Time-of-Flight Sensors Patents: Top Companies & Trends 2026
- Concentrated leaderboard. the top 5 assignees hold 64.7% of all 85 records in scope, and the top 10 hold 88.2% — a short list of firms sets the terms in this field.
- Filing is slowing, not stopping. annual filings peaked at 22 in 2020 and have eased since, though the newest year is always undercounted because publication lags filing by about 18 months.
- One assignee is moving while others sit still. Cognisea Inc posted +400% YoY momentum into the latest year while several established filers, including STMicroelectronics entities, show zero new filings in that same window.
What the Time-of-Flight Sensor Patent Record Shows
Time-of-flight sensing turns a light pulse’s round-trip delay into a distance measurement, and the patent record in this dataset centres on the practical problems that separate a working depth sensor from a lab demonstration: SPAD array design, ambient light rejection, multipath interference correction and eye safety limits on laser output. Every one of the 85 records in scope carries a G01S classification, confirming that ranging and positioning claims — not general imaging claims — anchor this field.
Filing volume rose through the late 2010s, peaked in 2020, and has since slowed into a steadier pattern, consistent with a technology whose core sensing architecture is largely claimed and where remaining filings refine specific sub-problems rather than stake out new ground.
Filing Trends and Technology Composition
The dataset spans 85 published records filed between 2015 and 2026, drawing receiving-office activity concentrated in the United States and at the EPO, with a smaller PCT and Israeli presence.
A peak in 2020, then a slower climb
Filings ran at 18 in 2017, climbed to a peak of 22 in 2020, and sat at 5 by the 2022 midpoint before easing further toward the most recent, still-incomplete year at 6 — a pattern consistent with core architecture claims settling while refinement continues at a lower rate.
Ranging claims dominate; imaging and processing sit downstream
G01S covers all 85 records in scope, confirming this is fundamentally a ranging and positioning field. G01C and G06T each appear in 8.2% of records, pointing to navigation and image-processing claims layered on top of core ToF sensing, while H01L semiconductor-device claims and G06V recognition claims each sit at 4.7% — thinner but present adjacent branches.
Shares are the percentage of the 85 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Time-of-Flight Sensors with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about time-of-flight sensors and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaThe Most-Cited Filings in Time-of-Flight Sensing
Adaptive Laser Power and Ranging Limit for Time of Flight Sensor
A time of flight range detection device includes a laser configured to transmit an optical pulse into an image scene, a return single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array, a reference SPAD array, a range detection circuit coupled to the return SPAD array and the reference SPAD array, and a laser driver circuit. The range detection circuit in operation determines a distance to an object based on signals from the return SPAD array and the reference SPAD array. The laser driver circuit in operation varies an output power level of the laser in response to the determined distance to the object.Filed by STMicroelectronics, Inc. — one of the second most-cited records in this dataset, at 63 citations.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20190213309A1 | Facial authentication systems and methods utilizing time of flight sensing | 101 |
| 2 | US20170356981A1 | Adaptive laser power and ranging limit for time of flight sensor | 63 |
| 3 | US20200217965A1 | High dynamic range direct time of flight sensor with signal-dependent effective readout rate | 48 |
| 4 | US20170366737A1 | Glass detection with time of flight sensor | 41 |
| 5 | US20180252800A1 | Time of flight distance sensor | 35 |
| 6 | US20180246212A1 | Higher pixel density histogram time of flight sensor with higher pixel density | 32 |
| 7 | EP3370080A1 | Range and parameter extraction using processed histograms generated from a time of flight sensor – parameter … | 28 |
| 8 | US20140152974A1 | Method for time of flight modulation frequency detection and illumination modulation frequency adjustment | 27 |
| 9 | EP3370079A1 | Range and parameter extraction using processed histograms generated from a time of flight sensor – pulse dete… | 24 |
| 10 | EP3370078A1 | Range and parameter extraction using processed histograms generated from a time of flight sensor – crosstalk … | 24 |
Citation counts are drawn from a searched corpus and favour older filings; treat them as a signal of influence on later work, not of current commercial weight.
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 Means for Freedom to Operate
Three figures matter most for anyone deciding where to file next: how concentrated the leaderboard is, how the technology classes cluster, and where filing momentum is actually pointing right now.
A short list sets the terms
With the leader alone holding 14 records and the top 5 combined controlling 64.7% of all 85 records in scope, new entrants are filing into space already dense with prior art from a handful of firms.
Activity is shifting between firms
Several long-standing filers show zero new filings in the latest year while a newer entrant is filing actively — a sign the field's centre of gravity is not fixed even as overall volume slows.
Ranging claims are the core, everything else is layered
Every record in scope sits inside G01S, and the next most common classes — G01C and G06T — each cover only 8.2% of records, showing that navigation and image-processing claims remain a minority overlay on core ranging technology.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to time-of-flight sensors, with the prior art for and against each one.
| Assignee | Co-assignee | Shared families |
|---|---|---|
| STMicroelectronics (Research and Development) Ltd. | STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS | 6 |
| Sense Photonics, Inc. | The University Court of the University of Edinburgh | 3 |
| Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation | Sony Depthsensing Solutions SA/NV | 2 |
Only 3 co-assignee pairs appear across 85 records, and the strongest pair links two divisions of the same corporate group — most filings here are single-assignee efforts rather than joint development programmes.
Who Is Filing, and Who Is Still Active
The ranked leaders in this dataset cover 21 companies, from a leader with 14 records down to single-filing entrants; the gap between the top and the rest is wide and the list thins out fast.
One firm sets the pace
The leading assignee's 14 records is nearly double the fifth-place count of 8, giving it outsized influence over how core SPAD-array and ranging claims are already staked out.
A workable second tier
Fifth place still holds a meaningful 8 records, meaning the field is not a single-company monopoly — there is a real second tier worth tracking for licensing or collaboration.
Sharp drop-off past the top ten
By tenth place, filings drop to 3 records, and the top 10 combined already account for 88.2% of all 85 records in scope — the remaining ranked companies each hold only a handful of filings.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| COGNISEA INC | 5 | +400% |
| STMicroelectronics (Research and Development) Ltd. | 0 | — |
| Sense Photonics, Inc. | 0 | — |
| PHOTONIC VISION LTD | 0 | — |
| STMicroelectronics (Grenoble 2) SAS | 0 | — |
| STMICROELECTRONICS INC | 0 | — |
| AMS International AG | 0 | — |
| Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation | 0 | — |
Where to Take This Analysis
The figures above describe where filing has already happened. The next step is turning that into a position on your own roadmap.
Stress-test a claim against the leaders' filings
Run a candidate SPAD-array or ambient-light-rejection claim against the top assignees' filings to see how much of the space they already occupy before committing R&D budget.
Explore claims in EurekaTrack momentum, not just headcount
Filing counts alone hide who is actually active now; watch which assignees have filed in the most recent year versus which have gone quiet.
Monitor assignee activity in EurekaMap the under-claimed branches
Multipath correction and eye-safety modulation show thinner filing density than core ranging claims — worth a deeper look before assuming the space is closed.
Search white space in EurekaCommon Questions on Time-of-Flight Sensor Patents
In this dataset of 85 records, filing is concentrated at the top: the leading assignee holds 14 records, and the top 5 assignees combined account for 64.7% of all records in scope. That leaves a long tail of smaller filers, with the tenth-ranked company holding only 3 records. Anyone evaluating freedom to operate should focus first on the small group of firms that between them hold the majority of the claim space, since a new filing is most likely to run into their prior art.
Every record in this dataset carries a G01S ranging and positioning classification, confirming that distance-measurement claims are the core of the field rather than general imaging. Beyond that core, navigation-related G01C claims and image-processing G06T claims each appear in 8.2% of records, showing these are secondary layers built on top of ranging technology. Semiconductor-device claims under H01L and recognition claims under G06V are thinner still, each at 4.7%, suggesting narrower but active niches around sensor fabrication and downstream applications like facial recognition.
Filing activity peaked at 22 records in 2020 after rising from 18 in 2017, then eased to 5 by the 2022 midpoint and sits at 6 in the most recent year on record. That looks like a slowdown, but the newest year is always understated because publication typically lags filing by about 18 months, so the true recent-year count is likely higher than currently shows. The overall pattern points to continuing but decelerating growth rather than a field in decline.
US20170356981A1, filed by STMicroelectronics, Inc. and cited 63 times in this dataset, claims a time-of-flight range detection device that pairs a return SPAD array with a reference SPAD array and a laser driver that adjusts output power based on the measured distance to the target. This adaptive-power approach ties eye-safety laser limits directly to ranging results rather than using a fixed power ceiling. Anyone designing a laser-power-adaptive ToF module should review this filing closely, since it sits among the most-cited records in the space and likely shapes how competitors draft around dynamic power control.
Relative to the near-universal G01S ranging claims, branches like multipath interference correction, ambient light rejection front-ends and eye-safety laser modulation show comparatively thin, specific filing activity in this dataset rather than dense coverage. Packaging and module-integration claims are similarly sparse. These are reasonable areas to search further before assuming the space is closed, though thin filing density in a search corpus is not proof of an open claim — it may simply mean the relevant filings use different terminology or classification.
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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.