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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/high-speed-serdes-equalization-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-07-31 · downloaded from the live page
Patent Landscape · Computing ArchitectureHigh-Speed SerDes Equalization Patents: Who Holds the Core Claims
- Concentrated but not locked down. the five most active filers together hold 31.7% of all 923 records in scope, and the ten most active hold 44.3% — leaving over half the field to a long tail of single- and few-filing entrants.
- Filing kept growing, not fading. activity rose from 14 filings in 2021 to 17 in 2024, a +21% move over that span, even as the peak year on record remains 2017 at 27.
- Claims cluster hard in two subclasses. H04L (digital information transmission) touches 82.0% of records and H04B (transmission, general) touches 37.3%, meaning most contested claim language sits inside a narrow technical corridor.
923
Published Records
32%
Top-5 Share of All Records
+21%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (14 records) with 2024 (17) — 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 923 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··7 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Overview
What the SerDes equalization patent record actually shows
High-speed SerDes equalization covers the circuits and algorithms — feed forward equalizers, decision feedback equalizers, and the adaptation logic that tunes them — that recover a clean digital signal from a channel that has degraded it. The 923 records in scope span 2015 through the 2026 cut-off and include both circuit-level claims and the signal-processing methods layered on top of them, such as PAM4 signalling and bit-error-rate optimized adaptation.
Filing in this field is old enough to have produced a dense citation core — several of the most-cited records date to the 1990s work on simulcast data recovery and decision feedback equalization for cellular radio — while the assignee ranking shows a modern core of semiconductor and networking firms still filing steadily. Because publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, the most recent one or two years in any trend understate real activity.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
The Data
Filing trends and technology composition
Two views of the same 923-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim density.
Filing activity, 2017–2026
Filing peaked at 27 records in 2017, dipped, then climbed again from 14 in 2021 to 17 in 2024 — a +21% increase over that three-year span. The tail into 2025 and 2026 is partial: publication lag means those years will fill in as later data cuts arrive.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
H04L (digital information transmission) appears in 82.0% of the 923 records and H04B (transmission, general) in 37.3%, confirming that equalization claims are overwhelmingly framed as digital transmission methods rather than pure analog filter design. H03H (impedance networks and filters) still touches 22.3% of records, and smaller shares extend into pulse-technique circuits (H03K, 12.9%), video/TV signalling (H04N, 9.3%), measurement (G01R, 6.0%), coding (H03M, 5.5%) and general data processing (G06F, 3.4%). Records can carry multiple classes, so these shares sum to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 923 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Filing trend and technology composition. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on High-Speed SerDes Equalization with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about high-speed serdes equalization and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
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The most-cited prior art and a representative recent filing
Representative Filing
US20150085914A1 — Modal PAM2/4 Pipelined Programmable Receiver with FFE and DFE Optimized for FEC BER Performance
AVAGO TECHNOLOGIES GENERAL IP (SINGAPORE) PTE. LTD.
A pipelined receiver comprises a programmable feed forward equalizer (FFE), a programmable decision feedback equalizer (DFE), and logic for controlling a ratio of FFE and DFE applied to a received signal based on at least one channel parameter.Filed 2015-03-26 by Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) — now part of Broadcom's patent estate following the Avago-Broadcom consolidation.
Most-cited records in the dataset
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US5513215A | High speed simulcast data system using adaptive compensation | 239 |
| 2 | US5283811A | Decision feedback equalization for digital cellular radio | 216 |
| 3 | US5353307A | Automatic simulcast alignment | 215 |
| 4 | US6734920B2 | System and method for reducing error propagation in a decision feedback equalizer of ATSC VSB receiver | 212 |
| 5 | US6307901B1 | Turbo decoder with decision feedback equalization | 193 |
| 6 | US6775334B1 | Equalization and decision-directed loops with trellis demodulation in high definition TV | 189 |
| 7 | US20070110199A1 | Receive equalizer with adaptive loops | 188 |
| 8 | US4985902A | Decision feedback equalizer and a method of operating a decision feedback equalizer | 184 |
| 9 | US20080049825A1 | Equalizer with reorder | 176 |
| 10 | US5757855A | Data detection for partial response channels | 172 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had longer to accumulate citations inside this corpus — treat them as a signal of influence on the field, not of current commercial importance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Citation counts and representative records. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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What the numbers mean for a filing decision
Three patterns worth acting on before drafting new claims or scoping freedom-to-operate in this space.
Concentration
31.7%
of 923 records held by the top 5
The top of the field is real but not a wall
Five assignees together account for 31.7% of all 923 records, and ten account for 44.3%. That leaves more than half the dataset spread across a long tail of firms with a handful of filings each — a pattern that favours a specific, well-drafted claim over a broad one, since no single assignee owns the whole technical corridor.
Based on the full 923-record assignee ranking.
Momentum
+21%
growth, 2021 to 2024
Filing is still rising into the last complete year
Activity moved from 14 filings in 2021 to 17 in 2024, a +21% increase over that span, even though the single busiest year on record remains 2017 at 27. Read the drop-off after 2024 as a publication-lag artefact, not a real slowdown — records filed in 2025 and 2026 are still being published.
2024 is the most recent year treated as complete for trend purposes.
Claim density
82.0%
of records touch H04L
Digital transmission framing dominates the claim language
H04L (digital information transmission) appears in 82.0% of the 923 records, with H04B (transmission, general) in 37.3% and H03H (impedance networks and filters) in 22.3%. New claims that stay purely in classical analog-filter language are competing in a thinner, less crowded corner of the space than claims framed around digital transmission methods.
A record can carry multiple IPC classes; shares are of the 923-record total.
Eureka AI Agent
Looking for what nobody has claimed yet?
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to high-speed serdes equalization, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Players
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranked leaders in this dataset are drawn from the semiconductor, networking and broadcast-equipment side of the industry, alongside legacy broadcast and telecom licensors whose early decision-feedback work still anchors the citation graph.
Leader
125
records
A single filer sits well ahead of the field
The leading assignee holds 125 records, more than double the fifth-place count of 32 and well above the tenth-place count of 20. That gap suggests a sustained, multi-generation filing programme rather than opportunistic filing around a single product cycle.
Counted across the 923-record assignee ranking.
Mid-field
32 → 20
fifth to tenth place
The drop from fifth to tenth is gradual, not a cliff
Filing counts step down steadily from 32 at fifth place to 20 at tenth, rather than falling off sharply. That gradual slope points to a competitive mid-tier of assignees each maintaining an active but not dominant filing programme.
Based on the 100-company ranking returned by the dataset.
Legacy influence
co-assignee pairs
10 identified
Older broadcast-equalization work still links named inventors
The strongest co-assignee pairings in the dataset trace back to legacy broadcast-licensing filings, where a small group of named inventors appears repeatedly alongside one corporate assignee. This is a useful signal for citation research even though those firms show no recent-year filing activity.
Strongest pair recorded at 12 shared filings.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcom Inc | 0 | — |
| Thomson Licensing SA | 0 | — |
| Koninklijke Philips NV | 0 | — |
| International Business Machines Corporation | 0 | — |
| LSI Corporation | 0 | — |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Hitachi, Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Xilinx Inc | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
What's Next
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a field with a defined leader, a competitive mid-tier, and technical corners that remain thin on filings.
Map freedom-to-operate against the top 10
With 44.3% of all 923 records held by ten assignees, a targeted FTO review against that group covers a large share of the enforceable claim space before widening to the long tail.
Explore assignee claims in EurekaWatch the under-claimed branches
Power-per-bit optimization and measurement-driven calibration sit at the edges of the core H04L/H04B corridor and show thinner filing density — a plausible place to draft defensible new claims.
Run a white space search in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
FAQ
Common questions about the SerDes equalization patent landscape
The dataset's assignee ranking shows a single leader with 125 records, well ahead of the fifth-place assignee at 32 and the tenth-place assignee at 20. Together the five most active filers hold 31.7% of all 923 records in scope, and the ten most active hold 44.3%. The remaining majority of records are spread across a long tail of assignees with only a handful of filings each, so the field is led but not dominated by any one company.
Yes, based on the most recent complete years: filing rose from 14 records in 2021 to 17 in 2024, a +21% increase over that span. The single highest-volume year on record remains 2017 at 27 filings, so growth has not returned to that peak, but the trend into 2024 is upward rather than declining. Filing figures for 2025 and 2026 are still incomplete because publication typically lags the original filing date by around 18 months.
The vast majority of records, 82.0% of the 923 in scope, are classified under H04L for digital information transmission, with 37.3% also touching H04B for general transmission methods. Smaller but still meaningful shares cover impedance networks and filters (H03H, 22.3%), pulse-technique and logic circuits (H03K, 12.9%), and video/TV signalling (H04N, 9.3%). Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these percentages add up to more than 100% and should be read as overlapping coverage rather than a strict breakdown.
US20150085914A1, filed by Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) in March 2015, describes a pipelined receiver combining a programmable feed forward equalizer (FFE) and a programmable decision feedback equalizer (DFE), with logic that controls the ratio of FFE to DFE applied to a signal based on at least one channel parameter. It targets PAM2/4 signalling optimized for forward error correction bit-error-rate performance. Anyone designing a receiver that dynamically blends FFE and DFE contributions based on measured channel conditions should review this filing's claim scope closely, since it sits close to the core of that specific architectural approach.
The core corridor of H04L and H04B claims is dense, but adjacent areas show thinner filing density relative to that core: power-per-bit optimized equalizer design, measurement-driven calibration approaches that overlap with G01R electric and magnetic measurement classification, and fine-grained FFE/DFE ratio control logic. These branches are represented in the dataset but at meaningfully lower volume than the digital-transmission core, suggesting room for narrowly drafted claims that avoid the most contested language. Any white-space assessment should still be paired with a full freedom-to-operate search rather than relying on filing density alone.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on High-Speed SerDes Equalization covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-07-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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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.