Oracle Patching & Database Upgrade - Which Order

Question

I have an Oracle instance running 11.2.0.2.0:

SQL> select * from v$version;

BANNER
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oracle Database 11g Release 11.2.0.2.0 - 64bit Production
PL/SQL Release 11.2.0.2.0 - Production
CORE    11.2.0.2.0      Production
TNS for 64-bit Windows: Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production
NLSRTL Version 11.2.0.2.0 - Production

I am going to upgrade to 11.2.0.3.11.

My question is which order should I perform the upgrade?

Option 1

1. Install 11.2.0.3
2. Upgrade Database
3. Patch to 11.2.0.3.11
4. Patch Database

Option 2

1. Install 11.2.0.3
2. Patch to 11.2.0.3.11
3. Upgrade Database

Answer 1

3<4, I opt for option 2 approach.

This is also what Oracle instructs us to do in for example this document:

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E11882_01/server.112/e23633/upgrade.htm#UPGRD12394

After you have installed the software for Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2) and any required patches, Oracle recommends that you analyze your database before upgrading it to the new release