This landscape identifies 18 published patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026, using a search combining bidirectional converter hardware terms with simulation, average-model, electro-thermal, and digital-twin language restricted to relevant IPC classes. That is a small, specialized set compared to the broader bidirectional converter hardware category, reflecting how narrow the modeling-specific overlap actually is. The true 2025-2026 count is likely higher once publication catches up, since patent publication typically lags filing by around 18 months.

The assignee base is a long tail rather than a concentrated leaderboard: universities such as Harbin Engineering University and Southwest Jiaotong University appear alongside Chinese state grid research entities, with isolated single filings from firms like BMW and SK hynix. No single organization holds a commanding share of the 18 tracked families. Recent-year momentum data shows most named assignees at zero filings in the latest year, which is more likely a publication-lag artifact than a sign the field has gone quiet.

An average model is a simplified mathematical representation that captures a converter's steady-state and slow dynamic behavior for control design and simulation, without modeling every switching event. A digital twin, as described in filings like WO2026157018A1, goes further: it pairs a physical converter with real-time data sampling, a control system, and a synchronized virtual model — often FPGA-accelerated — for continuous monitoring, fault diagnosis, and lifecycle health management. In this patent set, average-model and electro-thermal modeling claims are older and more established, while digital-twin system claims are the newer, more actively filed category.

Based on the IPC composition, branches like AI-driven parameter identification (G06N, only 2 records), real-time FPGA co-simulation loops, and EV-specific bidirectional converter twins (B60L, only 1 record) are touched by very few filings in this set. Electro-thermal co-simulation for wide-bandgap power devices and fault-diagnosis models tied to full lifecycle health management also show thin direct coverage. These are areas where a well-drafted first claim would face comparatively little blocking prior art today, though a full clearance search should confirm that before filing.

China's national IP administration should be the first stop: 10 of the 18 families in this landscape were filed there, more than triple any other office. India, the United States, the WIPO PCT route, and South Korea each account for a small share of the remainder. A freedom-to-operate review that only checks US or European prior art would miss the majority of the documented activity in this specific niche.