AccelerComm wins 56th patent as 5G satellite growth continues

AccelerComm has secured its 56th international patent as the UK-founded 5G satellite technology company marks its tenth year in operation.

The new patent adds to a portfolio focused on 5G channel coding and physical layer acceleration for non-terrestrial networks. Its intellectual property covers polar coding, LDPC coding, CRC acceleration, soft-decision demodulation, channel estimation and equalisation, as well as hardware architectures for running physical-layer algorithms in terrestrial and satellite systems.

Founded at the University of Southampton, AccelerComm has built its patent estate alongside the development of 3GPP New Radio standards, to which it has contributed. Its technologies are already deployed in more than 200 commercial satellites and have been licensed by major silicon vendors.

The portfolio spans multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, the US, the EU, China, Canada, and South Korea. That reach reflects the international market for 5G non-terrestrial networks, as satellite and mobile operators seek to integrate space-based and ground-based connectivity within common standards.

Chief Executive Officer David Helfgott said the patents reflect work that has moved beyond research. "Every patent in our portfolio protects technology that has been proven not just in lab simulations, but in hardware and in orbit," he said.

He added: "That combination of expertise, silicon integration, and flight heritage gives our customers - from chipset vendors to satellite prime contractors - a robust and defensible technical foundation as they build out next-generation non-terrestrial networks in space."

Patent Base

The Southampton company specialises in the physical layer of wireless communications, the part of the network stack that governs how signals are encoded, transmitted and decoded. In satellite applications, that work must account for the constraints of space systems, including tight limits on size, weight and power consumption.

Its technology is designed to make 5G standards work in harsher operating conditions than those found in conventional terrestrial mobile networks. Non-terrestrial networks must cope with long distances, shifting signal paths and the need to process data efficiently on satellites and in supporting ground infrastructure.

AccelerComm's hardware acceleration methods are intended to increase throughput compared with software-only approaches while keeping energy use within the limits required for satellite deployment. The company has focused that expertise on regenerative satellite designs, in which more of the mobile network function is handled in orbit rather than relayed directly to the ground.

Commercial Momentum

The patent milestone comes amid broader commercial activity. Earlier this year, AccelerComm was selected for Airbus UpNext's SpaceRAN demonstrator, where it is contributing a 5G physical layer solution for onboard signal processing in software-defined satellites.

The programme is examining how satellites could support full 5G base station functions in orbit. This differs from traditional "bent pipe" satellite systems, which primarily relay signals between users and ground stations, with limited onboard processing.

Separately, AccelerComm expanded its collaboration with Radisys to support both NB-IoT NTN and NR-NTN in a single 3GPP-compliant platform. The work is intended to help operators support a wider range of connectivity services through one architecture, spanning broadband and massive Internet of Things applications from space.

The company has also attracted investor backing. It closed a GBP £13.1 million Series B funding round led by IP Group, with participation from IQ Capital, Swisscom Ventures, Bloc Ventures, Hostplus and Parkwalk Advisors, bringing total funding raised to about USD $52.8 million.

Founder and Chief Technology Officer Professor Rob Maunder linked the latest patent to a longer research effort. "The accumulation of 56 granted patents reflects the commercialisation of more than a decade of research into channel coding and physical layer hardware acceleration," he said.

He added: "These patents protect technology that is now operating on live satellite networks, inside 5G chipsets, and within the global standards that define how these systems interoperate. That is a strong validation of the approach we have taken from the outset."