Market Context — Why This Technology, Why Now

The accelerating adoption of smart city initiatives and intelligent building systems worldwide demands sophisticated, yet privacy-compliant, people flow analytics. Traditional camera-based or personal tracking methods face increasing regulatory scrutiny and public distrust. This technology provides a critical alternative, enabling real-time insights for urban planning, retail optimization, and public safety management. It addresses the growing market need for ethical data collection, driving efficiency and sustainability across diverse sectors.

Key Competitive Advantages
01

Ensures complete privacy by estimating occupancy from mobile terminal long-range communication signals, avoiding personal identification unlike camera or Wi-Fi tracking.

02

Offers significant market differentiation with only 3 prior art documents cited, enabling early market entry and competitive advantage for licensees.

03

Leverages existing mobile terminal radio signals, eliminating the need for new dedicated sensor networks and enabling rapid, low-cost deployment.

Market Opportunity
Smart Retail
$300M–$350M domestically (AI est.)
Provides essential data for retail DX, including optimizing store layouts based on customer flow analysis, reducing checkout wait times, and improving staff allocation efficiency.
Major retail chains Shopping mall operators Retail analytics solution providers Smart store technology developers
Smart Building & Facility Management
$200M–$250M domestically (AI est.)
Contributes to optimal control of HVAC and lighting, efficient cleaning and security, and enhanced safety through real-time visualization of congestion in office buildings, commercial facilities, and public spaces.
Commercial real estate developers Facility management service providers Smart building technology integrators Public infrastructure operators
Event & Tourism Management
$150M–$200M domestically (AI est.)
Forms a foundation for safe and comfortable operations at large-scale events and tourist destinations, including congestion prediction, optimized entry control, and emergency evacuation support.
Event organizers Theme park operators Tourism boards and destination managers Public safety technology providers
IP Defensibility — Why Competitors Can't Replicate This
What This Patent Covers

This patent protects a broad and robust technical scope across 11 claims, covering a system and method for occupancy estimation using mobile terminal radio signals. Its strong originality, evidenced by only 3 prior art documents cited and rapid grant, suggests a clear inventive step and a strong, defensible position for licensees to establish market exclusivity.

Competitive White Space

White space exists in integrating this core technology with environmental sensors for broader facility intelligence, or developing advanced predictive analytics models beyond real-time occupancy. Further IP could also be built around specific hardware optimizations for extreme environments.

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

Optimizing staff deployment by 20% could save ~$40K/year from a $200K annual labor cost (AI est.). Improving sales opportunity loss by 5% through data-driven store layout optimization could generate ~$50K/year in additional gross profit for a store with ~$1.5M gross margin (AI est.). Reducing annual marketing research costs by ~$60K/year (AI est.).

Speed to Market
6× faster than in-house development
This technology has already reached patent grant, with the core occupancy estimation algorithm established. This could significantly shorten the development period from over 3 years (for in-house development) to approximately 6 months for licensees. While there is no implementation record yet, the willingness to license provides a foundation for rapid commercialization and market entry through technology transfer or joint development.
Competitive Positioning

X: Privacy Protection Level
Y: Deployment & Operational Cost Efficiency

Business Models & Applications
📊 People Flow Data Analytics SaaS
Offer a SaaS platform for people flow data collection and analysis using this technology. Provide real-time people flow data and insights to customers on a monthly subscription model.
📡 IoT Device Integration
Embed this technology's module into existing IoT gateways or smart sensors, selling it as a hardware product. This facilitates deployment across diverse facilities.
🏙️ Urban Development & Consulting
Provide people flow simulation and optimization consulting using this technology for smart city projects and urban redevelopment. Contribute to advanced urban planning.
Adjacent Application Opportunities
👵 Elder Care & Monitoring
Non-Contact Occupancy Monitoring System
Estimates room occupancy (presence) in elder care facilities or homes without invading privacy. This could enable early detection of sudden health changes, monitoring residents at risk of wandering or falls, and ensuring safety during nighttime, potentially reducing incidents by 15-20%.
🏭 Smart Factory Operations
Worker Flow & Congestion Analysis
Analyzes worker movement and dwell times within factories to identify production line bottlenecks and optimize operational efficiency, potentially improving throughput by 10%. It could also detect unauthorized access to hazardous areas and manage congestion in break areas.
🏥 Healthcare & Public Facilities
Waiting Area Congestion Visualization
Visualizes real-time congestion in hospital waiting rooms or public service counters, helping to reduce patient and visitor wait times by up to 30%. This could enhance user satisfaction and streamline facility operations.
Integration Roadmap — Estimated 12-Month Deployment
Phase 1: Technical Validation & PoC
Duration: 3 months
Conduct radio wave characteristic surveys in the licensee's existing environment and validate the accuracy of the occupancy estimation (PoC). Determine optimal receiver placement and initial approximation formula parameters.
Phase 2: System Development & Prototype
Duration: 6 months
Based on PoC results, develop data processing modules and integration interfaces tailored to the licensee's system requirements. Build a prototype system and conduct tests in a real operational environment.
Phase 3: Production Deployment & Scale
Duration: 3 months
Following prototype validation, initiate system deployment and operation in the production environment. Establish an analysis platform for collected people flow data and proceed with multi-site expansion and feature enhancements as needed.
Technical Feasibility
This technology utilizes existing wireless signals from mobile terminals, eliminating the need for extensive new dedicated sensor network construction. The components described in the claims, such as the radio wave receiving unit, time-frequency analysis unit, integration unit, and estimation unit, can be realized with general-purpose wireless communication modules and software processing. This offers high compatibility for deployment with software updates to existing communication infrastructure and minimal hardware additions, resulting in low technical barriers and reduced development risk.
Success Scenario
Upon deployment, this technology could enable real-time customer flow analysis in commercial facilities, potentially increasing sales by 5-10% through optimized store layouts. In event venues, it is expected to improve customer satisfaction by 20% by predicting congestion, optimizing entry control, and streamlining guidance. Furthermore, in public facilities, it could optimize staffing during peak hours, estimated to reduce annual operating costs by up to 15%.
Patent Record
APPLICATION NO.
特願2021-051643
REGISTRATION NO.
7577325
FILING DATE
2021/03/25
GRANT DATE
2024/10/25
EXPIRATION DATE
2041/03/25
PATENT HOLDER
国立大学法人九州工業大学
Examination History
2023年12月22日
出願審査請求書
2024年10月08日
特許査定