Secure Ranging Patents: Who Leads, Where the Gaps Are 2026
- Filing grew 75% from 2021 to 2024 (4 to 7 records), with a peak year of 15 filings in 2020 — a field that spiked early and is still active, not one that is winding down.
- One assignee holds 34 of the 64 records in a ranking of just 8 companies, with a steep drop to 4 records at fifth place — a concentrated core surrounded by a thin field.
- H04W wireless-network claims cover 76.6% of records while G06F software-processing claims sit at just 1.6% — most protection is written at the radio-network layer, not the application layer.
Filing growth compares 2021 (4 records) with 2024 (7) — 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.
What this landscape covers
Secure ranging and distance-bounding protocols let two devices measure and cryptographically verify the distance between them, primarily to defeat relay attacks against keyless entry, secure access and proximity-based unlocking. Ultra-wideband (UWB) is the dominant physical layer in this evidence set, and the search string captures records that combine ranging integrity, scrambled timestamp sequences, cryptographic authentication and key provisioning claims rather than generic wireless positioning.
The scope spans 2015 to a 2026-07-31 cut-off and returns 64 published records, ranked across 8 assignees. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so filing activity in 2025 and 2026 is still being reported and should not be read as a slowdown.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 64-record set: how filing activity has moved year over year, and which IPC subclasses carry the claims.
A field that peaked in 2020 and kept filing through 2024
Filings were at zero in 2017, rose to a peak of 15 in 2020, and grew again from 4 in 2021 to 7 in 2024 — a +75% increase over that three-year span. The most recent years in the chart understate true activity because of publication lag; treat 2025 and 2026 as incomplete rather than declining.
Claims concentrate at the wireless-network layer
H04W (wireless communication networks) appears in 76.6% of the 64 records, and H04L (digital information transmission) in 43.8%. G01S (radar, sonar and positioning) shows up in 35.9% of records, reflecting the physical time-of-flight measurement layer, while H04B (general transmission) sits at 17.2%. G06F (electric digital data processing) covers only 1.6% of records — software-side processing of ranging integrity is comparatively unclaimed. Because records can carry multiple IPC classes, these shares sum to well over 100%.
Shares are the percentage of the 64 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Secure Ranging and Distance Bounding with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about secure ranging and distance bounding and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a recent representative filing
US20250392346A1 — Interference detection and secure ranging in ultrawideband
Filed by Qualcomm and published 2025-12-25, this record describes providing scrambled timestamp sequence information and a secure sequence to a wireless node over one radio access technology, then exchanging initiator and responder data packets over a second radio access technology, with a time-of-arrival estimate computed from correlation against the scrambled sequence. The two-channel split between control signalling and ranging exchange is the notable structural element.Number, assignee and filing date are drawn directly from the underlying record.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20210014677A1 | Electronic device for performing ranging by using ultra-wideband in wireless communication system, and method… | 40 |
| 2 | US20200213842A1 | Framework of secure ranging without PHY payload | 15 |
| 3 | US20220078609A1 | Digital key derivation distribution between a secure element and ultra-wide band module | 13 |
| 4 | US11792058B1 | Secure ranging and interference mitigation for UWB | 9 |
| 5 | US20220369103A1 | Method and apparatus for performing UWB secure ranging | 9 |
| 6 | US20250112930A1 | Location based access control | 8 |
| 7 | US20200264297A1 | Secure Ranging | 8 |
| 8 | WO2021010659A1 | Electronic device for performing ranging by using ultra-wideband in wireless communication system, and method… | 4 |
| 9 | US20240219548A1 | Electronic device for performing ranging by using ultra-wideband in wireless communication system, and method… | 3 |
| 10 | US12306284B2 | Electronic device for performing ranging by using ultra-wideband in wireless communication system, and method… | 3 |
Citation counts favour older records within this searched corpus; use them as a signal of influence, 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 numbers mean for a filing decision
Three findings that shape where to file next and how to read the competitive picture.
One assignee dominates a small ranked field
The ranking covers only 8 companies, and the leader holds 34 records against 4 at fifth place. That is a steep drop-off rather than a gradual tail, meaning the core UWB secure-ranging claim space is effectively controlled by a small handful of firms.
Filing momentum is real, not historical
After peaking at 15 filings in 2020, activity dipped and then grew again through 2024. The +75% increase over that three-year span shows renewed investment rather than a technology past its peak.
Filing is concentrated in two blocs
The United States and the European Patent Office account for the bulk of receiving-office activity, with WIPO PCT filings (8) providing the main route to broader coverage. India, China and Austria each show single-digit counts, suggesting those markets are not yet primary filing targets for this technology.
The software layer is thin
With H04W and H04L covering the bulk of claims, protection is written almost entirely at the radio-network and transmission layer. G06F (digital data processing) appears in only one record, pointing to under-claimed ground in software-side integrity verification and key-management logic that sits above the radio stack.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to secure ranging and distance bounding, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who is filing, and where the gaps sit
The ranking is small — 8 companies in total — with one clear leader and several single-digit filers. Co-assignee activity is limited to two pairs, both involving Belgian research institutions.
A single assignee anchors the field
One company holds roughly half of all records in scope, spanning UWB ranging, key derivation between secure elements and interference mitigation. Its recent-year momentum shows 0 filings in the latest reported year, consistent with publication lag rather than withdrawal.
A thin cluster of mobile and infrastructure firms
Below the leader, filers include mobile chipset and network-equipment companies, each holding a handful of records. Several show -100% YoY in the latest year, again likely a reporting-lag artefact given the 2024 growth figure for the field overall.
Academic-industry filing is narrow but present
The only co-assignee pairs in the dataset link a European nanoelectronics research centre with two Belgian university filing entities, each pair appearing twice. This suggests a specific joint programme rather than a broad academic filing trend.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Qualcomm Incorporated | 0 | — |
| Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. | 0 | -100% |
| Juniper Networks, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| IMEC (Netherlands, non-profit) | 0 | — |
| NovelDA AS | 0 | — |
| KU Leuven Research & Development | 0 | — |
| Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) | 0 | — |
Where to take this analysis
The dataset points to a concentrated core and a thin tail — the next steps depend on whether you are clearing freedom to operate or looking for filing ground.
Check claim scope against the leader's portfolio
With one assignee holding roughly half the ranked records, any new UWB ranging or key-derivation filing should be checked against that portfolio's specific claim language before drafting.
Explore the assignee's portfolio in Eureka →Probe the software-layer gap
G06F coverage sits at 1.6% of records, well below the radio-layer classes. Software-side integrity checks and key-management logic above the physical ranging exchange look comparatively open.
Run a white-space search in Eureka →Watch 2025-2026 filings as they publish
Because publication lags filing by about 18 months, the true 2025-2026 filing count will keep rising. Re-check the trend in six to twelve months before concluding the field has slowed.
Set up monitoring in Eureka →Common questions about secure ranging patents
Distance-bounding is a cryptographic protocol that lets one device prove an upper bound on its physical distance from another, specifically to prevent relay attacks where an adversary forwards signals between two legitimate devices to fake proximity. This is different from plain UWB positioning, which measures distance but does not defend against a deliberate relay. In this dataset, that distinction shows up as records combining G01S positioning classes with H04L or H04W security and authentication classes rather than positioning claims alone, which is why the search string specifically targets terms like scrambled timestamp sequence and cryptographic authentication alongside ranging.
The ranking covers 8 companies, with the leading assignee holding 34 of the 64 records in scope and a steep drop to 4 records at fifth place. That is a concentrated field rather than an evenly spread one, so freedom-to-operate work should start with the leader's claims before looking at the smaller filers. The ranking is measured in patent families, which is the fairer unit since it neutralises duplicate continuation filings and multi-jurisdiction copies of the same invention.
Filing activity peaked at 15 records in 2020, and after a dip, grew again from 4 records in 2021 to 7 in 2024, a 75% increase over that span. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the apparent drop in 2025-2026 numbers is an artefact of reporting delay, not an actual slowdown. Anyone tracking this field should expect the 2024-2026 figures to keep revising upward for at least another year or two.
Based on IPC composition, G06F (electric digital data processing) covers only 1.6% of the 64 records, far below H04W wireless-network claims at 76.6% and H04L transmission claims at 43.8%. That gap suggests software-side ranging-integrity verification and key-provisioning logic implemented above the radio stack are comparatively under-claimed. Multiplex-channel approaches under H04J also sit low at 3.1% of records, which may be worth checking for open claim space around timestamp scrambling across multiple channels.
US20250392346A1, filed by Qualcomm and published 2025-12-25, describes a two-channel architecture where scrambled timestamp sequence information is provided over one radio access technology while the actual ranging packet exchange happens over a second. Anyone implementing a similar split-channel control-and-ranging design should review this claim scope closely, since it sits within the same H04W/G01S claim territory that dominates this dataset. It is a recent filing, so its prosecution status and final claim scope should be checked directly before assuming it is granted or final.
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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.