The technology industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by rapid technological advancement. Circuit design testing has emerged as a vital component, gaining paramount importance. Ensuring reliability, functionality, and performance, factors such as miniaturisation, increasing complexity, and the need for seamless integration are driving the demand for rigorous testing methods. The growing the importance of technologies such as automatic test equipment (ATE), in-circuit testing (ICT), boundary scan testing and design for testability (DFT) further supports the innovation in the industry. In the last three years alone, there have been over 3.6 million patents filed and granted in the technology industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Technology Innovation: Circuit design testing. Buy the report here.
Smarter leaders trust GlobalData
However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilising and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
300+ innovations will shape the technology industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the technology industry using innovation intensity models built on over 2.5 million patents, there are 300+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, microphone beamforming, live betting games, and quantum dots are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Circuit design testing, smart contracts, and surround sound systems are some of the accelerating innovation areas, where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas are vehicle platooning and PCI power management, which are now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for the technology industry
Circuit design testing is a key innovation area in technology
Circuit design testing involves confirming that a circuit design operates as intended, fulfils its application requirements, and endures environmental pressures. This verification can be carried out using physical components, simulation software, or a combination of both. The testing encompasses various aspects, such as validation, reliability, performance, thermal analysis, and electromagnetic compatibility testing, among others.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 100+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established technology companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of circuit design testing.
Key players in circuit design testing – a disruptive innovation in the technology industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to circuit design testing
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| International Business Machines (IBM) | 290 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Synopsys | 189 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid | 166 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing | 108 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Samsung Group | 94 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Global Foundries | 79 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Intel | 78 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cadence Design Systems | 70 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Siemens | 62 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Furukawa | 60 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Southern Power Grid | 54 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Advanced Micro Devices | 49 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Broadcom | 39 | Unlock Company Profile |
| General Electric | 33 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China General Nuclear Power | 29 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NEC | 29 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China National Offshore Oil | 27 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China National Petroleum | 25 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Realtek Semiconductor | 25 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NXP Semiconductors | 25 | Unlock Company Profile |
| SoftBank Group | 24 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Oracle | 24 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nokia | 22 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Petrochemical | 21 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Global UniChip | 21 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitsubishi Electric | 19 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Qualcomm | 18 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Dassault Systemes | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| CRRC Group | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cbfi Investment | 17 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Toshiba | 16 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Racyics | 16 | Unlock Company Profile |
| ANSYS | 16 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Marvell Technology | 16 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hitachi | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Winbond Electronics | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Socionext | 14 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Power Construction | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Microchip Technology | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nippon Steel | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State Grid Shanghai Municipal Electric Power | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Optima Design Automation | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| General Motors | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Three Gorges | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China FAW Group | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Shanghai Electric Group | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Robert Bosch Stiftung | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China State Shipbuilding | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Huaneng Group | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
IBM is a leading patent filer in circuit design testing. One of the company’s patents is focused on a method, system, and computer program that is used to analyse the timing of an integrated circuit design independently of clock domains. The design is represented as a timing graph with interconnected nodes. The process involves abstracting timing information, propagating values through the graph, and applying timing constraints as callbacks. When design changes occur, modified timing tags and associated constraints are determined and the timing results are recalculated. Other prominent patent filers in the space include Synopsys and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
In terms of geographical reach, Mitsibishi leads the pack, followed by Tokyo Electron and General Electric. In terms of application diversity, Teradyne holds the top position, followed by General Electric and Hitachi.
Circuit design testing plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and reliability of electronic devices, especially in critical sectors such as healthcare, aerospace, and automotive industries. Moreover, it contributes to faster time-to-market, allowing companies to stay competitive in rapidly evolving markets.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the technology industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Technology.
Data Insights
From
The gold standard of business intelligence.
Blending expert knowledge with cutting-edge technology, GlobalData’s unrivalled proprietary data will enable you to decode what’s happening in your market. You can make better informed decisions and gain a future-proof advantage over your competitors.
GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
