Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The proliferation of IoT devices across industries is driving demand for cost-effective and scalable connectivity solutions. As companies seek to deploy millions of sensors for real-time monitoring and automation, the challenge lies in ensuring data integrity and efficiency from inexpensive, resource-constrained terminals. This technology provides a crucial enabler for massive IoT adoption by mitigating inherent hardware limitations, allowing businesses to unlock new operational efficiencies and competitive advantages.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Achieves High Efficiency with Low-Cost Terminals: Eliminates the need for expensive high-precision synchronization modules, enabling stable data transmission with common low-cost terminals. This could reduce initial capital expenditure by up to 30%.

02

Enhances Data Transmission Reliability: Minimizes data loss due to clock drift through estimation and compensation. Data recovery accuracy could improve by 20% by combining different data sources.

03

High Compatibility with Existing Systems: Deployable via software updates on the base station side. This avoids major equipment changes, accelerating market entry and deployment.

Market Opportunity
Smart Factory
$3B–$4B globally (AI est.)
Production lines require increasing data collection from sensors, driving demand for affordable and reliable communication technologies.
Industrial automation providers Manufacturing equipment OEMs Large-scale factory operators
Smart Agriculture
$0.5B–$1B globally (AI est.)
Extensive farmlands necessitate low-cost, stable communication infrastructure for environmental sensors and surveillance cameras.
Agricultural technology companies Farm equipment manufacturers Agribusinesses
Logistics and Supply Chain
$1.5B–$2.5B globally (AI est.)
Efficient data collection from inexpensive tracking devices for numerous goods and vehicles contributes to labor savings in monitoring location and status.
Logistics and shipping companies Warehouse management system providers Asset tracking solution developers
Smart City and Infrastructure
$1B–$2B globally (AI est.)
Stable data transmission from numerous low-cost sensors is crucial for monitoring aging public infrastructure and environmental conditions.
Urban planning and development firms Public utility providers Infrastructure monitoring solution vendors
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent provides broad and robust protection for an information transmission system, method, and base station program, making it difficult for competitors to circumvent. The successful prosecution, overcoming five prior art references without office actions, confirms the clear novelty and inventiveness of this technology.

Competitive White Space

This patent focuses on base station-side clock drift compensation. White space exists in developing novel energy harvesting solutions for low-cost IoT devices or advanced security protocols for the transmitted data at the application layer.

Economic Impact
~$150K/year estimated communication cost reduction per facility (est.)
estimated ROI · USD · AI analysis
ROI Calculation Logic

Implementing this technology eliminates the need for high-precision time synchronization modules, enabling the use of inexpensive, general-purpose IoT terminals. For example, for a company deploying 10,000 IoT terminals, eliminating high-precision modules could save ~$13.50/terminal/year (AI est.), totaling ~$135K/year (AI est.). Additionally, improved transmission efficiency could reduce operational costs by ~$15K/year (AI est.), leading to a combined economic impact of ~$150K/year (AI est.).

Speed to Market
7× faster than in-house development
This technology can be implemented through software or firmware updates on the base station side, without requiring significant changes to existing communication protocols or hardware. Since the technical concept and core algorithms are established as a patent, adopting this technology could reduce development time by approximately 3 years compared to developing similar technology from scratch. This allows licensees to largely skip proof-of-concept and core feature validation phases, enabling rapid market entry and early establishment of a competitive advantage.
Competitive Positioning

X: Cost Efficiency
Y: Data Transmission Reliability

Business Models & Applications
📝 Licensing Model
Offers implementation licenses to companies seeking to integrate this patented technology into their products or services, enabling royalty and upfront fee revenue.
💡 Solution Provider Model
Develops and sells IoT communication modules or base station software centered on this technology. Custom solutions tailored to client needs are also possible.
📊 Data Analytics Service Model
Leverages the highly reliable data collected by this technology to offer data analysis and consulting services to clients, enabling high-value service expansion.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
🏭 Smart Factory
Real-time Production Line Monitoring System
Deploy numerous low-cost IoT sensors on manufacturing equipment and products, efficiently collecting data using this technology. This could enable real-time visualization of production status, anomaly detection, and quality control data, potentially contributing to increased productivity and reduced downtime by up to 15%.
🚚 Logistics & Inventory Management
Low-Cost Asset Tracking Solution
Equip warehouse pallets and goods in transit with inexpensive transmitters, using this technology for highly efficient transmission of location and environmental data. This could enable precise inventory management and end-to-end supply chain visibility, reducing loss risks by 20% and improving operational efficiency.
🌿 Environmental Monitoring
Wide-Area Distributed Sensor Networks
Install numerous environmental sensors (temperature, humidity, CO2, etc.) across vast areas like mountains, farmlands, or urban infrastructure. This technology could enable stable, low-power data collection from inexpensive terminals, potentially contributing to early disaster warning, precision agriculture, and smart city operations with 98% data uptime.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 18-Month Deployment
Phase 1: Technology Evaluation and Requirements Definition
Duration: 3 months
Conduct detailed technical evaluation of this technology and analyze its compatibility with the licensee's existing systems and business requirements.
Phase 2: Prototype Development and Validation
Duration: 6 months
Develop a prototype of the base station software, perform connection tests with low-cost IoT terminals, and validate data transmission efficiency and recovery accuracy.
Phase 3: Full-Scale Deployment and Optimization
Duration: 9 months
Based on validation results, proceed with deployment into the production environment, conduct performance tuning for large-scale rollout, and optimize operations for stable performance.
Technical Feasibility
This technology is primarily implemented as software or firmware components within the base station, specifically the clock drift estimation unit, transmission index detection unit, and information combining unit. Therefore, it can be integrated into existing wireless communication base station systems via software updates without extensive hardware modifications. Its high compatibility with inexpensive IoT terminals equipped with general-purpose communication modules suggests a relatively low technical adoption barrier.
Success Scenario
Upon adopting this technology, licensees could establish large-scale IoT sensor networks using low-cost terminals, which were previously difficult to implement due to high costs. For instance, in remote equipment monitoring or wide-area environmental monitoring, data collection costs could be reduced by up to 25%, achieving over 95% data acquisition rates even in environments where traditional communication was unstable. This would facilitate faster, data-driven decision-making and enhance overall operational efficiency.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-084513
REGISTRATION NO.
7662186
FILING DATE
2021/05/19
GRANT DATE
2025/04/07
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/05/19
PATENT HOLDER
国立大学法人電気通信大学
Examination History
2024年05月01日
出願審査請求書
2025年03月04日
特許査定