6G OTA / KPI Test Patent Snapshot 2026
The 6G OTA/KPI test patent space is highly concentrated and in a growth stage, with Samsung Electronics commanding a dominant share and Huawei as the only other substantial filer. Activity accelerated sharply from 2020 onward, making this an early-mover field where a small number of actors are establishing foundational positions.
Samsung leads a highly concentrated, early-stage field
Samsung Electronics holds the top position in this space with 19 patent families, followed by Huawei with 6 and AT&T Intellectual Property with 3. The remaining ranked applicants each hold a single patent family.
The top five filers account for 94% of the combined output of the ranked applicants visible in this query, signaling an unusually tight concentration for a technology still in its formation stage. The gap between Samsung and the second-ranked Huawei is substantial.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 19 | |
| 2 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 6 | |
| 3 | AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I L P | 3 | |
| 4 | NOIDA INST OF ENG & TECH | 1 | |
| 5 | Intel Corporation | 1 | |
| 6 | MediaTek Inc. | 1 | |
| 7 | MS RITU BHADAURIA | 1 |
Samsung’s dominance across wireless network management and performance monitoring branches suggests a deliberate strategy to establish broad foundational coverage as 6G test standards are being defined. Challengers entering now face an incumbent with a significant head start.
Filing counts for the most recent 18–24 months are understated due to patent publication lag and should be read as a lower bound on actual activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Filing activity has surged since 2020, anchored in wireless network management
The annual filing trend and the technology branch composition together reveal a field that ignited around 2020 and is overwhelmingly rooted in wireless network standards, with only nascent coverage in adjacent computing and antenna branches.
Annual filing trend
Filings were absent before 2020, then spiked in 2022 and again in 2024, reflecting the pace of 6G standards development. The 2025 and 2026 bars are understated due to publication lag and should not be read as a plateau or decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H04W (Wireless communication networks) is visible in the branch mix, followed by H04L (Digital information transmission) and H04B (Transmission, general). AI-model computing (G06N), electric digital data processing (G06F), and antennas (H01Q) each appear at very low counts, marking them as under-served adjacent branches.
↗ 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.
Method and apparatus for CSI measurement and repor…
The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. Apparatuses and methods for channel state information (CSI) measurement and reporting. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving a configuration about a CSI report. The configuration includes information about K measurement… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 测量方法和测量装置 | 12 |
| 2 | Facilitating heterogeneous network analysis and re… | 11 |
| 3 | Data collection techniques for wireless systems | 1 |
| 4 | 测量方法和测量装置 | 1 |
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.
Assignee snapshot from the current evidence set
The applicants below are visible in this query result. Because the evidence set is relatively small, read this section as a directional snapshot rather than a full competitive ranking.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung holds 19 patent families — more than double the rest of the ranked applicants combined — and its recent filings trend as a new entrant with 13 families in the recent period. Its technology focus spans H04W 24 (network monitoring), H04W 88 (multi-mode devices), and H04W 28 (resource management), reflecting a broad coverage strategy across the OTA/KPI test workflow rather than a narrow sub-specialty.
families: 19Huawei Technologies
Huawei holds 6 patent families and is also classified as a new entrant, with all 6 in the recent period. Its technology focus is concentrated in H04W 24 (network monitoring), indicating a targeted approach to KPI measurement and reporting rather than the broader system-level coverage pursued by Samsung. AT&T Intellectual Property, with 3 families, rounds out the meaningful secondary tier, focusing on H04W 16 (network design) and H04W 28 (resource management).
families: 6Frequently asked questions
The current corpus contains 32 patent families in scope. This is a small absolute count, consistent with the field’s emergence from near-zero activity before 2020.
Samsung Electronics is the clear leader with 19 patent families, followed by Huawei Technologies with 6 and AT&T Intellectual Property with 3. All other ranked applicants hold a single family each.
The field is classified as Growth. Annual filings were absent before 2020 and have risen sharply since, with the multi-year window showing a 1000% increase. Recent-year figures are understated due to publication lag.
Europe (EPO) leads with 11 patent records, followed by WIPO PCT with 8, India with 5, the United States with 4, China with 3, and Canada with 1.
No co-applicant filing relationships appear in the current dataset. The collaboration evidence is pending. Given the early stage of 6G standardization, formal patent-level partnerships have not yet emerged in this corpus.
G06N (AI/ML-based computing), G06F (electric digital data processing), and H01Q (antennas) each have very low patent-record counts — 2, 1, and 1 respectively — relative to the visible H04W class. These branches are adjacent to core OTA testing workflows and have minimal dedicated coverage.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
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.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.