Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/814,107

INFORMATION TRANSMISSION METHOD, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND NETWORK DEVICE

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Aug 23, 2024
Priority
Feb 25, 2022 — continuation of PCTCN2022077914
Examiner
BEDNASH, JOSEPH A
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
50%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 7m
Est. Remaining
59%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 50% of resolved cases
50%
Career Allowance Rate
261 granted / 524 resolved
-10.2% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+9.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 7m
Avg Prosecution
21 currently pending
Career history
564
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
§103
44.9%
+4.9% vs TC avg
§102
18.5%
-21.5% vs TC avg
§112
28.4%
-11.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 524 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §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 . 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. Claim Objections Claim 7 is objected to because of the following informalities: A series of singular dependent claims is permissible in which a dependent claim refers to a preceding claim which, in turn, refers to another preceding claim. A claim which depends from a dependent claim should not be separated by any claim which does not also depend from said dependent claim. It should be kept in mind that a dependent claim may refer to any preceding independent claim. In general, applicant's sequence will not be changed. See MPEP § 608.01(n). 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. Claim(s) 1-10 and 12-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Wu et al. (US 2023/0269666 A1). Regarding claim 1, Wu appears to disclose an information transmission method, comprising: receiving, by a terminal device, first information transmitted by a network device, wherein the first information comprises information related to a time-frequency resource of a wake-up signal (WUS) ([0095] disclosing the base station configures the WUS through UE-specific RRC signaling and the configuration comprises at least one of the time domain location and frequency domain location of the WUS); monitoring, by the terminal device, a WUS on the time-frequency resource of the WUS ([0095] disclosing for monitoring the WUS by the UE); wherein the information related to the time-frequency resource of the WUS is configured by the network device ([0091], [0095] disclosing the network or base station configures the WUS according to the UE capability). Regarding claim 2, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the information related to the time-frequency resource of the WUS comprises at least one of: information related to a frequency domain resource of the WUS ([0095]); or information related to a time domain resource of the WUS ([0095]); wherein the information related to the frequency domain resource of the WUS comprises at least one: position indication information of a transmission bandwidth of the WUS ([0155], [0163]); a size of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS ([0155]); a subcarrier spacing of the WUS ([0158]-[0162]); a length of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the WUS ([0056]-[0058]). Regarding claim 3, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 2, wherein the position indication information of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS comprises one of: first position indication information, wherein the first position indication information is used to indicate a relative relationship between a position of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and a preset frequency domain range ([0165]); second position indication information, wherein the second position indication information is used to indicate a relative relationship between the position of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and a first reference frequency point ([0166]); third position indication information, wherein the third position indication information is used to indicate a position of a first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS ([0167]). Regarding claim 4, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 3, wherein the first position indication information comprises one of: the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located within the preset frequency domain range, and the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located at a same position as a first-type frequency point in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168] for example, offset=0); the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located within the preset frequency domain range, and there being a first frequency offset between the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and a second reference frequency point in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168], [0082], [0155]); the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located outside the preset frequency domain range, and there being a second frequency offset between the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and the second reference frequency point in the preset frequency domain range ([0165, [0168]); wherein the second reference frequency point is one of: a lowest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range; a highest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range; a central frequency point of the preset frequency domain range ([0165]); wherein the lowest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range is: a frequency point in a physical resource block (PRB) with a lowest frequency in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168]); and/or the highest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range is: a frequency point in a PRB with a highest frequency in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168]). Regarding claim 5, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 3, wherein the preset frequency domain range is configured by a network device; the preset frequency domain range comprises: an initial downlink bandwidth part (BWP) ([0165]). Regarding claim 6, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 3, wherein the second position indication information comprises: a third frequency offset between the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and the first reference frequency point ([0166]); wherein the first reference frequency point is one of: a point A ([0168]), a frequency starting point position of a cell carrier ([0166]), a frequency point in a frequency domain range of a cell defining synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (CD-SSB); wherein a frequency domain position of the point A is configured by a network device ([0091], [0095], [0166], [0168]), and/or the frequency starting point position of the cell carrier is configured by a network device ([0091], [0095], [0166], [0168]). Regarding claim 7, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 4, wherein the first-type frequency point is one of: a lowest frequency point, a central frequency point, a highest frequency point ([0165]). Regarding claim 8, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 2, wherein the size of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS is expressed in one of frequency domain units of: Khz, Mhz, physical resource block (PRB), and a number of subcarriers ([0155]-[0157]); the information related to the time domain resource of the WUS comprises at least one of: a monitoring period of the WUS (Fig. 5, [0087]); or a monitoring duration within the monitoring period of the WUS ([0125], [0136], ); wherein the WUS is used to wake up the terminal device to monitor a paging message ([0081]); the monitoring period of the WUS is the same as a period of the paging message (Fig. 5, [0087]); there is a first relative time relationship between a position of the monitoring duration within the monitoring period of the WUS and a position of a paging occasion (PO) for monitoring the paging message (Fig. 8, [0098], [0100]-[0101]); the WUS is used to wake up the terminal device to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a discontinuous reception (DRX) ON duration; the monitoring period of the WUS is the same as a period of DRX; there is a second relative time relationship between a position of the monitoring duration within the monitoring period of the WUS and a starting time position of DRX monitoring. Regarding claim 9, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information further comprises: signal-related information of the WUS; the signal-related information of the WUS comprises at least one of: information related to a target waveform of the WUS ([0156]); or a target modulation manner used by the WUS ([0143]); wherein the information related to the target waveform of the WUS comprises: the target waveform of the WUS being obtained by modulating based on one of amplitude shift keying (ASK), frequency shift keying (FSK), and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ([0156]); the target modulation manner used by the WUS comprises one of: binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) ([0143]). Regarding claim 10, Wu appears to disclose the method according to claim 9, wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by the terminal device, second information, wherein the second information comprises capability information of the terminal device ([0091]-[0092]); the capability information of the terminal device comprises at least one of: a waveform supported by the terminal device, or a modulation manner supported by the terminal device ([0092], [0143], [0156]). Regarding claim 12-14, the claims are directed towards a terminal device, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, the processor is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory, to cause the terminal device to perform the method of claims 1-2 and 9. Wu discloses such implementations ([0179]-[0181]); accordingly, claims 12-14 are rejected on the grounds presented above for claims 1-2 and 9. Regarding claim 15, Wu appears to disclose a network device, comprising: a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, the processor is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory, to cause the network device to perform ([0179]-[0181]): transmit first information to a terminal device, wherein the first information comprises information related to a time-frequency resource of a wake-up signal (WUS) ([0095] disclosing the base station configures the WUS through UE-specific RRC signaling and the configuration comprises at least one of the time domain location and frequency domain location of the WUS); transmit a WUS to the terminal device on the time-frequency resource of the WUS ([0081] disclosing the network informs the UE through the WUS; [0095] disclosing the WUS is for monitoring by the UE); wherein the information related to the time-frequency resource of the WUS is configured by the network device to the terminal device ([0091], [0095] disclosing the network or base station configures the WUS according to the UE capability). Regarding claim 16, Wu appears to disclose the network device according to claim 15, wherein the information related to the time-frequency resource of the WUS comprises at least one of: information related to a frequency domain resource of the WUS ([0095]); or information related to a time domain resource of the WUS ([0095]); wherein the information related to the frequency domain resource of the WUS comprises at least one: position indication information of a transmission bandwidth of the WUS ([0155], [0163]); a size of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS ([0155]); a subcarrier spacing of the WUS ([0158]-[0162]); a length of a cyclic prefix (CP) of the WUS ([0056]-[0058]). Regarding claim 17, Wu appears to disclose the network device according to claim 16, wherein the position indication information of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS comprises one of: first position indication information, wherein the first position indication information is used to indicate a relative relationship between a position of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and a preset frequency domain range ([0165]); second position indication information, wherein the second position indication information is used to indicate a relative relationship between the position of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and a first reference frequency point ([0166]); third position indication information, wherein the third position indication information is used to indicate a position of a first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS ([0167]). Regarding claim 18, Wu appears to disclose the network device according to claim 17, wherein the first position indication information comprises one of: the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located within the preset frequency domain range, and the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located at a same position as a first-type frequency point in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168] for example, offset=0); the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located within the preset frequency domain range, and there being a first frequency offset between the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and a second reference frequency point in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168], [0082], [0155]); the transmission bandwidth of the WUS being located outside the preset frequency domain range, and there being a second frequency offset between the first-type frequency point in the transmission bandwidth of the WUS and the second reference frequency point in the preset frequency domain range ([0165, [0168]); wherein the second reference frequency point is one of: a lowest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range; a highest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range; a central frequency point of the preset frequency domain range ([0165]); wherein the lowest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range is: a frequency point in a physical resource block (PRB) with a lowest frequency in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168]); and/or the highest frequency point of the preset frequency domain range is: a frequency point in a PRB with a highest frequency in the preset frequency domain range ([0165], [0168]). Regarding claim 19, Wu appears to disclose the network device according to any one of claims 16, wherein the size of the transmission bandwidth of the WUS is expressed in one of frequency domain units of: Khz, Mhz, physical resource block (PRB), and a number of subcarriers ([0155]-[0157]); the information related to the time domain resource of the WUS comprises at least one of: a monitoring period of the WUS (Fig. 5, [0087]); or a monitoring duration within the monitoring period of the WUS ([0125], [0136], ); wherein the WUS is used to wake up the terminal device to monitor a paging message ([0081]); the monitoring period of the WUS is the same as a period of the paging message (Fig. 5, [0087]); there is a first relative time relationship between a position of the monitoring duration within the monitoring period of the WUS and a position of a paging occasion (PO) for monitoring the paging message (Fig. 8, [0098], [0100]-[0101]); the WUS is used to wake up the terminal device to monitor a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a discontinuous reception (DRX) ON duration; the monitoring period of the WUS is the same as a period of DRX; there is a second relative time relationship between a position of the monitoring duration within the monitoring period of the WUS and a starting time position of DRX monitoring. Regarding claim 20, Wu appears to disclose the network device according to claim 15, wherein the first information further comprises: signal-related information of the WUS; the signal-related information of the WUS comprises at least one of: information related to a target waveform of the WUS ([0156]); or a target modulation manner used by the WUS ([0143]); wherein the information related to the target waveform of the WUS comprises: the target waveform of the WUS being obtained by modulating based on one of amplitude shift keying (ASK), frequency shift keying (FSK), and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) ([0156]); the target modulation manner used by the WUS comprises one of: binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) ([0143]). 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) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2023/0269666 A1) in view of Reial et al. (US 2023/0063026 A1) . Regarding claim 11, Wu does not disclose the following; however, Reial suggests the method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, third information, wherein the third information comprises measurement configuration information ([0002] disclosing radio resource management (RRM) measurements performed by a terminal (i.e., WD); [0069], [0072]-[0075] disclosing a terminal (i.e., WD) receiving a wake up signal (WUS) configuration and measurement configuration from the network); wherein the measurement configuration information is used to configure a first component of the terminal device to perform measuring on a reference signal ([0046] disclosing RRM measurements performed on a synchronization signal block (SSB) (i.e., reference signal); [0048] disclosing the WUS can be a reference signal used for RRM measurements; [0069], [0072]-[0075]); the terminal device comprises the first component and a second component, power consumption of the first component is lower than power consumption of the second component ([0118]-[0119]); performing, by the first component of the terminal device, the measuring on the reference signal based on the measurement configuration information ([0046] disclosing RRM measurements are performed by the LPR; [0139] disclosing use of the LPR for RRM measurement); wherein the reference signal comprises: a reference signal of a serving cell and/or a reference signal of a neighboring cell; wherein the measurement configuration information comprises at least one of: configuration information of a reference signal of a serving cell; or configuration information of a reference signal of a neighboring cell ([0002] disclosing RRM measurements to determine the appropriate camping cell; [0069], [0072]-[0075]; Examiner takes official notice that the claimed configurations are notoriously well-known to one of ordinary skill in the art and that it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that RRM measurement configurations to determine the appropriate camping cell includes configuration of reference signals (i.e., the SSB) of both the serving cell and neighboring cells). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the techniques of Wu with the invention of Reial because this can lead to improved energy consumption, improved standby time, and reduced cases of false paging ([0049]). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Wu (US 2023/0107391 A1) discloses specifying location of a signal relative to another signals lowest highest or center frequency; Bala et al/ (US 2023/0189147 A1) discloses features of a wake up signal; Berggen et al. (US 2022/0394619 A1) discloses configurations of a wake up signal (WUS) for use in discontinuous reception (DRX) scenarios. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Joseph A Bednash whose telephone number is (571)270-7500. The examiner can normally be reached 7 AM - 4:30 PM M-F. 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, Huy Vu can be reached at (571)272-3155. 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. /JOSEPH A BEDNASH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 23, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 31, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
50%
Grant Probability
59%
With Interview (+9.5%)
3y 7m (~1y 7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 524 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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