Prosecution Insights
Last updated: September 17, 2026
Application No. 19/212,926

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPULSIVE NOISE DETECTION AND MITIGATION

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
May 20, 2025
Priority
May 20, 2024 — IN 202441039407
Examiner
KASSA, ZEWDU A
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Hfcl Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
89%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 0m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 89% — above average
89%
Career Allowance Rate
730 granted / 823 resolved
+28.7% vs TC avg
Moderate +5% lift
Without
With
+5.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
838
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
6.1%
-33.9% vs TC avg
§103
76.0%
+36.0% vs TC avg
§102
9.9%
-30.1% vs TC avg
§112
1.4%
-38.6% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 823 resolved cases

Office Action

§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 . 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. 1. Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Caire (US 2010/0322327) in view of Rahman (US 2016/0380797). 1. As per claim 1, Caire teaches a method for impulsive noise detection and suppression, comprising: detecting (202), by a processor (570), a position of impulsive noise in a frequency-domain signal based at least on identifying a position of null subcarriers in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0037 0033. Furthermore, it is well-known in the art at the time of the invention to perform the instant limitation for the benefit of detecting and mitigating noise to improve communication see Rahman US 2016/0380797 for example ¶0030); and initiating, by the processor (570), the suppression of the impulsive noise from the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0037).Therefore, taking the combined teaching of Caire and Rahman as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the instant limitation for the benefit of detecting and mitigating noise to improve communication. 2. As per claim 2, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method as claimed in claim 1, wherein detecting, by the processor (570), the position of the impulsive noise comprises: for each of a plurality of positions in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0037): selecting (208), by the processor (570), a given position of the plurality of positions for the impulsive noise in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0047); predicting (208), by the processor (570), a value of the impulse noise based on the position of the null subcarriers (Caire, ¶0047); updating (210), by the processor (570), a received vector corresponding to the frequency-domain signal by removing the impulse noise (Caire, ¶0037); and determining (212), by the processor (570), an estimated noise energy value of the updated received vector for the given position in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0047). 3. As per claim 3, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method method as claimed in claim 2, comprising: determining (214), by the processor (570), the given position in the frequency-domain signal having a minimum estimated noise energy value (Caire, ¶0047); and identifying (216), by the processor (570), the given position in the frequency-domain signal as the position of the impulsive noise (Caire, ¶0047). 4. As per claim 4, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the position of the null subcarriers is identified via a control signal (Caire, ¶0036-0037). 5. As per claim 5, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method method as claimed in claim 3, comprising suppressing (216), by the processor (570), the impulsive noise by: subtracting, by the processor (570), additional magnitude value from the received vector caused by the value of the impulsive noise at the detected position of the impulsive noise (Caire, ¶0037). 6. As per claim 6, Caire teaches a wireless communication system (100) for impulsive noise detection and suppression, comprising: a transmitter (102) (Caire, ¶0016 “… transmitter …”) configured to: encode an input signal; modulate the encoded signal for transmission through a communication channel (106) (Caire, ¶0016 “… modulated …”); and transform the modulated signal into a time-domain signal (Caire, ¶0016 “… perform inverse fast Fourier transform …”); the communication channel (106) configured to transmit the time-domain signal and a control signal from the transmitter (102) to a receiver (104) (Caire, ¶0016); and the receiver (104) configured to: receive the time-domain signal and the control signal from the transmitter (102) via the communication channel (106) (Caire, ¶0016 “… receiving …’); transform the time-domain signal into a frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0016 (“… perform Fast Fourier transform …”); detect a position of impulsive noise in the frequency-domain signal based at least on identifying a position of null subcarriers in the frequency-domain signal via the control signal (Caire, ¶0037 0033. Furthermore, it is well-known in the art at the time of the invention to perform the instant limitation for the benefit of detecting and mitigating noise to improve communication see Rahman US 2016/0380797 for example ¶0030); and initiate the suppression of the impulsive noise from the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0037). Therefore, taking the combined teaching of Caire and Rahman as a whole, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to implement the instant limitation for the benefit of detecting and mitigating noise to improve communication. 7. As per claim 7, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method system (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the receiver (104) is configured to detect the position of the impulsive noise by being configured to: for each of a plurality of positions in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0037): select a given position of the plurality of positions for the impulsive noise in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0047); predict a value of the impulse noise based on the position of the null subcarriers (Caire, ¶0047); update a received vector corresponding to the frequency-domain signal by removing the impulse noise (Caire, ¶0037); and determine an estimated noise energy value of the updated received vector for the given position for the impulsive noise in the frequency-domain signal (Caire, ¶0037). 8. As per claim 8, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method system (100) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the receiver (104) is configured to: determine the given position in the frequency-domain signal having a minimum estimated noise energy value (Caire, ¶0047); and identify the given position in the frequency-domain signal as the position of the impulsive noise (Caire, ¶0047). 9. As per claim 9, Caire in view of Rahman teaches the method system (100) as claimed in claim 8, wherein the receiver (104) is configured to suppress the impulsive noise from the determined position of the impulsive noise in the frequency-domain signal by subtracting additional magnitude value from the received vector caused by the value of the impulsive noise (Caire, ¶0037). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A KASSA whose telephone number is (571)270-5253. The examiner can normally be reached 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, David Payne can be reached at 5712723024. 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. ZEWDU A. KASSA Examiner Art Unit 2637 /ZEWDU A KASSA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2635
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Prosecution Timeline

May 20, 2025
Application Filed
Aug 12, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §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
89%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+5.1%)
2y 4m (~1y 0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 823 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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