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CPC Subgroup
H04N 21/238

Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. adapting the transmission rate of a video stream to network bandwidth; Processing of multiplex streams

Full Title

Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD] (real-time bi-directional transmission of motion video data H04N7/14 ) > Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof > Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware > Interfacing the downstream path of the transmission network, e.g. adapting the transmission rate of a video stream to network bandwidth; Processing of multiplex streams

Filing statistics

CPC H04N 21/238 belongs to the parent subclass H04N, which recorded 864,508 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 63,372 in 2013 to 69,353 in 2023 (+9%), peaking at 99,144 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class H04 are HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY (101,476 applications), QUALCOMM (101,139 applications) and SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY (96,655 applications).

Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings

6 direct subcodes

Child Classifications

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  • H04N 21/23805
  • H04N 21/2381 Adapting the multiplex stream to a specific network, e.g. an Internet Protocol [IP] network
  • H04N 21/2383 Channel coding of digital bit-stream, e.g. QPSK modulation (arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by adapting the channel coding H04L1/0009; analogue front ends or means for connecting modulators, demodulators or transceivers to a transmission line H04L27/0002)
  • H04N 21/2385 Channel allocation (H04N21/266 takes precedence); Bandwidth allocation (H04N21/24 takes precedence )
  • H04N 21/2387 Stream processing in response to a playback request from an end-user, e.g. for trick-play

Top Applicants

Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class H04, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT

  1. HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY CN 101,476
  2. QUALCOMM US 101,139
  3. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 96,655
  4. TELEFONAKTIEBOLAGET LM ERICSSON (PUBL) SE 57,744
  5. LG ELECTRONICS KR 55,253
  6. HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY 54,181
  7. SONY CORPORATION JP 35,309
  8. ZTE CORPORATION CN 32,950
  9. INTEL CORPORATION US 27,533
  10. GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION CN 27,498