Massive MIMO Beamforming Patents: Leaders, Trends & Gaps 2026
A data-backed look at massive MIMO antenna beamforming patents: who leads filings, how the technology composition breaks down across IPC classes, and where claim space is still open.
Filing growth = 2021 (3 records) → 2024 (3); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 49 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Massive MIMO antenna beamforming sits at the intersection of large-array antenna hardware and the signal-processing methods that steer transmissions across dozens or hundreds of elements. The 49 records examined here span 2015 through the current data cut-off, filed across United States, European, Indian, South Korean, WIPO and German receiving offices. Coverage was built from title, abstract and claim text matching massive MIMO array or beamforming antenna language, restricted to H04W, H04L, H04B7 and H01Q classifications — the wireless-network, digital-transmission, MIMO-specific and antenna IPC groups.
The dataset is small enough that individual filings move the picture meaningfully, but large enough to show a clear filing hierarchy and a technology mix skewed toward transmission-layer claims over pure antenna hardware. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent year understates real filing activity.
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 49 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how those records classify across IPC subclasses.
A decade of uneven but sustained filing
Filings opened at 7 in 2017, climbed to a peak of 10 in 2023, and held flat across the most recent complete comparison window — 3 filings in 2021 versus 3 in 2024, a 0% change. Read the tail years cautiously: publication lag means 2025 and 2026 figures will keep filling in as more records surface.
Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in. Growth rates on this page therefore end at 2024; running them to the last bar would understate the field.
Transmission claims outweigh antenna hardware claims
H04B (transmission, general) touches 79.6% of the 49 records, more than double the 32.7% share for H01Q (antennas). H04W (wireless networks) reaches 16.3%, while AI-adjacent G06N appears in 8.2% — a small but real signal that beamforming claims are starting to reference learned models rather than purely fixed algorithms. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares add up past 100% and should be read against the 49-record total, not against each other.
Shares are the percentage of the 49 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
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Over the air testing for massive MIMO arrays
The disclosed system tests a massive MIMO beamforming antenna array of arbitrary size using an anechoic chamber and a mount for the array, where individual elements are activated to steer transmissions. Dual element antenna probes in the chamber, fed by UE sources generating RF, emulate multiple UE devices in over-the-air communication with the array. Base station electronics and a test controller complete the loop, giving a repeatable way to validate beam-steering performance without a live network deployment.Filed by Viavi Solutions Licensing LLC, published 2017-12-14.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20170019154A1 | Massive MIMO array emulation | 41 |
| 2 | US20170359739A1 | Over the air testing for massive MIMO arrays | 33 |
| 3 | US20160255605A1 | Broadcast channel transmitting method through massive MIMO in wireless communication system and apparatus the… | 24 |
| 4 | US20170026093A1 | Base station and terminal for distributed array massive multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) communicati… | 22 |
| 5 | US20150244433A1 | Split Control and Payload via Cooperative Massive MIMO (M-MIMO) and Non-M-MIMO Infrastructure | 16 |
| 6 | US20220131578A1 | Beamforming antennas that share radio ports across multiple columns | 13 |
| 7 | US20210409107A1 | Flight data assisted active antenna system for air-to-ground applications | 7 |
| 8 | US10285160B2 | Broadcast channel transmitting method through massive MIMO in wireless communication system and apparatus the… | 6 |
| 9 | US10244411B2 | Over the air testing for massive MIMO arrays | 5 |
| 10 | US10243628B2 | Massive MIMO array emulation | 5 |
Citation counts reflect influence within the searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of prior-art weight, not of current commercial relevance.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the filing pattern tells you
Four read-outs from the ranking, the trend, and the IPC mix — each tied to a decision a filing team or licensing counsel would actually need to make.
The leading tier is narrow
The top five assignees hold 28 of the 49 records in scope, and the top ten extend that to 79.6%. That is a tight leading group for a field this size — a new entrant is filing into territory a handful of players already occupy densely.
Activity plateaued after a 2023 peak
Filings peaked at 10 in 2023 but the 2021-to-2024 comparison shows no net growth. That reads as a maturing claim space rather than a shrinking one — the flat line sits above zero, and 2025-2026 counts will rise as publication catches up.
Transmission claims outnumber antenna claims
H04B (general transmission) appears in far more records than H01Q (antenna hardware). Filers are more often claiming the signal and processing side of beamforming than the physical array itself, which is where hardware-only entrants may find more open ground.
Early testing and channel patents anchor the field
The most-cited records concern array emulation, over-the-air testing and broadcast-channel transmission methods — foundational infrastructure rather than narrow feature claims. New filings in adjacent testing methodology should expect to be measured against this prior art.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to massive mimo antenna beamforming patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The ranking and IPC mix point to a field with a narrow leading tier and heavier claim density on the transmission side than the antenna side. Two directions follow from that.
Map claim boundaries before drafting
With transmission-layer claims this dense, a new filing needs a precise read of what the leading assignees already hold before drafting around it — not just a keyword search.
Explore claim structures in Eureka →Track the under-claimed branches
AI-assisted beamforming and antenna-hardware-only claims sit at lower density than transmission methods. That gap is worth monitoring as filings from 2025 onward continue to publish.
Set up a monitoring workspace in Eureka →Common questions on massive MIMO beamforming patents
Filing is concentrated at the top: the leading five assignees together account for 57.1% of the 49 records in scope, and the leading ten account for 79.6%. The ranking includes 28 companies and research institutes overall, spanning equipment vendors, network operators' technology arms, and university and government research labs. No single filer dominates outright, but the leading tier is narrow enough that a new entrant should expect dense prior art from a handful of established players before filing.
Filing activity peaked at 10 records in 2023, and the most recent complete comparison window shows no net change — 3 filings in 2021 versus 3 in 2024, a 0% shift. That reads as a plateau rather than a decline. Publication typically lags actual filing by around 18 months, so 2025 and 2026 counts are still incomplete and will rise as more records surface; they should not be read as a slowdown.
The largest share of records, 79.6% of the 49 in scope, classify under H04B, the general transmission subclass, covering signal and channel methods rather than physical hardware. H01Q, the antenna-hardware classification, covers 32.7% of records — notably smaller. Wireless network methods (H04W) appear in 16.3%, and a small but growing slice, 8.2%, references AI-based computing models (G06N), suggesting beamforming claims are starting to incorporate learned rather than purely fixed steering algorithms.
The most-cited record in this dataset is US20170019154A1, covering massive MIMO array emulation, with 41 citations, followed closely by US20170359739A1 on over-the-air testing for massive MIMO arrays at 33 citations. Both concern testing and validation infrastructure rather than a specific beamforming feature, which suggests foundational test methodology carries outsized influence in this corpus. Citation counts favour older filings simply because they have had more time to accumulate references, so treat them as a measure of influence rather than current relevance.
The technology composition data points toward antenna hardware (H01Q, 32.7% of records) and AI-assisted beamforming (G06N, 8.2%) as comparatively less claimed than general transmission methods (H04B, 79.6%). That gap does not mean the space is empty, but claim density is measurably lower there. A practical next step is to run a detailed claim-chart comparison against the leading assignees' existing filings in those specific subclasses before drafting.
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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.