ISAC Patents 2026: Who Leads 5G & 6G Integrated Sensing Tech
Filing growth compares 2021 (11 records) with 2024 (253) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 794 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What the ISAC patent record actually shows
Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is the design approach that lets a single radio system carry out both data transmission and radar-like sensing — detecting position, motion or presence of objects — using shared spectrum and hardware. It sits at the centre of 6G standardisation work because sensing is one of the few capabilities operators cannot bolt on after the fact; it has to be designed into the waveform and the network architecture from the start. The patent record in scope covers 794 published records dated between 2015 and 2026, with essentially no filing activity before 2021 and a sharp rise afterward. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will always look thinner than the true filing rate.
The technology composition reflects ISAC's dual nature: the largest IPC class is wireless communication networks (H04W), but radar, sonar and positioning (G01S) carries meaningful weight too, confirming that sensing-side claims are being actively contested rather than treated as a settled add-on to existing wireless standards.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 794-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which technical classes carry the claim volume.
From near-zero to a 2024 peak
Filings held at zero through 2017 and stayed negligible until 2021, when the count reached 11. By 2024 — the most recent year that can be treated as complete given publication lag — filings had reached 253, a rise the evidence records as +2200% over that three-year span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in and should not be read as a slowdown.
Wireless networks lead, but sensing classes are substantial
H04W (wireless communication networks) appears in 62.3% of the 794 records, with H04L (digital transmission, 29.0%), H04B (transmission general, 20.5%) and G01S (radar, sonar & positioning, 19.3%) all carrying significant share. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these figures sum to more than 100% — that is expected and reflects how densely ISAC claims cross network and sensing boundaries.
Shares are the percentage of the 794 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on 5G & 6G: Integrated Sensing and Communication Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about 5g & 6g: integrated sensing and communication patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative and most-cited records
Electronic device and method for an integrated sensing and communication system (WO2026037181A1)
This Sony filing describes an electronic device for an ISAC system that carries out a sensing task tied to a user device within its service area, using an uplink reference signal together with a cooperating electronic device that jointly executes the sensing task alongside the user device.Filed February 2026 — abstract translated from the original Chinese-language filing.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20230309144A1 | Integrated sensing and communication network | 72 |
| 2 | WO2022133951A1 | Integrated sensing and communication network | 67 |
| 3 | WO2024046138A1 | 实现通信感知一体化的无线基带处理方法及装置 | 21 |
| 4 | WO2024064857A1 | Integrated sensing and communication with millimeter wave full duplex hybrid beamforming | 18 |
| 5 | WO2023044982A1 | 一种卫星大规模MIMO通信感知一体化的发送方法 | 15 |
| 6 | WO2022198349A1 | Method, apparatus, and medium for modulation of waveform in fractional domain for integrated sensing and comm… | 15 |
| 7 | WO2024097717A1 | Data analytics for sensing services in next generation cellular networks | 12 |
| 8 | US20240333340A1 | Communication and radar target detection method based on intelligent omni-surface | 12 |
| 9 | US20200142406A1 | Distributed integrated sensing and communication module | 12 |
| 10 | US20240056783A1 | Locally integrated sensing and communication | 11 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside the searched corpus — treat them as a signal of influence, not current relevance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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The ranking of 100 companies returned by the data endpoint shows a field with a clear head and a long tail — useful for deciding whether to compete head-on or file around the edges.
The top five hold nearly half the field
Five assignees account for 370 of the 794 records in scope — 46.6% of everything published. The leader alone holds 151 records, more than three times the fifth-place holder's 40. A new entrant is not filing into open space; it is filing against an already-crowded set of incumbents.
ISAC went from niche to mainstream in three years
Filings rose from 11 records in 2021 to 253 in 2024, the last year with a complete publication record. That trajectory tracks the rise of ISAC as a formal 6G study item rather than a side research topic.
Most filers are seeking broad international coverage
WIPO/PCT filings (369) outnumber any single national office, followed by the United States (129), Europe (119), China (61), India (51) and South Korea (26). That pattern suggests filers see ISAC as a global standards-relevant technology rather than a regionally-scoped one.
Joint filing is limited but concentrated
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the dataset, with the strongest pairings linking a single large corporate assignee to a named individual inventor-assignee across multiple records. This points to close inventor-company relationships rather than broad industry consortia.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to 5g & 6g: integrated sensing and communication patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to specific decisions — where to file, who to watch, and which claim language is already occupied.
Map claim language against the top five holders
Before drafting new claims in wireless-network or radar-adjacent ISAC territory, check them against the claim scope already held by the leading five assignees, who together account for 46.6% of all records.
Explore claims in EurekaWatch the sensing-side classes for openings
G06N (AI-based computing, 3.9%) and G01S combinations are thinner than the core wireless classes — worth a closer read before assuming the space is closed.
Run a white space search in EurekaTrack filings past the 2024 peak
Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, 2025–2026 filings are still arriving. Re-check this landscape periodically rather than treating 2024 as the ceiling.
Set up monitoring in EurekaQuestions practitioners ask about ISAC patents
ISAC refers to systems and methods that let a single radio infrastructure perform both data communication and radar-like sensing tasks — detecting the position, motion or presence of objects — using shared spectrum and hardware. In the patent record, claims cluster around wireless network architecture (H04W), digital transmission (H04L), general transmission hardware (H04B) and radar/positioning (G01S), reflecting the dual communication-and-sensing nature of the technology. It is a core building block for 6G standardisation rather than a narrow niche, which is why filing volume rose sharply after 2021.
The dataset's assignee ranking lists 100 companies, with a small group at the top holding a disproportionate share: the top five assignees together account for 46.6% of all 794 records in scope, and the single leading assignee holds 151 records on its own. That gap between the leader and the rest of the ranked list — the fifth-place holder has only 40 — indicates a field with one clear front-runner and several strong followers rather than an even spread. Any new filer should expect to compete directly with these incumbents on core claim territory.
Filing activity rose from 11 records in 2021 to 253 records in 2024, a jump the underlying data records as +2200% over that three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year that can be treated as complete, because patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in. The growth pattern reflects ISAC's move from an academic research topic into a formal element of 6G study items and standards discussions.
WIPO's PCT route accounts for the largest single group of filings at 369 records, ahead of the United States (129), Europe via the EPO (119), China (61), India (51) and South Korea (26). The heavy use of the PCT route suggests filers are pursuing broad international protection rather than treating ISAC as a regionally-limited technology. Counsel assessing freedom to operate in a specific market should still check national-phase filings rather than relying on PCT publication alone.
The core wireless-network and transmission classes (H04W, H04L, H04B) carry the bulk of claim density, while classes like AI-based computing (G06N, 3.9% of records) and business/administrative data processing (G06Q, 1.4%) are comparatively thin. That gap does not mean the underlying technology is unimportant — it means fewer claims currently occupy that intersection, for example AI-driven sensing-task allocation or commercial data handling built on ISAC signalling. Verifying this against a fresh claim search is advisable before relying on it for filing strategy, since the field is still filling in for the most recent years.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.