PTP Clock Discipline Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
A data-driven view of Precision Time Protocol clock discipline patents: who leads filings, how the technology composition breaks down across IPC classes, and where filing activity is concentrated through 2026.
Filing growth = 2021 (176 records) → 2024 (122); 2024 is the last year we treat as complete. Top-5 share = the 5 largest assignees ÷ all 2,396 records in scope (CR5), not the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
This dataset tracks patent filings on Precision Time Protocol (IEEE 1588) clock discipline — the algorithms and hardware that estimate offset, frequency drift and phase between a master and slave clock, and the servo logic that corrects a local oscillator against them. The search spans title/abstract mentions of PTP disciplining alongside claim-level language tying IEEE 1588 or PTP to clock, synchronization, adjustment or servo terms combined with offset, phase, frequency or timestamp. Coverage runs from 2015 through the 2026-08-31 data cut-off.
Records in scope span carrier equipment vendors, industrial automation and metrology players, and telecom operators, reflecting how PTP clock discipline now sits at the intersection of 5G fronthaul timing, TSN-capable industrial networks and legacy SONET/SDH-style synchronization. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one to two years in any trend chart will always understate true filing activity.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,396-record dataset: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claim language.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Filings rose from 105 in 2017 to a peak of 176 in 2021, then eased to 122 by 2024 — a complete-year decline of 31% over that span. 2025 and 2026 figures are still filling in due to publication lag and should not be read as a continued fall.
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.
IPC subclass composition
H04J (multiplex communication) appears on 48.7% of the 2,396 records and H04L (digital information transmission) on 40.7%, the two dominant classes for clock-discipline claims. H04W wireless networks (19.5%) and G06F data processing (10.9%) follow, with G01S positioning (2.8%) and G01R measurement (2.4%) marking the smaller, more specialised edges of the field. Records can carry multiple classes, so these shares add to more than 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,396 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Network Timing & Synchronization: Precision Time Protocol Clock Discipline Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about network timing & synchronization: precision time protocol clock discipline patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative filing and most-cited prior art
System and method for clock synchronization in a wireless backhaul network using IEEE 1588 precision time protocol
A method and system for clock synchronization in a wireless backhaul network based on IEEE 1588 PTP. Each hub in the network carries a slave clock that communicates with a master clock over forward and reverse links; the method estimates frequency drift and offset from both links, estimates the accuracy of those estimates, determines the least congested link, and adjusts the slave clock frequency accordingly.US9749972B2 — Blinq Networks Inc., filed and granted with priority in the wireless backhaul segment of the dataset.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20060245454A1 | Time synchronization, deterministic data delivery and redundancy for cascaded nodes on full duplex ethernet n… | 175 |
| 2 | US20110170534A1 | Method and apparatus for synchronizing measurements taken by multiple metrology devices | 174 |
| 3 | CN101977104A | 基于IEEE1588精确时钟同步协议系统及其同步方法 | 174 |
| 4 | US8630314B2 | Method and apparatus for synchronizing measurements taken by multiple metrology devices | 168 |
| 5 | US7447931B1 | Step time change compensation in an industrial automation network | 156 |
| 6 | US20130100948A1 | Methods and Apparatuses for Maintaining Synchronization Between a Radio Equipment Controller and an Item of R… | 150 |
| 7 | US20110200051A1 | Ethernet network synchronization systems and methods | 139 |
| 8 | US20130262922A1 | Centralized and networked protection system and method of a regional distribution network | 136 |
| 9 | US20130034197A1 | Method and system for frequency synchronization | 134 |
| 10 | CN101447861A | IEEE 1588时间同步系统及其实现方法 | 133 |
Citation counts reflect influence inside this searched corpus and skew toward older filings; they are not a measure of current commercial importance.
Patent titles are shown in the language they were filed in, not translated, so that each record stays verifiable against the original filing — a translated title will not match in Eureka or in any national register. Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Browse MCP servers →What the numbers say about the field
Four read-outs from the dataset that matter for a filing or freedom-to-operate decision.
The top of the field is thin but real
The five leading assignees together account for 455 of the 2,396 records in scope, with a leader at 147 records and fifth place at 61. The tenth-ranked assignee holds 44, and the ranking runs to 100 companies with a long tail of much smaller filers below that.
Activity has cooled from its 2021 peak
Filings rose steadily to a peak of 176 in 2021, then declined to 122 by 2024 — the most recent year that can be treated as complete. Because publication lags filing by around 18 months, 2025 and 2026 counts will continue to rise as more records surface.
Multiplex communication is the dominant claim class
H04J appears on 1,168 of the 2,396 records, ahead of H04L digital transmission at 976. Wireless networks (H04W, 19.5%) and data processing (G06F, 10.9%) are present but secondary, suggesting most disciplined-clock claims are still framed around multiplexed transport rather than pure computation.
Filing offices skew toward US and China
United States filings (754) and China filings (520) lead the receiving-office count, with Europe (EPO, 353) and WIPO/PCT (205) next. India (95) and Austria (86) round out the visible offices, pointing to where enforcement and opposition activity is most likely to concentrate.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to network timing & synchronization: precision time protocol clock discipline patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Where to take this analysis
The ranking, trend and citation tables answer who and how much. The questions below need claim-level reading.
Map the white space around under-claimed branches
G01S positioning and G01R measurement sit at 2.8% and 2.4% of records respectively — thin enough that a well-drafted first claim could still stake genuinely open ground.
Explore white space in EurekaCheck freedom-to-operate against the leaders
With 19.0% of records held by five assignees, a new filing in core PTP servo logic is likely to run into dense prior art from at least one of them.
Run an FTO check in EurekaWatch the co-filing clusters
The strongest co-assignee pairs in this dataset point to active joint development in telecom-operator and research partnerships worth tracking for licensing or M&A signal.
Trace assignee networks in EurekaFrequently asked questions
PTP clock discipline is the algorithm and hardware layer that keeps a slave clock aligned to a master clock under IEEE 1588, by estimating offset and frequency drift from timestamped message exchanges and then correcting a local oscillator. It attracts filings because the correction math, link-selection logic and hardware timestamping paths are all separately patentable and commercially valuable across telecom, industrial automation and metrology. The dataset behind this page shows 2,396 records touching this exact combination of claim language, spanning both pure software servo methods and integrated timing hardware.
The ranked list covers 100 assignees, with the leader holding 147 of the 2,396 records in scope and the top five together holding 455 records, or 19.0% of the field. That leaves a long tail: the tenth-ranked assignee holds only 44 records, and most of the 100 ranked companies sit well below that. In practice this means a handful of telecom equipment and carrier-technology firms carry meaningful weight, but no single company dominates the space outright.
Filing activity peaked in 2021 at 176 records and had declined to 122 by 2024, a complete-year drop of 31% over that three-year span. Numbers for 2025 and 2026 look lower still, but that reflects the roughly 18-month lag between filing and publication rather than an actual slowdown — those years are still filling in. The safest read is that the field cooled somewhat off its 2021 peak, without over-reading the most recent two years.
H04J, multiplex communication, is the single most common class, appearing on 48.7% of the 2,396 records, followed closely by H04L digital information transmission at 40.7%. Wireless networks (H04W, 19.5%) and general-purpose data processing (G06F, 10.9%) show up often enough to matter but are secondary. Because a single record can carry several IPC classes, these percentages overlap and should not be summed or read as a strict market share.
US9749972B2, assigned to Blinq Networks, claims a method for wireless backhaul clock synchronization using IEEE 1588 PTP: estimating frequency drift and offset across forward and reverse links, judging the accuracy of those estimates, picking the least congested link, and adjusting slave clock frequency accordingly. Anyone filing on multi-link PTP synchronization with link-quality-based correction selection should read its claims closely, since that combination of steps is the patent's core contribution. It does not, however, cover single-link PTP disciplining or hardware timestamping approaches that skip link-quality comparison altogether.
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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.