US 9769776

A concise summary of US Patent 9,769,776, including its involvement in legal proceedings, is provided below.

Title: Apparatus and method for uplink synchronizing in multiple component carrier system

Assignee: Pantech Corp

Inventors: Ki Bum Kwon, Jae Hyun Ahn, Kang Suk HUH

Filing Date: October 31, 2016

Issue Date: September 19, 2017

Abstract:
A user equipment (UE) of re-organizing a timing advance group (TAG) is provided. The UE includes: a receiving unit for receiving, from a serving base station, secondary serving cell (SCell) configuration information which includes a first field and a second field, the first field including an ScellIndex of an SCell to indicate a removal of the SCell, the second field including at least one of the ScellIndex to indicate an addition of the SCell and a TAG ID indicating a TAG of the SCell, and a radio resource control (RRC) processing unit for performing the addition of the SCell after performing the removal of the SCell from one or more SCells configured in the UE, and for reorganizing the TAG by including the SCell in the TAG.

Plain-Language Overview of Independent Claims:

Claim 1: This claim describes a user device (like a smartphone) that can communicate with a cellular network. The device is set up to receive instructions from a base station about managing different communication channels (called "serving cells"). These instructions can tell the device to add or remove a secondary communication channel. The key part of this invention is that the device has a processor specifically designed to first remove a secondary channel and then add a new one, and then to reorganize the timing of its signals based on these changes. This ensures the device stays synchronized with the network.

Claim 8: This claim outlines a method for a user device to manage its communication channels. The method involves the device receiving a single set of instructions from a base station. These instructions contain information about both removing a secondary communication channel and adding another one. The device's processor is configured to first process the removal of the old channel, then the addition of the new one, and finally to update its signal timing to stay in sync with the network.

Legal Activity:

As of early 2026, United States Patent 9,769,776 has been the subject of legal disputes. Pantech Corporation has asserted this patent in lawsuits against other technology companies. Notably, it has been involved in litigation against AsusTek Computer, Inc. and OnePlus Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., where it was part of a broader portfolio of patents related to 5G technology. While there is evidence of district court litigation, a specific appeal docket at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) directly referencing this patent number has not been identified in the available 2026 records.