Patents Assigned to Apple
  • Publication number: 20110299589
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a video encoding system that may include a coding engine to code an input video signal according to a video compression process, compression of each portion of the input signal performed according to coding parameters assigned to the respective portion. The video encoding system may also include a rate controller to select coding parameters of each portion of the input signal, the rate controller estimating delay of delivery of coded video data by a delivery network according to a leaky bucket modeling process and selecting coding parameters of a portion to be coded based at least in part on the estimated delay.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Xiaosong ZHOU, Hsi-Jung WU
  • Publication number: 20110298766
    Abstract: A light sensing device has a first filter to block visible light in a light path. The light sensing device also has a first color sensor and a clear sensor, to detect light in the light path after the first filter. A light intensity calculator computes a measure of the intensity of visible light in the light path, based on a difference between (a) an output signal of the first color sensor, and (b) an output signal of the clear sensor. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Ching Yu John Tam
  • Publication number: 20110301900
    Abstract: A personal mobile device housing contains a display screen, a wireless telephony communications transceiver, and a battery charger interface. A temperature sensor and a gyro sensor whose zero turn rate output contains an offset are also included. A lookup table has gyro zero turn rate offset correction values associated with different temperature values. A programmed processor accesses the lookup table to correct the output of the gyro sensor for zero turn rate offset. It is automatically determined, during in-the-field use, when the device is in a motionless state, and the output of the temperature and gyro sensors are read. The read gyro output is written to the lookup table as part of a pair of associated temperature and zero turn rate offset correction values. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Parin Patel
  • Publication number: 20110297524
    Abstract: Multiple-pole single-throw dome switch assemblies for electronic devices and methods for creating the same are provided. For example, a switch assembly may include a deformable dome that may have a conductive inner surface. The switch assembly may also include three conductive pads, at least two of which may be positioned underneath the dome. When the dome is deformed, each one of the three conductive pads may be electrically coupled to the conductive inner surface of the dome. When the dome is not deformed, at least one of the three conductive pads may be electrically isolated from the conductive inner surface of the dome.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Wing Kong Low, Thai Quoc La
  • Publication number: 20110298433
    Abstract: A switching power supply circuit has a controller, a power switch, and an inductor circuit that is coupled to a power node of the power switch and to a capacitor. The inductor circuit has several discrete component conductors that are connected to each other in parallel and laid out side-by-side and wired such that each of the inductors is oriented with opposite polarity relative to another adjacent one of the inductors. Each inductor has associated first and second traces that are used to wire it to the power node and the capacitor. These traces for one inductor have matched characteristics with those of an adjacent inductor. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Ching Yu John Tam
  • Publication number: 20110298886
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and a computer readable medium for performing auto exposure (AE) techniques that are beneficial in variable lighting conditions—and particularly applicable to handheld and/or mobile videoconferencing applications—are disclosed herein. Handheld and/or mobile videoconferencing applications—unlike their fixed camera counterparts—are often exposed to a wide variety of rapidly changing lighting and scene conditions, and thus face a difficult trade-off between adjusting exposure parameter values too frequently or not frequently enough. In personal electronic devices executing such handheld and/or mobile videoconferencing applications, it may be desirable to: use a small, centered, and center-weighted exposure metering region; set a relatively low brightness target value; and adjust the camera's exposure parameter values according to a distance-dependent convergence speed function.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple, Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas S. Price, Xiaosong Zhou, Hsi-Jung Wu
  • Publication number: 20110301777
    Abstract: A computing system has a thermal manager that changes a power consuming activity limit in the device based on an estimate of temperature of a target location in the system. There are several temperature sensors that are not at the target location. An estimator computes the target location temperature estimate using a thermal model and, as input to the thermal model, data from the sensors. The thermal model produces different estimates of the target location temperature at different ambient temperatures but without computing or measuring the ambient temperatures. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Keith Cox, Gaurav Kapoor, Frank Faqiu Liang
  • Publication number: 20110302096
    Abstract: An authentication service provides authentication information to help potential buyers determine the legitimacy of an offer to sell a good or service. For example, an authentication service stores registration information that indicates (a) that a particular item was purchased by a particular party, and (b) contact information that indicates a particular address for communicating with the party. When the registered owner of an item wants to sell the item, the owner sends an intent-to-sell message to the authentication service. In response to receiving the intent-to-sell message, the authentication service sends access information to the particular address. The access information specifies a manner of receiving authentication information about the item from the authentication service. The registered owner includes the access information in his or her advertisements for the item.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventor: T. Ethan Lowry
  • Publication number: 20110302445
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for selectively retiring blocks based on refresh events of those blocks. In addition to refresh events, other criteria may be applied in making a decision whether to retire a block. By applying the criteria, the system is able to selectively retire blocks that may otherwise continue to be refreshed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Byom, Daniel Post, Vadim Khmelnitsky
  • Publication number: 20110302556
    Abstract: Art editor within an integrated development environment displays a related file automatically. When a user enters a command to open a first file in the editor, the editor not only displays the first file's content (in a “primary editor”) but also automatically displays a second file's content (in a “related editor”), where the second file is related to the first file. In other words, when a first file is displayed in the editor, a file that is related to the first file is automatically displayed also. If the primary editor later displays a different file, then the file shown in the related editor will likely change as well, since the file shown in the related editor will be related to the “new” file in the primary editor. In other words, whatever is displayed in the related editor “tracks” whatever is displayed in the primary editor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 6, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Maxwell O. Drukman, Andreas W. Wendker, D. Matthew Firlik, Todd R. Fernandez, Michael S. Ferris, Anders I. Bertelrud
  • Publication number: 20110302588
    Abstract: Systems and processes may be implemented to receive threads of execution and assign priorities to the threads of execution. Threads of execution may include nonvolatile memory input/output threads, other input/output threads, and/or other non-input/output threads. A lower priority may be assigned to nonvolatile memory input/output threads than other input/output threads. An algorithm may determine an order of execution of the threads of execution. An order of execution may be at least partially based on assigned priorities.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Michael J. Cornwell, Christopher P. Dudte
  • Publication number: 20110298798
    Abstract: A three-dimensional imaging and display system is provided in which user input is optically detected in an imaging volume by measuring the path length of an amplitude modulated scanning beam as a function of the phase shift thereof. Visual image user feedback concerning the detected user input is presented.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 17, 2011
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Christoph H. KRAH
  • Publication number: 20110298947
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for obtaining a properly exposed strobe-illuminated image are provided. One method for doing so may include, for example, gathering image capture statistics during a first period when a strobe is not emitting light and during a second period when the strobe emits a preflash. These image capture statistics may include distinct image capture control statistics and luma values associated with the periods. Final image capture control statistics then may be determined based at least in part on the first luma value normalized to the first image capture control statistics and the second luma value normalized to the second image capture control statistics. Thereafter, the final image capture control statistics may be used to capture a properly exposed strobe-illuminated image when the strobe emits a main flash.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 3, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Haitao Guo, David Daming Kuo
  • Publication number: 20110300874
    Abstract: A system and method for removing time division multiple access (TDMA) noise from an audio signal during a silence interval and not during a non-silence interval. An audio silence interval may be a set of frames which have substantially no audible sound (i.e. no speech or voice are audible). This may be determined by analyzing the decibel level or magnitude of the audio signal. In one embodiment, a voice activity detector determines a silence interval within the audio signal and sends a control signal to enable a TDMA noise filter. The audio signal is continuously passed through the TDMA noise filter. However, the TDMA noise filter only operates/processes the silence intervals of the audio signal as a result of the TDMA noise filter being activated by the voice activity detector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Shaohai Chen
  • Publication number: 20110300805
    Abstract: A method of mitigating interference in a mobile wireless communication device by adaptively adjusting transmit power levels of a wireless cellular transceiver. A receive signal quality for a wireless non-cellular transceiver that includes interference from signals transmitted by the wireless cellular transceiver is estimated. The wireless non-cellular and wireless cellular transceivers are co-located in the mobile wireless communication device, and both transceivers are active. An actual transmit power of the wireless cellular transceiver is adjusted based on the estimated receive signal quality to a level less than a requested transmit power. The estimation of the receive signal quality and the adjusting of the actual transmit power is periodically repeated. The estimation accounts for operational properties of the wireless cellular and non-cellular transceivers as well as operational characteristics of wireless connections through the transceivers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Amit Gaikwad, Indranil Sen
  • Publication number: 20110298811
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices relating to directly bonding electrode pads of a flexible printed circuit (FPC) to electrode pads of a glass substrate are provided. In one example, such a system may include a glass substrate with electrode pads and an FPC with corresponding electrode pads. A joining edge of each electrode pad of the FPC may couple directly to a joining edge of a corresponding electrode pad of the glass substrate, without an intervening conductive adhesive layer or an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) layer, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Ahmad Al-Dahle, Wei H. Yao
  • Publication number: 20110298944
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for applying lens shading correction to image data captured by an image sensor are provided. In one embodiment, multiple lens shading adaptation functions, each modeled based on the response of a color channel to a reference illuminant, are provided. An image frame from the image data may be analyzed to select a lens shading adaptation function corresponding to a reference illuminant that most closely matches a current illuminant. The selected lens shading function may then be used to adjust a set of lens shading parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2010
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: David Daming Kuo, Haitao Guo, Jay David Zipnick, Ting Chen, Sumit Chawla
  • Patent number: 8072471
    Abstract: A method for processing a selected item in a GUI of a multimedia application is provided. The method includes receiving a hot key input that specifies a function that is to be applied to the selected item and displaying a set of control guidelines associated with the hot key input. The set of control guidelines indicates cursor movement inputs needed to specify particular aspects of the function. A method for transforming a received cursor movement in a first coordinate system to a transformed cursor movement in a second coordinate system is provided. The received cursor movement specifies a particular manner (e.g., aspect and extent) of a function to be applied to an item in a workspace of a multimedia application. The first coordinate system displays a particular view of the workspace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Mitchell Scott Middler, Peter Warner
  • Patent number: 8072764
    Abstract: Multi-part substrate arrangements that yield low profile configurations are disclosed. One aspect pertains to portable electronic devices are able to have low profiles through use of multi-part substrate arrangements. Another aspect pertains to methods for assembling two or more separate substrates into a multi-part substrate. By use of multi-part substrate arrangements according to the invention, portable electronic devices are able to be thinner and more compact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kyle H. Yeates, James Bilanski, Dennis Pyper
  • Patent number: 8073984
    Abstract: Improved techniques for communicating between a portable electronic device and an accessory (or auxiliary) device are disclosed. The accessory device can augment or supplement the functionality or capabilities of the portable electronic device. For example, in one embodiment, the accessory device can provide wireless communication capabilities to the portable electronic device. In one embodiment, the portable electronic device pertains to a portable media player and thus provide media data for storage, playback or transmission. In one embodiment, the accessory device is attachable to the portable electronic device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory Thomas Lydon, Scott Krueger