application Filed
Mar 25, 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
89%
Grant Probability
88%
With Interview (-0.8%)
2y 8m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1047 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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