Prosecution Insights
Last updated: July 17, 2026
Application No. 18/799,095

POSITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS

Non-Final OA §102
Filed
Aug 09, 2024
Priority
Feb 11, 2022 — CN 202210130537.4 +1 more
Examiner
AJIBADE AKONAI, OLUMIDE
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
84%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 2m
Est. Remaining
94%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 84% — above average
84%
Career Allowance Rate
999 granted / 1182 resolved
+24.5% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+9.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
1210
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.1%
-36.9% vs TC avg
§103
69.8%
+29.8% vs TC avg
§102
15.8%
-24.2% vs TC avg
§112
5.7%
-34.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1182 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 1-7, 9-11, 13, 14, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Manolakos et al US 20260067052 (hereinafter Manolakos). Regarding claim 1, Manolakos discloses a positioning method applied to a first communication device (410, see fig. 4, [0094]), the method comprising: receiving one or more reference signals (subcarrier signals 420, 425, see [0037], [0094]) sent by a second communication device (405, see fig. 4, [0094]); and sending N pieces of phase information, wherein the N pieces of phase information are obtained based on the one or more reference signals sent by the second communication device (determining carrier phase measurement, transmit the carrier phase measurements to an LMF, see [0094]), the N pieces of phase information are used to determine a distance between the first communication device and the second communication device (see [0094]), and N is a positive integer (420, 425, see [0094]). Regarding claim 2 as applied to claim 1, Manolakos further discloses wherein the one or more reference signals are sent by the second communication device on M frequency resources, and M is a positive integer (subcarrier signals, see [0037], [0094]-[0095]). Regarding claim 3 as applied to claim 2, Manolakos further discloses wherein the N pieces of phase information are N carrier phase values of the one or more reference signals (see [0094]), the N carrier phase values have a one-to-one correspondence to N frequencies of the one or more reference signals (see [0037], [0094]-[0096]), and the N frequencies, of the one or more reference signals, are comprised in the M frequency resources (resource elements, see [0035]-[0036], [0075]-[0076], [0101]). Regarding claim 4 as applied to claim 2, Manolakos further discloses wherein each of the N pieces of phase information is obtained by linearly combining K carrier phase values of the one or more reference signals (see [0107]), the K carrier phase values have a one-to-one correspondence to K frequencies of the one or more reference signals (see [0107]), the K frequencies, of the one or more reference signals, are comprised in the M frequency resources (see [0100]-[0101], [0107]-[0108]), and K is a positive integer (see [0107]-[0108]). Regarding claim 5 as applied to claim 1, Manolakos further discloses sending N pieces of frequency information, wherein the N pieces of frequency information have a one-to-one correspondence to the N pieces of phase information (determining carrier phase measurement, transmit the carrier phase measurements to an LMF, see [0094], [0145]). Regarding claim 6, Manolakos discloses a positioning method, comprising: receiving N pieces of phase information from a first communication device (receiving device 410 determining carrier phase measurement, transmitting the carrier phase measurements to an LMF, see [0094]), wherein the N pieces of phase information are obtained based on one or more reference signals sent by a second communication device (receiving device 410, receiving subcarrier signals 420, 425, from transmitting device 405, see [0037], [0094]), and N is a positive integer (420, 425, see [0094]); and determining the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the N pieces of phase information (see [0094]). Regarding claim 7 as applied to claim 6, Manolakos further discloses wherein determining the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the N pieces of phase information comprises: determining the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device based on a first frequency, a first phase (see [0094]), and a first mapping relationship (see [0037]), wherein the first frequency is a frequency value having a first linear relationship with N pieces of frequency information (see [0146]), the N pieces of frequency information have a one-to-one correspondence to the N pieces of phase information (see [0037], [0094]), the first phase is a phase value having the first linear relationship with the N pieces of phase information (see [0037], [0094]), and the first mapping relationship comprises a mapping relationship between a distance between communication devices, a phase, and a frequency (see [0037], [0094]-[0095]). Regarding claim 9 as applied to claim 6, Manolakos further discloses: receiving a first linear combination coefficient and/or a frequency set, wherein the first linear combination coefficient indicates the first linear relationship, and the frequency set comprises the N pieces of frequency information (subcarriers, see [0007], [0009]-[0011]). Regarding claim 10, Manolakos discloses a positioning method applied to a first communication device (410, see fig. 4, [0094]), the method comprising: receiving one or more reference signals (subcarrier signals 420, 425, see [0037], [0094]) sent by a second communication device (405, see fig. 4, [0094]); determining a distance between the first communication device and the second communication device based on N pieces of phase information (see [0094]), wherein the N pieces of phase information are obtained based on the one or more reference signals (determining carrier phase measurement, transmit the carrier phase measurements to an LMF, see [0094]), and N is a positive integer (420, 425, see [0094]); and sending first information indicating the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device (determining carrier phase measurement, transmit the carrier phase measurements to an LMF, see [0094]). Regarding claim 11 as applied to claim 10, Manolakos further discloses wherein determining the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device based on the N pieces of phase information comprises: determining the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device based on a first frequency, a first phase (see [0094]), and a first mapping relationship (see [0037]), wherein the first frequency is a frequency value having a first linear relationship with N pieces of frequency information (see [0146]), the N pieces of frequency information have a one-to-one correspondence to the N pieces of phase information (see [0037], [0094]), the first phase is a phase value having the first linear relationship with the N pieces of phase information (see [0037], [0094]), and the first mapping relationship comprises a mapping relationship between a distance between communication devices, a phase, and a frequency (see [0037], [0094]-[0095]). Regarding claim 13 as applied to claim 11, Manolakos further discloses: receiving a first linear combination coefficient and/or a frequency set, wherein the first linear combination coefficient indicates the first linear relationship, and the frequency set comprises the N pieces of frequency information (subcarriers, see [0007], [0009]-[0011]). Regarding claim 14 as applied to claim 10, Manolakos further discloses wherein the first information includes the distance between the first communication device and the second communication device (determining carrier phase measurement, transmit the carrier phase measurements to an LMF, see [0094]). Regarding claim 16 as applied to claim 7, Manolakos further discloses wherein the first mapping relationship meets the following expression: PNG media_image1.png 43 258 media_image1.png Greyscale wherein ƿ represents a distance between communication devices, N represents an integer ambiguity, f represents a frequency, φ represents a phase, and c represents a speed of light (see [0112]-[0113]). Regarding claim 17 as applied to claim 1, Manolakos further discloses wherein at least one reference signal, of the one or more reference signals, comprises one or more of: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a sounding reference signal (SRS), a positioning sounding reference signal (POS-SRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), and a sidelink reference signal (see [0036]). Regarding claim 18 as applied to claim 1, Manolakos further discloses wherein N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2 (420, 425, see [0094]). Allowable Subject Matter Claims 8, 12, and 15 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Cho US 20160011297 discloses a positioning method of a terminal using a wireless signal. The positioning method may include: receiving carrier signals with start point information indicated thereon from three or more base stations (BSs) including a serving BS; calculating a difference in phase angles between carrier signals of two BSs, while changing the two BSs, by using the start point information of the carrier signals of the two BSs among the three or more BSs; calculating differences in distances of arrival from the corresponding two BSs to the terminal by using the calculated differences in phase angles; and calculating coordinates of the terminal by using the calculated differences in distances of arrival. Manolakos et al US 20250048157 discloses one or more processors are configured to and can: receive, from a user equipment (UE), a phase measurement capability of the UE for subcarrier set pairs of different resources received by the UE, the different resources be associated with a reference signal; transmit, to the UE, a phase measurement request from a network entity for configure phase measurements of the subcarrier set pairs of the different resources; and receive, from the UE, a phase measurement report to the network entity based on the phase measurement request, the phase measurement report including information associated with a measured phase difference of at least one subcarrier set pair associated with the different resources. Bao et al US 11,812,404 discloses a method of providing positioning reference signal information includes: transmitting wirelessly, from an apparatus, a positioning reference signal comprising a carrier signal with a carrier phase; and transmitting, from the apparatus, an indication of a reference carrier phase of the positioning reference signal, comprising a phase of the carrier signal of the positioning reference signal at a reference time of transmission of the positioning reference signal. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLUMIDE T AJIBADE AKONAI whose telephone number is (571)272-6496. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM. 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, RESHA DESAI can be reached at 571-270-7792. 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. /OLUMIDE AJIBADE AKONAI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3648
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Prosecution Timeline

Aug 09, 2024
Application Filed
Jun 24, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102 (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
84%
Grant Probability
94%
With Interview (+9.3%)
3y 1m (~1y 2m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1182 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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