2. Contents Executive Summary …….……………………………………………………………………4 I. Patent Data Pool 1.1 LTE Patents Data Pool ……………………………………………………………………..9 1.2 LTE Patent Search Details ……………………………………………………………….10 II. Patent Evaluation2.1 Essentiality Analysis ………………………………………………………………………122.2 LTE RAN Technical Specifications Details ……………………………………………..132.3 Essentiality Analysis Details ……………………………………………………………..14III. Patent for Modem Product3.1 LTE Baseband Modem Products ………………………………………………………..223.2 LTE Essential IP for Baseband Modem Products ……………………………………..233.3 Technology Innovation Analysis for LTE Modem ………………………………………25 3.4 LTE Modem Innovation Competitor Analysis …………………………………………..27
3. Contents IV. Patent for Protocol Product4.1 LTE Radio Protocol Products …………………………………………………..………..304.2 LTE Essential IP for Protocol Products …………………………………………………314.3 Technology Innovation Analysis for LTE Protocol ...……………………………………33 4.4 LTE Protocol Innovation Competitor Analysis ………………………...………………..35V. Strategic Patent Analysis5.1 LTE IPR Governance & Patent Pool …………………………………………………….385.2 LTE IP Landscape Change & NPE Issues ……………………………………………..40 5.3 LTE Essential IP Asset Valuation ………………………………………………………..425.4 White Space Analysis for Patent Portfolio Development …………………………….43AppendixA1. Essential Patent Claim Drafting Strategy ………………………………………………46 A2. Patent Portfolio Development Method ………………………………………………….52
4. Executive Summary LTE patent portfolios are researched for US market leader among LTE UE (cellular phones, smart phones, PDAs, mobile PCs, etc.) and base station (eNB) product manufactures. To find the key IPR holders for the LTE patents, a keyword search of the USPTO patent data base has been performed. For completeness, patent data in the lists of patents declared essential to 3GPP LTE appear at the ETSI IPR Online website is also included. Total of 1327 LTE patents, issued and published applications in the US as of Dec. 31 2010, are analyzed to find essential patent candidates for LTE RAN (Radio Access Network) standards. To evaluate the essentiality of a LTE patent, patent disclosures in claim and detail description for each LTE patent are compared to the final versions of the 3GPP Release 8 technical specifications.
9. 1.1 LTE Patents Data Pool This report is based on the LTE patent analysis for commercial LTE RAN (Radio Access Network) products such as the LTE UEs (User Equipments: cellular phones, smart phones, PDAs, mobile PCs, etc.) and LTE base station products (eNBs). A data pool for the LTE patents (issued patents and published applications) is formed to find the key IPR holders for the LTE patents using the following data base:
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12. 2.1 Essentiality Analysis An essential patent is defined as patent that contain one or more claims that are infringed by the implementation of a specification for standardized technology. Thus, if a LTE product is implemented following the standard specifications, it should infringe some essential patents. To evaluate the essentiality of a LTE patent, patent disclosures in claim and detail description for each LTE patent are compared to the final versions of the 3GPP Release 8 technical specifications for the LTE RAN (Radio Access Network): PHY: TS 36.211, 212, 213 L2/L3 Protocols: TS 36.321, 322, 323, 331 Total of 152 patents are identified as the potential candidates for LTE essential patents for the LTE RAN.
23. 3.1 LTE Baseband Modem Products There are several commercial LTE baseband modem products in the market:
24. 3.2 LTE Essential IP for Baseband Modem Products 3GPP standard specifications for LTE baseband modem are consist of three core parts: OFDM/MIMO Processor (TS 36.211), Channel Coder (TS 36.212), and Control SW (TS 36.213).
25. Fig. 3.2 LTE essential IP share for Modem Products
26. 3.3 Technology Innovation Analysis for LTE Modem To excess the technology innovation for LTE baseband modem, the identified essential patent candidates are classified by the key technology components for an implementation of the LTE baseband modem: OFDM/OFDMA (Frame & Slot Structure, Modulation), SC-FDMA (PUSCH, PUCCH), Channel Estimation (UL RS, DL RS, CQI), Cell Search & Connection (PRACH, DL SS), MIMO (Transmit Diversity, Spatial Multiplexing), Resource Management (Resource Allocation, Scheduling), Coding (Convolution, Turbo), Power Control, and HARQ.
27. Fig. 3.3 LTE Technology Innovation for Baseband Modem
28. 3.4 LTE Modem Innovation Competitor Analysis Top 5 LTE essential IP shareholders’ patent portfolios, classified by the key technology components for an implementation of the LTE baseband modem, are compared to excess the innovation competitiveness.
31. 4.1 LTE Radio Protocol Products There are several commercial LTE protocol products in the market:
32. 4.2 LTE Essential IP for Protocol Products 3GPP standard specifications for LTE radio protocol are consist of four core parts: MAC (TS 36.321), RLC (TS 36.322), PDCP (TS 36.323), and RRC (TS 36.331).
34. 4.3 Technology Innovation Analysis for Protocol To excess the technology innovation for LTE radio protocol, the identified essential patents are classified by the key technology components for an implementation of the LTE radio protocol: Random Access, HARQ, Channel Prioritization, Scheduling (Dynamic, SPS), Protocol Format (PDUs, SDUs), Radio Link Control (ARQ), PDCP Process (SRB, DRB, ROHC), Security (Ciphering, Integrity), System Information, Connection Control, and Mobility (Handover, Inter-RAT, Measurements).
36. 4.4 LTE Protocol Innovation Competitor Analysis Top 4 LTE essential IP shareholders’ patent portfolios, classified by the key technology components for an implementation of the LTE radio protocol, are compared to excess the innovation competitiveness.
47. A1. Essential Patent Claim Drafting Strategy Analysis of claims for the essential candidates suggests several strategy factors in drafting essential patent applications: Strategy 1. Write the claim using several statutory claim types. <Case study>
53. A2. Patent Portfolio Development Method A typical way to develop the essential patent is to participate in the standardization process and try to get IPRs for the standards in parallel (strategic alignment between standardization and IPR). Without the strategic alignment between standardization and IPR process, however, there is an alternative way to develop the essential patent portfolio through patent engineering process. The LTE patent engineering process utilizes the existing patent portfolio. The patent engineering process for LTE essential patent development is as follows.
