Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 26, 2026
Application No. 18/983,841

Uplink Data Transmission in Wireless Communications

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Dec 17, 2024
Priority
Oct 14, 2020 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2020120970 +1 more
Examiner
PHUONG, DAI
Art Unit
2644
Tech Center
2600 — Communications
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
76%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 1m
Est. Remaining
91%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 76% — above average
76%
Career Allowance Rate
633 granted / 833 resolved
+14.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +15% lift
Without
With
+14.9%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 12m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
867
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.7%
-36.3% vs TC avg
§103
54.4%
+14.4% vs TC avg
§102
20.7%
-19.3% vs TC avg
§112
9.1%
-30.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 833 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . 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. This Office Action is responded to the preliminary amendment filed on 12/17/24. Claim 1-14 have been canceled. Claims 21-32 have been added. Claim 15-32 are pending. 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 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. Claims 15-16, 21-22 and 27-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (U.S. 20110038271) in view of Sundin et al. (WO2018139965). For claim 15, et al. disclose a processor configured to perform operations comprising: receiving a configuration to measure a downlink (DL) pathloss on a reference signal (RS) for each of a plurality of configured component carriers (CCs) (at least [0041], [0045]-[0046] and [0052]. In order to determine a pathloss estimate for an UL CC, pathhloss measurements may be performed by a WTRU on at least one, and as many as all of the downlink (DL) CCs. A pathloss measurement for each UL CC may be used. Alternatively, each DL carrier may be mapped to, or paired with an UL carrier for pathloss measurement. PL=(referenceSignalPower)-(higher layer filtered RSRP) (Equation 8), where referenceSignalPower is a parameter provided to the WTRU and RSRP is the reference signal received power.); measuring the DL pathloss on the RSs for each of the CCs (at least [0041], [0045]-[0046] and [0052]. In order to determine a pathloss estimate for an UL CC, pathhloss measurements may be performed by a WTRU on at least one, and as many as all of the downlink (DL) CCs. A pathloss measurement for each UL CC may be used. Alternatively, each DL carrier may be mapped to, or paired with an UL carrier for pathloss measurement. PL=(referenceSignalPower)-(higher layer filtered RSRP) (Equation 8), where referenceSignalPower is a parameter provided to the WTRU and RSRP is the reference signal received power.); and performing power headroom for the CCs associated with an uplink (UL) transmission (at least [0061]. The WTRU 630 performs pathloss measurements on aggregated CCs according to the pathloss measurement and setting rules. At 606, the WTRU 630 uses measured pathloss to set transmit power for uplink transmission on aggregated CCs, and calculates power headroom for aggregated CCs. At 608, the WTRU 630 transmits UL signals to the eNB 620 using the calculated power settings.) However, Shin et al. do not disclose performing power headroom reporting (PHR) for the CCs associated with an active beam for an uplink (UL) transmission. In the same field of endeavor, Sundin et al. disclose performing power headroom reporting (PHR) for the CCs associated with an active beam for an uplink (UL) transmission (at least [0019], [0066] and [0070]. The network and UE agree to use at least one BPL for data and control channel reception and transmission (here referred to as the "active" BPL). The UE derives the available power headroom as the difference between the available output power and the power used for data transmission. The power headroom is delivered to higher layers. _In one embodiment the power headroom is derived as the total power headroom for all used component carriers per BPL. In another embodiment the power headroom is derived per component-carrier group per BPL, where a group of component carriers could, for example, belong to the same frequency band. In another embodiment the power headroom is derived per individual component carrier and BPL. In another embodiment the power headroom is derived jointly over all or a subset of all active BPLs.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Shin et al. as taught by Sundin et al. for purpose of estimating the path-loss for power control of a BPL. For claim 16, the combination of Shin et al. and Sundin et al. disclose the processor of claim 15. Shin et al. disclose wherein the RS is an RS from a system synchronization block (SSB) or a channel state information (CSI) RS and the DL pathloss measurement is a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement on the RS (at least [0014], [0041], [0045]-[0046] and [0052]. Networks schedule and transmit UE specific reference signals that, among other things, can be used for beam searching, beam tracking, and beam refinement. Such signals are referred to here as beam refinement reference signals (BRRS). Another example of a UE specific reference signal is the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS). This is a reference signal scheduled by the network for one (or possibly, several) specific UE (or UEs) with the intention of providing measurement opportunities in the UE such that more detailed channel knowledge may be obtained and reported back to the network. In order to determine a pathloss estimate for an UL CC, pathhloss measurements may be performed by a WTRU on at least one, and as many as all of the downlink (DL) CCs. A pathloss measurement for each UL CC may be used. Alternatively, each DL carrier may be mapped to, or paired with an UL carrier for pathloss measurement. PL=(referenceSignalPower)-(higher layer filtered RSRP) (Equation 8), where referenceSignalPower is a parameter provided to the WTRU and RSRP is the reference signal received power.) For claims 21-22, the claims have features which are similar claim 15-16. Therefore, the claims are also rejected for the same reason as claims 15-16. For claims 27-28, the claims have features which are similar claim 15-16. Therefore, the claims are also rejected for the same reason as claims 15-16. Claims 17, 23 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (U.S. 20110038271) in view of Sundin et al. (WO2018139965) further in view Park et al. (U.S. 20200100289). For claim 17, the combination of Shin et al. and Sundin et al. do not disclose the processor of claim 15, wherein an energy per resource element (EPRE) of the RS is determined to be constant across a transmission bandwidth and across all slots regardless of an outcome of a listen-before-talk operation performed across the CCs. In the same field of endeavor, Park et al. disclose an energy per resource element (EPRE) of the RS is determined to be constant across a transmission bandwidth and across all slots regardless of an outcome of a listen-before-talk operation performed across the CCs (at least [0187]-[0188] and [0193]. When transmit power of a transmission node varies according to an LBT operation in a plurality of U-SCells, a range for a ratio of CRS EPRE (energy per resource element) to PDSCH EPRE (or, a parameter determining the ratio) can be changed according to a carrier type (or, higher layer signal or DCI). The CRS EPRE is configured by a higher layer signal. The CRS EPRE has a fixed value in a downlink system band and a subframe. A PDSCH EPRE can be represented by a certain ratio of the CRS EPRE. For example, a ratio of the CRS EPRE to the PDSCH EPRE is defined by ρA in an OFDM symbol where a CRS does not exist. The ratio of the CRS EPRE to the PDSCH EPRE is defined by ρB in an OFDM symbol where a CRS exists. In this case, the ρA is determined by a power offset δpower-offset according to whether or not MIMO is applied and PA corresponding to a UE-specific variable. ρB/ρA is determined by the number of antenna ports and PB corresponding to a cell-specific variable.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Shin et al. as taught by Park et al. for purpose of improve channel estimation and measurement performance. For claims 23 and 29, the claims have features which are similar claim 17. Therefore, the claims are also rejected for the same reason as claim 17. Claims 18-19, 24-25 and 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (U.S. 20110038271) in view of Sundin et al. (WO2018139965) further in view Park et al. (U.S. 20200100289) and further in view of Kim et al. (U.S. 20190182682). For claim 18, the combination of Shin et al., Sundin et al. and Park et al. do not disclose the processor of claim 15, wherein the PHR comprises dividing UL CCs into a set of groups based on an associated UL beam index. In the same field of endeavor, Kim et al. disclose the PHR comprises dividing UL CCs into a set of groups based on an associated UL beam index (at least [0441]. A method for storing all PHs for a plurality of cells (carriers) or a plurality of beams in one PHR. When one UE uses four cells (carriers) or beams, CC 1 or beam 1 5i-15 may carry PHs for not only CC 1 or beam 1 but also the other three CCs or beams. An MAC PDU 5i-10 transmitted via CC 1 or beam 1 5i-15 includes one PHR 5i-05, and the PHR may include all the PHs for CC 1 (or beam 1) to CC 4 (or beam 4).) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Shin et al. as taught by Kim et al. for purpose of enabling a user to receive a high-quality and high-capacity service. For claim 19, the combination of Shin et al., Sundin et al., Park et al. and Kim et al. disclose the processor of claim 18. Shin et al. disclose wherein CCs in a same frequency band are grouped into one CC group (at least [0041]. Contiguous CCs with the same carrier frequency or within a same frequency/spectrum band may be grouped together.) For claims 24-25, the claims have features which are similar claims 18-19. Therefore, the claims are also rejected for the same reason as claims 18-19. For claims 30-31, the claims have features which are similar claims 18-19. Therefore, the claims are also rejected for the same reason as claims 18-19. Claims 20, 26 and 32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin et al. (U.S. 20110038271) in view of Sundin et al. (WO2018139965) further in view Park et al. (U.S. 20200100289) and further in view of Kim et al. (U.S. 20190182682) and further in view of Lin et al. (U.S. 20180132197). For claim 20, the combination of Shin et al., Sundin et al. and Park et al. do not disclose the processor of claim 19, wherein PHR is not performed for deactivated beams. In the same field of endeavor, Lin et al. disclose PHR is not performed for deactivated beams (at least [0346]. A power headroom report could be triggered due to a change (or addition or activation) of the serving TRP(s), a change (or addition or activation) of the serving TRP beam(s), a change (or addition or activation) of a candidate TRP beam(s), or an activation (or addition) of a UE beam.) Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify the invention of Shin et al. as taught by Lin et al. for purpose of allowing the base station to realize how much extra transmission power is available in the UE and how to schedule resource to the UE properly For claims 26 and 32, the claims have features which are similar claim 20. Therefore, the claims are also rejected for the same reason as claim 20. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAI PHUONG whose telephone number is 571-272-7896. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. 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, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached on 571-270-5371. 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 the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /DAI PHUONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644
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Prosecution Timeline

Dec 17, 2024
Application Filed
Oct 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
76%
Grant Probability
91%
With Interview (+14.9%)
2y 12m (~1y 1m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 833 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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