AccelerComm granted 56th patent as it advances 5G

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The patent strengthens AccelerComm’s already comprehensive IP portfolio in 5G channel coding and physical layer acceleration, which covers polar coding, LDPC coding, CRC acceleration, soft-decision demodulation, channel estimation and equalization and the hardware acceleration architectures that enable high-performance, power-efficient execution of physical layer algorithms across both terrestrial and satellite deployments. The company’s portfolio spans the United Kingdom, United States, European Union, China, Canada and South Korea, among others. 

Founded at the University of Southampton in 2016, AccelerComm has built its portfolio in close alignment with the 3GPP New Radio standardisation process, where it has been an active contributor. Its patents protect innovations that are not only standards-compliant, but already deployed at scale, supporting more than 200 commercial satellites and licensed by major silicon vendors.

David Helfgott, CEO of AccelerComm, said: “Every patent in our portfolio protects technology that has been proven not just in lab simulations, but in hardware and in orbit,” said “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.”

The milestone comes amid a period of sustained commercial and ecosystem momentum for the company, as the convergence of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks accelerates.

In January 2026, AccelerComm was selected to participate in the Airbus UpNext SpaceRAN demonstrator, contributing its 5G physical layer solution for on-board signal processing in software-defined satellites. The programme is exploring how regenerative satellite architectures can deliver full 5G base station functionality in orbit, rather than acting purely as “bent pipe” signal relays for stations on the ground.

AccelerComm’s role centres on enabling high-performance, power-efficient physical layer processing under the constraints of space-based systems, where size, weight, and power (SWaP) requirements are critical. Its patented hardware acceleration techniques are designed to deliver significantly higher throughput than software-only approaches, while maintaining the efficiency required for satellite deployment

This work forms part of a broader industry movement towards fully integrated, standards-based NTN networks capable of delivering both broadband and massive IoT services from space. In March 2026, AccelerComm and Radisys expanded their collaboration to support both NB-IoT NTN and NR-NTN within a unified 3GPP-compliant platform, enabling operators to address a wider range of connectivity use cases within a single architecture.

AccelerComm’s continued innovation is also underpinned by strong investor support. The company closed a £13.1 million Series B round in June 2025, led by IP Group with participation from IQ Capital, Swisscom Ventures, Bloc Ventures, Hostplus, and Parkwalk Advisors, bringing total funding raised to approximately $52.8 million.

“The accumulation of 56 granted patents reflects the commercialisation of more than a decade of research into channel coding and physical layer hardware acceleration,” said Professor Rob Maunder, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of AccelerComm. “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.”