The evolution of 5G has entered a new phase, one defined not just by faster speeds but by intelligence, adaptability, and cross-domain integration. As 5G-Advanced continues to mature through 2026, it is unlocking capabilities that go far beyond mobile broadband.
Technologies like AI-driven network intelligence, edge computing, non-terrestrial (satellite) networks, and integrated sensing and communication are transforming how devices, vehicles, and industries connect and operate. From enabling autonomous cars to powering smart factories and remote healthcare, 5G-Advanced is becoming the invisible backbone of digital innovation.
5G-Advanced Ecosystem
Strategic analysis of the key technologies and licensing shifts driving the next wave of connectivity.
Strategic Foresight: The Next 3 Years
As 5G-Advanced commercializes, the focus shifts from standards development to monetization. Expect a period of “silent accumulation” followed by aggressive licensing assertions reshaping the landscape.
${item.title}
${item.impact}
Future Outlook
The convergence of these technologies sets the stage for 6G, merging digital and physical realities.
${item.title}
${item.summary}
${item.details}
${tech.title}
Strategic Impact
${tech.details}
This article explores the above five key technologies shaping 5G today and their trajectory through 2026. We reveal how these advancements are creating smarter, greener, and more resilient networks and what they mean for the next generation of connected systems.
Advanced Radio Performance and Network Efficiency
5G brought us faster data speeds, lower delays, and the ability to connect millions of devices at once using advanced antenna technologies like massive MIMO and beamforming.
Now, 5G-Advanced takes these ideas further by adding a layer of intelligence. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to manage how radio signals and network resources are used. This means the system can automatically adjust to changing traffic and user movement, predicting where demand will increase and reducing signal interference before it happens.
As a result, 5G-Advanced networks use the available spectrum more efficiently, consume less power, and deliver smoother performance. They can also monitor themselves, learn from real-time conditions, and balance the network load across different devices and areas, making connectivity faster, smarter, and more reliable than ever before.
Deployment evidence strongly supports this direction.
In the current market, 5G-Advanced is being deployed in pilot phases by major telecom operators such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Huawei, primarily in urban and industrial hubs.
These implementations demonstrate tangible benefits up to 30% higher spectral efficiency and significant latency reductions, paving the way for next-generation applications like autonomous systems, extended reality, and ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC).
The patent data in the charts aligns closely with this market reality. Advanced MIMO and radio performance filings peaked during the 2021–2022 period, when operators began scaling dense 5G SA deployments, and then appear to decline sharply in 2023–2024, a pattern best explained by publication lag and standards convergence rather than reduced innovation.
The dominance of filings by Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, and ZTE reflects sustained investment in areas operators cannot bypass: multi-TRP coordination, advanced MIMO evolution, uplink enhancement techniques, and mobility stability.
As the technology evolves, networks are becoming increasingly autonomous, capable of self-optimizing for latency, energy use, and spectral utilization without human intervention. Patent and research trends indicate that this trajectory will continue toward integrated terrestrial–satellite communication, deep reinforcement learning for resource allocation, and wireless energy-aware systems, forming the basis for 6G networks.
By the end of this decade, we can expect a smooth and interconnected radio ecosystem powered by AI. This system will provide ultra-reliable, energy-efficient, globally connected communication infrastructure. It represents the convergence of smart technology, sustainability, and widespread connectivity.
RedCap, IoT Evolution, and Device-Class Expansion
The development of Reduced Capability (RedCap) technology arose from a significant need in 5G to support mid-tier IoT applications. These devices required 5G-grade connectivity but not the high costs, energy consumption, or complexity associated with complete New Radio (NR) systems.
Traditional 5G designs focused on either high-performance enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) for data-heavy applications or ultra-low-power Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) for low-energy devices. This left many devices, such as wearables, industrial sensors, and XR technologies, without adequate support.
RedCap effectively filled this gap by providing a simplified 5G profile. It features lower bandwidths, a simpler transceiver design, and extended battery life. As a result, it enables the creation of a new class of affordable, energy-efficient, and scalable devices.
The patent filing trajectory from 2020 to 2024 reflects this technological maturation vividly. The surge from 274 to 307 filings between 2020 and 2021 aligns with the 3GPP Release 17 standardization phase, as global leaders like Qualcomm, Ericsson, and Xiaomi raced to secure foundational IP in radio design and signaling optimization.
As 3GPP Release 19 and beyond mature, RedCap devices are expected to evolve from simple low-power terminals into intelligent, context-aware nodes forming the backbone of massive IoT ecosystems. We will see seamless integration of RedCap with non-terrestrial networks (NTN) and ambient IoT, extending 5G coverage to satellites, drones, and remote sensing applications.
Advances in AI-native network management will dynamically allocate resources between RedCap and full-capability NR devices, ensuring optimal performance and energy efficiency. Hardware trends continue to drive miniaturization of chipsets, energy harvesting, and multi-band operation, enabling RedCap modules to power billions of connected devices across healthcare, logistics, and industrial automation.
As RedCap will target emerging industry verticals such as Industrial IoT, Smart Meters, etc., the SEP Holders in RedCap IOT are expected to gain royalty benefits based on their investments in the coming years.
High-Accuracy Positioning and Context-Aware Networks
The rise of high-accuracy positioning and context-aware networks in 5G Advanced marks a significant shift from networks that simply connect to those that can sense and understand their environment. This technology is essential for applications that require extreme precision, such as autonomous driving, drones, smart factories, and XR experiences, where even a few centimeters or milliseconds can make a crucial difference.
Earlier 5G systems provided only meter-level accuracy. However, between 3GPP Releases 16 (2020) and 18 (2024), research and standards introduced innovations such as AI-assisted positioning, carrier-phase measurement, and sensor fusion. These advancements now enable centimeter-level accuracy, demonstrated in studies like Dwivedi et al., IEEE Communications (2021) and Fouda et al., IEEE PIMRC (2022).
The patent filing trend reflects this journey. From 882 filings in 2021 to a peak of 1,188 in 2022, innovators were racing to secure IP around new positioning algorithms, network sensing, and AI localization. The decline to 611 in 2023 and 17 in 2024 signals maturity, a shift from invention to deployment and real-world integration. This pattern shows that the core technologies are now standardized, and companies are focusing on bringing them to market.
The top patent holders reveal where the momentum lies. Nokia (413 patents) leads, focusing on network-based sensing and digital twin localization. Qualcomm (264) and Ericsson (242) drive innovations in chipset-level AI positioning and carrier-phase measurements. Xiaomi, Lenovo, and ZTE apply these features to IoT and edge devices, while Apple, Samsung, and Huawei push for AR/VR and navigation precision in consumer products. This blend of telecom and device makers shows that location intelligence is becoming a universal 5G service, not just a niche feature.
Looking ahead, 3GPP Release 19 (expected 2026) aims to combine terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks (NTN), creating the foundation for Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), a stepping stone to 6G. This means developing systems that fuse radio, sensor, and AI data into real-time awareness.
Also Read:
For industry, it opens doors to autonomous mobility, precision manufacturing, and spatial analytics. Simply put, high-accuracy positioning and context awareness are no longer add-ons; they’re becoming the core intelligence layer of next-generation networks.
Non-Terrestrial Networks and Hybrid Connectivity
Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) and Hybrid Connectivity represent one of the most transformative evolutions in the 5G and emerging 5G Advanced landscape. Initially, satellite systems operated as isolated communication layers, but the convergence of 5G with satellite technologies, enabled by 3GPP Releases 17 and 18, has unified terrestrial and space-based infrastructures into a seamless global network. This integration allows user devices and network cores to dynamically switch between terrestrial and satellite connections, ensuring continuous coverage even in remote or disaster-stricken regions.
Hybrid connectivity leverages both domains to provide high reliability, low latency, and broad accessibility, qualities essential for critical applications such as autonomous transportation, maritime and aviation communications, precision agriculture, and global IoT deployments.
Patent filings grew steadily from 393 in 2020 to 430 in 2021, maintaining strong momentum in 2022 (425 filings). This period aligns with the global industry’s focus on 3GPP Release 17, which formally introduced NTN support within the 5G standard. However, filings sharply declined in 2023 (176) and nearly reached zero in 2024 (2 filings). This is a typical lag pattern that follows an intense phase of foundational standardization, and as patent activity transitions from core architecture to application-level innovations.
Leading the pack, Xiaomi (252 patents) and Qualcomm (201) invested heavily during 2020–2022, marking their strategies to dominate device-level NTN integration and chipset compatibility. Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia follow closely, representing the network infrastructure innovators who contributed significantly to the convergence of satellite and terrestrial systems. Meanwhile, Samsung, LG, ZTE, Apple, and Lenovo focused on end-device adaptation and hybrid connectivity capabilities, ensuring consumer electronics could leverage these networks.
The recent patents (e.g., CN120238171A, CN119363197A) and research projections indicate that the next innovation wave (2025–2030) will center on 6G NTN orchestration, multi-orbit cooperation, and intelligent network control. The emerging focus areas include AI-enhanced resource scheduling, GNSS-independent operations, edge-integrated satellite networks, and real-time beam management, all crucial for transforming NTNs from backup systems into core communication layers in global infrastructure.
For the market, this evolution means that by the late 2020s, NTNs will underpin a new era of ubiquitous connectivity, enabling smart cities, autonomous mobility, maritime logistics, and defense networks to operate seamlessly across terrestrial and space domains. The foundation laid by the patent-heavy 2020–2022 phase is now translating into scalable, intelligent, and commercially viable NTN ecosystems that will define the early 6G decade, moving innovation from protected intellectual property to real-world, revenue-generating applications.
AI/ML-Enabled Network Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)-enabled network intelligence have become foundational innovations driving the evolution of 5G and 5G Advanced communication systems. Initially, 5G networks relied on rule-based automation and static configuration; however, as network complexity and service diversity (eMBB, URLLC, mMTC) expanded, traditional management approaches proved inadequate.
This led to the emergence of AI-driven, self-organizing networks (SONs) and intelligent control frameworks that enable predictive, adaptive, and autonomous operation. Through technologies such as reinforcement learning, deep neural networks, and federated learning, 5G networks can now dynamically optimize radio access, spectrum utilization, slicing, and energy efficiency in real time. The progression toward 5G Advanced further intensifies this integration, embedding intelligence natively within RAN, core, and edge layers to manage ultra-dense, low-latency, and energy-constrained environments.
Also Read:
These innovations are not limited to research; they are increasingly reflected in commercial products such as RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs), AI-empowered network analytics platforms like NetAnticipate, and cloud-native O-RAN xApps. The result is a new generation of network products that deliver 20–30% higher throughput, reduced latency, and improved energy efficiency, while enabling smarter, more resilient connectivity for applications ranging from autonomous vehicles and industrial IoT to immersive extended reality (XR).
Ultimately, AI/ML-enabled network intelligence transforms 5G into a living, learning infrastructure that adapts continuously to demand and environmental shifts, laying the groundwork for the autonomous networks envisioned in 6G.
Between 2020 and 2022, patent activity surged dramatically, from 245 patents in 2020 to 547 in 2022, representing a ~123% growth in filings. This period coincides with the large-scale R&D investments of leading telecom companies such as Nokia (295 patents) and Ericsson (209 patents), both of which have been central to developing AI-enabled network intelligence, RAN automation, and non-terrestrial hybrid network connectivity for 5G and 5G-Advanced systems.
The subsequent decline after 2022 (to 257 in 2023 and 13 in early 2024) reflects a technology maturation phase rather than a loss of momentum. Patent leaders have consolidated IP portfolios, transitioning from exploratory filings to commercialization and standards integration.
Building on this trajectory, the future of AI/ML-enabled network intelligence is set to reshape how networks are conceived, operated, and monetized. Over the next five years, as seen from emerging patents and research (e.g., CN119155183A, IN202541080374A, and KR20240177031A), AI will evolve from an optimization tool into the core cognitive fabric of networks, enabling autonomous orchestration, predictive maintenance, and self-learning architectures. By 2030, 5G-Advanced will merge into intelligent 6G ecosystems characterized by AI-native design, federated learning across multi-operator domains, and non-terrestrial-hybrid architectures that seamlessly integrate satellite, aerial, and terrestrial layers.
For the market, this convergence means a decisive move toward zero-touch operations, energy-efficient automation, and intent-based networking where user experience and enterprise intent drive real-time configuration. Industries leveraging these capabilities, ranging from autonomous transport and smart manufacturing to healthcare and defense, will experience exponential performance gains through ultra-reliable, low-latency, and adaptive connectivity.
Also Read:
Conclusion:
The decrease in patent filings for 2023-2024 is not an error in calculation nor an indication of less innovation. Instead, the industry is quietly accumulating significant valuable intellectual property, particularly in areas such as AI, RedCap, and NTN.
As 5G-Advanced transitions from standardization to commercialization, the industry’s focus is shifting from developing technology to monetization and licensing strategies. This shift carries various implications, including new waves of declarations, value-based renewals, the stacking of sector-specific portfolios, and emerging disputes over essentiality. These changes are summarized in the strategic foresight framework below, illustrating how this “silent accumulation” will transform SEP licensing over the next three years.
{data.title}
{data.subtitle}
{data.summary}
{data.title}
Strategic Context
{data.details.context}
Key Players
{data.details.players}
Goal
{data.details.strategicGoal}
Licensor Argument
{data.details.licensorArgument}
{v.name}
{v.desc}
The Winning Strategy
{data.details.winningStrategy}
Core Conflict: {data.details.conflict}
Strategic Foresights:
Industry & SEP Licensing
As 5G-Advanced becomes commercial reality, the focus shifts from standards development to monetization. Explore how “silent accumulation” will reshape the licensing landscape.
To successfully navigate this transition, you require early insights into ownership, hidden value, and strategic positioning. GreyB’s 5G-Advanced Ownership Report offers that clarity. It reveals the key players, predicts where future declaration waves will arise, and examines how the value of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) is evolving as the industry advances toward 6G.
Fill the form below to get the 5G-Advanced report to grasp the real balance of power before the declaration wave hits.
