Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/702,272

FLEXIBLE OFDM WAVEFORM FOR JOINT COMMUNICATION AND RF SENSING

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Apr 17, 2024
Priority
Dec 16, 2021 — GR 20210100887 +1 more
Examiner
LEE, JOHN J
Art Unit
2649
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allowance Rate
1218 granted / 1312 resolved
+30.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.4%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 2m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
1324
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
8.6%
-31.4% vs TC avg
§103
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
§102
40.2%
+0.2% vs TC avg
§112
6.3%
-33.7% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1312 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 . Response to Election/Restriction 1. The Applicant elected Invention I, claims 1 – 15, without traverse. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 2. 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. 3. Claims 1 – 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by BAYESTEH et al. (US 2021/0286045). Regarding claim 1, BAYESTEH teaches that an apparatus for wireless communication at a radio frequency (RF) sensing node (Fig. 2A, 2B). BAYESTEH teaches that a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively connected to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: transmit an RF sensing signal in a first time duration of a symbol in an RF sensing session (Fig. 8 and pages 19, paragraphs 233 – pages 20, paragraphs 242, where teaches a basic sensing symbol may be defined as the inverse of the sensing SCS, this is to get the required time granularity for ON/OFF pattern, and this way, the duration of all the ON and OFF periods (corresponding to active and passive phases) can be represented by multiples of the defined basic sensing symbol, and “ON” in Sensing Subcycle 1 corresponds to “a first time duration”, and “Baseline Communications Symbol” corresponds to “a symbol in an RF sensing session), and monitor for a reflected RS sensing signal in a second time duration of the symbol that does not overlap with the first time duration (Fig. 8 and pages 19, paragraphs 233 – pages 20, paragraphs 242, where teaches a basic sensing symbol may be defined as the inverse of the sensing SCS, this is to get the required time granularity for ON/OFF pattern, and this way, the duration of all the ON and OFF periods (corresponding to active and passive phases) can be represented by multiples of the defined basic sensing symbol, and “OFF” in “Sensing Subcycle 1” corresponds to a second time duration), the symbol including a cyclic prefix (CP) that does not overlap with the first time duration and the second time duration (Fig. 3, 4, pages 10, paragraphs 117 – 118, and pages 21, paragraphs 261 – pages 22, paragraphs 268, where teaches the air interface may also include the numerology component defining a number of air interface configuration parameters, such as the sub-carrier spacing, CP length, symbol length, guard band/subcarriers, and as subcarrier spacing configurations, may be scalable in the sense that subcarrier spacings of different numerologies are multiples of each other, and when a multi-carrier waveform, such as CP-OFDM, is used for communications/sensing, the parameters of the signal design including the CP length may be designed or selected according to the requirement of the communications/sensing performance). Regarding claim 2, BAYESTEH teaches that the at least one processor is further configured to refrain from transmitting any signals during the second time duration (Fig. 8 and pages 19, paragraphs 233 – pages 20, paragraphs 242). Regarding claim 3, BAYESTEH teaches that the second time duration includes a set of zero paddings (Fig. 3, 4 and pages 21, paragraphs 267 – pages 22, paragraphs 276). Regarding claim 4, BAYESTEH teaches that the RF sensing signal corresponds to an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform (Fig. 3, 4, pages 10, paragraphs 117 – 119, and pages 21, paragraphs 261 – pages 22, paragraphs 268). Regarding claim 5, BAYESTEH teaches that the RF sensing node is a base station or a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 1, 4 and pages 11, paragraphs 138 – pages 12, paragraphs 145). Regarding claim 7, BAYESTEH teaches that the first time duration is shorter than the second time duration (Fig. 8 and pages 19, paragraphs 233 – pages 20, paragraphs 242). Regarding claim 8, BAYESTEH teaches that the second time duration is longer than the first time duration plus the CP (Fig. 8 and pages 19, paragraphs 233 – pages 20, paragraphs 242). Regarding claim 9, BAYESTEH teaches that the RF sensing session is based on a mono-static sensing (Fig. 4 and pages 12, paragraphs 142 – 145). Regarding claim 10, BAYESTEH teaches that the symbol is a sensing symbol of a slot that includes one or more sensing symbols and one or more communication symbols (Fig. 3C, pages 10, paragraphs 112 - 118, and pages 20, paragraphs 248 – 250). Regarding claim 11, BAYESTEH teaches that the one or more sensing symbols have a different subcarrier spacing (SCS) than the one or more communication symbols (Fig. 3C, pages 10, paragraphs 112 - 118, and pages 19, paragraphs 223 – pages 20, paragraphs 248). Regarding claim 12, BAYESTEH teaches all the limitation as discussed in claim 1. Regarding claim 13, BAYESTEH teaches all the limitation as discussed in claims 1 and 2. Regarding claim 15, BAYESTEH teaches all the limitation as discussed in claims 10 and 11. Allowable Subject Matter 4. Claims 6 and 14 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. The prior art of record fails to disclose “the CP has a length (Tcy) that is greater than or equal to a time delay difference (To) between a first range cell of a tracking zone and a last range cell of the tracking zone, and the time delay difference (To) is calculated based on:To= 2(M - 1)R/c = (M - 1)/B, where c is a speed of light, B is a bandwidth of the RF sensing signal, M is a number of range cells in the tracking zone, and R is a range solution obtained based on R = c/(2B)” as specified the claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Demessie et al. (US 2012/0140793) Spectrum Sensor for Cognitive Wireless Communication and Method for Cognitive Wireless Communication. Information regarding...Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system... at 866-217-9197 (toll-free)." Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN J LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-7880. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri (8:00am-5:00pm). 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, Yuwen Pan can be reached on 571-272-7855. 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. J.L August 4, 2026 John J Lee /JOHN J LEE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Apr 17, 2024
Application Filed
Aug 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102
Sep 21, 2026
Interview Requested

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
93%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+6.4%)
2y 2m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1312 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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