4G Key Technologies Patent Landscape

4G Key Technologies Patent
Landscape

2Q. 2009

©2009 TechIPm, LLC All Rights Reserved www.techipm.com

1. SC-FDMA Patent Landscape

SC-FDMA (Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access) is a key
technology for LTE Up-Link (from UE to eNode-B) Communication. SC-FDMA
reduces the PAPR (Peak-Average-Power-Ratio): high PAPR was the problem
with the conventional OFDMA.

Analysis for US patents issued before January 1, 2009 and published patent
applications before May 1, 2009 shows that 3Com is and Samsung are the
leader in issued patent and published patent application respectively.
(Fig. 1.1 and Fig. 1.2)

©2009 TechIPm, LLC All Rights Reserved www.techipm.com 2

Fig. 1.1 Top 5 assignees for SC-FDMA issued patents


Fig. 1.2 Top 5 assignees for SC-FDMA published patent
applications


2. OFDMA Patent Landscape

OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access), which is a multiple
access version of the well known OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division
Multiplexing) modulation, is the most important technology in current and
emerging wireless communications.

Analysis for the top 25 assignees in US patents issued before May 1, 2009
shows that AT&T is the leader followed by Matsushita Electric, Qualcomm,
Samsung Electronics, Intel, and Motorola. (Fig 2.1)


Fig. 2.1 Top 25 assignees for OFDMA issued patents


3. MIMO Patent Landscape

MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) is a key technology for IEEE .802.11n,
WiMax, and LTE utilizing multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver
to improve wireless communication performance.

Analysis for US patents issued before May 1, 2009 and published patent
applications before May 1, 2009 shows that there was a dramatic increase in
patent applications recently due to active technology innovations in 4G mobile
Communications. (Fig. 3.1)

As for the issued patents, Qualcomm is the leader followed by Intel and Lucent
as of April 30. 2009. (Fig. 3.2)

As for the published patent applications, Samsung is the leader followed by
Qualcomm, InterDigital, Broadcom, and TI as of April 30. 2009. (Fig 3.3)


Fig. 3.1 Growth trends for MIMO Issued and published patents


Fig. 3.2 Top 10 assignees for MIMO issued patents


Fig. 3.3 Top 10 assignees for MIMO published patent
applications


4. Femto Cell Patent Landscape

Femto cell is an emerging technology designed for use in residential or small
business area cellular base station.

Research for US published patent applications shows that the femto cell
technology got attention among mobile technology innovators recently
Research for US published patent applications shows that the femto cell
technology got attention among mobile technology innovators recently,
and is expected to be very competitive in technology development near future.
(Fig. 4.1)

Analysis for Top 10 innovators shows that Airwalk Communications and
Qualcomm are the leader followed by Via Telecom and Lucent Technologies as
of June 16, 2009. (Fig. 4.2)


Fig. 4.1 Growth trends for femto cell published patent
applications


Fig. 4.2 Top 10 assignees for femto cell published patent
applications


5. Software Radio Patent Landscape

Software radio system is a wireless communications system where
components that have been implemented in HW are instead implemented
using SW.
Software Radio is a key technology for 4G mobile communications.

Analysis for US patents issued before May 1, 2009 shows that there was a
rapid increase in patent applications recently due to active technology
innovations in 4G mobile communications. (Fig. 5.1)

As for the issued patents, Harris Corporation is the leader followed by Ericsson
and Motorola. (Fig 5.2)


Fig. 5.1 Growth trends for software radio published patent
applications


Fig. 5.2 Top 10 assignees for software radio cell published patent
applications


6. Mesh Networks Patent Landscape

Mesh networks is a key technology for wireless ad hoc networks connected to
each other network nodes via multiple hops.

Analysis for the top 10 assignees in US patents issued before May 1, 2009
shows that Mesh Networks Inc. is the leader followed by Harris, Microsoft,
Nokia, and Cisco. (Fig 6.1)


Fig. 6.1 Top 10 assignees for Mesh Networks issued patents


Thank you!

• If you have any questions
• please contact
• Dr. Alex G. Lee
• at alexglee@ techipm.com


4G Key Technologies Patent Landscape

4G Key Technologies Patent Landscape

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