Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/725,432

METHOD AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUPPORTING ENERGY SAVING BY A RADIO NODE

Final Rejection §103
Filed
Jun 28, 2024
Priority
Dec 28, 2021 — nonprovisional of PCTEP2021087729
Examiner
DEAN, RAYMOND S
Art Unit
2645
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
OA Round
2 (Final)
70%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
1y 0m
Est. Remaining
86%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 70% — above average
70%
Career Allowance Rate
636 granted / 905 resolved
+8.3% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+15.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 3m
Avg Prosecution
36 currently pending
Career history
940
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.5%
-36.5% vs TC avg
§103
66.1%
+26.1% vs TC avg
§102
19.2%
-20.8% vs TC avg
§112
6.6%
-33.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 905 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 Arguments Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants’ remarks, filed July 9, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 19 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly cited prior art Wang et al. (US 2022/0407664). Wang teaches wherein the radio node, in response to receiving the message, operates with reduced energy consumption by not being prepared to operate according to radio related settings outside the identified first one or more subsets (Section 0099, cell activation/deactivation is sent to the node (O-RU), said node can be deactivated thus preventing said node from operating according to radio related settings thus also reducing energy consumption). Claim Objections Claims 5 is objected to because of the following informalities: Line 3 is as follows-“multiple subsets information” is not grammatically correct. An example of proper grammatic form would be as follows-“multiple subsets of information”. Appropriate correction is required. Claims 6 is objected to because of the following informalities: Lines 1 – 2 are as follows-“multiple subsets information is obtained” is not grammatically correct. An example of proper grammatic form would be as follows-“multiple subsets of information are obtained”. Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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. Claim(s) 1 – 6, 17,19 – 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed et al. (US 2022/0345896) in view of Wang et al. (US 2022/0407664) Regarding Claim 1, Ahmed teaches a method, performed by a controller node (250; 700), for controlling a radio node (150; 900) to support energy saving by the radio node (150; 900) (Figure 2a, Section 0024, controller (1003), radio nodes (2001), power measurement enables the determination of network usage thus enabling energy efficiency to occur (Section 0095, 0096)) the radio node (150; 900) having ability and being controllable by the controller node (250; 700) to operate using radio related settings according to a supported operative set of radio related settings (measurement bandwidth per channel, measurement duration per channel are radio related settings (Sections 0095, 0096)), wherein the method comprises: sending (305; 604), to the radio node (150; 900), a message identifying first one or more subsets of said supported operative set of radio related settings, which first one or more subsets are the only of said supported operative set that the radio node (150; 900) temporarily needs to be prepared to operate according to (a subset can be measurement bandwidth per channel, measurement duration per channel are radio related settings (Section 0096)). Ahmed does not teach wherein the radio node, in response to receiving the message, operates with reduced energy consumption by not being prepared to operate according to radio related settings outside the identified first one or more subsets. Wang, which also teaches the use of O-RUs, teaches wherein the radio node, in response to receiving the message, operates with reduced energy consumption by not being prepared to operate according to radio related settings outside the identified first one or more subsets (Section 0099, cell activation/deactivation is sent to the node (O-RU), said node can be deactivated thus preventing said node from operating according to radio related settings thus also reducing energy consumption). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ahmed with the above features of Wang for the purpose of enabling energy saving in the radio network for O-RAN as taught by Wang. Regarding Claim 19, Ahmed teaches a controller node (250; 700) for controlling a radio node (150; 900) to support energy saving by the radio node (150; 900) (Figure 2a, Section 0024, controller (1003), radio nodes (2001), power measurement enables the determination of network usage thus enabling energy efficiency to occur (Section 0095, 0096)), the radio node (150; 900) having ability and being controllable by the controller node (250; 700) to operate using radio related settings according to a supported operative set of radio related settings (measurement bandwidth per channel, measurement duration per channel are radio related settings (Sections 0095, 0096)), wherein the controller node (250; 700) is configured to send (305; 604), to the radio node (150; 900), a message identifying first one or more subsets of said supported operative set of radio related settings, which first one or more subsets are the only of said supported operative set that the radio node (150; 900) temporarily needs to be prepared to operate according to (a subset can be measurement bandwidth per channel, measurement duration per channel are radio related settings (Section 0096)). Ahmed does not teach wherein the radio node, in response to receiving the message, operates with reduced energy consumption by not being prepared to operate according to radio related settings outside the identified first one or more subsets. Wang, which also teaches the use of O-RUs, teaches wherein the radio node, in response to receiving the message, operates with reduced energy consumption by not being prepared to operate according to radio related settings outside the identified first one or more subsets (Section 0099, cell activation/deactivation is sent to the node (O-RU), said node can be deactivated thus preventing said node from operating according to radio related settings thus also reducing energy consumption). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Ahmed with the above features of Wang for the purpose of enabling energy saving in the radio network for O-RAN as taught by Wang. Regarding Claims 2, 20, Ahmed in view of Wang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 19. Ahmed further teaches obtaining (302; 601) capability information identifying said supported operative set (Section 0095, receipt of indication that the O-RU supports CBRS power measurements). Regarding Claims 3, 21, Ahmed in view of Wang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 2, 20. Ahmed further teaches wherein the capability information is obtained by being received from the radio node (150; 900) (Section 0095, receipt of indication that the O-RU supports CBRS power measurements). Regarding Claims 4, 22, Ahmed in view of Wang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 19. Ahmed further teaches determining (304; 603) said first one or more subsets from said supported operative set based on what radio related settings are temporarily sufficient for operation by the radio node (150; 900) (Section 0095, indication that O-RU supports CBRS power measurements are also indications of radio settings for operation by O-RU). Regarding Claims 5, 23, Ahmed in view of Wang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 19. Ahmed further teaches determining (304; 603) said first one or more subsets from said supported operative - obtaining (303; 602) multiple subsets information identifying multiple subsets of said supported operative set, and wherein said first one or more subsets identified by the message are identified based on said multiple subsets (Section 0096, one subset can be measurement bandwidth per channel, measurement duration per channel are radio related settings). Regarding Claims 6, 24, Ahmed in view of Wang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 5, 23. Ahmed further teaches wherein said multiple subsets information is obtained by being received from the radio node (150; 900) (Sections 0095, 0096, contents of the trigger based on-demand power measurement request message are determined or obtained based receipt of indication of support of CBRS from radio node). Regarding Claim 17, Ahmed in view of Wang teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Ahmed further teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program (703) comprising instructions that when executed by one or more processors (704) causes a controller node (250; 110; 200; 201; 700) to perform the method according to claim 1 (Figure 2a, controllers such as SMO/O-RU (1003), typical controllers such as the SMO/O-RU comprises processors with memory that stores code run by processors). Conclusion 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. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAYMOND S DEAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7877. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 6:00-2:30, EST. 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, Anthony S Addy can be reached at 571-272-7795. 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. /RAYMOND S DEAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean September 14, 2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Jun 28, 2024
Application Filed
Apr 22, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 09, 2026
Response Filed
Sep 16, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103 (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
70%
Grant Probability
86%
With Interview (+15.7%)
3y 3m (~1y 0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 905 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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