Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 23, 2026
Application No. 18/864,224

BASE STATION ENERGY SAVING METHOD, BASE STATION, TERMINAL DEVICE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Nov 08, 2024
Priority
May 10, 2022 — CN 202210507468.4 +1 more
Examiner
ZHANG, ZHENSHENG
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
ZTE Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
87%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
312 granted / 409 resolved
+16.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 8m
Avg Prosecution
31 currently pending
Career history
450
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.2%
-37.8% vs TC avg
§103
75.9%
+35.9% vs TC avg
§102
7.6%
-32.4% vs TC avg
§112
10.8%
-29.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 409 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
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 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. (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. Claim(s) 1, 9, 19, 39, 46, 49, 52-53, 56, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Huang (US 2022/0232478). Regarding claim 1, Huang discloses an energy saving method, the method being performed by a base station and comprising: determining an energy saving mode ([0004][0007], the network node sends power saving signaling, which implies that the network must first determines an energy saving mode, figs. 10-11, s300, s301); and performing signal processing corresponding to the energy saving mode (figs. 10-11, the network node sends DCI carrying the power saving signaling which is performing signal processing corresponding to the energy saving mode; s303. perform operation processing based on the information about the power saving signaling). Claims 39, 46, 53 are rejected similarly with claim 1 noting that Huang discloses a processor and memory (fig. 14). Regarding claims 9, 49, 56, Huang discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising: indicating information about the energy saving mode ([0021], the power saving signaling includes at least one or more of the following information: wake up indication information, go-to-sleep indication information). Regarding claims 19, 52, Huang discloses the method of claim 9, wherein indicating the information about the energy saving mode comprises: enabling, by using an enable indication, a terminal device to detect the energy saving mode, wherein the enable indication comprises an RRC message or system information ([0017][0031], the configuration parameter is carried in radio resource control RRC signaling; configuration parameter is used by the first terminal device to monitor/detect the power saving signaling). 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) 2, 4, 17, 18, 47-48, 50-51, 54, 55, 57 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang in view of Li (WO 2020155166). Regarding claims 2, 47, 54, Huang discloses the method of claim 1, Huang does not explicitly disclose wherein the energy saving mode comprises a microsleep mode. Li discloses the energy saving mode comprises a microsleep mode (Li, page 12, UE has 2 states: a sleep state (for power saving, such as micro sleep). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings as given by Huang with the teachings given by Li. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce power consumption of the user equipment (Li, Summary section). Regarding claims 4, 48, 55, Huang discloses the method of claim 1, wherein performing the signal processing corresponding to the energy saving mode comprises: Huang does not explicitly disclose in response to being in a microsleep mode, stopping at least one of the following: sending a first-range signal, or receiving a first-range signal, wherein the first-range signal comprises at least one of the following: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signal, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) signal, or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signal. Li discloses in response to being in a microsleep mode, stopping at least one of the following: sending a first-range signal, or receiving a first-range signal (Li, pages 11-12, fig. 5, during the micro sleep, RF components are turned off, when no grant is detected within a slot, that is, not monitoring the PDCCH), wherein the first-range signal comprises at least one of the following: a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) signal, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) signal, or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) signal (Li, pages 11- 12, fig. 5, the occasion when the UE monitors the PDCCH only without any scheduling grant and PDSCH/PUSCH/PUCCH will be referred to as PDCCH monitoring only case for the ease of reference. If the UE is unaware of the cross-slot scheduling of PDSCH in advance). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings as given by Huang with the teachings given by Li. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce power consumption of the user equipment (Li, Summary section). Regarding claims 17, 50, 57, Huang discloses the method of claim 9, wherein indicating the information about the energy saving mode comprises Huang does not explicitly disclose indicating a cell state to a terminal device according to downlink control information (DCI) signaling Li discloses indicating a cell state to a terminal device according to downlink control information (DCI) signaling (Li, page 19, transmission signal includes a cell state). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings as given by Huang with the teachings given by Li. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce power consumption of the user equipment (Li, Summary section). Regarding claims 18, 51, Huang and Li disclose the method of claim 17, wherein the DCI signaling carries at least one of the following information: a cell identity, an energy saving state indicator bit, or an activation identifier (Huang, [0030][0046], the configuration parameter further includes a radio network temporary identifier RNTI; identifier indicates a bandwidth part in an active state, Li, claim 23, information includes serving cell index). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZHENSHENG ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1985. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00am-6:00pm. 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, Michael Thier can be reached at 571-272-2832. 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. /ZHENSHENG ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 08, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 05, 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
76%
Grant Probability
87%
With Interview (+11.1%)
2y 8m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 409 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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