Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 02, 2026
Application No. 18/866,051

REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION FOR LINK MONITORING IN A DEACTIVATED CELL

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Nov 14, 2024
Priority
Jul 15, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022105937
Examiner
BHATTACHARYA, SAM
Art Unit
2469
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
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
+35.1% 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 Chin et al. (US 2021/0028849). Regarding claim 1, Chin discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (paragraph 12: “a processor, for executing computer-executable instructions, and a non-transitory machine-readable medium, coupled to the processor, for storing the computer-executable instructions”), the at least one processor is configured to: receive a first indication of a set of resources for monitoring for a failure event associated with a set of deactivated cells of candidate cells associated with the wireless device for layer 1 or layer 2 (L1/L2) mobility (paragraph 63, lines 1-2: “the UE may attempt to monitor a BFR response (e.g., via PDCCH monitoring) from the BS”; Paragraph 5, lines 2-4: “When the UE moves and/or the environment varies, the best beam for the UE may change. Hence, a Layer 1 (L1)/Layer 2 (L2) beam management procedure is initiated to switch the current beam to a new beam.”; Paragraph 215, lines 1-2: “if a specific SCell is deactivated, the “BFI_COUNTER” used in the SCell may be set to ‘0’. The “BFI_COUNTER” is used according to a serving cell.”); detect the failure event associated with a beam of at least one deactivated cell in the set of deactivated cells of the candidate cells by monitoring the set of resources (paragraph 33, lines 1-2: “the UE may detect a beam failure on the SCell #1, and then trigger a BFR procedure for the SCell #1. Meanwhile, the UE may detect a beam failure on the SCell #2, and then trigger a BFR procedure for the SCell #2.”; Paragraph 33, lines 13-14: “receiving a deactivation command (e.g., SCell activation/deactivation MAC CE) from the BS to deactivate the SCell #1.”)); and transmit, for an active cell, a second indication of the detected failure event (paragraph 31, line 8: “a second BFR report corresponding to the second BFR procedure is successfully transmitted to the BS.”). Regarding claim 2, Chin discloses that the set of resources comprises reference signal resources for the set of deactivated cells (paragraph 92: “the running BFRQ-SR timer may be stopped by the MAC entity if all the configured SCell(s) are deactivated.”). Regarding claim 3, Chin discloses that the first indication of the set of resources indicates a plurality of subsets of resources, wherein each subset of resources is associated with a particular deactivated cell in the set of deactivated cells (paragraph 93: “the SCell may be deactivated when an SCell deactivation timer associated with the activated SCell expires.”). Regarding claim 4, Chin discloses that at least two of the plurality of subsets of resources are associated with different transmission and reception points (TRPs) of a same deactivated cell (paragraph 42: “Different sets of the BFD RSs may be associated with different CC (or cell)s, sets/groups of cells, transmission and reception points (TRPs).”). Regarding claim 5, Chin discloses that the at least one processor is further configured to: receive an activation indication activating at least one subset of resources of the set of resources for monitoring for the failure event, wherein the failure event associated with the at least one deactivated cell in the set of deactivated cells is detected by monitoring the at least one subset of resources (paragraph 33, lines 1-2: “the UE may detect a beam failure on the SCell #1, and then trigger a BFR procedure for the SCell #1. Meanwhile, the UE may detect a beam failure on the SCell #2, and then trigger a BFR procedure for the SCell #2.”). Regarding claim 6, Chin discloses that a timing between receiving the activation indication and activating the at least one subset of resources occurs is based on a fixed timing offset (paragraph 104: “the BFRQ-SR timer may be configured on a BWP in the SpCell (e.g., one BFRQ-SR timer may be configured on each BWP on the SpCell). In this case, the BFRQ-SR timer on the new BWP is started/restarted.”). Regarding claim 7, Chin discloses that the at least one processor is further configured to: perform a prioritization operation over the at least one subset of resources of the set of resources for monitoring for the failure event and a different set of resources for monitoring for a failure associated with an active cell to ensure that the at least one subset of resources of the set of resources for monitoring for the failure event and the different set of resources for monitoring for the failure associated with the active cell comprise no more than a maximum number of resources based on a capability of the wireless device (paragraph 63: “the UE may attempt to monitor a BFR response (e.g., via PDCCH monitoring) from the BS (e.g., action 308). In one example, the BFR response may be transmitted on PCell, PSCell and/or SCell.”). Regarding claim 8, Chin discloses that the first indication of the set of resources is based on a set of control resource sets (CORESETs) for a corresponding set of CORESET pool indexes associated with the set of deactivated cells of the candidate cells (paragraph 146: “The BFR related parameter(s) configured in a SpCell may include at least one parameter associated with a BFRQ-SR timer, BFR CORESET configuration configured on the SpCell, and PUCCH resource(s) for BFR-SR transmission (e.g., PUCCH resource(s), configured on the SpCell, on a per BWP basis for the BFR-SR transmission).”). Regarding claim 9, Chin discloses that the set of resources is periodic and has a same quasi co-location (QCL) assumption as a CORESET in the set of CORESETs (paragraph 40: “A PHY layer of the UE may assess the radio link quality according to the BFD RS, and may provide a beam failure instance indication to a MAC entity of the UE when the radio link quality is worse than a threshold with a periodicity.”). Regarding claim 10, Chin discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on stored information stored in the memory (paragraph 12: “a processor, for executing computer-executable instructions, and a non-transitory machine-readable medium, coupled to the processor, for storing the computer-executable instructions”), the at least one processor is configured to: receive a channel state information (CSI) resource configuration indicating a set of resources for measuring CSI associated with a set of deactivated candidate cells associated with the wireless device for layer 1 or layer 2 (L1/L2) mobility (paragraph 63, lines 1-2: “the UE may attempt to monitor a BFR response (e.g., via PDCCH monitoring) from the BS”; Paragraph 5, lines 2-4: “When the UE moves and/or the environment varies, the best beam for the UE may change. Hence, a Layer 1 (L1)/Layer 2 (L2) beam management procedure is initiated to switch the current beam to a new beam.”; Paragraph 215, lines 1-2: “if a specific SCell is deactivated, the “BFI_COUNTER” used in the SCell may be set to ‘0’. The “BFI_COUNTER” is used according to a serving cell.”; Paragraph 46: “The new beam may be indicated via a reference signal (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, and/or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and/or TCI state.”); measure, based on the CSI resource configuration indicating the set of resources, CSI associated with resources in the set of resources for at least one deactivated cell in the set of deactivated candidate cells (paragraph 33, lines 1-2: “the UE may detect a beam failure on the SCell #1, and then trigger a BFR procedure for the SCell #1. Meanwhile, the UE may detect a beam failure on the SCell #2, and then trigger a BFR procedure for the SCell #2.”; Paragraph 33, lines 13-14: “receiving a deactivation command (e.g., SCell activation/deactivation MAC CE) from the BS to deactivate the SCell #1.”)); and transmit, for an active cell, information regarding the measured CSI for the at least one deactivated cell (paragraph 31, line 8: “a second BFR report corresponding to the second BFR procedure is successfully transmitted to the BS.”). Regarding claim 11, Chin discloses that the set of resources includes at least one of channel measurement resources or interference measurement resources (paragraph 52: “the BFR report may include one or more of the following BFR information: … measurement result (e.g., RSRP, Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the (failed) CC, set/group of cells, TRP”). Regarding claim 12, Chin discloses that the CSI resource configuration indicating the set of resources comprises an indication of a plurality of subsets of resources, each subset of resources is associated with a particular deactivated cell in the set of deactivated candidate cells, and each subset of resources comprises one of periodic resources, semi-persistent resources, or aperiodic resources (paragraph 40: “A PHY layer of the UE may assess the radio link quality according to the BFD RS, and may provide a beam failure instance indication to a MAC entity of the UE when the radio link quality is worse than a threshold with a periodicity.”). Regarding claim 13, Chin discloses that the at least one processor is further configured to: receive an activation indication activating at least one subset of resources of the set of resources for measuring CSI, wherein the at least one subset of resources corresponds to the at least one deactivated cell, wherein the activation indication is received via one of a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI) (paragraph 31: “he first BFR report may be identical to the second BFR report (e.g., generated by the same BFR Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE)), or different from the second BFR report.”). Regarding claim 14, Chin discloses that the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a CSI report configuration indicating one of a set of periodic resources, a set of semi-persistent resources, or a set of aperiodic resources for transmitting the information regarding the measured CSI for the at least one deactivated cell, wherein the CSI report configuration comprises a cell index associated with the at least one deactivated cell (paragraph 31). Regarding claim 15, Chin discloses that the CSI report configuration indicates the set of semi-persistent resources associated with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and the CSI report configuration is received via a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) associated with the active cell (paragraph 37: “The UL resource mentioned above may be RACH resource, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource.”). Regarding claim 16, Chin discloses that the CSI report configuration indicates one of the set of semi-persistent resources associated with a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or the set of aperiodic resources associated with the PUSCH and the CSI report configuration is received via downlink control information (DCI) associated with the active cell (paragraph 37: “The UL resource mentioned above may be RACH resource, physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource, and/or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource.”). Regarding claim 17, Chin discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (paragraph 12: “a processor, for executing computer-executable instructions, and a non-transitory machine-readable medium, coupled to the processor, for storing the computer-executable instructions”), the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a first indication of a set of resources for monitoring for a failure event associated with a set of deactivated cells of candidate cells associated with a wireless device for layer 1 or layer 2 (L1/L2) mobility (paragraph 63, lines 1-2: “the UE may attempt to monitor a BFR response (e.g., via PDCCH monitoring) from the BS”; Paragraph 5, lines 2-4: “When the UE moves and/or the environment varies, the best beam for the UE may change. Hence, a Layer 1 (L1)/Layer 2 (L2) beam management procedure is initiated to switch the current beam to a new beam.”; Paragraph 215, lines 1-2: “if a specific SCell is deactivated, the “BFI_COUNTER” used in the SCell may be set to ‘0’. The “BFI_COUNTER” is used according to a serving cell.”); and receive, based on the set of resources, a second indication of a detected failure event associated with a beam of at least one deactivated cell in the set of deactivated cells of the candidate cells and the wireless device (paragraph 31, line 8: “a second BFR report corresponding to the second BFR procedure is successfully transmitted to the BS.”). Claim 18 incorporates the limitations of claims 2 and 17, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 2 and 17. Claim 19 incorporates the limitations of claims 3 and 17, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 3 and 17. Claim 20 incorporates the limitations of claims 4 and 17, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 4 and 17. Claim 21 incorporates the limitations of claims 5 and 17, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 5 and 17. Claim 22 incorporates the limitations of claims 8 and 17, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 8 and 17. Claim 23 incorporates the limitations of claims 9 and 17, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 9 and 17. Regarding claim 24, Chin discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on stored information stored in the memory (paragraph 12: “a processor, for executing computer-executable instructions, and a non-transitory machine-readable medium, coupled to the processor, for storing the computer-executable instructions”), the at least one processor is configured to: transmit a channel state information (CSI) resource configuration indicating a set of resources for measuring CSI associated with a set of deactivated candidate cells associated with a wireless device for layer 1 or layer 2 (L1/L2) mobility (e.g., via PDCCH monitoring) from the BS”; Paragraph 5, lines 2-4: “When the UE moves and/or the environment varies, the best beam for the UE may change. Hence, a Layer 1 (L1)/Layer 2 (L2) beam management procedure is initiated to switch the current beam to a new beam.”; Paragraph 215, lines 1-2: “if a specific SCell is deactivated, the “BFI_COUNTER” used in the SCell may be set to ‘0’. The “BFI_COUNTER” is used according to a serving cell.”; Paragraph 46: “The new beam may be indicated via a reference signal (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, and/or Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and/or TCI state.”); and receive, based on the set of resources, information regarding the measured CSI for at least one deactivated cell (paragraph 31, line 8: “a second BFR report corresponding to the second BFR procedure is successfully transmitted to the BS.”). Claim 25 incorporates the limitations of claims 11 and 24, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 11 and 24. Claim 26 incorporates the limitations of claims 12 and 24, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 12 and 24. Claim 27 incorporates the limitations of claims 13 and 24, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 13 and 24. Claim 28 incorporates the limitations of claims 14 and 24, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 14 and 24. Claim 29 incorporates the limitations of claims 15 and 24, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 15 and 24. Claim 30 incorporates the limitations of claims 16 and 24, and is therefore rejected for the same reasons as claims 16 and 24. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cirik et al. (US 2023/0239031) discloses restricted beam failure detection with layer 1 mobility. 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

Nov 14, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 10, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (current)

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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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