5G Network Optimization (SON) Patent Landscape 2026
The 5G Self-Organizing Network optimization space is highly concentrated, with Samsung Electronics holding a commanding lead and the top five filers collectively dominating the hundred largest filers. The field reached peak annual volume in 2022 and has since plateaued, signaling maturity in core SON techniques even as adjacent AI and transmission branches remain comparatively sparse.
Samsung leads a concentrated field with a wide tier gap to challengers
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd holds the top position with 313 patent families, more than three times the count of the second-ranked filer, AT&T Intellectual Property I L P at 82 patent families. This gap is the single most important structural feature of the landscape.
The top five filers — Samsung Electronics, AT&T Intellectual Property I L P, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Apple Inc, and Intel Corp — account for 58% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, confirming tight concentration at the upper tier. The tier below (Verizon, Parallel Wireless, Huawei, T-Mobile US) is closely bunched in the 29–40 patent family range, creating a distinct second cluster.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | 313 | |
| 2 | AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I L P | 82 | |
| 3 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ) | 77 | |
| 4 | Apple Inc | 64 | |
| 5 | Intel Corp | 63 | |
| 6 | VERIZON PATENT & LICENSING INC | 40 | |
| 7 | Parallel Wireless Inc | 39 | |
| 8 | Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | 34 | |
| 9 | T-Mobile US Inc | 29 | |
| 10 | AT&T MOBILITY II LLC | 26 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | AT&T TECHNICAL SERVICES CO INC | 23 | |
| 12 | Fractal Networks LLC | 18 | |
| 13 | T-Mobile Innovations LLC | 11 | |
| 14 | Jio Platforms Ltd | 11 | |
| 15 | China Mobile Communications Group Co Ltd | 10 | |
| 16 | LG Electronics Inc | 9 | |
| 17 | Cisco Technology Inc | 7 | |
| 18 | Nokia Technologies Oy | 6 | |
| 19 | Charter Communications Operating LLC | 6 | |
| 20 | Guavus Inc | 6 |
Samsung’s position implies it controls the broadest set of SON-related claims across wireless network management subclasses, giving it significant leverage in standard-essential patent licensing and cross-licensing negotiations. Challengers seeking differentiation must either target sub-areas where Samsung’s coverage is thinner or compete on forward citation influence.
Filing counts for 2024–2026 are under-represented due to the 18–24 month publication lag inherent in patent systems; apparent declines in those years should not be interpreted as a real drop in inventive activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Volume peaked in 2022; wireless networks dominate the technology mix
Two charts capture the field’s trajectory and composition: annual filing volume shows a clear build-up and plateau, while the IPC branch breakdown reveals the overwhelming dominance of wireless network management and the relative scarcity of AI and transmission sub-areas.
Annual filing trend
Filings grew rapidly from 33 families in 2017 to a peak of 183 in 2022, then eased to 152 in 2023 and 114 in 2024. The 2025 and 2026 counts (76 and 12 respectively) are heavily understated by publication lag and should not be read as a continuation of the downward trend.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H04W (Wireless communication networks) is overwhelmingly dominant, reflecting the core SON subject matter. H04L (Digital information transmission) is the second branch but at a fraction of H04W’s share. G06N (AI/computing models) and H04B (Transmission general) are present but comparatively sparse, pointing to areas where the field has not yet been densely claimed.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Systems and methods for self-organizing network pr…
A computer system may include a memory storing instructions and processor configured to execute the instructions to obtain image data relating to a path of Fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) wireless signals sent or received by a base station; analyze the obtained image data to identify sources of interference for the 5G NR wireless signals; and estimate… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cellular system | 417 |
| 2 | Enabling network slicing in a 5g network with CP/u… | 162 |
| 3 | Spectrum access optimization including for 5G or o… | 157 |
| 4 | RAN Condition and Cell Composite Load Indicators | 150 |
| 5 | Solution for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communica… | 121 |
| 6 | Intelligence and Learning in O-RAN for 5G and 6G C… | 95 |
| 7 | Dynamic spectrum sharing in 4G and 5G | 88 |
| 8 | Paging cause determination for inactive device in … | 87 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the patent structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a mature core, a dominant single leader, active intra-group collaboration, and US-centric jurisdiction coverage shapes where new entrants and challengers can realistically compete.
Field has plateaued near its 2022 peak
The lifecycle stage is Maturity: annual filings plateaued near the 2022 peak of 183 families and have eased since. On a multi-year basis the corpus still reflects a 13% recent growth window, but the era of rapid volume expansion in core SON techniques appears to have passed. R&D resources are better directed toward adjacent or application-layer branches than toward re-filing in already-dense subclasses.
Lifecycle: MatureSingle-firm dominance creates both barrier and opportunity
Samsung Electronics at 313 patent families outpaces the second-ranked filer by more than 3.8×. The top five filers hold 58% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output. This level of concentration means new entrants face a dense prior-art landscape in core H04W24 and H04W28 subclasses. However, the tight second-tier cluster (Verizon, Parallel Wireless, Huawei, T-Mobile US) suggests meaningful competition remains possible outside Samsung’s core subclasses.
High concentrationAT&T entities dominate co-filing; one cross-firm partnership stands out
The most active co-filing relationships are within the AT&T corporate family: AT&T Intellectual Property I L P co-files with AT&T Mobility II LLC (23 shared families) and AT&T Technical Services Co Inc (23 shared families), and several three-way overlaps exist among those three entities. The only notable cross-firm collaboration is Parallel Wireless Inc with Phasorlab Inc (5 shared families), suggesting the broader ecosystem has not yet developed dense cross-company co-development patterns in this space.
Intra-group co-filingUS-centric coverage with meaningful EPO and China presence
The United States leads with 438 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 175 and China at 160. WIPO PCT filings number 118, indicating cross-regional protection intent. India at 65 records is notable given the presence of Jio Platforms Ltd in the applicant ranking. Japan, Germany, and Australia have materially lower counts, suggesting selective rather than blanket multi-jurisdiction filing strategies among most applicants.
US-led, multi-regionGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | AT&T移动第二有限责任公司 | 23 |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | AT&T TECHNICAL SERVICES CO INC | 23 |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | AT&T知识产权二部有限合伙公司 | 8 |
| AT&T移动第二有限责任公司 | AT&T知识产权二部有限合伙公司 | 8 |
| AT&T移动第二有限责任公司 | AT&T TECHNICAL SERVICES CO INC | 8 |
| Parallel Wireless Inc | Phasorlab Inc | 5 |
| Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | Beijing Samsung Telecom R&D Center Co Ltd | 1 |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ) | Ericsson Inc | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Samsung accelerates while most challengers pull back
The leader-challenger gap is widening in terms of momentum: Samsung is the only top-five filer showing strong recent growth, while AT&T, Ericsson, Apple, and Intel have all reduced recent filing pace.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Samsung leads with 313 patent families and a recent-period filing trend of +109% versus the prior three-year window — the only top-tier filer showing accelerating momentum. Its technology focus is concentrated in H04W 24 (234 families), H04W 28 (99 families), and H04W 88 (91 families), covering network monitoring, traffic management, and device types — the core SON subclasses. This breadth and acceleration suggest Samsung is actively extending its claim perimeter rather than consolidating.
patent families: 313Parallel Wireless Inc
Parallel Wireless stands out among challengers with 39 patent families and a +25% recent filing trend — one of only two top-ten filers with positive momentum alongside Samsung. Its technology emphasis on H04W 16 (network planning and architecture, 21 families) and H04W 84 (network types including open-RAN, 12 families) differentiates it from the H04W 24/28-centric portfolios of the larger players. Its cross-firm collaboration with Phasorlab Inc (5 co-filed families) further signals an ecosystem-building strategy.
patent families: 39| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co Ltd | 171 | ▲ +109% |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | 30 | ▼ -32% |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Publ) | 31 | ▼ -6% |
| Apple Inc | 12 | ▼ -76% |
| Intel Corp | 23 | ▼ -26% |
| Verizon Patent and Licensing Inc | 9 | ▼ -53% |
| Parallel Wireless Inc | 20 | ▲ +25% |
| Huawei Technologies Co Ltd | 8 | ▼ -62% |
AI models and transmission sub-areas are under-served relative to the wireless core
Several IPC branches appear in the corpus at low share relative to H04W, representing adjacent technical ground where claim density is lower. Whether each constitutes an actionable entry point depends on technical fit and competitive context.
G06N · AI and Computing Models
G06N accounts for 78 patent records at roughly 4% of the corpus — a small footprint given the growing role of machine learning in SON functions such as anomaly detection, load prediction, and handover optimization. The top-cited work ‘Intelligence and Learning in O-RAN for 5G and 6G’ (95 forward citations) signals recognized technical value in this intersection. Entrants with AI/ML infrastructure expertise could file in G06N-anchored claims that complement rather than duplicate the dense H04W24 core, particularly in O-RAN controller intelligence.
Search this in Eureka →H04B · Transmission (General)
H04B holds 128 patent records at 7% of the corpus, covering physical-layer transmission aspects that underpin SON decisions such as beam management, interference coordination, and signal quality monitoring. While not negligible in absolute count, it is sparse relative to the H04W dominance. The cited work on ‘RAN Condition and Cell Composite Load Indicators’ (150 forward citations) touches this boundary. Teams working on radio resource management at the physical layer may find H04B subclasses less contested than the network-management subclasses.
Search this in Eureka →Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 1,023 patent families in scope across the 5G Network Optimization (SON) topic.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd leads with 313 patent families, more than three times the count of the second-ranked filer, AT&T Intellectual Property I L P at 82 patent families.
The United States leads with 438 patent records, followed by Europe (EPO) at 175 and China at 160.
The field is in a Maturity stage. Annual filing volume peaked at 183 families in 2022 and has eased since. The multi-year window still shows a 13% recent growth figure, but the rapid expansion phase of core SON techniques has passed. Note that 2024–2026 counts are understated due to publication lag.
The most active co-filing relationships are within the AT&T corporate family. AT&T Intellectual Property I L P co-files with both AT&T Mobility II LLC and AT&T Technical Services Co Inc at 23 shared families each. Outside the AT&T group, Parallel Wireless Inc and Phasorlab Inc share 5 co-filed families, which is the most significant cross-firm collaboration in the data.
G06N (AI and computing models) at roughly 4% of the corpus and H04J (Multiplex communication) and H01Q (Antennas) at approximately 1% each are among the lower-density branches adjacent to the dominant H04W core. H04B (Transmission general) at 7% is also comparatively sparse relative to the wireless network management subclasses that dominate the field.
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Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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