Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 17, 2026
Application No. 18/846,460

SUB-BAND INFORMATION DETERMINATION METHOD AND APPARATUS, DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Sep 12, 2024
Priority
Mar 16, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022081166
Examiner
TOWFIGHI, AFSHAWN M
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
88%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
7m
Est. Remaining
97%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 88% — above average
88%
Career Allowance Rate
859 granted / 978 resolved
+27.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.8%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 6m
Avg Prosecution
23 currently pending
Career history
986
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.5%
-33.5% vs TC avg
§103
42.2%
+2.2% vs TC avg
§102
32.6%
-7.4% vs TC avg
§112
10.4%
-29.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 978 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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 5/21/26 and 10/17/24 is being considered by the examiner. 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)(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 1-3, 5, 6, 14-16, 18, 19, 29, 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tan et al (Pub No: 2018/0367193). As to claim 1, Tan teaches a method for determining sub-band information, wherein the method is performed by a terminal, the terminal supports at least two manners for determining sub-band information (Tan, [0017], method for determining sub-band precoder indication where the apparatus supports different M sizes and K changes [0052] predefined and DCI signaled indications), and the method comprises; receiving a first downlink signaling (Tan, [0019][0033], receiving DCI from a base station); and selecting a target manner for determining sub-band information from the at least two manners for determining sub-band information, in response to the first downlink signaling (Tan, [0019][0033], selecting a sub-band precoder indication from a plurality of sub-band precoder indications based on the DCI); wherein the sub-band information is information required by the terminal to perform frequency selective precoding (Tan, [0034], the sub-band precoder indication is for frequency selective precoding) . As to claim 2, Tan teaches wherein the at least two manners for determining sub-band information comprise one of: determining the sub-band information through indication information sent by a network device; determining the sub-band information through a predefined manner (Tan, [0017], method for determining sub-band precoder indication of multiple ways are [0052] predefined and DCI signaled indications), As to claim 3, Tan teaches wherein the sub-band information comprises one of: a sub-band size (Tan, [0017][0061][0062], a sub-band size in bits) As to claim 5, Tan teaches wherein determining the sub-band information through a predefined manner comprises one of: determining the number of sub-bands according to a predefined relationship between a bandwidth resource size of the terminal device and the number of sub-bands; determining the sub-band size according to a predefined relationship between the bandwidth resource size of the terminal and the sub-band size; calculating and determining the number of sub-bands on bandwidth resource of the terminal through a configured sub-band size (Tan, [0017], the total sub-bands is the same for the uplink resources of the terminal configured). As to claim 6, Tan teaches wherein the bandwidth resource comprises one of: allocated Resource Allocation (RA) bandwidth resource (Tan, [0040][0041], resource allocation resource) As to claim 14, Tan teaches a method for determining sub-band information, performed by a network device, and the method (Tan, [0017], method for determining sub-band precoder indication where the apparatus supports different M sizes and K changes [0052] predefined and DCI signaled indications) comprising: sending a first downlink signaling to a terminal (Tan, [0019][0033], sending DCI from a base station to a terminal), such that the terminal selects a target manner for determining sub-band information from at least two manners for determining sub-band information, in response to the first downlink signaling (Tan, [0019][0033], selecting a sub-band precoder indication from a plurality of sub-band precoder indications based on the DCI); wherein the sub-band information is information required by the terminal to perform frequency selective precoding (Tan, [0034], the sub-band precoder indication is for frequency selective precoding). As to claim 15, Tan teaches wherein the at least two manners for determining sub-band information comprise one of: the terminal determining the sub-band information through indication information sent by the network device; the terminal determining the sub-band information through a predefined manner (Tan, [0017], method for determining sub-band precoder indication of multiple ways are [0052] predefined and DCI signaled indications) As to claim 16, Tan teaches wherein the sub-band information comprises one of: a sub-band size (Tan, [0017][0061][0062], a sub-band size in bits) As to claim 18, Tan teaches wherein the terminal determining the sub-band information through a predefined manner comprises one of: determining the number of sub-bands according to a predefined relationship between a bandwidth resource size of the terminal device and the number of sub-bands; determining the sub-band size according to a predefined relationship between the bandwidth resource size of the terminal and the sub-band size; calculating and determining the number of sub-bands on bandwidth resource of the terminal through a configured sub-band size (Tan, [0017], the total sub-bands is the same for the uplink resources of the terminal configured). As to claim 19, Tan teaches wherein the bandwidth resource comprises one of: allocated Resource Allocation (RA) bandwidth resource (Tan, [0040][0041], resource allocation resource) As to claim 29, Tan teaches a terminal, comprising: a processor; and a transceiver connected to the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method according to claim 1 (Tan, Fig 1 & 6, a terminal with processor and transceiver). As to claim 30, Tan teaches a network device, comprising: a processor; and a transceiver connected to the processor; wherein the processor is configured to perform the method according to claim 14 (Tan, Fig 1 & 6, a device with processor and transceiver). 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 13 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tan as applied to claims above, and further in view of Datang (EP 4 131 795). As to claim 13, Tan teaches the limitations of claim 1. Tan does not explicitly teach being applicable to one of: codebook-based PUSCH transmission; non-codebook-based PUSCH transmission; or scheduling-free PUSCH transmission. However, Datang teaches codebook-based PUSCH transmission (Datang, [0003][0004][0122-0123], a codebook based PUSCH transmission scheme). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “codebook based PUSCH transmission scheme” as taught by Datang in the system of Tan, because it is a well known communication method in precoding matrix transmission for an uplink signal (Datang, [0003-0006]). As to claim 26, Tan teaches the limitations of claim 14. Tan does not explicitly teach being applicable to one of: codebook-based PUSCH transmission; non-codebook-based PUSCH transmission; or scheduling-free PUSCH transmission. However, Datang teaches codebook-based PUSCH transmission (Datang, [0003][0004][0122-0123], a codebook based PUSCH transmission scheme). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to provide “codebook based PUSCH transmission scheme” as taught by Datang in the system of Tan, because it is a well known communication method in precoding matrix transmission for an uplink signal (Datang, [0003-0006]). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 7, 9, 10, 11, 20, 22, 23, 24 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chen et al (Pub No: 2020/0106591) Wu et al (Pub No: 2013/0170578). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7296. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00 AM -5:00 PM. 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, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. 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. /AFSHAWN M TOWFIGHI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 12, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 21, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (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
88%
Grant Probability
97%
With Interview (+8.8%)
2y 6m (~7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 978 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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