Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 19/084,432

SIGNALING OF TIME FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN INTEGRATED CIRCUITS USING MULTI-DROP BUS

Non-Final OA §102§Other
Filed
Mar 19, 2025
Priority
Feb 10, 2020 — provisional 62/972,566 +4 more
Examiner
DALEY, CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 3m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
697 granted / 831 resolved
+23.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +10% lift
Without
With
+10.5%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 7m
Avg Prosecution
10 currently pending
Career history
837
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
0.4%
-39.6% vs TC avg
§103
75.0%
+35.0% vs TC avg
§102
12.6%
-27.4% vs TC avg
§112
0.8%
-39.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 831 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §Other
` N m, n n 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 . Claims 1- 20 are pending. 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. Claim(s) 1- 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by O’Shea et al (US20190227962) hereinafter O’Shea. As to claim 1, O’Shea discloses an integrated circuit, comprising: one or more communication systems (Fig. 1, with a plurality of communication systems such as 110, 104, and 105, para. 0051); and a dispatcher circuit (Fig. 1, and module 106) configured to: receive messages from another integrated circuit (Fig. 1 with data exchange between 104 and 106, para. 0051); determine a message from the messages intended for one of the one or more communication systems (Fig. 1, where module 106 manages data flow between it and the plurality of radios, para. 0053); and provide the message to the one of the one or more communication systems based on an event (Fig. 2 illustrates the flow based on commands from Module 106, para. 0056 where the datagram determines event). As to claim 8, O’Shea discloses a method, comprising: receive, by a first integrated circuit, messages from a second integrated circuit (Fig. 1, with a plurality of communication systems such as 110, 104, and 105, para. 0051); determining a message from the messages intended for a communication system of a plurality of communication systems of the first integrated circuit (Fig. 1, where module 106 manages data flow between it and the plurality of radios, para. 0053); and providing, by the first integrated circuit, the message to the one of the one or more communication systems based on an event (Fig. 2 illustrates the flow based on commands from Module 106, para. 0056 where the datagram determines event). As to claim 15, O’Shea discloses a system, comprising: a first integrated circuit (Fig. 1, and circuit 106); and a second integrated circuit configured to: receive messages from the first integrated circuit (Fig. 1, and circuit 104, para. 0051); determine a message from the messages intended for one of one or more communication systems of the second integrated circuit (Fig. 1, where module 106 manages data flow between it and the plurality of radios, para. 0053); and provide the message to the one of the one or more communication systems based on an event (Fig. 2 illustrates the flow based on commands from Module 106, para. 0056 where the datagram determines event). As to claims 2, 9, and 16, O’Shea discloses the integrated circuit, wherein the dispatcher circuit is further configured to: generate an interrupt signal based on another message from the messages; and provide the interrupt signal to another one of the one or more communication systems (Fig. 1 with manager and radio) based on an event (Fig. 11 illustrates event where application processor 1102 sends an interrupt to dispatcher peripheral 1124 that would deliver said interrupt to a radio device, para. 0078). As to claims 3, 10, and 17, O’Shea discloses the integrated circuit, wherein the interrupt signal is configured to cause the other one of the one or more communication systems to perform at least one of: transition to a particular power state (Fig. 4, with power track module 422 that senses the state, para. 0062); or report a status thereof (Fig. 4 where power status is monitored, para. 0062). As to claims 4, 11, and 18, O’Shea discloses the integrated circuit, wherein the dispatcher circuit is further configured to: determine a first time at which each of the messages is received from the other integrated circuit (Fig. 8 with start at 806, and para. 0070); and determine a second time at which the message is provided to the one of the one or more communication systems (Fig. 8 and the second time, para. 0071). As to claims 5, 12, and 19, O’Shea discloses the integrated circuit, wherein, to determine the first time and the second time, the dispatcher circuit is configured to: determine the first time and the second time based on at least one of: a local clock signal of the integrated circuit (Fig. 8 with clock SCLK 804, para. 0070; or a global clock signal associated with the integrated circuit and the other integrated circuit (common clock between devices, para. 0072). As to claims 6, 13, and 20, O’Shea discloses the integrated circuit, wherein the event comprises at least one of: a determination that the message has a particular priority level (Fig. 9, and para. 0075); or a determination that arbitration for utilizing a bus to provide the message is successful (Fig. 9, and arbitration between communication links). As to claims 7, and 14, O’Shea discloses the integrated circuit, wherein, to determine the message from the messages intended for one of the one or more communication systems, the dispatcher circuit is configured to: determine that a rule of a predefined set of rules associated with the one of the one or more communication systems is satisfied (Fig. 3 with state machine determining the arbitration and other protocols, para. 0058). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US10496562, US20160134553, and US20120084378, among others teach the engagement of a plurality of devices on a shared bus managed by a planned trigger. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY DALEY whose telephone number is (571)272-3625. The examiner can normally be reached 7 - 3:30 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, Dr. Henry Tsai can be reached at 571 2724176. 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. /C.A.D/Examiner, Art Unit 2184 /HENRY TSAI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2184
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 19, 2025
Application Filed
Jun 01, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Jun 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §Other (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12681883
STACKED DEVICE SYSTEM
1y 9m to grant Granted Jul 14, 2026
Patent 12659054
DATA TRANSMISSION EFFICIENCY ANALYZING METHOD, SYSTEM THEREOF AND COMPUTER READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM
2y 5m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12657147
INTERFACE CIRCUIT AND METHOD
2y 2m to grant Granted Jun 16, 2026
Patent 12645623
STREAMING SCAN NETWORK LATENCY BALANCING TO REDUCE COST OF TESTING IDENTICAL REPLICATED BLOCKS
2y 0m to grant Granted Jun 02, 2026
Patent 12639103
QUEUE BYPASSING INTERRUPT HANDLING
4y 9m to grant Granted May 26, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
84%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+10.5%)
2y 7m (~1y 3m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 831 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month