ASSIA filed Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc. v. Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, No. 2:26-cv-00868, in the Marshall Division of the Eastern District of Texas on September 23, 2026, and demands a jury. The plaintiffs are Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc., a California corporation in Redwood City, and ASSIA SPE, LLC, a Delaware company. The defendants are Comcast Cable Communications, LLC d/b/a Xfinity, Comcast Cable Communications Management, LLC, Comcast Corporation, and Comcast of Houston, LLC. The case number on the filed complaint carries the suffix JRG-RSP, the initials of Judge Rodney Gilstrap and Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne. The complaint says ASSIA was founded in 2003 by John M. Cioffi, a Stanford professor emeritus of electrical engineering.

Patents and asserted claims

  • U.S. Patent 10,848,398 (ASSIA, Inc.), issued November 24, 2020. Claim 1. Accused: xFi Gateways and xFi Pods with Comcast's cloud Wi-Fi management platform (xFi, OpenSync-compatible), including band steering and client steering.
  • U.S. Patent 11,770,313 (ASSIA, Inc.), issued September 26, 2023, a continuation of the '398 patent. Claim 19. Accused: Comcast's Profile Management Application for DOCSIS 3.1 downstream profiles across its cable modem termination systems.
  • U.S. Patent 11,050,654 (ASSIA, Inc.), issued June 29, 2021. Claim 1. Accused: the Xfinity mobile app as a downloadable agent working with Comcast's cloud platform.
  • U.S. Patent 9,967,757 (ASSIA SPE), issued May 8, 2018. Claim 1. Accused: xFi Pods mesh Wi-Fi with xFi Gateways, using Plume's Adaptive Wi-Fi.
  • U.S. Patent 9,860,111 (ASSIA SPE), issued January 2, 2018. Claim 1. Accused: the Xfinity Gateway, with the Xfinity app on a subscriber's phone as the alternate device, and Comcast's management platform.
  • U.S. Patent 11,477,108 (ASSIA, Inc.), issued October 18, 2022. Claim 1. Accused: xFi Gateways and Pods running OpenSync-compatible software, the Xfinity app, and the xFi cloud platform.
  • U.S. Patent 7,809,996 (ASSIA, Inc.), issued October 5, 2010 and now expired. Claim 20. Accused: Comcast's DOCSIS 3.1 networks and equipment, for past infringement only.

Google Patents lists the '996 patent as expired on September 29, 2024 and the other six as active. On venue, the complaint points to Comcast's footprint in Collin County and a network extension into Liberty County that it ties to a more than $265 million investment Comcast announced in 2024, and alleges that Comcast leases Xfinity gateways and extenders to subscribers in the district.

What the asserted claims cover

The summaries below restate issued claim language. They are not findings that Comcast practices any claim.

Claim 1 of the '398 patent covers a method in which a server receives real-time data about two or more communication units in different geographic areas from network monitoring devices, processes that data or historical data, and determines a policy for a unit. If the server detects interference or noise from nearby wireless channels, it determines that packets will be lost regardless of rate selection; otherwise it sends the policy to units that apply rules or conditions to improve their performance. Claim 19 of the '313 patent, a continuation, covers a similar method for managing multiple networks in which the server sends the policy in response to detecting degraded performance in at least one network.

Claim 1 of the '654 patent covers a method performed by a downloadable agent on a device in a broadband subscriber's local network. The agent collects performance information about the wide area connection and sends it to a machine that stores it, analyzes it to produce results including at least throughput, and reports them to the subscriber or the provider, and the agent sends an on-demand change request about throughput or latency.

Claim 1 of the '757 patent covers a method in which a wireless node collects measurements of its wireless environment, determines its configuration, receives state information from a second node describing that node's configuration and measurements, analyzes both to decide on changes, adopts them, and sends its updated state back, with the nodes of the network repeating those steps in a specified order to optimize parameters across the network.

Claim 1 of the '111 patent covers an alternate communications device, coupled to broadband customer premises equipment, that reaches the provider's network management device over a separate path, sends it diagnostic and configuration information about the broadband connection when the equipment cannot, and receives back new diagnostic or configuration information to fix a fault or improve the connection.

Claim 1 of the '108 patent covers a management device with interfaces to a local network and to the wide area network that provides its broadband connection, which collects information from one or more communication layers on the local network and identifies operating conditions in the wide area network, at a different layer, by analyzing that information. Claim 20 of the '996 patent covers a transmission system in which a monitor, after the receiver trains and initializes, periodically checks error values that indicate impulse noise, such as bit error rate, errored seconds, code violations, signal-to-noise ratio, or TCP/IP throughput, and feeds a controller that generates a retransmission overhead control signal for the transmitter.

Comcast's California action

Comcast filed first. On September 18, 2026, Comcast Cable Communications, LLC filed Comcast Cable Communications, LLC v. Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc., No. 5:26-cv-10691, in the Northern District of California, seeking a declaratory judgment of patent noninfringement against Adaptive Spectrum and Signal Alignment, Inc. The case is assigned to Judge Eumi K. Lee, and the docket lists eleven exhibits to the complaint. The complaint's text was not reviewed for this page, so the page does not say which patents the California case covers.

Earlier ASSIA cases

ASSIA sued AT&T in the same court in January 2024 (No. 2:24-cv-00029), and that case was dismissed on April 14, 2025 after the parties stipulated to dismissal. ASSIA sued Charter Communications in February 2024 (No. 2:24-cv-00124). On July 1, 2026, ASSIA filed a final election of asserted claims naming claims 1 and 19 of the '313 patent and claims 18, 19, and 22 of the '654 patent; the parties reported a settlement in principle on July 7, 2026; and the court dismissed the case with prejudice on August 28, 2026. Google Patents lists inter partes review petitions by Charter, joined by Plume Design on four of them, against the '398, '313, '654, '108, and '996 patents (IPR2025-00012, IPR2025-00013, IPR2025-00088, IPR2025-00087, and IPR2024-01379), each as not instituted. The Comcast complaint names Plume's Adaptive Wi-Fi as the software in the accused xFi Pods.

What the complaint pleads, and what it does not

Each count pleads direct infringement under 35 U.S.C. 271(a). For the method claims of the '757, '398, '313, and '654 patents, the complaint alleges both that Comcast performs every step and that it conditions subscribers' use of its service on performing the claimed steps and sets the manner and timing of that performance. The counts do not allege pre-suit knowledge or notice, yet the prayer asks for a judgment that the infringement is willful and for enhanced damages. The prayer also seeks damages, interest, an exceptional-case finding under section 285, an accounting, and an injunction on every asserted patent except the expired '996 patent.

Why it matters

The suit reaches the core of Comcast's residential offering: cloud-managed Wi-Fi, mesh extenders, the Xfinity app, and DOCSIS 3.1 profile management. It follows a Charter case on two of the same patents that ended in settlement after final claim elections, and it meets a declaratory action Comcast filed first in California. Expect the early fight to be over which court goes forward.

What to watch next

Watch for Comcast's response in Texas, including any motion to dismiss, transfer, or stay in favor of the California action, ASSIA's response to the California complaint, and any new PTAB petitions against the asserted patents.