H03K PULSE TECHNIQUE
Introduced: September 1968
Last revised: January 1985
Classification Context
- Section:
- ELECTRICITY
- Class:
- ELECTRONIC CIRCUITRY
- Subclass:
- PULSE TECHNIQUE
Description
H03K covers electronic circuits and devices designed to generate, process, shape, or detect electrical pulses and pulse trains. This subclass encompasses oscillators, pulse generators, timing circuits, monostable and astable multivibrators, counters, and dividers that operate on discrete pulse signals rather than continuous waveforms. Applications include digital logic circuits, switching circuits, timing control systems, and pulse modulation techniques used in telecommunications, radar, and digital electronics. The classification excludes steady-state signal processing and continuous-wave techniques, which fall under other H03 subclasses.
Filing statistics
IPC subclass H03K recorded 110,917 patent applications worldwide between 2013 and 2023. Annual filings grew from 8,678 in 2013 to 10,761 in 2023 (+24%), peaking at 11,161 applications in 2020. The most active applicants in class H03 are QUALCOMM (5,625 applications), SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY (5,496 applications) and MURATA MANUFACTURING COMPANY (5,478 applications).
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
In class comparison
H03K ranks 1st of 10 subclasses with filings in H03, with 110,917 applications between 2013 and 2023, 32.9% of the class. Annual filings grew 24% from 2013 to 2023, above the class as a whole (+15%).
| Rank | Subclass | Title | Applications | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | H03K | Pulse Technique | 110,917 | 32.9% |
| 2 | H03M, Coding, Decoding or Code Conversion, in General | Coding, Decoding or Code Conversion, in General | 65,789 | 19.5% |
| 3 | H03H, Impedance Networks, e.g. Resonant Circuits; Resonators | Impedance Networks, e.g. Resonant Circuits; Resonators | 56,431 | 16.7% |
| 4 | H03F, Amplifiers | Amplifiers | 50,749 | 15.0% |
| 5 | H03L, Automatic Control, Starting, Synchronisation or Stabilisation of Generators of Electronic Oscillations or Pulses | Automatic Control, Starting, Synchronisation or Stabilisation of Generators of Electronic Oscillations or Pulses | 21,048 | 6.2% |
| 6 | H03G, Control of Amplification | Control of Amplification | 13,146 | 3.9% |
| 7 | H03B, Generation of Oscillations, Directly or by Frequency-Changing, by Circuits Employing Active Elements Which Operate in a Non-Switching Manner; Generation of Noise by Such Circuits | Generation of Oscillations, Directly or by Frequency-Changing, by Circuits Employing Active Elements Which Operate in a Non-Switching Manner; Generation of Noise by Such Circuits | 11,859 | 3.5% |
| 8 | H03D, Demodulation or Transference of Modulation From One Carrier to Another | Demodulation or Transference of Modulation From One Carrier to Another | 4,960 | 1.5% |
| 9 | H03C, Modulation | Modulation | 1,283 | 0.4% |
| 10 | H03J, Tuning Resonant Circuits; Selecting Resonant Circuits | Tuning Resonant Circuits; Selecting Resonant Circuits | 1,256 | 0.4% |
Source: EPO PATSTAT, worldwide filings
Additional Content
Glossary
‘continuously-variable’ modulating signal Analogue signals or signals that comprise a number of discrete levels, such as signals produced by counting circuits.
Limiting references
Measuring pulse characteristics Electric discharge tubes or discharge lamps; Gas filled tubes; Vacuum tubes Modulating sinusoidal oscillations with pulses Demodulation or transference of signals modulated on a sinusoidal carrier Discriminator circuits detecting phase difference between two signals by counting or integrating cycles of oscillation Automatic control, starting, synchronizing or stabilization of generators of electronic oscillations or pulses where the type of generator is irrelevant or unspecified Coding, decoding or code conversion, in general Transmission of digital information; Modulated carrier systems , Semiconductor devices; Electric solid-state devices not otherwise provided for
Related Keywords
16 direct subcodes
Child Classifications
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- H03K 11/00 Transforming types of modulation, e.g. position-modulated pulses into duration-modulated pulses
- H03K 12/00 Producing pulses by distorting or combining sinusoidal waveforms
- H03K 17/00 Electronic switching or gating, i.e. not by contact-making and -breaking
- H03K 19/00 Logic circuits, i.e. having at least two inputs acting on one output; Inverting circuits
- H03K 21/00 Details of pulse counters or frequency dividers
- H03K 23/00 Pulse counters comprising counting chains; Frequency dividers comprising counting chains
- H03K 25/00 Pulse counters with step-by-step integration and static storage; Analogous frequency dividers
- H03K 27/00 Pulse counters in which pulses are continuously circulated in a closed loop; Analogous frequency dividers
- H03K 29/00 Pulse counters comprising multi-stable elements, e.g. for ternary scale, for decimal scale; Analogous frequency dividers
- H03K 3/00 Circuits for generating electric pulses; Monostable, bistable or multistable circuits
- H03K 4/00 Generating pulses having essentially a finite slope or stepped portions
- H03K 5/00 Manipulation of pulses not covered by one of the other main groups of this subclass
- H03K 6/00 Manipulating pulses having a finite slope and not covered by one of the other main groups of this subclass
- H03K 7/00 Modulating pulses with a continuously-variable modulating signal
- H03K 9/00 Demodulating pulses which have been modulated with a continuously-variable signal
- H03K 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
Top Applicants
Top 10 applicants by patent filingsfor class H03, 2013–2023, worldwide · Source: EPO PATSTAT
- QUALCOMM US 5,625
- SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY KR 5,496
- MURATA MANUFACTURING COMPANY JP 5,478
- HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY CN 3,383
- INTEL CORPORATION US 3,091
- TEXAS INSTRUMENTS US 3,070
- MURATA MANUFACTURING COMPANY 2,722
- SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS US 2,290
- SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION 2,177
- IBM (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION) US 2,158