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Run your analysis now →https://www.patsnap.com/resources/blog/rd-blog/rf-and-mixed-signal-devices-patent-landscape-patent-landscape/ · Patsnap · data cut-off 2026-08-31 · downloaded from the live page
Semiconductors & MicroelectronicsRF & Mixed-Signal Device Patents: Who Leads and Where Claims Are Still Open
- Concentrated but not locked up. the top 5 assignees hold 34.3% of all 2,568 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 47.6% — meaning more than half of the field sits with a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants.
- Filing has cooled from its 2018 peak. output peaked at 228 records in 2018, and the last complete comparison shows 2021's 119 records dropping to 102 in 2024, a 14% pullback rather than a collapse.
- Transmission and digital-signal classes dominate the claim map. H04B (transmission) touches 34.3% of records and H04L (digital information transmission) 18.0%, while amplifier-specific claims under H03F sit at just 11.5%, a narrower band than the overall device count implies.
2,568
Published Records
34%
Top-5 Share of All Records
-14%
Filing Growth 2021→2024
US
Leading Jurisdiction
Filing growth compares 2021 (119 records) with 2024 (102) — 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 2,568 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
Published byPatsnap Research··8 min readSourced from Patsnap Eureka
Field Overview
What this patent landscape covers
This landscape covers 2,568 published records filed against a search combining RF and mixed-signal circuit language with device-level claim terms — transistor gate, memory cell, signal path, circuit timing, electrical characterization and circuit layout. That combination captures patents where an RF or mixed-signal circuit claim is anchored to a specific device-level mechanism, rather than a general wireless or communications filing. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the most recent one or two years in any trend understate real filing activity.
The scope spans device architecture, amplifier and switch topology, signal-path regulation, and the digital and control-system layers that sit around an RF front end — evident in the spread across H04B, H04L, H01L, G06F, G05B and G06N classes. Receiving-office data shows the United States as the dominant filing venue, with Europe, WIPO/PCT and the UK forming a smaller secondary tier.
Filing activity and technology composition, 2015–2026
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee ranking and totals. Derived from a Patsnap search on RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
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The Numbers
Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 2,568-record corpus: how filing volume has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the composition shares add up to more than 100% of the record total.
Filing trend, 2017–2026
Annual filings rose from 52 records in 2017 to a peak of 228 in 2018, then eased over subsequent years. The last full-year comparison available shows 119 records in 2021 falling to 102 in 2024, a 14% decline over that span. 2026 is shown at 13 records but is a partial year and should not be read as a drop-off.
IPC subclass composition
H04B (transmission, general) is the largest single class at 34.3% of the 2,568 records, followed by H04L (digital information transmission) at 18.0% and H01L (semiconductor devices) at 15.6%. Control and AI-adjacent classes — G05B and G06N — each clear 13%, showing that a meaningful share of RF and mixed-signal filings now reach into control logic and learned-model claims rather than stopping at circuit topology.
Shares are the percentage of the 2,568 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 RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.
Go deeper on RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about rf & mixed-signal devices patent landscape and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaRepresentative Filing
A recent filing that shows where claim drafting sits today
Representative Record — US12463603B2
Radio frequency circuit and communication apparatus
MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
A radio frequency circuit includes an antenna terminal, a first switch, a power amplifier, a low noise amplifier, a regulator circuit, and a second switch. The first switch has a common terminal connected to the antenna terminal, a first selection terminal connectable to the common terminal, and a second selection terminal connectable to the common terminal. The regulator circuit is connected between a first signal path and a second signal path, the first signal path being between the antenna terminal and the common terminal, the second signal path being between the power amplifier and the first selection terminal. The second switch is connected between the second signal path and the ground.Filed by Murata Manufacturing, published 2025-11-04 — illustrates current claim drafting around switch-regulated signal paths rather than the amplifier or antenna elements themselves.
Most-cited records in this corpus
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190339688A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for analytics and mainten… | 974 |
| 2 | US20200348662A1 | Platform for facilitating development of intelligence in an industrial internet of things system | 733 |
| 3 | US20210157312A1 | Intelligent vibration digital twin systems and methods for industrial environments | 716 |
| 4 | US6130602A | Radio frequency data communications device | 603 |
| 5 | US20180284758A1 | Methods and systems for industrial internet of things data collection for equipment analysis in an upstream o… | 600 |
| 6 | US7902582B2 | Tantalum lanthanide oxynitride films | 522 |
| 7 | US20200103894A1 | Methods and systems for data collection, learning, and streaming of machine signals for computerized maintena… | 514 |
| 8 | US6888750B2 | Nonvolatile memory on SOI and compound semiconductor substrates and method of fabrication | 500 |
| 9 | US20110034912A1 | Systems,methods, and devices having stretchable integrated circuitry for sensing and delivering therapy | 460 |
| 10 | US20190171187A1 | Methods and systems for the industrial internet of things | 457 |
Citation counts favour older records simply because they have had more time to accumulate citations within a searched corpus — treat this table as a signal of influence, not of present-day 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 RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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 filing strategy
Three patterns in this corpus matter more than the raw counts: where claim density already sits, how concentrated ownership is, and what the recent momentum data says about who is still actively building a position.
Concentration
34.3% / 47.6%
top 5 / top 10 share of 2,568 records
Ownership is top-heavy but not closed
The leader holds 351 records against a fifth-place figure of 100 and a tenth-place figure of 60 — a steep drop-off after the first few names. With the top 10 accounting for 47.6% of all records, more than half the corpus is held by assignees outside that group, which is where freedom-to-operate work typically needs to start.
Based on the 100-company assignee ranking returned by the dataset.
Momentum
-14%
2021 to 2024 filing change
Volume has eased from its 2018 peak, not collapsed
Filings peaked at 228 records in 2018 and have since settled lower, with the 2021-to-2024 comparison showing a 14% decline. Recent-year assignee momentum data shows several leading filers pulling back sharply year over year, though 2025-26 figures are still filling in under publication lag.
2025 onward figures will revise upward as publication catches up to filing.
Claim geography
34.3% H04B
share of records touching transmission claims
Transmission and digital-signal classes carry the claim load
H04B and H04L together cover the largest share of records, while amplifier-specific H03F claims sit at a comparatively modest 11.5%. That gap suggests amplifier-level mechanisms are claimed less densely than the signal-path and transmission layer around them.
Class shares are computed against the full 2,568-record total and are not mutually exclusive.
Collaboration
10 pairs
co-assignee pairs identified
Co-filing is rare and mostly corporate-affiliate
Only 10 co-assignee pairs appear in the corpus, and the strongest pair links two related corporate entities rather than an academic partnership. Where a university does appear alongside a corporate filer, the pairing count is low, indicating most academic-industry RF work is not being jointly claimed.
Pair counts reflect shared-assignee records only, not citation or licensing links.
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Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to rf & mixed-signal devices patent landscape, with the prior art for and against each one.
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Co-assignee relationships and derived observations. Derived from a Patsnap search on RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Who Is Filing
Assignee landscape and recent momentum
The ranked leaders span RF module specialists, broad-line semiconductor houses, and at least one industrial-IoT-focused portfolio holder whose filings sit adjacent to, rather than squarely inside, classic RF circuit design. Recent-year momentum figures should be read against the 18-month publication lag before concluding any single filer has stopped.
Leader
351 records
leading assignee, all years
A wide gap separates first place from the rest
The top-ranked assignee's 351 records sit well above the fifth-place figure of 100, and momentum data for several leading filers shows sharp year-over-year pullbacks in the latest year — consistent with the broader cooling seen in the 2021-to-2024 trend rather than a single company's retreat.
Leader count measured in records, not families-per-year.
Mid-tier
60 records
tenth-place assignee
The tier below the leaders is tightly packed
Fifth place holds 100 records and tenth place holds 60 — a much shallower gradient than the drop from first to fifth. This tier is where module makers, foundries and diversified electronics firms compete for adjacent claim space rather than the core architecture the leader has staked out.
Ranking reflects the 100-company assignee table returned by the dataset.
Collaboration
9 (strongest pair)
shared records, top co-assignee pair
Co-filing concentrates inside single corporate families
The strongest co-assignee link in the corpus, at nine shared records, connects two entities within the same corporate group rather than two independent companies. University-industry pairs appear in the data but at far lower counts, suggesting most joint RF work stays inside a single organisation's affiliate structure.
Counts reflect records naming both assignees jointly.
Recent-year filing momentum by assignee
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 3 | -50% |
| Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | 1 | -94% |
| Intel Corporation | 1 | — |
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Korea) | 1 | — |
| Strong Force IoT Portfolio 2016, LLC | 0 | -100% |
| Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Sharp Corporation | 0 | — |
| Raytheon Company | 0 | — |
Source: Patsnap Eureka. Assignee-level momentum. Derived from a Patsnap search on RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Next Steps
Where to take this analysis
The numbers above describe the field as filed. Turning that into a filing or freedom-to-operate decision means drilling into specific claim language, not just class-level counts.
Check freedom-to-operate against the top holders
With the top 10 assignees holding 47.6% of all 2,568 records, any new filing near the H04B/H01L core should start with a claim-by-claim read of those portfolios rather than a class-level search alone.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaMap the under-claimed branches before drafting
The gap between H04B's 34.3% share and H03F's 11.5% suggests amplifier-adjacent and control-loop claims are less crowded — worth a targeted prior-art pull before committing claim language.
Run a white-space search in EurekaTrack momentum, not just totals
Recent-year pullbacks among several leading filers may reflect publication lag rather than reduced R&D — confirm with a filing-date, not publication-date, view before drawing conclusions.
Build a live monitoring alert in EurekaSource: Patsnap Eureka. Forward-looking reading of the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. Counts reflect published records only and shift as new filings publish.Run this in Eureka MCP
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about RF and mixed-signal device patents
The leading assignee in this corpus holds 351 records, well ahead of the fifth-place holder at 100 and the tenth-place holder at 60. The gap from first to fifth is much steeper than the gap from fifth to tenth, meaning the field has one clearly dominant filer followed by a more tightly packed group of mid-tier competitors. Beyond the top 10, ownership spreads across a long tail of assignees who together still account for more than half of all 2,568 records, so a single-company view understates how fragmented the broader field is.
Filing peaked at 228 records in 2018 and has eased since, with the most reliable complete-year comparison showing 119 records in 2021 declining to 102 in 2024, a 14% drop. That is a real pullback, not a sign the technology is exhausted — high filing density in earlier years reflects claim space being staked out, not necessarily faster innovation. Figures for 2025 and 2026 will revise upward over time because publication typically lags actual filing by about 18 months, so those years should not yet be read as continuing the decline.
H04B, the general transmission class, appears in 34.3% of the 2,568 records in scope, the largest single share. H04L (digital information transmission) follows at 18.0% and H01L (semiconductor devices) at 15.6%, with control-system claims under G05B and AI-model claims under G06N each present in around 13% of records. Because a single patent can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total — they describe overlapping claim coverage, not mutually exclusive categories.
The clearest signal comes from comparing class shares: H04B and H04L cover more than a third and nearly a fifth of records respectively, while amplifier-specific H03F claims sit at a comparatively modest 11.5%. That gap points to amplifier-adjacent mechanisms, regulator-integrated switching, and control-loop claims that bridge G05B into RF front ends as areas with thinner claim density relative to the core transmission and digital-signal layers. Co-assignee data also shows very little cross-organisation joint filing, which is itself a gap for collaborative claim strategies.
US12463603B2, filed by Murata Manufacturing and published in November 2025, claims a radio frequency circuit built around an antenna terminal, a first switch, a power amplifier, a low noise amplifier, a regulator circuit and a second switch, with a regulator circuit connected between two defined signal paths. The claim structure centres on how the regulator and switches are wired between signal paths rather than on the amplifier or antenna components themselves. This is representative of a broader pattern in the corpus: signal-path and switching architecture is where recent claim drafting concentrates, consistent with H04B and H04L carrying the largest class shares in the dataset.
Answers are grounded in the same dataset. Derived from a Patsnap search on RF & Mixed-Signal Devices Patent Landscape covering 2015–2026, data cut-off 2026-08-31. 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.