Massive MIMO Antenna Array Patent Landscape 2026
The massive MIMO antenna array field holds 341 patent families distributed across a moderately concentrated group of telecom OEMs, network operators, and academic institutions, with Ericsson holding the largest single share. Annual filing volume has eased from its 2019 peak, and the field is in a post-peak phase with China and the United States as the dominant prosecution jurisdictions.
Ericsson leads a moderately concentrated field with strong academic participation
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) ranks first with 27 patent families, followed closely by Southeast University (22), Jio Platforms Ltd (21), and Samsung Electronics (20), indicating that the top tier spans incumbent telecom OEMs, a major Indian operator, and a leading Chinese research university.
The top five filers account for 28% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers — a moderate concentration level, suggesting no single player has achieved lock-in dominance and that challengers have meaningful room to accumulate positions.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | 27 | |
| 2 | Southeast University | 22 | |
| 3 | Jio Platforms Ltd. | 21 | |
| 4 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 20 | |
| 5 | InnoPhase Inc. | 14 | |
| 6 | John Mezzalingua Associates LLC | 12 | |
| 7 | Parallel Wireless Inc. | 12 | |
| 8 | VIAVI Solutions Licensing LLC | 9 | |
| 9 | Comba Telecom Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. | 9 | |
| 10 | AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I L P | 8 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Sony Group Corporation | 7 | |
| 12 | Charter Communications Operating LLC | 6 | |
| 13 | LG Electronics Inc. | 6 | |
| 14 | CommScope Technologies LLC | 6 | |
| 15 | Avago Technologies International Sales Pte. Ltd. | 5 | |
| 16 | Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics | 5 | |
| 17 | WiSig Networks Pte. Ltd. | 5 | |
| 18 | China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. | 5 | |
| 19 | Wuhan Hongxin Telecommunication Technology Co., Ltd. | 5 | |
| 20 | Nokia Technologies Oy | 5 |
Ericsson’s lead rests on transmission and antenna system fundamentals, while the proximity of Southeast University and Jio Platforms to the top signals active academic and operator-driven innovation pipelines that could yield licensing or standards leverage over the medium term.
Patent publications from the most recent 18–24 months are typically under-counted due to publication lag; recent-period figures should be treated as provisional lower bounds. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Post-peak activity concentrated in transmission and antenna design branches
Annual filing volumes peaked in 2019 and have since eased; the technology mix is dominated by transmission fundamentals and antenna hardware, with a sparse tail of adjacent branches. Both dynamics are relevant for identifying where incremental investment would face the least prior-art density.
Annual filing trend
Filings peaked at 64 families in 2019 and have trended lower since. The 2024–2026 bars should be read as provisional due to publication lag; the apparent low values for 2025–2026 reflect incomplete publication rather than a confirmed further decline.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
H04B (Transmission, general) and H01Q (Antennas) dominate the IPC mix, reflecting a field focused on beamforming and physical-layer signal management. H04W (Wireless networks) and H04L (Digital information transmission) form a secondary cluster. Branches such as G06N (AI models), H01P (Waveguides), G01S (Radar/positioning), and H04J (Multiplex communication) each account for a small share, marking them as adjacent and under-served.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
Method for calculating spatial non-stationary wire…
A method for calculating the spatial non-stationary wireless channel capacity for large-scale antenna array communications, includes the following steps: first, constructing a spatial non-stationary channel model with a large-scale antenna array having the mutual coupling effect; building a channel measurement system for the large-scale antenna array, and… (excerpt from the patent abstract)
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 一种大规模MIMO系统中智能反射面相移矩阵自适应设计方法 | 83 |
| 2 | Massive MIMO array testing using a programmable ph… | 41 |
| 3 | Antenna arrangement for distributed massive MIMO | 39 |
| 4 | 一种5G大规模阵列天线 | 38 |
| 5 | Massive MIMO (mMIMO) antenna with phase shifter an… | 34 |
| 6 | Over the air testing for massive MIMO arrays | 31 |
| 7 | 超宽带印刷天线 | 29 |
| 8 | Calibrating a programmable phase matrix and channe… | 28 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the competitive structure means for R&D investment decisions
The field’s post-peak lifecycle, moderate concentration, and active collaboration among component suppliers and operators together shape where new entrants and incumbents can most efficiently deploy patent resources.
Post-peak — core claims are largely staked
The lifecycle stage is Decline, with annual filings easing back from the 2019 peak of 64 families. The foundational transmission and antenna design space is densely covered by Ericsson, Samsung, and several universities. New entrants are better positioned in adjacent or application-layer branches where prior-art density is low.
Post-peak / 2019 peakModerate — top tier is close-packed, no runaway leader
The top five filers hold 28% of the hundred largest filers’ combined output, and the gap between ranks 1 through 4 is narrow (27, 22, 21, 20 patent families respectively). This means a focused filing campaign of 15–20 families in an under-served branch could bring a new entrant into the visible competitive tier within two to three years.
28% top-5 shareInnoPhase and Parallel Wireless lead co-filing activity
The most active co-filing pair is InnoPhase Inc. and Parallel Wireless Inc. with 8 joint patent families, suggesting a hardware-software integration partnership in open RAN or small-cell contexts. Comba Telecom Technology (Guangzhou) co-files with multiple affiliated entities (6 families each with Tianjin Comba and Comba Telecom Systems Guangzhou), reflecting internal portfolio consolidation. Ericsson AB and Ericsson (China) Communication Company share 3 joint families, while Southeast University and NEC (China) have 1 joint filing.
6 active co-filing pairsChina and US dominate; India is an emerging jurisdiction
China (135 records) and the United States (125 records) are the two primary prosecution destinations, confirming where enforcement and licensing activity is most likely. Europe (EPO, 45) and WIPO PCT (37) cover international protection. India (32 records) stands out as an emerging jurisdiction, consistent with Jio Platforms’ rank-3 position and India’s accelerating 5G rollout.
China #1 · India emergingGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| InnoPhase Inc. | Parallel Wireless Inc. | 8 |
| Comba Telecom Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. | Tianjin Comba Telecom Systems Co., Ltd. | 6 |
| Comba Telecom Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. | Comba Telecom Systems (Guangzhou) Ltd. | 6 |
| Comba Telecom Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. | Comba Network Systems Co., Ltd. | 6 |
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | Ericsson (China) Communication Company Ltd. | 3 |
| Southeast University | NEC (China) Co., Ltd. | 1 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Ericsson anchors transmission fundamentals; Jio and Samsung are new-entrant challengers
The top four applicants are separated by only seven patent families, making the ranking fluid. Momentum data show Ericsson’s recent filing rate declining sharply while Jio, Samsung, and Southeast University have each entered recently with concentrated portfolios.
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
Ericsson leads with 27 patent families, concentrated in H04B7 (beamforming and transmission, 27 families), H01Q1, and H01Q21 (antenna arrays). Recent momentum is declining (▼ −50% vs. prior period), suggesting the company is harvesting rather than expanding its core position. The portfolio’s depth in transmission fundamentals makes it the key prior-art reference for any new beamforming work.
families: 27Jio Platforms Ltd
Jio Platforms ranks third with 21 patent families and is classified as a new entrant, meaning its entire visible portfolio was filed within the recent window. Its focus spans H04B7 (transmission), H04W88 (wireless network equipment), and H04B1 (receiver/transmitter fundamentals) — consistent with an operator building system-level IP to support indigenous 5G infrastructure. The combination of operator scale and greenfield IP strategy makes Jio a fast-rising challenger.
families: 21| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | 5 | ▼ -50% |
| Southeast University | 3 | ▲ new entrant |
| Jio Platforms Ltd. | 21 | ▲ new entrant |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 10 | ▲ new entrant |
| John Mezzalingua Associates LLC | 11 | ▲ new entrant |
| Parallel Wireless Inc. | 2 | ▼ -80% |
| CommScope Technologies LLC | 1 | ▼ -90% |
Under-served branches adjacent to the dominant transmission core
Several IPC branches appear at low density in the massive MIMO corpus. These are observations of relative sparsity; the two below also have plausible technical linkage to massive MIMO and realistic entry paths.
G06N · AI-driven beamforming and channel estimation
Only 6 patent records in scope touch G06N (Computing based on AI models), representing roughly 1% of the technology mix. Machine-learning approaches to channel estimation, precoding, and beam management are active in academic literature but sparsely protected here. An entrant with signal-processing and ML capability could build a defensible position in AI-native massive MIMO without facing dense prior-art coverage, and could link directly to the dominant H04B7 core via method claims.
Search this in Eureka →G01S · Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC)
G01S (Radar, sonar, and positioning) accounts for only 4 patent records, making it the sparsest technically relevant branch in the corpus. Massive MIMO arrays are increasingly explored as dual-function sensing and communication platforms under ISAC frameworks, a key 6G research direction. Entry here is technically adjacent — beamforming hardware is shared — and the low prior-art density means early filings could establish foundational claims before the branch densifies.
Search this in Eureka →How leaders differ by technology route across transmission, antenna, and network branches
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | H04B 7 · Transmission (general) | H01Q 1 · Antennas | H01Q 21 · Antennas | H04L 5 · Digital information transmission | H04L 25 · Digital information transmission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) | Strong · 27 | Moderate · 12 | Moderate · 8 | Absent | Absent |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Strong · 14 | Strong · 10 | Strong · 8 | Moderate · 6 | Absent |
| Southeast University | Strong · 22 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Emerging · 2 |
| Parallel Wireless Inc. | Strong · 10 | Strong · 7 | Moderate · 4 | Moderate · 3 | Absent |
| AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Strong · 8 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 8 | Strong · 7 |
| Jio Platforms Ltd. | Strong · 21 | Absent | Absent | Absent | Absent |
| John Mezzalingua Associates LLC | Strong · 7 | Absent | Strong · 11 | Absent | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The evidence scope contains 341 patent families. China (135 records) and the United States (125 records) are the two largest prosecution jurisdictions, followed by Europe (EPO, 45 records) and WIPO PCT (37 records).
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ) leads with 27 patent families, concentrated in beamforming transmission (H04B7) and antenna array design (H01Q1, H01Q21). However, the gap to ranks 2–4 is narrow: Southeast University holds 22, Jio Platforms 21, and Samsung Electronics 20.
Annual filing volume peaked in 2019 at 64 families and has eased since. The lifecycle is characterized as post-peak. Note that 2024–2026 figures are provisional due to patent publication lag and should not be read as confirmed further decline.
H04B (Transmission, general) and H01Q (Antennas) dominate the IPC mix, reflecting a focus on beamforming and physical-layer antenna hardware. H04W (Wireless communication networks) and H04L (Digital information transmission) form a secondary cluster covering network and protocol layers.
Jio Platforms Ltd (21 recent families), Samsung Electronics (10 recent families), John Mezzalingua Associates LLC (11 recent families), and Southeast University (3 recent families) are all classified as new entrants, meaning their portfolios were built entirely within the recent filing window. By contrast, Ericsson’s recent filing rate is down 50% versus its prior period.
G06N (AI/computing models) and G01S (Radar, sonar, and positioning) each account for only a small share of the corpus. AI-driven channel estimation and beam management, and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) applications of massive MIMO arrays, represent under-served adjacent branches with plausible technical entry paths.
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