Pith. sign in

REVIEW 1 major objections 1 minor 1 cited by

PASS proposes MWSP least-squares and MWMP grid-search positioning from waveguide signals, then relocates PAs for downlink rates whose errors and trade-offs are derived.

Reviewed by Pith at T0; open to challenge. T0 means a machine referee read the full paper against a public rubric. the ladder, T0–T4 →

T0 review · grok-4.3

2026-06-29 16:26 UTC pith:T6CGLVG3

load-bearing objection New multi-waveguide positioning algorithms for PASS with closed-form derivations and error analysis, but all under LOS and single stationary user assumptions that limit the robustness claim. the 1 major comments →

arxiv 2605.26517 v1 pith:T6CGLVG3 submitted 2026-05-26 eess.SP

Integrated Positioning and Communications for PASS: A Robust Approach

classification eess.SP
keywords pinching-antenna systemsintegrated positioning and communicationmulti-waveguideRSSI rangingleast-squares positioninggrid searchachievable data rategeometric dilution of precision
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved

The pith

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The paper develops two uplink positioning schemes for pinching-antenna systems that use multiple dielectric waveguides: an RSSI-based least-squares estimator when one PA is active per waveguide and a grid-search estimator when multiple PAs are active, both under line-of-sight conditions. Closed-form error expressions are obtained for each scheme, after which the estimated user location is used to reposition the PAs and the resulting achievable downlink rates are analyzed. A sympathetic reader would care because the same reconfigurable hardware now performs both localization and data delivery, with explicit numerical confirmation that geometry, waveguide layout, PA count, and noise jointly set the accuracy-rate operating point.

Core claim

For the MWSP scenario the RSSI-based least-squares algorithm produces lower average positioning error when geometric dilution of precision is small and achieves its best accuracy in regions where distances to the active PAs are nearly equal; for the MWMP scenario the grid-search algorithm on the superposed signal yields improved accuracy with non-parallel waveguide placement, although error grows as the number of PAs increases; noise exerts a double negative effect on downlink rate, establishing a quantifiable trade-off between positioning accuracy and communication performance.

What carries the argument

The MWSP least-squares and MWMP grid-search positioning algorithms that convert received signal strengths or superposed amplitudes into a user-location estimate used to relocate pinching antennas for subsequent downlink transmission.

Load-bearing premise

The derivations and algorithms assume line-of-sight channels together with a single stationary user.

What would settle it

A measurement campaign or simulation in which the user moves or the channel contains non-line-of-sight paths, checking whether the closed-form positioning-error expressions and rate formulas continue to match observed performance.

Watch this falsifier — get emailed when new claim-graph text bears on it.

If this is right

  • Smaller geometric dilution of precision directly lowers average positioning error in the MWSP case.
  • Even with large GDoP, regions of nearly equal distance to the PAs still give the lowest error.
  • Non-parallel waveguide layouts raise positioning accuracy in the MWMP case.
  • Increasing the number of PAs raises positioning error in the MWMP case.
  • Noise simultaneously degrades both the positioning estimate and the subsequent downlink rate.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

  • The stationary-user assumption implies that an online tracking filter would be needed before the same hardware could serve mobile terminals.
  • Because the error analysis is derived under line-of-sight, any practical deployment would require supplementary robustness mechanisms when walls or obstacles are present.
  • The demonstrated accuracy-rate trade-off suggests that system designers could treat the number and spacing of waveguides as tunable parameters to meet a target positioning tolerance while preserving rate.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit.

Referee Report

1 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript proposes multi-waveguide single-PA (MWSP) and multi-waveguide multi-PA (MWMP) uplink positioning methods for pinching-antenna systems (PASS) in indoor environments. For MWSP it develops RSSI-based ranging and a least-squares (LS) positioning algorithm with accompanying error analysis; for MWMP it derives a closed-form expression for the superposed signal, proposes a grid-search estimator, and analyzes its error. Based on the positioning result the PAs are relocated for downlink communication, and achievable rates are derived for both scenarios. All derivations and numerical results are obtained under line-of-sight channels and a single stationary user; simulations are used to illustrate GDoP dependence, effects of waveguide geometry and number of PAs, and the positioning-communication trade-off including the double impact of noise on rate.

Significance. If the derivations and numerical trends hold, the work supplies closed-form expressions and explicit error analyses that clarify geometric and noise effects in PASS, together with concrete observations on GDoP, waveguide deployment, and rate-accuracy trade-offs. These analytical contributions are a strength and could guide design in controlled LOS settings.

major comments (1)
  1. [Title and Abstract] Title and Abstract: the claim of a 'Robust Approach' is not supported by the analysis. All positioning error expressions, GDoP results, MWMP grid-search performance, and rate derivations rest on the explicit assumptions of line-of-sight channels and a single stationary user; these assumptions are load-bearing for the reported trends (smaller GDoP improves accuracy, non-parallel waveguides help, etc.). No analysis or simulation under multipath or mobility is provided, so the robustness claim cannot be substantiated from the presented material.
minor comments (1)
  1. The abstract states that 'numerical results validate the correctness of our analysis' but does not report simulation parameters, number of Monte-Carlo trials, or confidence intervals; adding these details would make the validation claims easier to assess.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the constructive feedback. We address the single major comment below.

read point-by-point responses
  1. Referee: [Title and Abstract] Title and Abstract: the claim of a 'Robust Approach' is not supported by the analysis. All positioning error expressions, GDoP results, MWMP grid-search performance, and rate derivations rest on the explicit assumptions of line-of-sight channels and a single stationary user; these assumptions are load-bearing for the reported trends (smaller GDoP improves accuracy, non-parallel waveguides help, etc.). No analysis or simulation under multipath or mobility is provided, so the robustness claim cannot be substantiated from the presented material.

    Authors: We agree that the phrase 'A Robust Approach' in the title risks overstating the scope, as all derivations, error analyses, and numerical results are derived under the explicit LOS and single-stationary-user assumptions stated in the abstract. The manuscript does not claim or demonstrate robustness to multipath or mobility. We will therefore revise the title to 'Integrated Positioning and Communications for PASS' and update the abstract and introduction to foreground the modeling assumptions and the resulting scope of the geometric and noise trade-offs that are analyzed. revision: yes

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity; derivations are self-contained under stated assumptions

full rationale

The paper derives RSSI ranging, MWSP LS positioning with GDoP error analysis, MWMP superposed-signal closed form and grid-search estimator, plus post-positioning rate expressions, directly from the channel model and geometry under explicit LOS/single-stationary-user assumptions. Numerical results are presented as validation of these derivations rather than as fitted inputs renamed as predictions. No self-citations, ansatzes smuggled via prior work, or uniqueness theorems are invoked as load-bearing steps; the central claims reduce to standard algebraic manipulations and Monte-Carlo checks of the proposed expressions, remaining independent of the target performance trends.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 2 axioms · 0 invented entities

Only the abstract is available; the central claims rest on the stated assumptions of LOS channels and a single stationary user, with no free parameters or invented entities mentioned.

axioms (2)
  • domain assumption Line-of-sight channels
    Explicitly assumed for the MWSP and MWMP scenarios in the abstract.
  • domain assumption Single, stationary user
    Explicitly assumed for the scenarios considered in the abstract.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.1-grok · 5868 in / 1309 out tokens · 45331 ms · 2026-06-29T16:26:44.934367+00:00 · methodology

0 comments
read the original abstract

The pinching-antenna systems (PASS), which dynamically activate and relocate the pinching-antennas (PAs) along the dielectric waveguide, offer unprecedented potential for integrated positioning and communication. The multi-waveguide-based uplink positioning approaches for indoor environments are first proposed in this paper, and the downlink communication performance is analyzed. Two possible scenarios, multi-waveguide single-PA (MWSP) and multi-waveguide multi-PA (MWMP), are considered under the assumptions of line-of-sight channels and a single, stationary user. For the MWSP scenario, the received signal strength indication (RSSI)-based ranging method and the MWSP-based least square (LS) positioning algorithm are developed. To gain deeper insights, a comprehensive error analysis of the LS positioning algorithm is conducted. Subsequently, for the MWMP scenario, the closed-form expression of the superposed signal is derived. According to the signal power, the MWMP-based grid search algorithm is proposed and the estimation error of proposed algorithm is analyzed. Then, based on the user's positioning result, the PAs are relocated to provide downlink communication service, and the achievable data rate of MWSP and MWMP scenarios are analyzed. Numerical results validate the correctness of our analysis, which show that: i) For the MWSP scenario, a smaller geometric dilution of precision (GDoP) leads to a lower average positioning error. Furthermore, even when the GDoP is large, the regions where the distances to PAs are nearly equal achieve the best accuracy. ii) For the MWMP scenario, non-parallel waveguide deployment improves positioning accuracy, although errors increase with the number of PAs. iii) The noise has a serious double-impact on data rate. There is a trade-off between positioning accuracy and communication performance.

Figures

Figures reproduced from arXiv: 2605.26517 by Anna Li, Arumugam Nallanathan, Jun Wang, Tianwei Hou, Xin Sun, Yaoyu Zhang, Yuanwei Liu.

Figure 1
Figure 1. Figure 1: MWSP system model. B. Organization and Notations The structure of this paper is as follows. Section I intro￾duces the background, motivation and contribution of this work. Section II and Section III propose the system models, positioning algorithms and analysis results for the MWSP and MWMP scenarios, respectively. In Section IV, we discuss the numerical evaluations of the proposed positioning algorithms. … view at source ↗
Figure 2
Figure 2. Figure 2: Physical principle of PASS. where c represents the speed of light and fc is the carrier frequency. duk represents the distance between the user and PA of the k-th waveguide, which can be written as: duk = q (xk − xu) + (yk − yu) 2 + h 2. (2) For the small-scale fading component, the channel coef￾ficients are normalized, with analysis focused solely on the phase shift resulting from free-space transmission.… view at source ↗
Figure 3
Figure 3. Figure 3: MWMP system model. 2) Positioning Model: For far-field scenario1 , the large￾scale fading from the user to each PA element in a waveguide can be approximated as identical due to the relatively small array aperture compared to the link distance. Similar to (1), the large-scale channel between the user and the i-th waveguide can be modeled as: hls (dui) = c 4πfcdui , (39) where dui represents the distance be… view at source ↗
Figure 4
Figure 4. Figure 4: Schematic diagram of normalized superposition powe [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p008_4.png] view at source ↗
Figure 5
Figure 5. Figure 5: Positioning error distribution for various PA deplo [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p010_5.png] view at source ↗
Figure 7
Figure 7. Figure 7: Positioning errors in SWMP scenario, the noise power [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p011_7.png] view at source ↗
Figure 8
Figure 8. Figure 8: Positioning errors in MWMP scenario, where [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p011_8.png] view at source ↗
Figure 9
Figure 9. Figure 9: Positioning errors under different numbers of PAs, a [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p011_9.png] view at source ↗
Figure 10
Figure 10. Figure 10: Average positioning errors of parallel and non-par [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p012_10.png] view at source ↗
Figure 12
Figure 12. Figure 12: Data rate of MWSP and MWMP scenarios versus the [PITH_FULL_IMAGE:figures/full_fig_p012_12.png] view at source ↗

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Forward citations

Cited by 1 Pith paper

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

  1. Uplink Positioning for PASS in Multipath Environments

    eess.SP 2026-07 conditional novelty 4.0

    A multipath-robust uplink positioning framework for pinching-antenna systems, with a matrix-pencil ranging algorithm and a low-complexity rank-one variant, plus closed-form variance and position-error-bound analysis.

Reference graph

Works this paper leans on

38 extracted references · 2 canonical work pages · cited by 1 Pith paper

  1. [1]

    Massive MIMO for next generation wireless systems,

    E. G. Larsson, O. Edfors, F. Tufvesson, and T. L. Marzetta , “Massive MIMO for next generation wireless systems,” IEEE Commun. Mag. , vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 186–195, Feb. 2014

  2. [2]

    Scaling up MIMO: Opportunitie s and challenges with very large arrays,

    F. Rusek, D. Persson, B. K. Lau, E. G. Larsson, T. L. Marzet ta, O. Edfors, and F. Tufvesson, “Scaling up MIMO: Opportunitie s and challenges with very large arrays,” IEEE Signal Process. Mag. , vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 40–60, Dec. 2012

  3. [3]

    Massive MIMO networks: Spectral, energy, and hardware efficiency,

    E. Bj¨ ornson, J. Hoydis, L. Sanguinetti et al., “Massive MIMO networks: Spectral, energy, and hardware efficiency,” F ound. Trends Signal Pro- cess., vol. 11, no. 3-4, pp. 154–655, Nov. 2017

  4. [4]

    6G wireless networks: Vision, requirements, ar chitecture, and key technologies,

    Z. Zhang, Y . Xiao, Z. Ma, M. Xiao, Z. Ding, X. Lei, G. K. Kara giannidis, and P . Fan, “6G wireless networks: Vision, requirements, ar chitecture, and key technologies,” IEEE V eh. Technol. Mag. , vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 28–41, Jul. 2019

  5. [5]

    Wireless communications through reconfigurable intelligent surfaces,

    E. Basar, M. Di Renzo, J. De Rosny, M. Debbah, M.-S. Alouin i, and R. Zhang, “Wireless communications through reconfigurable intelligent surfaces,” IEEE Access , vol. 7, pp. 116 753–116 773, Aug. 2019

  6. [6]

    Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communi- cations: Principles, challenges, and opportunities,

    M. A. ElMossallamy, H. Zhang, L. Song, K. G. Seddik, Z. Han , and G. Y . Li, “Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for wireless communi- cations: Principles, challenges, and opportunities,” IEEE Trans. Cogn. Commun. Netw., vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 990–1002, May. 2020

  7. [7]

    Flexible antennas: A review ,

    S. G. Kirtania, A. W. Elger, M. R. Hasan, A. Wisniewska, K. Sekhar, T. Karacolak, and P . K. Sekhar, “Flexible antennas: A review ,” Micro- machines, vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 847–889, Sep. 2020

  8. [8]

    Flexible anten na: A review of design, materials, fabrication, and applications,

    M. Al-Haddad, N. Jamel, and A. N. Nordin, “Flexible anten na: A review of design, materials, fabrication, and applications,” in Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 1878, no. 1. IOP Publishing, 2021, p. 012068

  9. [9]

    Flexible antenna arrays for wireless communic ations: Modeling and performance evaluation,

    S. Y ang, J. An, Y . Xiu, W. Lyu, B. Ning, Z. Zhang, M. Debbah, and C. Y uen, “Flexible antenna arrays for wireless communic ations: Modeling and performance evaluation,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 4937–4951, 2025

  10. [10]

    Movable antennas for wirele ss commu- nication: Opportunities and challenges,

    L. Zhu, W. Ma, and R. Zhang, “Movable antennas for wirele ss commu- nication: Opportunities and challenges,” IEEE Commun. Mag. , vol. 62, no. 6, pp. 114–120, Oct. 2023

  11. [11]

    F luid antenna systems,

    K.-K. Wong, A. Shojaeifard, K.-F. Tong, and Y . Zhang, “F luid antenna systems,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 1950–1962, Nov. 2020

  12. [12]

    Modeling a nd beamforming optimization for pinching-antenna systems,

    Z. Wang, C. Ouyang, X. Mu, Y . Liu, and Z. Ding, “Modeling a nd beamforming optimization for pinching-antenna systems,” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 73, no. 12, pp. 13 904–13 919, Oct. 2025

  13. [13]

    Flexible-antenna s ystems: A pinching-antenna perspective,

    Z. Ding, R. Schober, and H. V . Poor, “Flexible-antenna s ystems: A pinching-antenna perspective,” IEEE Trans. Commun. , vol. 73, no. 10, pp. 9236–9253, Mar. 2025

  14. [14]

    Pinc hing- antenna systems: Architecture designs, opportunities, an d outlook,

    Y . Liu, Z. Wang, X. Mu, C. Ouyang, X. Xu, and Z. Ding, “Pinc hing- antenna systems: Architecture designs, opportunities, an d outlook,” IEEE Commun. Mag. , vol. 64, no. 1, pp. 190–196, Sep. 2025

  15. [15]

    Pinching antennas: Principles, appli- cations and challenges,

    Z. Y ang, N. Wang, Y . Sun, Z. Ding, R. Schober, G. K. Karagi annidis, V . W. Wong, and O. A. Dobre, “Pinching antennas: Principles, appli- cations and challenges,” IEEE Wireless Commun. , vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 175–184, Oct. 2025

  16. [16]

    Pinching antenna: Using a d ielectric waveguide as an antenna,

    H. O. Y . Suzuki and K. Kawai, “Pinching antenna: Using a d ielectric waveguide as an antenna,” NTT DOCOMO Tech. J. , vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 5–12, Jan. 2022

  17. [17]

    Antenna activation fo r NOMA as- sisted pinching-antenna systems,

    K. Wang, Z. Ding, and R. Schober, “Antenna activation fo r NOMA as- sisted pinching-antenna systems,” IEEE Wireless Commun. Lett., vol. 14, no. 5, pp. 1526–1530, Mar. 2025

  18. [18]

    Array gain for pi nching- antenna systems (PASS),

    C. Ouyang, Z. Wang, Y . Liu, and Z. Ding, “Array gain for pi nching- antenna systems (PASS),” IEEE Commun. Lett., vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 1471– 1475, May. 2025

  19. [19]

    LoS blockage in pinching-antenn a systems: Curse or blessing?

    Z. Ding and H. V . Poor, “LoS blockage in pinching-antenn a systems: Curse or blessing?” IEEE Wireless Commun. Lett. , vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 2798–2802, Jun. 2025

  20. [20]

    Pinching-anten na systems with LoS blockages,

    K. Wang, C. Ouyang, Y . Liu, and Z. Ding, “Pinching-anten na systems with LoS blockages,” IEEE Wireless Commun. Lett. , vol. 14, no. 12, pp. 4122–4126, Sep. 2025

  21. [21]

    Pinching-antenna system design with los blockage: Does in-waveguide attenuation matter?

    Y . Xu, Z. Ding, O. A. Dobre, and T.-H. Chang, “Pinching-a ntenna sys- tem design with LoS blockage: Does in-waveguide attenuatio n matter?” arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.07131 , Oct. 2025

  22. [22]

    A gradient meta-learning joint optimization for beamformin g and antenna position in pinching-antenna systems,

    K. Zhou, W. Zhou, D. Cai, X. Lei, Y . Xu, Z. Ding, and P . Fan, “A gradient meta-learning joint optimization for beamformin g and antenna position in pinching-antenna systems,” IEEE Trans. Commun. , vol. 74, pp. 1099–1112, Nov. 2025

  23. [23]

    Multiuser beamform ig for pinching-antenna systems: An element-wise optimization f ramework,

    M. Sun, C. Ouyang, S. Wu, and Y . Liu, “Multiuser beamform ig for pinching-antenna systems: An element-wise optimization f ramework,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun. , vol. 25, pp. 6538–6552, Jun. 2025

  24. [24]

    Joint beamformin g for NOMA assisted pinching antenna systems (PASS),

    D. Gan, X. Xu, J. Zuo, X. Ge, and Y . Liu, “Joint beamformin g for NOMA assisted pinching antenna systems (PASS),” IEEE Trans. Commun., vol. 74, pp. 2450–2465, Jun. 2025

  25. [25]

    Wi-Fi fingerprint-based indoor positioning: Recent advances and comparisons,

    S. He and S.-H. G. Chan, “Wi-Fi fingerprint-based indoor positioning: Recent advances and comparisons,” IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor ., vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 466–490, Aug. 2015

  26. [26]

    Ultra wideband indoor posi- tioning technologies: Analysis and recent advances,

    A. Alarifi, A. Al-Salman, M. Alsaleh, A. Alnafessah, S. A l-Hadhrami, M. A. Al-Ammar, and H. S. Al-Khalifa, “Ultra wideband indoor posi- tioning technologies: Analysis and recent advances,” Sensors, vol. 16, no. 5, p. 707, May. 2016

  27. [27]

    Evaluation of angle of arrival estimation f or localization in multiple indoor environments,

    S. Wielandt, A. V an Nieuwenhuyse, J.-P . Goemaere, B. Na uwelaers, and L. De Strycker, “Evaluation of angle of arrival estimation f or localization in multiple indoor environments,” in 2014 Ubiquitous Positioning Indoor Navigation and Location Based Service (UPINLBS) . IEEE, 2014, pp. 36–43

  28. [28]

    RIS-a ided indoor positioning system based on passive reflective elements opt imization,

    Q. Pu, X. Lan, M. Zhou, F. Jiang, R. Cai, and L. Guo, “RIS-a ided indoor positioning system based on passive reflective elements opt imization,” IEEE Trans. V eh. Technol., vol. 73, no. 11, pp. 17 095–17 105, Jul. 2024

  29. [29]

    Indoor loca lization with reconfigurable intelligent surface,

    T. Ma, Y . Xiao, X. Lei, W. Xiong, and Y . Ding, “Indoor loca lization with reconfigurable intelligent surface,” IEEE Commun. Lett. , vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 161–165, Sep. 2020

  30. [30]

    Machine learning enhanced indoor positioning with RIS-ai ded channel configuration and analysis,

    Y . Xu, Z. Li, Z. Zhao, B. H. Aguenoukoun, J. Liu, Z. Chang, and Y . Liu, “Machine learning enhanced indoor positioning with RIS-ai ded channel configuration and analysis,” in 2024 IEEE 23rd International Conference on Trust, Security and Privacy in Computing and Communicati ons (TrustCom). IEEE, 2024, pp. 2653–2660

  31. [31]

    Pinching-antenna aystems (PASS)-based indoor positioni ng,

    Y . Zhang, X. Sun, J. Wang, T. Hou, A. Li, Y . Liu, and A. Nall anathan, “Pinching-antenna aystems (PASS)-based indoor positioni ng,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.08185, 2025

  32. [32]

    Okamoto, Fundamentals of optical waveguides

    K. Okamoto, Fundamentals of optical waveguides . Elsevier, 2021

  33. [33]

    R. S. Rao, Microwave engineering. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., 2015

  34. [34]

    Distance from a point to a line,

    J. C. Morrison, “Distance from a point to a line,” in Graphics Gems II . Elsevier, 1991, pp. 10–13

  35. [35]

    Maor, The Pythagorean theorem: A 4,000-year history

    E. Maor, The Pythagorean theorem: A 4,000-year history . Princeton University Press, 2019, vol. 65

  36. [36]

    Zhang, Matrix analysis and applications

    X. Zhang, Matrix analysis and applications . Cambridge University Press, 2017

  37. [37]

    On the performance o f uplink pinching antenna systems (PASS),

    T. Hou, Y . Liu, and A. Nallanathan, “On the performance o f uplink pinching antenna systems (PASS),” IEEE Trans. Commun. , vol. 74, pp. 92–105, Oct. 2026

  38. [38]

    I. R. Shafarevich and A. O. Remizov, Linear algebra and geometry . Springer Science & Business Media, 2012