Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 18, 2026
Application No. 18/802,050

COMMUNICATION METHOD AND RELATED APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Aug 13, 2024
Priority
Feb 14, 2022 — CN 202210135537.3 +1 more
Examiner
NDIAYE, CHEIKH T
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
79%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 79% — above average
79%
Career Allowance Rate
578 granted / 732 resolved
+19.0% vs TC avg
Strong +19% interview lift
Without
With
+18.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
12 currently pending
Career history
749
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
14.0%
-26.0% vs TC avg
§103
38.2%
-1.8% vs TC avg
§102
29.5%
-10.5% vs TC avg
§112
8.5%
-31.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 732 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 . Applicant amended claims 1-19 in the preliminary amendment filed on 11/26/2026. The claims 1-20 are pending. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Khoshkholgh Dashtaki et al (US Patent Publication No. 2023/04036668 A1). With respect to claim 1, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches a communication method comprising: triggering timing advance (TA) reporting (paragraph 0004; 0343; 0344; 0347 disclose TA reporting procedure being triggered); sending a TA report, wherein the TA report comprises position information or TA information of a terminal (paragraph 0347 disclose the wireless device may send TA reporting information for one or more times while the TA reporting procedure is pending. The wireless device may determine not to send (e.g., may refrain from sending) the TA reporting information for an additional time after the triggered TA reporting procedure is canceled); and canceling the triggered TA reporting when the TA report is successfully sent (paragraph 0347; 0348; 0351; 0363 disclose the TA reporting procedure may be canceled, for example, if the first timer expires or if a timing offset (e.g., as described in connection with step 2430 in FIG. 24) is received by the wireless device from the base station). With respect to claim 2, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the triggering of the TA reporting is based on a variation between a second TA value and a first TA value, wherein the first TA value is a TA value indicated by a latest successfully sent TA report, and the second TA value is a TA value that determines the triggering of the TA reporting (paragraph 0333 disclose the third messages may indicate at least one TA condition for triggering the TA reporting procedure. For example, the at least one TA condition may comprise a first TA condition corresponding to a change in the current TA value and/or a second TA condition corresponding to a difference between the device-specific timing offset and the current TA value. The change in the current TA value may be determined, for example, based on a difference between the current TA value and the previous TA value). The previous TA value may be determined (e.g., calculated/measured) before (in time) the current TA value. For example, the previous TA value may correspond to a last TA reporting information. The TA reporting procedure may be triggered based on the first TA condition, for example, where the current TA value is greater than (or less than) a previous TA value (e.g., if variation between a current TA value and a previous TA value is greater than a threshold), and/or the change in the current TA value is greater (or smaller) than a threshold). With respect to claim 3, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the method further comprises before the TA report is successfully sent, triggering a random access procedure when a time alignment timer expires (paragraph 0363 disclose the wireless device may, trigger/initiate a random access procedure, for example, based on (e.g., in response to) determining that the current TA value is invalid and the triggered TA reporting not being cancelled). With respect to claim 4, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the method further comprises starting a first timer after the sending of the TA report, wherein the first timer is configured to prohibit the terminal from sending the TA report during running (paragraph 0422; Fig. 28 disclose the wireless device may start a wait period 2812 for receiving the timing offset, for example, based on (e.g., after) the TA reporting information is sent. The wait period 2812 may start at the time when the TA reporting information is sent. For example, the wait period 2812 may start at time T2 and end at time T5. At time T3 (when the first timer expires), the wireless device may determine not to cancel the triggered TA reporting procedure, for example, based on the timing offset has not been not received and the wait period 2812 has not expired (which may indicate that the TA reporting information is sent prior to the expiry of the first timer). The wireless device may wait until the wait period 2812 expires to cancel the TA reporting procedure). With respect to claim 5, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein a TA value indicated by the TA report is a TA value during a latest TA reporting triggered before the TA report is sent; or the TA value indicated by the TA report is a TA value during generation of the TA report (paragraph 0333 disclose the third messages may indicate at least one TA condition for triggering the TA reporting procedure. For example, the at least one TA condition may comprise a first TA condition corresponding to a change in the current TA value and/or a second TA condition corresponding to a difference between the device-specific timing offset and the current TA value. The change in the current TA value may be determined, for example, based on a difference between the current TA value and the previous TA value). The previous TA value may be determined (e.g., calculated/measured) before (in time) the current TA value. For example, the previous TA value may correspond to a last TA reporting information. The TA reporting procedure may be triggered based on the first TA condition, for example, where the current TA value is greater than (or less than) a previous TA value (e.g., if variation between a current TA value and a previous TA value is greater than a threshold), and/or the change in the current TA value is greater (or smaller) than a threshold). With respect to claim 6, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the method further comprises: receiving feedback information, wherein the feedback information indicates that the TA report is successfully sent; or when a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process schedules a new transmission, determining that the TA report is successfully sent, wherein the HARQ process is a HARQ process used to send the TA report (paragraph 0230; 0284 disclose a wireless device may start a contention resolution timer (e.g., ra-ContentionResolutionTimer). The wireless device may restart the contention resolution timer at each HARQ retransmission in the first symbol after the end of a Msg3 1313 transmission (e.g., after the wireless device sends (e.g., transmits), to a base station, the Msg3)). With respect to claim 7, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the feedback information indicates that the TA report fails to be sent; or the method further comprises: when the feedback information is not received by the time that a timer expires, determining that the TA report fails to be sent, wherein the timer is started after the TA report is sent (paragraph 0399 disclose after TA reporting information is sent, refraining from canceling the triggered TA reporting until a wait period 2812 expires may reduce a possibility of early cancelation of the triggered TA reporting and increase the chance of receiving timing offset from the base station. This may be helpful, for example, if the TA reporting information is sent near the end of the time period while the first timer is running. By increasing the chance of receiving the timing offset, the wireless device may reduce the need of triggering/initiating a RA procedure after the expiry of the first timer, and/or the possibility of unnecessarily discarding/deleting the previously-maintained device-specific timing offset). With respect to claim 8, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the method further comprises receiving feedback information, wherein the feedback information indicates that the TA report is successfully sent, and the feedback information is carried in downlink control information (DCI), medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or wherein the TA report is sent via MAC CE signaling or radio resource control (RRC) signaling (paragraph 0408 disclose the wireless device may send TA reporting information (e.g., a MAC CE comprising TA reporting information) at time T5. sending (e.g., transmitting) The wireless device may cancel, for example, based on the TA reporting information being sent, the SR procedure). With respect to claim 9, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the triggering of the TA reporting is based on the variation between the second TA value and the first TA value comprises: triggering the TA reporting when the variation between the second TA value and the first TA value is greater than or equal to a TA reporting trigger threshold (paragraph 0333 disclose the TA reporting procedure may be triggered based on the first TA condition, for example, where the current TA value is greater than (or less than) a previous TA value (e.g., if variation between a current TA value and a previous TA value is greater than a threshold), and/or the change in the current TA value is greater (or smaller) than a threshold. The TA reporting procedure may be triggered based on the second TA condition, for example, where the difference between the device-specific timing offset and the current TA value is less than a second threshold). The limitations of claim 10 are rejected in the analysis of claim 1 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 11 are rejected in the analysis of claim 2 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 12 are rejected in the analysis of claim 3 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 13 are rejected in the analysis of claim 4 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 14 are rejected in the analysis of claim 5 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 15 are rejected in the analysis of claim 6 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 16 are rejected in the analysis of claim 7 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 17 are rejected in the analysis of claim 8 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. The limitations of claim 18 are rejected in the analysis of claim 9 above, and the claim is rejected on that basis. With respect to claim 19, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches a communication apparatus (base station) comprising: at least one processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor (paragraph 0468), cause the communication apparatus to at least be configured to: receive a TA report, wherein the TA report comprises position information or TA information of a terminal (paragraph 0347 disclose the wireless device may send TA reporting information for one or more times while the TA reporting procedure is pending. The wireless device may determine not to send (e.g., may refrain from sending) the TA reporting information for an additional time after the triggered TA reporting procedure is canceled); and send first information, wherein the first information indicates that the TA report is successfully sent or indicates that a new transmission is scheduled using a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process, wherein the HARQ process is a HARQ process used to receive the TA report (paragraph 0347; 0348; 0351; 0363 disclose the TA reporting procedure may be canceled, for example, if the first timer expires or if a timing offset (e.g., as described in connection with step 2430 in FIG. 24) is received by the wireless device from the base station). With respect to claim 20, Khoshkholgh Dashtaki teaches wherein the first information is carried in downlink control information (DCI), medium access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, or radio resource control (RRC) signaling; or wherein the TA report is received via MAC CE signaling or radio resource control (RRC) signaling (paragraph 0408 disclose the wireless device may send TA reporting information (e.g., a MAC CE comprising TA reporting information) at time T5. sending (e.g., transmitting) The wireless device may cancel, for example, based on the TA reporting information being sent, the SR procedure). . Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHEIKH T NDIAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-3914. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm. 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, JOON H HWANG can be reached at 571-272-4036. 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. /CHEIKH T NDIAYE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447 7/25/2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 13, 2024
Application Filed
Nov 26, 2024
Response after Non-Final Action
Jul 29, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
79%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+18.8%)
2y 9m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 732 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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