Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/844,228

ADAPTABLE TIME-DOMAIN DENSITY OF A REFERENCE SIGNAL

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Sep 05, 2024
Priority
Jun 01, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022096555
Examiner
BHATTACHARYA, SAM
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
93%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 93% — above average
93%
Career Allowance Rate
977 granted / 1049 resolved
+33.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +6% lift
Without
With
+6.2%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Fast prosecutor
1y 10m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
1053
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
5.8%
-34.2% vs TC avg
§103
34.5%
-5.5% vs TC avg
§102
39.5%
-0.5% vs TC avg
§112
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1049 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 . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Sun et al. (US 2020/0076537). Regarding claims 1 and 17, Sun discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (paragraph 140, lines 1-3: “a computer-readable storage medium is provided, where the computer-readable storage medium stores an instruction, and when the instruction is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method”), configured to cause the apparatus to: select a time-domain density configuration for a reference signal based at least in part on a transmission frequency associated with the reference signal (paragraph 37, lines 7-10: “the terminal device may select, based on the indication of the first indication information, an element from the time domain density subset used by the terminal device or the network device, as the time domain density; and the determining, by the terminal device based on the first indication information, the frequency domain density in a frequency domain density subset used by the terminal device or the network device”); and transmit an indication of the time-domain density configuration to a user equipment (UE) (paragraph 12, lines 2-3: “transmitting, by the network device, second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a time domain density subset”). Regarding claims 2 and 18, Sun discloses that the transmission frequency is a first transmission frequency, wherein the time-domain density configuration is a first time-domain density configuration, wherein the indication is a first indication, and the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to: select a second time-domain density configuration for the reference signal based at least in part on a second transmission frequency associated with the reference signal, and transmit an indication of the second time-domain density configuration to the UE, wherein the first transmission frequency is different from the second transmission frequency (paragraph 102, lines 3-7: “the third indication information may be used for narrowing a range of time domain densities and/or frequency domain densities that can be selected, and then a time domain density may be further determined in the time domain density subset, and a frequency domain density may be determined in the frequency domain density subset. This can improve efficiency of determining the time domain density and/or the frequency domain density.”). Regarding claims 3 and 19, Sun discloses that at least one of the first time-domain density configuration or the second time-domain density configuration indicate an antenna port associated with transmitting the reference signal (paragraph 192: “frequency domain density are/is used by the terminal device to transmit the PTRS to avoid interference between ports for transmitting PTRSs by a plurality of terminal devices and between a port for transmitting a PTRS and a port for transmitting data”). Regarding claims 4 and 20, Sun discloses that the second transmission frequency is higher than the first transmission frequency, wherein the first time-domain density configuration is based at least in part on a first number of time units, wherein the second time-domain density configuration is based at least in part on a second number of time units, and wherein the second number is larger than the first number (paragraph 70: “a highest frequency domain density used for transmitting a PTRS by the terminal device or the network device”). Regarding claim 5, Sun discloses that a time unit is at least one of: a symbol, a time slot, a mini-slot, or a time duration (paragraph 10: “the time domain density may be a ratio of a quantity of OFDM symbols”). Regarding claims 6 and 21, Sun discloses that the time-domain density configuration indicates a time-domain density that is based at least in part on a frequency unit of at least one of: a bandwidth part (BWP), a sub-band, or a physical resource block (PRB) (paragraph 60: “the time domain density on the sampling point level is associated with at least one of a scheduled bandwidth value”). Regarding claims 7 and 22, Sun discloses that the reference signal is: a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a downlink demodulation reference signal (DMRS), or an uplink DMRS (paragraph 70: PTRS is a tracking reference signal). Regarding claims 8 and 23, Sun discloses that the one or more processors are further configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit or receive the reference signal based at least in part on the time-domain density configuration (Abstract: “transmitting, by a terminal device, a PTRS to a network device based on a time domain density”). Regarding claim 9, Sun discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (paragraph 140, lines 1-3: “a computer-readable storage medium is provided, where the computer-readable storage medium stores an instruction, and when the instruction is run on a computer, the computer is enabled to perform the method”), configured to cause the apparatus to: obtain an indication of a time-domain density configuration associated with a reference signal (paragraph 37, lines 7-10: “the terminal device may select, based on the indication of the first indication information, an element from the time domain density subset used by the terminal device or the network device, as the time domain density; and the determining, by the terminal device based on the first indication information, the frequency domain density in a frequency domain density subset used by the terminal device or the network device”); and transmit or receiving the reference signal based at least in part on a transmission frequency associated with the reference signal and the time-domain density configuration (paragraph 12, lines 2-3: “transmitting, by the network device, second indication information to the terminal device, where the second indication information is used to indicate a time domain density subset”). Claim 10 incorporates the limitations of claims 2 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 2 and 9. Claim 11 incorporates the limitations of claims 3 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 3 and 9. Claim 12 incorporates the limitations of claims 4 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 4 and 9. Claim 13 incorporates the limitations of claims 5 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 5 and 9. Claim 14 incorporates the limitations of claims 6 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 6 and 9. Claim 15 incorporates the limitations of claims 7 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 7 and 9. Claim 16 incorporates the limitations of claims 8 and 9, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 8 and 9. Claims 24-30 correspond to claims 9-13, 15 and 16, respectively. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Li (US 2021/0320766) discloses determining a target reference signal time domain density to be transmitted according to a target carrier frequency information. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAM BHATTACHARYA whose telephone number is (571)272-7917. The examiner can normally be reached weekdays, 9-5:30. 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, Matthew D. Anderson can be reached at (571) 272-4177. 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. /SAM BHATTACHARYA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 05, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
93%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+6.2%)
1y 10m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1049 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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