CMOS Image Sensor Interface Patents: Leaders & White Space 2026
- Filings peaked in 2023 at 58 and have since declined — filing activity that looked like a growth market as recently as 2022 has flattened, with the partial 2026 count consistent with that plateau rather than a rebound.
- H04N absorbs 628 of 665 records while H03M (coding/code conversion), tied to high-speed serialization schemes, covers only 24 — a narrow, specific branch worth checking before filing there.
- The US is the dominant receiving office at 505 filings versus 67 at the EPO and 33 via PCT, meaning claim scope built for US practice may not have been tested or mirrored elsewhere.
What this landscape covers
This review tracks patent families filed against CMOS image sensor interface engineering — the readout, serialization and sensor-to-ISP data-transfer schemes (MIPI interface, high-speed readout interface, sensor-ISP interface) layered on top of core CMOS pixel and imager architecture. The scope spans 665 published families from 2015 through the 2026 data cut-off, filtered against IPC classes covering image sensing (H04N25), semiconductor device structure (H01L27/146) and camera systems (H04N23).
Because publication typically lags filing by around 18 months, the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will understate real filing activity — treat the 2025 and 2026 counts as floors, not final figures.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 665-family dataset: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those filings distribute across IPC subclasses adjacent to the core image-sensor classification.
A market that has stopped climbing
Filings rose from 40 in 2017 to a peak of 58 in 2023, with 2022 sitting at the midpoint of 33. That trajectory — growth into 2023, then flattening — suggests the interface-engineering claim space around established MIPI and high-speed readout schemes is maturing rather than expanding, though the partial 2026 count is not yet a reliable signal either way.
Concentration in H04N, thinner coverage elsewhere
H04N covers 628 of 665 records, confirming that most activity is filed as pictorial-communication/imaging claims rather than pure semiconductor structure (H01L, 106) or downstream processing (G06T, 78; G06F, 51). Coding and code-conversion claims (H03M, 24) — the class most directly tied to high-speed serial link encoding — remain the smallest bucket, a possible marker of under-claimed ground rather than a saturated one.
Shares are the percentage of the 665 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on CMOS Image Sensor Interface Engineering with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about cmos image sensor interface engineering and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
US9343492B2 — CMOS image sensor based on thin-film on ASIC and operating method thereof
Provided are a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor based on a thin-film-on-application specific integrated circuit (TFA), and a method of operating the same. The CMOS image sensor may include at least one floating diffusion region formed in a semiconductor substrate, and a thin film type light sensor disposed to correspond to a plurality of pixels. The CMOS image sensor may also include at least one via electrically connected between the light sensor and the at least one floating diffusion region. The CMOS image sensor may also include a first micro lens disposed to correspond to at least two pixels of the plurality of pixels.Filed by Samsung Electronics, granted 2016-05-17 — illustrates the thin-film-on-ASIC pixel/floating-diffusion architecture that underlies much of the interface engineering built on top of it in this dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20110242342A1 | Combining data from multiple image sensors | 327 |
| 2 | US20070177025A1 | Method and apparatus minimizing die area and module size for a dual-camera mobile device | 237 |
| 3 | US20130201360A1 | Method of changing an operation mode of a camera image sensor | 201 |
| 4 | US6665012B1 | Process-scalable high spatial resolution and low bit resolution CMOS area image sensor | 161 |
| 5 | US20130135499A1 | Method of eliminating a shutter-lag, camera module, and mobile device having the same | 157 |
| 6 | US20040027462A1 | Image sensor device, apparatus and method for optical measurements | 142 |
| 7 | US6552746B1 | Apparatus having an image sensor that is variable in spatial resolution and bit resolution and associated met… | 131 |
| 8 | US20150373261A1 | Array Cameras and Array Camera Modules including Spectral Filters Disposed Outside of a Constituent Image Sen… | 130 |
| 9 | US20150287766A1 | Unit pixel of an image sensor and image sensor including the same | 122 |
| 10 | US20140009648A1 | Image sensor chip, method of operating the same, and system including the same | 120 |
Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations inside this searched corpus — read them as a signal of influence on subsequent filers, not as a ranking of current technical relevance.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers say about this field
Three patterns stand out once filing volume, classification spread and citation weight are read together.
Growth has plateaued, not accelerated
The climb from 40 filings in 2017 to a 2023 peak of 58 looked like sustained expansion through the early 2020s, but the count has fallen back since, and the midpoint year (2022, 33) sat well below the eventual peak. New entrants filing broad interface claims today are competing against a field that has already passed its most active filing years.
Most claims are drafted as imaging, not structure
H01L27/146-style semiconductor-structure claims (106 records) and processing-layer claims in G06T (78) and G06F (51) are present but secondary to the dominant H04N pictorial-communication classification. Drafting a claim purely around data-processing or structural novelty, without touching H04N, sits in comparatively open territory.
The most-cited art predates the current filing wave
The single most-cited record in this corpus, US20110242342A1 on combining data from multiple image sensors, carries 327 citations — evidence of foundational influence on multi-sensor fusion claims rather than proof that the technique is still the most contested one today.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to cmos image sensor interface engineering, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
Recent-year momentum is uneven: some assignees continue to add families in the latest year, several long-standing filers have gone quiet, and co-filing pairs point to specific inventor teams driving repeated filings under one or two assignees.
One assignee still adding families
Against a field where most tracked assignees show zero filings in the latest year, one continues to file at a modest but growing pace — a signal worth checking for what specific sub-claim it is pursuing.
A former high-volume filer has stopped
Samsung Electronics Korea shows no filings in the latest year after previously being active, alongside several other assignees — Canon, Kandou Microsystems and LIM MOO SUP among them — with zero recent-year output. That does not mean abandonment of the space, only that new claim activity has paused or moved elsewhere.
A small number of tightly linked filing teams
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in this dataset, with the strongest — LIM MOO SUP paired separately with two other individuals at 11 and 9 shared filings — suggesting a compact inventor group rather than a broad multi-team effort within any single organisation.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| GoPro, Inc. | 3 | +50% |
| Facebook Technologies, LLC | 1 | — |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Korea) | 0 | -100% |
| Kandou Microsystems | 0 | — |
| Canon Inc. | 0 | — |
| LIM MOO SUP | 0 | — |
| TAY HIOK NAM | 0 | — |
| OmniVision Technologies, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The filing data points to a field with a settled core and thinner edges. Two directions are worth pursuing before committing R&D or filing budget.
Check the H03M and G02B overlap classes directly
Coding/serialization (H03M, 24 records) and optics (G02B, 34 records) are the thinnest classes in this composition. A targeted search inside those two subclasses, rather than the full H04N-dominated corpus, will show whether the low count reflects real white space or simply narrower applicability.
Explore this technology in EurekaTrack assignees that went to zero in the latest year
Several previously active filers, including Samsung Electronics Korea and Canon, show no recent-year filings. Before assuming the space is open, confirm whether that reflects a strategic pause, a shift to trade secret protection, or filings not yet published given the roughly 18-month lag.
Run a freedom-to-operate check in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
Filing activity in this dataset is spread across a mix of established imaging companies and individual inventor groups rather than concentrated in a single dominant filer. Samsung Electronics Korea has historically been active but shows no filings in the most recent year tracked. A small number of co-assignee pairs, notably filings linked to LIM MOO SUP, appear repeatedly, suggesting concentrated inventor teams within specific organisations. Checking recent-year momentum alongside total volume is more informative than total counts alone, since several large historical filers have gone quiet.
No, filing volume peaked in 2023 at 58 families and has declined since, after climbing steadily from 40 in 2017. The 2022 midpoint of 33 sat well below the eventual peak, showing the growth phase was concentrated in 2022-2023. The partial 2026 figure of 4 is not a reliable end-of-trend signal because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, but the multi-year decline pattern predates that lag effect.
The dominant classification is H04N, pictorial communication and video/TV systems, covering 628 of the 665 records in this dataset. Secondary classes include H01L for semiconductor device structure (106 records), G06T for image data processing (78), G06F for digital data processing (51), and G03B for photographic apparatus (44). Coding and code conversion, H03M, tied to high-speed serial data encoding, is the smallest class at 24 records, making it the narrowest and potentially least-crowded classification to search or file against.
US9343492B2 claims a thin-film-on-ASIC CMOS image sensor architecture, including a floating diffusion region in a semiconductor substrate, a thin-film light sensor layered above it, a via connecting the two, and a micro lens spanning multiple pixels. It is a structural pixel and substrate architecture patent rather than an interface protocol patent, so it does not directly block claims drafted around data-transfer or readout interface schemes that sit above this pixel structure. Anyone building on a TFA-style pixel stack with a similar floating-diffusion-to-light-sensor via arrangement should review its claims closely, though most interface-layer claims in this dataset sit in a different part of the stack.
The thinnest IPC classes relative to the dominant H04N imaging classification are H03M (coding and code conversion, 24 records) and G02B (optical elements, 34 records), both of which touch interface engineering only at the edges of the current filing pattern. Multi-sensor data fusion at the interface layer and sensor-to-ISP handshake protocols also appear less densely claimed than core pixel and readout architecture. These are starting points for a freedom-to-operate search, not confirmed open ground, since low counts can also reflect narrower real-world applicability rather than unclaimed opportunity.
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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.