Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 22, 2026
Application No. 18/839,227

SIGNAL QUALITY MEASUREMENT REPORTING BASED ON DEMODULATION REFERENCE SIGNALS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Aug 16, 2024
Priority
Apr 29, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022090273
Examiner
RIVAS, SALVADOR E
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
82%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
11m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 82% — above average
82%
Career Allowance Rate
609 granted / 747 resolved
+21.5% vs TC avg
Strong +23% interview lift
Without
With
+22.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
18 currently pending
Career history
780
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
§103
66.6%
+26.6% vs TC avg
§102
11.5%
-28.5% vs TC avg
§112
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 747 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 . Priority Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Information Disclosure Statement 3. The information disclosure statement(s) submitted on August 16, 2024 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file. Specification 4. The amendments to the specification received on August 16,2024. These amendments to the specification are accepted. The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed. 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 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103 5. 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 of this title, 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. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 1-9 and 13-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0292335 A1) in view of Frenne et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0235474 A1). Regarding claim 1, Park et al. teach a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (Fig.15 @ 1502), comprising: a memory (Fig.15 @ 1524); and one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518), coupled to the memory (Fig.15 @ 1524), configured to: receive, via a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission including a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (read as “the wireless device may be provided by a higher layer signaling with one or more (e.g., 2, 3) control resource sets (CORESETs).”(Fig.15; Paragraph [0314]) Further, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314]) Also, “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103])); and However, Park et al. fail to explicitly teach the step to transmit data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET. Frenne et al. teach a method to transmit data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource) and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource). (read as “the NW receives a measurement report from the UE comprising an indicator of the preferred measurement resource within each RS measurement object …”(Paragraph [0087])) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating and sending a measurement report as taught by Frenne et al. with the UE as taught by Park et al. for the purpose of improving updating configuration of devices in a communication network. Regarding claim 16, Park et al. teach a network entity for wireless communication (Fig.15 @ 1504), comprising: a memory (Fig.15 @ 1514); and one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1508), coupled to the memory (Fig.15 @ 1514), configured to: transmit, via a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission including a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (read as “the wireless device may be provided by a higher layer signaling with one or more (e.g., 2, 3) control resource sets (CORESETs).”(Fig.15; Paragraph [0314]) Further, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314]) Also, “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103])); and However, Park et al. fail to explicitly teach the step to receive data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET. Frenne et al. teach a method to receive data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource) and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource). (read as “the NW receives a measurement report from the UE comprising an indicator of the preferred measurement resource within each RS measurement object …”(Paragraph [0087])) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating and sending a measurement report by a UE as taught by Frenne et al. with the base station as taught by Park et al. for the purpose of improving updating configuration of devices in a communication network. Regarding claim 29, Park et al. teach a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) (Fig(s).15 @ 1502 and 25), comprising: receiving, via a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission including a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (read as “the wireless device may be provided by a higher layer signaling with one or more (e.g., 2, 3) control resource sets (CORESETs).”(Fig.15; Paragraph [0314]) Further, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314])); and wherein the most recent signal quality measurement is for a most recent type-D quasi co-located source reference signal associated with the CORESET. (read as “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103]) Further, “the plurality of the CORESETs may have a different QCL-TypeD property.”(Paragraph [0332]) For example, “… in response to the monitoring the one or more PDCCH candidates in the overlapping PDCCH monitoring occasions in the plurality of CORESETs and the plurality of the CORESETs having the different QCL-TypeD property, for a CORESET determination rule, the wireless device may determine a selected CORESET, of the plurality of the CORESETs, of a cell of the one or more cells.”(Paragraph [0336])) However, Park et al. fail to explicitly teach the step for transmitting data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET, Frenne et al. teach a method for transmitting data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource) and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource). (read as “the NW receives a measurement report from the UE comprising an indicator of the preferred measurement resource within each RS measurement object …”(Paragraph [0087])) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating and sending a measurement report by a UE as taught by Frenne et al. with the base station as taught by Park et al. for the purpose of improving updating configuration of devices in a communication network. Regarding claim 30, Park et al. teach a method of wireless communication performed by a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25), comprising: transmitting, via a control resource set (CORESET), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmission including a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) (read as “the wireless device may be provided by a higher layer signaling with one or more (e.g., 2, 3) control resource sets (CORESETs).”(Fig.15; Paragraph [0314]) Further, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314]) Also, “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103])); and However, Park et al. fail to explicitly teach the step for receiving data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET. Frenne et al. teach a method for receiving data indicating a signal quality difference between a first signal quality measurement associated with the DMRS (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource) and a most recent signal quality measurement associated with the CORESET (read as an indicator of a preferred measurement resource). (read as “the NW receives a measurement report from the UE comprising an indicator of the preferred measurement resource within each RS measurement object …”(Paragraph [0087])) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for generating and sending a measurement report by a UE as taught by Frenne et al. with the base station as taught by Park et al. for the purpose of improving updating configuration of devices in a communication network. Regarding claims 2 and 24, and as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE and a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1502, 1504 and 25) wherein the most recent signal quality measurement is for a most recent type-D quasi co-located source reference signal associated with the CORESET. (read as “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103]) Further, “the wireless device may apply a second QCL assumption for the CORESET used for a PDCCH transmission of the DCI.”(Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0245])) Regarding claim 3, and as applied to claim 1 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1502 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518), to transmit the data, are configured to: transmit the data based at least in part on downlink control information (DCI) included in the PDCCH. (Fig(s).15 and 25) Regarding claim 4, and as applied to claim 3 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1502 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518), to transmit the data, are configured to: transmit the data in a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission scheduled by the DCI. (read as UCI (Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [])) Regarding claim 5, and as applied to claim 3 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1502 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518) are further configured to: identify, based at least in part on the DCI including a downlink grant and using an enhanced channel state information (CSI) triggering list (read as associatedReportConfigInfoList (e.g.: CSI-AperiodicTriggerStateList) (Paragraph [0368])), uplink resources (read as “The UE may process information contained in the DCI (e.g., a scheduling assignment, an uplink grant, power control, a slot format indication, a downlink preemption, and/or the like).”(Paragraph [0198]) For example, “The DCI may be a downlink grant indicating a downlink data scheduling assignment, scheduling the downlink data.”(Paragraph [0522]) Also, “A codepoint of a CSI request field in a DCI may be associated with (or indicate) an aperiodic trigger state of the one or more aperiodic trigger states. In an example, the aperiodic trigger state may comprise one or more report configurations (e.g., 1, 8, 16 report configurations, provided by a higher layer parameter associatedReportConfigInfoList).”(Paragraph [0368])); and wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518), to transmit the data (Fig(s).15 and 25), are configured to: transmit the data using the uplink resources. (read as UE can use “a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and in some instances uplink control information (UCI), …” (Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0095]) Regarding claim 6, and as applied to claim 1 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1502 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518), to transmit the data (Fig(s).15 and 25), are configured to: transmit the data (Fig(s).15 and 25) based at least in part on an enhanced channel state information (CSI) report setting associated with an aperiodic CSI triggering list. (read as “A codepoint of a CSI request field in a DCI may be associated with (or indicate) an aperiodic trigger state of the one or more aperiodic trigger states. In an example, the aperiodic trigger state may comprise one or more report configurations (e.g., 1, 8, 16 report configurations, provided by a higher layer parameter associatedReportConfigInfoList).”(Fig.15 and 25; Paragraph [0368])) Regarding claims 7 and 21, and as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE and a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1502, 1504 and 25) wherein the DMRS associated with the first signal quality measurement is for a subset of the CORESET resources that includes resource element groups that correspond to the PDCCH. (read as “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314])) Regarding claims 8 and 22, and as applied to claims 7 and 16 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE and network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1502, 1504 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518) are further configured to: determine, based on downlink control information (DCI) included in the PDCCH, that the DMRS is for the subset of the CORESET resources. (read as “The UE may process information contained in the DCI (e.g., a scheduling assignment, an uplink grant, power control, a slot format indication, a downlink preemption, and/or the like).”(Paragraph [0198]) Alos, “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103]) Also, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314])) Regarding claims 9 and 23, and as applied to claims 8 and 22 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE and a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1502, 1504 and 25) wherein the determination is based at least in part on at least one of: an aggregation level associated with the PDCCH satisfying an aggregation threshold (read as aggregation level (Paragraph [0194])), or an indication, included in the DCI, specifying that the DMRS is for the subset of the CORESET resources. Regarding claims 13 and 27, and as applied to claims 1 and 16 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE and a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1502,1504 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1508) are further configured to: transmit configuration information that indicates one or more conditions for transmission of the data. (read as a higher layer parameter (Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0314])) Regarding claims 14 and 28, and as applied to claims 13 and 27 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the one or more conditions include at least one of: a time interval between a monitoring occasion of the CORESET and a transmission time for the transmission of the data satisfies a time threshold (read as ”a time offset between a reception of a DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_1, DCI format 1_0) received in the CORESET and the (corresponding) PDSCH may be equal to or greater than a threshold (e.g., Threshold-Sched-Offset) ”(Paragraph [0244])), and a number of PDCCH transmissions triggering the transmission of the data satisfies a threshold number of PDCCH transmissions within a particular period of time. Regarding claim 15, and as applied to claim 14 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein at least one of the time interval, the threshold number, or the particular period of time (read as time offset (Paragraph [0244])), is based at least in part on at least one of: a predefined standard, a capability of the UE, or a type of grant included in the PDCCH. (read as downlink grant (Paragraph [0522)) Regarding claim 17, and as applied to claim 16 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1508) are further configured to: perform one or more beam refinement procedures based at least in part on the signal quality difference. (read as beam refinement (Fig(s).12A-12B; Paragraph(s) [0166]-[0167])) Regarding claim 18, and as applied to claim 16 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the PDCCH includes downlink control information (DCI) that triggers transmission of the signal quality difference. (Fig.25) Regarding claim 19, and as applied to claim 18 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the DCI includes an uplink grant scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (read as “a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for carrying downlink control information (DCI), which may include downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands;”(Paragraph [0094])); and receive the data (Fig(s).15 and 25) comprises: receive the data in the PUSCH transmission. (read as UE can use “a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and in some instances uplink control information (UCI), …” (Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0095]) Regarding claim 20, and as applied to claim 18 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the DCI includes a downlink grant (read as “The DCI may be a downlink grant indicating a downlink data scheduling assignment, scheduling the downlink data.”(Paragraph [0522])); and wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1508), to receive the data (Fig(s).15 and 25), are configured to: receive the data using uplink resources configured for reception of the data. (read as UE can use “a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and in some instances uplink control information (UCI), …” (Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0095]) Regarding claim 25, and as applied to claim 24 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein downlink control information (DCI) included in the PDCCH indicates that the DMRS is for all resource element groups within the CORESET. (read as “the wireless device may be provided by a higher layer signaling with one or more (e.g., 2, 3) control resource sets (CORESETs).”(Fig.15; Paragraph [0314]) Further, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0314])) Regarding claim 26, and as applied to claim 25 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al., teach a network entity (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the DCI (read as higher layer signaling (e.g.: DCI) (Paragraph [0314])) indicates that the DMRS is for both the PDCCH resources and the non-PDCCH resources based at least in part on at least one of: a same precoding being applied to all resource element groups within the CORESET, or an indication, included in the DCI, specifying that the DMRS is for both the PDCCH resources and the non-PDCCH resources. (read as a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (Paragraph [0314])) Claims 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2023/0292335 A1), in view of Frenne et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0235474 A1), and Gao et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication # 2021/0266926 A1). Regarding claim 10, and as applied to claim 1 above, Park et al. teach “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Fig(s).15 and 25; Paragraph [0314]) Frenne et al. teach “the NW receives a measurement report from the UE comprising an indicator of the preferred measurement resource within each RS measurement object …”(Paragraph [0087]) However, Park et al. and Frenne et al. fail to explicitly teach wherein the DMRS associated with the first signal quality measurement corresponds to both PDCCH resources and non-PDCCH resources of the CORESET. Gao et al. teach a method wherein the DMRS associated with the first signal quality measurement corresponds to both PDCCH resources and non-PDCCH resources of the CORESET. (read as “the RS resource used to determine the CSI may be any one or a combination of the CSI-RS resource, the PDSCH DMRS resource, and the PDCCH DMRS resource.”(Paragraph [0072])) Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to employ the function for determining a CSI based on a combination of a PDCCH DMRS resource and a PDSCH DMRS resource as taught by Gao et al. and the function for generating and sending a measurement report as taught by Frenne et al. with the UE as taught by Park et al. for the purpose of improving updating configuration of devices in a communication network. Regarding claim 11, and as applied to claim 10 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al. and Gao et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the one or more processors (Fig.15 @ 1518) are further configured to: determine, based on downlink control information (DCI) included in the PDCCH, that the DMRS is for all resource element groups within the CORESET. (read as “The UE may process information contained in the DCI (e.g., a scheduling assignment, an uplink grant, power control, a slot format indication, a downlink preemption, and/or the like).”(Paragraph [0198]) Alos, “The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells … ”(Paragraph [0103]) Also, “For a CORESET of the one or more CORESETs, the base station may provide the wireless device, by a higher layer parameter ControlResourceSet, at least one of: a CORESET index (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter controlResourceSetId), a DMRS scrambling sequence initialization value (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID); a number of consecutive symbols (e.g., provided by a higher layer parameter duration), a set of resource blocks (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter frequencyDomainResources), CCE-to-REG mapping parameters (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter cce-REG-MappingType), an antenna port quasi co-location (e.g., from a set of antenna port quasi co-locations provided by a first higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList and a second higher layer parameter tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList), and an indication for a presence or absence of a TCI (e.g., transmission configuration indication, etc.) field for a DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) transmitted by a PDCCH in the CORESET (e.g., provided by higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI).”(Paragraph [0314])) Regarding claim 12, and as applied to claim 11 above, Park et al., as modified by Frenne et al. and Gao et al., teach a UE (Fig(s).15 @ 1504 and 25) wherein the determination is based at least in part on at least one of: a same precoding being applied to all resource element groups within the CORESET (read as same precoding matrix (Paragraph [0152])), or an indication, included in the DCI, specifying that the DMRS is for both the PDCCH resources and the non-PDCCH resources. Conclusion 6. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure: ETSI (“TS 138212 V16.8.0”, January 2022) teach “A DCI transports downlink control information for one or more cells with one RNTI.”(Section 7.3, pages 85-146) Takeda et al (“Understanding the Heart of the 5G Air Interface: An Overview of Physical Downlink Control Channel for 5G New Radio (NR)”, September 2020) teaches “The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in NR carries Downlink Control Information (DCI).”(page 1) Also, Takeda et al. teach “an overview of the 5G NR PDCCH by describing its physical layer structure, monitoring mechanisms, beamforming operation, and the carried information.”(page 1) Any response to this Office Action should be faxed to (571) 273-8300 or mailed to: Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 Any inquiry concerning this communication or early communications from the Examiner should be directed to Salvador E. Rivas whose telephone number is (571) 270-1784. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday from 7:00AM to 3:30PM. If attempts to reach the Examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the Examiner’s supervisor, Un C. Cho can be reached on (571) 272- 7919. 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 Patent Center. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center to authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the USPTO patent electronic filing system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). Any inquiry of a general nature or relating to the status of this application or proceeding should be directed to the receptionist/customer service whose telephone number is (571) 272-2600. /SALVADOR E RIVAS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413 September 30, 2026
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 16, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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1-2
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3y 2m (~11m remaining)
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