Cable Testing & Fault Location Patents: Leaders, Trends 2026
- Concentrated but not locked up. the top 5 assignees hold 23.8% of all 390 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 39.2% — leaving a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filings accelerated sharply. from 7 in 2021 to 22 in 2024, a +214% rise over that three-year span, the fastest sustained growth window in the dataset.
- Measurement electronics dominate the claim map. G01R (electric & magnetic measurement) appears in 59.5% of records, more than three times the next largest class, H04L at 19.2%.
Filing growth compares 2021 (7 records) with 2024 (22) — 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 390 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This landscape maps 390 published patent families filed between 2015 and mid-2026 that address cable testing and fault location — spanning very low frequency (VLF) testing, tan delta measurement, time domain reflectometry (TDR), discharge mapping, and test voltage selection or asset ranking methods. The search targets the intersection of diagnostic technique and cable-specific application, rather than general electrical test equipment.
Records draw predominantly from the United States, with meaningful volume through the EPO, WIPO/PCT, Australia, the UK and Germany, reflecting where cable asset management and grid-reliability programmes drive filing activity.
Filing trends and technology composition
The two views below use the same 390-record scope: one tracks filings by year, the other breaks the corpus down by IPC subclass. Because a single record can carry several classification codes, the technology shares sum to more than 100%.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 11 in 2017 to a peak of 22 in 2024, with the 2021–2024 window showing the steepest growth (+214%). 2025 and 2026 figures are still incomplete because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, so the most recent two years should not be read as a slowdown.
IPC subclass composition
G01R (electric & magnetic measurement) anchors the field at 59.5% of records, consistent with core diagnostic instrumentation claims. H04L and H04B, together covering roughly a third of records, point to a meaningful signal-processing and data-transmission layer built on top of the measurement core, while G01N, E21B and G01F mark smaller adjacent branches tied to material analysis, downhole cable work and flow-related sensing.
Shares are the percentage of the 390 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Cable Testing and Fault Location with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about cable testing and fault location and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited prior art and a representative filing
US7245129B2 — Apparatus for and method of cable diagnostics utilizing time domain reflectometry
A novel mechanism for performing high accuracy cable diagnostics. The mechanism utilizes time domain reflectometry (TDR) to detect and identify cable faults, perform estimations of cable length, identify cable topology, identify load and irregular impedance on metallic paired cable, such as twisted pair and coaxial cables. The TDR mechanism transmits pulses whose shapes are programmable and analyzes the signal reflections. The shapes of the pulses transmitted can be optimized in accordance with the channel characteristics. Further, the TDR mechanism is adapted to operative in the presence of high pass filters in the channel.Filed by Texas Instruments; granted 2007-07-17.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5352984A | Fault and splice finding system and method | 254 |
| 2 | US7069163B2 | Digital spread spectrum methods and apparatus for testing aircraft wiring | 191 |
| 3 | DE4225595C1 | Cable segment test method for locating resistance variations in local area network – supplying measuring puls… | 167 |
| 4 | US6822457B2 | Method of precisely determining the location of a fault on an electrical transmission system | 132 |
| 5 | US20040189317A1 | Method of precisely determining the location of a fault on an electrical transmission system | 130 |
| 6 | US20060181283A1 | Apparatus for and method of cable diagnostics utilizing time domain reflectometry | 123 |
| 7 | US4546649A | Instrumentation and control system and method for fluid transport and processing | 119 |
| 8 | US4970466A | TDR cable testing apparatus with pulse timing manipulation to automatically compensate for diverse cable char… | 114 |
| 9 | US20040232919A1 | Fault detection system and method | 110 |
| 10 | US20170230791A1 | Systems, methods and apparatus for geofence networks | 100 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the raw counts are read against each other: where claim density sits, how fast the field is moving, and where the ranking suggests real strategic control versus incidental presence.
Measurement instrumentation is the crowded core
Nearly six in ten records touch G01R, electric and magnetic measurement — the classic domain for VLF, tan delta and discharge-mapping hardware claims. New filings here compete against a dense, decades-deep prior art base, including some of the most-cited records in the set.
The field only recently accelerated
Filing volume nearly tripled between 2021 and 2024, the fastest sustained rise in the dataset's history. That timing suggests renewed commercial interest in cable diagnostics — plausibly tied to grid-asset ageing and renewable interconnection testing — rather than a mature, settled art.
Leadership is real but not exclusive
The leading assignee holds 25 records and the top 5 combined hold 23.8% of all 390 records in scope — enough to matter competitively, but far from a lock. The top 10 extend that to only 39.2%, meaning the majority of the corpus sits with entities outside the leading group.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cable testing and fault location, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The assignee ranking covers 100 companies returned by the data endpoint, counted in records — it is not a curated top-50 or top-100 list, simply the full ranking the dataset produces. Reading it alongside the technology composition shows both where competitive pressure concentrates and where it does not.
A clear but modest leader
The top-ranked assignee holds 25 of the 390 records in scope — a meaningful lead, but nowhere near dominance of the field. Momentum data for the most recent year shows most tracked assignees, including several leading names, at zero or flat year-on-year activity, consistent with publication lag rather than a pullback.
A gradual drop-off, not a cliff
Filing counts step down gradually from the leader (25) through fifth place (15) to tenth place (11), rather than falling off sharply. That shape points to a competitive middle tier of assignees each holding a modest but defensible filing position, rather than a single dominant player and undifferentiated followers.
Co-filing is rare in this field
Only three co-assignee pairs appear across the corpus, and the strongest recurs just twice. Cable testing and fault location patents are overwhelmingly filed by single entities rather than through joint ventures or research consortia, which is worth noting for anyone scoping partnership-based freedom-to-operate risk.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| GEOFRENZY | 1 | 0% |
| Broadcom Inc. | 0 | — |
| Cisco Technology, Inc. | 0 | — |
| PHOENIX AVIATION & TECH | 0 | — |
| Utah State University | 0 | — |
| Fluke Corporation | 0 | — |
| VIPER INNOVATIONS LTD | 0 | — |
| EA Technology Ltd. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with a crowded measurement core, a recent growth spike, and several thinly claimed adjacent branches. The next steps depend on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, white-space filing, or competitive monitoring.
Check freedom-to-operate against the measurement core
With 59.5% of records in G01R, any new VLF, tan delta or TDR hardware claim should be checked against the most-cited records in this set before drafting.
Explore the citation networkScope claims in the under-claimed branches
Wireless-networked discharge mapping and downhole diagnostics show lower filing density than the measurement core, suggesting room for a differentiated first claim.
Map the white spaceTrack mid-tier assignees for licensing fit
Assignees ranked fifth through tenth hold defensible but non-dominant positions, making them more plausible licensing or acquisition targets than the sector leader.
Review assignee profilesCommon questions about cable testing and fault location patents
The leading assignee in this dataset holds 25 of the 390 records in scope, with the top 5 combined accounting for 23.8% of all records. That leadership is real but not dominant — the top 10 assignees together hold only 39.2% of the field, meaning the majority of filings belong to a long tail of smaller or single-filing entities. Anyone assessing competitive risk should look at the mid-tier and tail, not just the top name, since most of the field sits outside the leading group.
Filings grew sharply between 2021 and 2024, rising from 7 to 22 records — a +214% increase over that span, and the fastest growth window in the dataset. The two most recent years (2025 and 2026) show lower counts, but that reflects publication lag rather than a real decline: patent publication typically trails filing by around 18 months, so recent-year figures are still filling in. Based on the completed data through 2024, the field was accelerating, not slowing.
Electric and magnetic measurement techniques, classified under IPC subclass G01R, appear in 59.5% of the 390 records in scope, making it by far the largest single category. Digital information transmission (H04L, 19.2%) and general transmission (H04B, 12.1%) form a smaller but notable secondary layer, suggesting many diagnostic tools now pair measurement hardware with data transmission or processing claims. Smaller classes like material analysis (G01N), well drilling (E21B) and flow measurement (G01F) mark adjacent, lower-density branches.
US7245129B2, assigned to Texas Instruments, claims a time domain reflectometry mechanism with programmable pulse shaping optimised to channel characteristics, used to detect faults, estimate cable length, and identify topology and impedance irregularities on metallic paired cable. Anyone developing TDR-based diagnostic tools for twisted pair or coaxial cable should review its specific claim language around programmable pulse shape and high-pass-filter tolerant operation, since these are the technical features most likely to overlap with new filings. It is one representative filing in a technology area, G01R, that covers 59.5% of the records in this landscape, so it should be read alongside the other most-cited records rather than in isolation.
The technology composition shows several branches with materially lower filing density than the G01R measurement core, including wireless-networked discharge mapping (overlapping H04W at 7.2% of records), downhole cable diagnostics (overlapping E21B at 3.3%), and material-based fault classification (overlapping G01N at 4.6%). These lower-density overlaps do not mean the branches are unclaimed, but they suggest less-crowded claim space relative to core measurement instrumentation. Co-filing is also rare across the dataset, with only three identified co-assignee pairs, indicating most IP here is developed and defended by single entities rather than through joint filings.
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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.