6G Radio Resource Control Patent Landscape 2026
Samsung Electronics commands an outsized share of the 6G Radio Resource Control patent corpus, creating a highly concentrated field with a wide gap between the leader and all challengers. The field is still expanding on a multi-year basis, though annual filing volume has eased from its 2023 peak, with recent years further understated by publication lag.
Samsung leads a field with extreme concentration at the top
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is the dominant filer by a wide margin, holding the top position in the applicant ranking with 3,506 patent families — more than thirty times the count of the second-ranked filer. The top five filers account for 94% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers, indicating a level of concentration that is unusually high even by telecom standards.
Below Samsung, the ranking drops sharply. The Massengill Family Trust (103 patent families) and Newman David E (85 patent families) occupy the second and third positions, followed by AT&T Intellectual Property I L P and Huawei Tech Co. Ltd. at 40 patent families each. The tier gap between first and second place is more than thirty-fold, leaving essentially no near-term challenger.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 3,506 | |
| 2 | The Massengill Family Trust | 103 | |
| 3 | Newman, David E. | 85 | |
| 4 | AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I L P | 40 | |
| 5 | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 40 | |
| 6 | Nokia Technologies Oy | 20 | |
| 7 | Qualcomm Incorporated | 18 | |
| 8 | Intel Corporation | 14 | |
| 9 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | 10 | |
| 10 | MediaTek Inc. | 9 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Apple Inc. | 8 | |
| 12 | BEIJING SAMSUNG TELECOM R&D CENT | 8 | |
| 13 | Radisys India Pte. Ltd. | 7 | |
| 14 | Tejas Networks Ltd. | 7 | |
| 15 | Nanjing University | 6 | |
| 16 | Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur | 5 | |
| 17 | KOREA UNIV RES & BUSINESS FOUND | 5 | |
| 18 | Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 5 | |
| 19 | SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY R&DB FOUNDATION | 5 | |
| 20 | Lenovo (United States) Inc. | 5 |
Samsung’s position implies that its portfolio defines the technical vocabulary of the field — the most-cited claims, the dominant IPC subclasses, and the primary collaboration network all center on its filing activity. New entrants and challengers must navigate a landscape where the leading filer has already staked out the core resource-scheduling and signal-transmission design space.
Filings from 2025 and 2026 are materially under-counted due to the standard 18–24 month patent publication lag; the apparent slowdown in those years does not reflect actual inventive activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Rapid multi-year growth anchored in wireless and digital transmission
The annual filing trend reveals a field that emerged from near-zero activity before 2019 and accelerated steeply through 2023, while the technology composition chart shows that wireless network resource management and digital information transmission together account for the overwhelming majority of patent activity.
Annual filing trend
Filings were negligible through 2018, rose to 14 in 2019, then accelerated to 40 (2020), 118 (2021), 889 (2022), and peaked at 1,270 in 2023. The 2024 figure of 963 and 2025 figure of 525 reflect a combination of genuine easing from the 2023 peak and systematic under-counting from publication lag; the 2026 value of 56 should be treated as a lower bound only.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H04W (Wireless communication networks) and H04L (Digital information transmission) dominate the IPC mix, with H04B (Transmission, general) a distant third. Adjacent branches — G06N (AI/computing models), H04J (Multiplex communication), and G01S (Radar, sonar and positioning) — each hold low single-digit shares, signaling that AI-native resource control and integrated sensing remain under-developed relative to core radio scheduling.
↗ 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 transmission power contro…
The disclosure relates to a 5G or 6G communication system for supporting a higher data transmission rate. A method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system in the present disclosure to solve the above problems, comprises receiving, from a base station, a radio resource control (RRC) message including first power control configuration… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Method and apparatus for transceiving signal using… | 148 |
| 2 | Method and apparatus for measuring and reporting i… | 49 |
| 3 | Method and apparatus for transmitting uplink chann… | 28 |
| 4 | Method and device for controlling uplink transmiss… | 25 |
| 5 | Method and apparatus to transmit and receive signa… | 23 |
| 6 | Low-power wake-up signal and method and device usi… | 22 |
| 7 | Method and apparatus for resource allocation in ti… | 22 |
| 8 | Method and apparatus for transmission and receptio… | 22 |
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 competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of a growth-stage lifecycle, extreme applicant concentration, and sparse adjacent branches creates distinct strategic implications depending on whether a team is defending, challenging, or entering the space.
Growth stage — expanding corpus, past 2023 peak
The field carries a Growth lifecycle designation: three-year filing volume sits well above the prior three-year window, representing a growth rate of approximately 1,715% on that basis. Annual volume peaked in 2023 at 1,270 patent families and has eased since, but recent years remain understated by publication lag. Teams entering now face an established but still-evolving prior-art landscape rather than a mature, crowded one.
Growth stageExtreme top-tier concentration; challengers sparse
The top five filers hold 94% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, with Samsung alone accounting for the vast majority. The second through fifth ranked filers each hold between 40 and 103 patent families — a gap that is difficult to close organically in the near term. New entrants such as Nokia Technologies Oy, Qualcomm Inc., and Beijing Samsung Telecom R&D Centre are showing recent momentum but from a small base.
Highly concentratedSamsung anchors a Korean university co-filing network
The most active co-filing relationships are all Samsung-centric. Samsung Electronics co-filed with Beijing Samsung Telecom R&D Centre (13 joint families), Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (6), Korea University Research and Business Foundation (5), Seoul National University R&DB Foundation (5), Sungkyunkwan University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (3), and Yonsei University Industrial Foundation (3). Nokia Technologies Oy recorded single co-filings with Nokia Solutions (Shanghai) and Nokia Solutions and Networks. No multi-party coalitions independent of Samsung are evident in the evidence.
Samsung-centric ecosystemEurope (EPO) and WIPO lead jurisdiction filings; US third
Europe (EPO) is the leading filing jurisdiction, followed closely by WIPO (PCT), with the United States third. China and India each represent meaningful but smaller volumes. South Korea and Japan trail further behind despite being home to leading applicants, suggesting that filers are prioritizing broad international coverage through PCT and EPO routes rather than domestic-only protection. Teams seeking freedom-to-operate should ensure their clearance covers both EPO and WIPO grant paths.
EPO and PCT dominantGo 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Beijing Samsung Telecom R&D Centre | 13 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 延世大学校产学协力团 | 6 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Korea University Research and Business Foundation | 5 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Seoul National University R&DB Foundation | 5 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Sungkyunkwan University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation | 3 |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Yonsei University Industrial Foundation | 3 |
| Nokia Technologies Oy | Nokia Solutions (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. | 1 |
| Nokia Technologies Oy | Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Samsung leads at scale; Huawei shows the sharpest challenger momentum
Two tiers define the competitive map: Samsung Electronics at a category of its own, and a cluster of challengers — Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm — that are accelerating from small bases.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
Samsung holds 3,506 patent families in the ranking, more than thirty times the second-ranked filer. Its technical emphasis is concentrated in H04W 72 (wireless resource scheduling, 2,747 records), H04L 5 (multi-carrier digital transmission, 1,762 records), and H04B 7 (transmission, 883 records), covering the core resource-control design space. Momentum is exceptional — recent three-year filings reached 2,877, representing approximately 25 times the prior three-year volume.
patent families: 3,506Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
Huawei holds 40 patent families and is the fastest-growing established challenger, with recent three-year filings up approximately 150% versus the prior period. Its focus spans H04W 72 (resource scheduling, 24 records), H04L 5 (digital transmission, 10 records), and H04W 52 (power-aware scheduling, 10 records). The power-efficiency subclass coverage distinguishes Huawei’s portfolio from the pure scheduling and transmission emphasis of most other filers.
patent families: 40| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 2,877 | ▲ 25× vs prior 3-yr |
| Newman, David E. | 99 | ▲ new entrant |
| Massengill R. Kemp | 99 | ▲ new entrant |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 25 | ▲ +150% |
| AT&T知识产权一部有限合伙公司 | 10 | ▼ -66% |
| Nokia Technologies Oy | 9 | ▲ new entrant |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | 11 | ▲ new entrant |
| Beijing Samsung Telecom R&D Centre | 13 | ▲ new entrant |
AI-native control and integrated sensing are under-served adjacent branches
Three IPC branches sit at the margin of the dominant wireless and digital-transmission core. Each is sparsely populated relative to the corpus size, and each has plausible technical linkage to 6G radio resource control; their low filing counts may reflect early-stage exploration rather than lack of relevance.
G06N · AI-driven resource management
G06N (Computing based on AI models) accounts for only 95 patent records — a low-single-digit share of branch-level activity — despite AI-native scheduling and reinforcement-learning-based RRC being widely discussed in 6G standardization. This sparsity suggests that machine-learning approaches to dynamic spectrum and power allocation have not yet been claimed at scale. Teams with expertise in neural-network inference on baseband hardware have a potential entry path into a branch where prior art is thin and technical differentiation is achievable.
Search this in Eureka →G01S · Integrated sensing and resource control
G01S (Radar, sonar and positioning) covers only 62 patent records, making it the sparsest of the three adjacent branches. Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is a defining 6G capability, requiring joint radio resource control across communication and sensing functions. The low filing count may indicate that cross-disciplinary claims bridging radar/positioning signal processing with RRC scheduling remain largely unexplored. Organisations with radar or LiDAR backgrounds could find a realistic entry path here, particularly for UAV and satellite ISAC use cases — consistent with the small B64C and B64U entries already visible in the corpus.
Search this in Eureka →How leading filers differ across technology sub-routes
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H04W 72 · Wireless communication networks | H04L 5 · Digital information transmission | H04B 7 · Transmission (general) | H04W 52 · Wireless communication networks | H04L 1 · Digital information transmission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Strong · 2,747 | Strong · 1,762 | Moderate · 883 | Moderate · 674 | Moderate · 648 |
| Massengill R. Kemp | Strong · 66 | Strong · 66 | Moderate · 26 | Moderate · 22 | Moderate · 27 |
| Newman, David E. | Strong · 66 | Strong · 66 | Moderate · 26 | Moderate · 22 | Moderate · 27 |
| AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Strong · 28 | Strong · 28 | Moderate · 14 | Moderate · 6 | Strong · 16 |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | Strong · 24 | Moderate · 10 | Absent | Moderate · 10 | Moderate · 5 |
| Nokia Technologies Oy | Strong · 14 | Strong · 16 | Moderate · 6 | Moderate · 4 | Moderate · 5 |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | Strong · 14 | Strong · 10 | Absent | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 3,875 patent families in scope globally. Filing activity was negligible before 2019 and accelerated sharply through 2023, the peak year with 1,270 families recorded.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is the dominant filer with 3,506 patent families in the ranking — more than thirty times the count of the second-ranked filer, The Massengill Family Trust (103 families). The top five filers collectively hold 94% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output.
Europe (EPO) leads with 1,282 patent records, followed closely by WIPO (PCT) with 1,262. The United States ranks third with 791, followed by China (241) and India (215). South Korea and Japan trail significantly despite being home to leading filers.
The field is classified as Growth stage. Three-year filing volume is approximately 1,715% above the prior three-year window. Annual volume peaked in 2023 and has eased since, but the most recent years are further understated by publication lag, so the apparent slowdown should not be read as a genuine decline.
Three branches stand out as sparse relative to corpus size: G06N (Computing based on AI models, 95 records), H04J (Multiplex communication, 68 records), and G01S (Radar, sonar and positioning, 62 records). Each has low single-digit share of branch-level activity, making them adjacent branches worth monitoring for white-space entry.
The collaboration network is heavily Samsung-centric. Samsung Electronics’ most active co-filing partners are Beijing Samsung Telecom R&D Centre (13 joint families), Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation (6), Korea University Research and Business Foundation (5), and Seoul National University R&DB Foundation (5). Nokia Technologies Oy recorded single co-filings with two Nokia group entities. No significant independent multi-party coalition outside Samsung’s network is evident in the evidence.
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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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