Patents Examined by Mahendra R Patel
  • Patent number: 11978182
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a change detection unit configured to detect a direction change, which is a temporal fluctuation in a plausible direction orthogonal to an edge determined for each pixel in an edge image indicating a high frequency component in an image that is an image processing target, and a phase change, which is a temporal fluctuation of a phase of the high frequency component according to the direction change, and a reliability estimation unit configured to estimate reliability indicating that the detected phase change is not a change caused by noise based on a variance value of the direction change per unit time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shoichiro Takeda, Kazuki Okami, Megumi Isogai, Hideaki Kimata
  • Patent number: 11979183
    Abstract: Disclosed are covers for a mobile phone including aspects that protect the phone from impact and/or provide shock absorbance characteristics. Covers can include one or more protrusions that reduce the contact surface to the phone and dissipate energy. Advantageously, the one or more protrusions work with intermittent spaces to provide shock absorbing characteristics and reduce the contact surface area between the cover and the phone. In some embodiments, the protrusions can include a soft-side rectangular shape, where the protrusions are placed in an ordered array in the back wall of a cover. In some embodiments, the one or more protrusions can include a row of x-shaped protrusions interspersed with air pockets along the inside wall of the cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: Medway Plastics Corporation
    Inventors: Richard E. Hutchinson, Thomas A. Hutchinson, Gerald A. Hutchinson, Steven J. Weaver
  • Patent number: 11972614
    Abstract: A system for faster object attribute and/or intent classification may include an machine-learned (ML) architecture that processes temporal sensor data (e.g., multiple instances of sensor data received at different times) and includes a cache in an intermediate layer of the ML architecture. The ML architecture may be capable of classifying an object's intent to enter a roadway, idling near a roadway, or active crossing of a roadway. The ML architecture may additionally or alternatively classify indicator states, such as indications to turn, stop, or the like. Other attributes and/or intentions are discussed herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Oytun Ulutan, Subhasis Das, Yi-Ting Lin, Derek Xiang Ma
  • Patent number: 11972587
    Abstract: An establishing method of semantic distance map for a moving device, includes capturing an image; obtaining a single-point distance measurement result of the image; performing recognition for the image to obtain a recognition result of each obstacle in the image; and determining a semantic distance map corresponding to the image according to the image, the single-point distance measurement result and the recognition result of each obstacle of in the image; wherein each pixel of the semantic distance map includes an obstacle information, which includes a distance between the moving device and an obstacle, a type of the obstacle, and a recognition probability of the obstacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: FITIPOWER INTEGRATED TECHNOLOGY INC.
    Inventors: Hsueh-Tse Lin, Wei-Hung Hsu, Shang-Yu Yeh
  • Patent number: 11965832
    Abstract: A system comprising: at least one hardware processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program instructions, the program instructions executable by the at least one hardware processor to: receive, as input, spectral image data representing spectral reflectance associated with at least one plant, calculate a first and second chlorophyll fluorescence indices in respective first and second wavelength bands, based, at least in part, on said spectral reflectance, and derive a quantum yield value with respect to said at least one plant, by: (i) dividing said first chlorophyll fluorescence index in a sum of said first and second chlorophyll fluorescence indices, and (ii) multiplying (i) by a vegetation index value associated with said at least one plant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: MIGAL GALILEE RESEARCH INSTITUTE LTD.
    Inventor: Oded Liran
  • Patent number: 11961311
    Abstract: This on-vehicle system is to be mounted in a vehicle and is provided with an electronic control device and an externality recognition sensor. The externality recognition sensor is equipped with a sensing unit for acquiring pre-processing externality information through sensing operations. The on-vehicle system is further equipped with: a condition calculation unit that, on the basis of a vehicle position, a vehicle traveling direction, and map information, calculates a processing condition in which information specifying an area on a map is associated with processing priority of the pre-processing externality information acquired by the externality recognition sensor; and a processing object determination unit that, on the basis of the pre-processing externality information and the processing condition, creates externality information having a smaller amount of information compared with the pre-processing externality information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuta Muto, Akira Kuriyama
  • Patent number: 11961257
    Abstract: An image processing system having on-the-fly calibration uses the placement of the imaging sensor and the light source for calibration. The placement of the imaging sensor and light source with respect to each other affect the amount of signal received by a pixel as a function of distance to a selected object. For example, an obstruction can block the light emitter, and as the obstruction is positioned an increasing distance away from the light emitter, the signal level increases as light rays leave the light emitters, bounce off the obstruction and are received by the imaging sensor. The system includes a light source configured to emit light, and an image sensor to collect incoming signals including reflected light, and a processor to determine a distance measurement at each of the pixels and calibrate the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Analog Devices, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles Mathy, Brian C. Donnelly, Nicolas Le Dortz, Sefa Demirtas
  • Patent number: 11963082
    Abstract: A communication device comprising: one or more processors and one or more memories supporting communication, the device comprising a plurality of modes, including at least a normal mode and at least one focused mode, wherein the normal mode is distinct from the focused mode, and wherein, when the device is in the focused mode one or more features of the device are at least partially disabled, and wherein the one or more features of the device that are at least partially disabled in the focused mode include one or more features relating to communication supported by the device, wherein the device is configured to: support a user interface (UI) for setting one or more focused time periods, and wherein the device is further configured to switch to the at least one focused mode during the focused time periods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Inventor: Emma Michaela Siritzky
  • Patent number: 11961376
    Abstract: Described herein is a method comprising performing optical character recognition on at least one region of a display screen to determine at least one displayed character; identifying, from the determined at least one displayed character, a monetary value to be dispensed; and in response to identifying the monetary value to be dispensed, causing to be dispensed at least one money item corresponding to the identified monetary value. Further described is a method comprising determining, using at least one money item denominating apparatus, a monetary value of at least one received money item; in response to determining the monetary value, automatically providing at least one simulated user input to the interactive user interface indicative of the determined monetary value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: Crane Payment Innovations Limited
    Inventors: Shane Anthony Timmons, Michael Patrick Healy, Kevin Mulvey
  • Patent number: 11954578
    Abstract: Systems and methods for denoising a magnetic resonance (MR) image utilize an unsupervised deep convolutional neural network (U-DCNN). Magnetic resonance (MR) image data of an area of interest of a subject can be acquired, which can include noisy input images that comprise noise data and noise free image data. For each of the noisy input images, iterations can be run of a converging sequence in an unsupervised deep convolutional neural network. In each iteration, parameter settings are updated; the parameter settings are used in calculating a series of image feature sets with the U-DCNN. The image feature sets predict an output image. The converging sequence of the U-DCNN is terminated before the feature sets predict a respective output image that replicates all of the noise data from the noisy input image. Based on a selected feature set, a denoised MR image of the area of interest of the subject can be output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PATENT FOUNDATION
    Inventors: Craig H Meyer, Xue Feng
  • Patent number: 11948333
    Abstract: A disparity image fusion method for multiband stereo cameras belongs to the field of image processing and computer vision. The method obtains pixel disparity confidence information by using the intermediate output of binocular disparity estimation. The confidence information can be used to judge the disparity credibility of the position and assist disparity fusion. The confidence acquisition process makes full use of the intermediate output of calculation, and can be conveniently embedded into the traditional disparity estimation process, with high calculation efficiency and simple and easy operation. In the disparity image fusion method for multiband stereo cameras proposed by the method, the disparity diagrams participating in the fusion are obtained according to the binocular images of the corresponding bands, which makes full use of the information of each band and simultaneously avoiding introducing uncertainty and errors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignees: DALIAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, PENG CHENG LABORATORY
    Inventors: Wei Zhong, Hong Zhang, Haojie Li, Zhihui Wang, Risheng Liu, Xin Fan, Zhongxuan Luo, Shengquan Li
  • Patent number: 11948381
    Abstract: A system can use semantic images, lidar images, and/or 3D bounding boxes to determine mobility parameters for objects in the semantic image. In some cases, the system can generate virtual points for an object in a semantic image and associate the virtual points with lidar points to form denser point clouds for the object. The denser point clouds can be used to estimate the mobility parameters for the object. In certain cases, the system can use semantic images, lidar images, and/or 3D bounding boxes to determine an object sequence for an object. The object sequence can indicate a location of the particular object at different times. The system can use the object sequence to estimate the mobility parameters for the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Motional AD LLC
    Inventors: Varun Bankiti, Oscar Beijbom, Tianwei Yin
  • Patent number: 11941860
    Abstract: A method in a mobile computing device includes: controlling a camera to capture an image; tracking, in association with the image, a pose of the mobile computing device in a coordinate system; detecting a region of interest (ROI) depicting an item in the image; determining a location of the ROI in the coordinate system, based on the tracked pose; obtaining an item identifier corresponding to the ROI by (i) when a previously recognized item identifier is not available, executing a recognition mechanism to derive the item identifier from the ROI, and (ii) when a previously recognized item identifier is available, bypassing the recognition mechanism and retrieving the previously recognized item identifier; and returning the obtained item identifier corresponding to the ROI.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Zebra Tehcnologies Corporation
    Inventor: Patrenahalli M. Narendra
  • Patent number: 11940539
    Abstract: An automatic calibration and validation pipeline is disclosed to estimate and evaluate the accuracy of extrinsic parameters of a camera-to-LiDAR coordinate transformation. In an embodiment, an automated and unsupervised calibration procedure is employed where the computed rotational and translational parameters (“extrinsic parameters”) of the camera-to-LiDAR coordinate transformation are automatically estimated and validated, and upper bounds on the accuracy of the extrinsic parameters are set. The calibration procedure combines three-dimensional (3D) plane, vector and point correspondences to determine the extrinsic parameters, and the resulting coordinate transformation is validated by analyzing the projection of a filtered point cloud including a validation target in the image space. A single camera image and LiDAR scan (a “single shot”) are used to calibrate and validate the extrinsic parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Motional AD LLC
    Inventors: Paul Aurel Diederichs, Maurilio Di Cicco, Jun Shern Chan, Andreas Jianhao Aumiller, Francisco Alejandro Suarez Ruiz
  • Patent number: 11943838
    Abstract: Apparatus with I/O modules such as a networked security camera with a plurality of wireless connections to continue to use at least one network connection is presented. The apparatus, comprising a plurality of RF units, a plurality of SIM card interfaces, at least one processing unit, at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium and at least on input/output module, is able to continue sending and receiving data through one or more wireless networks using a plurality of RF units. Further, when more bandwidth and/or higher reliability is required, the apparatus aggregates data connections established with different wireless networks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Pismo Labs Technology Limited
    Inventors: Ming Pui Chong, Wan Chun Leung, Chan Neng Leong, Uzair Ahmed Chughtai
  • Patent number: 11943691
    Abstract: In one aspect, a system for receiving communications while a user operates a motor vehicle is provided. The system may include (1) a BLUETOOTH interface configured to establish a connection to a BLUETOOTH device associated with the motor vehicle, (2) a wireless communication interface configured to receive a wireless communication from a remote device, and (3) a processor coupled to the wireless communication interface and the BLUETOOTH interface, and configured to: (a) determine the user is operating the motor vehicle based upon the connection to the BLUETOOTH device, and (b) suppress a notification of the user of receipt of the wireless communication while the user is operating the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventor: Frankie Lockenour
  • Patent number: 11943637
    Abstract: Disclosed is a system and methods for creating and maintaining a virtual subnetwork of telecommunication base stations within a wider telecommunication network. In an LTE-based example, the subnetwork includes a connection aggregator that is coupled between the plurality of eNodeBs internal to the subnetwork and one or more MMEs in the outer network. The connection aggregator intercepts all control plane messages between the MMEs and the internal eNodeBs, remaps eNodeB identifiers, and transmits repackaged messages so that the outer network sees the entire subnetwork as a single “giant” eNodeB. The disclosed system and methods enables the operator of the virtual subnetwork to add and shut down eNodeBs as demand for connectivity fluctuates, and to do so such that all changes are unseen by the outer network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: JOHN MEZZALINGUA ASSOCIATES, LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey Michael Courington, Vishal Agrawal, Sasi Eswaravaka, Massimo Notargiacomo, Stephen Turner, Patrick William Henkle
  • Patent number: 11934374
    Abstract: In one aspect, the present disclosure implements a method that determines whether a submitted image satisfies a geographic constraint which includes defining a rule that establishes a geographic restriction on the submitted image, accessing a geo-code associated with the submitted image, determining whether the geo-code indicates that the submitted image was taken at a location that violates the geographic restriction defined in the rule, and if a determination is made that the submitted image was taken at a location that violates the geographic restriction defined in the rule, eliminating the submitted image from being considered a valid entry in the contest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Inventors: David Young, Terrence Nevins, Douglas de la Torre
  • Patent number: 11935251
    Abstract: A sensor may be configured to determine how many people that have entered or exited a space. The sensor may comprise a pyroelectric infrared (PIR) detection circuit capable of generating different output signal patterns in response to a person entering or exiting the space. The sensor may determine whether the person has entered or exited the space based on the output signal pattern. The sensor may include a thermopile array, a radar detection circuit, or a visible light sensing circuit. The thermopile array, radar detection circuit, or visible light sensing circuit may be capable of detecting a person's location and/or movements within an area monitored by the sensor and determining, based on the detected movements, whether the person has entered or left the space. An occupant count of the space may then be determined accordingly by the sensor or by a system controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Lutron Technology Company LLC
    Inventor: James P. Steiner
  • Patent number: 11928505
    Abstract: Offline task-based feature processing for aerial vehicles is provided. A system can extract features from a world model generated using sensor information captured by sensors mounted on an aerial vehicle. The system generates a label for each of the features and identifies identify processing levels based on the features. The system selects a processing level for each feature of a subset of features based on a task performed by the aerial vehicle and the label associated with the feature. The system generates one or more processed features by applying the processing level to a respective feature of the subset of the plurality of features. The system presents the one or more processed features on a display device of the aerial vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION
    Inventors: Navid Dadkhah Tehrani, Daniel Montrallo Flickinger, Igor Cherepinsky