In this dataset, it is a filing that combines bidirectional DC-DC converter topology language with claim-level efficiency terms such as soft switching, loss reduction or efficiency optimisation, classified under core power-conversion IPC codes (H02M3/335, H02M3/158, H02M1/00). This excludes converters described only in general terms without an efficiency-specific claim element. The distinction matters because a topology claim and an efficiency-mechanism claim can sit in the same family but face different prior art.

The trend shows 84 filings in 2017 climbing to 121 in 2023, but the 2022 figure of 94 was already close to that peak, meaning the growth had largely flattened a year earlier. This pattern is typical of a claim space where the core circuit topologies are already well covered and later filings are refinements rather than new territory. It does not mean interest has stopped — publication lag of roughly 18 months means 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in.

H02M, since it covers 1,773 of the 1,774 families in this dataset and is effectively the entire corpus. H02J (power supply and grid systems, 269 records) and B60L (electric vehicle propulsion, 110 records) are the next largest pools and worth a secondary pass, especially for claims framed around a specific application rather than the converter circuit itself. Smaller pools such as H01F, H03K, H01L and H05B are thin enough that a targeted search there may surface less-crowded claim language.

Not reliably. The most-cited records in this corpus are solar power conversion patents from the late 2000s with citation counts above 300, which reflects the length of time they have had to accumulate citations rather than current commercial weight. Citation counts inside a searched corpus structurally favour older filings. A better current-relevance signal is recent-year filing activity by assignee, even where the counts are small.

It claims a multi-phase interleaved bidirectional DC-DC converter aimed at a high voltage conversion ratio, specifically for charge/discharge control of battery cell or super-capacitor storage modules with low-voltage, high-current output. It does not cover every bidirectional converter — it is scoped to interleaving plus high conversion ratio plus that storage-module use case. Designs that use a different phase-interleaving arrangement, a different conversion-ratio approach, or target a different storage chemistry may sit outside its specific claim language, but that needs a clause-by-clause comparison rather than a title match.

The dataset points to under-claimed territory outside the dense H02M soft-switching core: wide-bandgap gate-drive integration, thermal-loss modelling for interleaved converters, control schemes for second-life battery modules, and multi-port topologies mixing storage types. These sit in IPC pools an order of magnitude smaller than the core, such as H01F, H03K and H01L. That thinness is a starting point for a novelty search, not proof of an open claim — it still needs to be checked against the specific prior art in each pool.