Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 16, 2026
Application No. 18/730,203

MEDIUM ACCESS CONTROL (MAC) CONTROL ELEMENT (CE) DESIGN FOR MULTIPLE POWER MANAGEMENT MAXIMUM POWER REDUCTION (P-MPR) REPORTING

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 18, 2024
Priority
Jan 20, 2022 — provisional 63/301,273 +1 more
Examiner
TRANDAI, CINDY HUYEN
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
3m
Est. Remaining
96%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allowance Rate
409 granted / 526 resolved
+17.8% vs TC avg
Strong +18% interview lift
Without
With
+17.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
15 currently pending
Career history
540
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
4.2%
-35.8% vs TC avg
§103
78.1%
+38.1% vs TC avg
§102
6.7%
-33.3% vs TC avg
§112
6.4%
-33.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 526 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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 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 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. Claims 1, 3, 5-7, 9, 11-16, 19 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 20250016693 A1) in view of Henttonen et al. (US 20260143435 A1). Regarding claim 1, Liu teaches a network node (Fig. 5, gNB) configured to communicate (Figs. 3-4) with a wireless, WD (Fig. 5, UE), the network node comprising: a radio interface (Fig. 5) configured to receive from the WD a power headroom report, PHR, medium access control, MAC, control element, CE (Fig. 4), containing power headroom information for at least one serving cell (Fig. 2 and tables 1-3), and for each of the at least one serving cell, the MACE CE comprising: a first power management maximum power reduction, P-MPR, indicator indicating one of a presence and an absence of a first maximum permissible exposure, MPE value in a first bit field in the MAC CE (Pars. 96-99, P.sub.i field is set to 0 (absence) “or” P.sub.i field is set to 1 (presence)); a second P-MPR indicator indicating one of a presence and an absence of a second MPE value in a second bit field in the MAC CE (Pars. 96-99, P.sub.i field is set to 0 (absence) “or” P.sub.i field is set to 1 (presence)); a first beam indicator indicating one of a presence and an absence of information about a first candidate beam associated to a first measured P-MPR value in the MAC CE (Pars. 83-86, each beam/pair P-MPR and SSBRI or CRI, an MPE field (MPE or R field) with two bits indicating whether the measured is less than P-MPR_00 (absent) or above P-MPR_00 (presence)); a second beam indicator indicating one of a presence and an absence of information about a second candidate beam associated to a first measured P-MPR value in the MAC CE (Pars. 83-86, each beam/pair P-MPR and SSBRI or CRI, an MPE field (MPE or R field) with two bits indicating whether the measured is less than P-MPR_00 (absent) or above P-MPR_00 (presence)); (Pars. 85-87, the estimated P-MPR value that is less than 3 dBm (threshold) cannot be indicated by any of P-MPR_00, P-MPR_01, P-MPR_02 and P-MPR_03 in the above Table 4); and processing circuitry is communication with the radio interface (Fig. 5) and Pars. 96-99, P.sub.i field is set to 1 (presence)) Liu does not expressly disclose a size of the MAC CE being based at least in part on the one of the presence and absence of information about the first and second candidate beams in the MACE CE; and the processing circuitry is configured to determine or to perform based on the information received from the PHR MAC CE. However, this feature cannot be considered new or novel in the presence Henttonen. Henttonen teaches a length or size of the PHR MAC CE is based on the presence of the field of P-bit (Fig. 2 and Pars. 60-62, 65); and the network node is configured to perform/determine the power management based on the information received from the PHR MAC CE (Fig. 5 and Pars. 124-126). Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the above teaching as taught by Henttonen into Liu to adjust power. Regarding claim 3, the modified Liu further teaches the network node of claim 1, wherein the information about the first or second beam includes a corresponding synchronization signal block resource indicator, SSBRI, or a channel state information reference signal resource indicator, CRI, reported in the MAC CE (Fig. 2). Regarding claim 5, the modified Liu further teaches the network node of claim 1, wherein information about at least one of the first and second candidate beam is contained in an octet of the MCE CE (Fig. 2, each beam (SSBRI/CRI) and Pars. 5, 72); and at least one the first and second beam indicator indicates one of a presence and absence of the octet in the MAC CE (Fig. 2 and Pars. 96-99, P.sub.i field is set to 0 (absence) “or” P.sub.i field is set to 1 (presence)). Regarding claim 6, the modified Liu further teaches the network node of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second beam indicators is carried by one bit in the MAC CE, and wherein corresponding candidate beam information is present when the bit is set to one, and is absent when the bit is set to zero (Fig. 2 and Pars. 96-99, P.sub.i field is set to 0 (absence) “or” P.sub.i field is set to 1 (presence)). Regarding claim 7, method of claim 7 is performed by the apparatus of claim 1. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 9, method of claim 9 is performed by the apparatus of claim 3. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 3. Regarding claim 11, method of claim 11 is performed by the apparatus of claim 5. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 5. Regarding claim 12, method of claim 12 is performed by the apparatus of claim 6. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 6. Regarding claim 13, apparatus of claim 13 is performed by the apparatus of claim 1. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 14, apparatus of claim 14 is performed by the apparatus of claim 3. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 3. Regarding claim 15, apparatus of claim 15 is performed by the apparatus of claim 5. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 5. Regarding claim 16, apparatus of claim 15 is performed by the apparatus of claim 6. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 6. Regarding claim 19, method of claim 19 is performed by the apparatus of claim 1. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 1. Regarding claim 20, method of claim 20 is performed by the apparatus of claim 3. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 3. Regarding claim 21, method of claim 21 is performed by the apparatus of claim 5. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 5. Regarding claim 22, method s of claim 22 is performed by the apparatus of claim 6. They recite similar limitations. Applicant is kindly advised to refer to rejection of claim 6. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Matsumura et al. US 20240040520 A1 [0096] When the beam specific MPE P-MPR report is triggered for the serving cell, only one piece of beam/panel information may be reported, or the MPE report for a plurality of (a part of) beams/panels may be performed based on a condition determined in a specification. In this case, the size of the MAC CE is variable. [0097] The beam ID/panel ID/size of the MAC CE may be added to the MAC CE. As a field for the beam ID/panel ID/size of the MAC CE, at least one of the P field and the R field or at least one value indicated by at least one of the P field and the R field may be reused, or a new field may be added. With the beam IDs/panel IDs being included, even when a plurality of (a part of) beams/panels are reported, the beams/panels can be identified. With the size of the MAC CE being included, even when the size of the MAC CE is variable, the size can be identified. Note that, in aspect 3-2, only the beams/panels to which power back-off is applied are reported on the MAC CE, [[Condition 1]] [0098] When P-MPR for a beam applied and measured for satisfying the MPE requirements is equal to or larger than new-mpe-Threshold of a corresponding beam, the MPE report of only the beam may be transmitted [[Condition 2]] [0099] Together with one or a plurality of beams corresponding to P-MPR of equal to or larger than new-mpe-Threshold, the UE may report at least one MPE safe beam (if any). The MPE safe beam is, for example, one or a plurality of beams corresponding to P-MPR of less than new-mpe-Threshold. Hakola et al. (US 20230143727 A1) Jang et al. US 11212756 B2 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CINDY HUYEN TRANDAI whose telephone number is (571)270-1914. The examiner can normally be reached 8am -4:30pm. 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, Wesley L. Kim can be reached at 571-272-7867. 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. /Cindy Trandai/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2648 7/15/2026
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Jul 18, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
96%
With Interview (+17.9%)
2y 4m (~3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 526 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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