Patents Assigned to Apple
  • Cache footprint management
    Patent number: 11947462
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed relating to cache footprint management. In some embodiments, execution circuitry is configured to perform operations for instructions from multiple threads in parallel. Cache circuitry may store information operated on by threads executed by the execution circuitry. Scheduling circuitry may arbitrate among threads to schedule threads for execution by the execution circuitry. Tracking circuitry may determine one or more performance metrics for the cache circuitry. Control circuitry may, based on the one or more performance metrics meeting a threshold, reduce a limit on a number of threads considered for arbitration by the scheduling circuitry, to control a footprint of information stored by the cache circuitry. Disclosed techniques may advantageously reduce or avoid cache thrashing for certain processor workloads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yoong Chert Foo, Terence M. Potter, Donald R. DeSota, Benjiman L. Goodman, Aroun Demeure, Cheng Li, Winnie W. Yeung
  • Internal architecture of a computing device
    Patent number: 11950354
    Abstract: This application relates to a layout of components within an electronic device. The electronic device includes a circuit board and one or more thermal components located on or proximate to each surface of the circuit board. As a result, thermal energy generated by components of the circuit board are drawn away from the circuit board in a more efficient manner. Additionally, the electronic device may include one or more air movers designed to draw ambient air into the electronic device in a manner that causes the ambient air to cool components upstream from the air movers. Further, the electronic device includes a fin stack that is thermally coupled to the aforementioned thermal components, and further receives air driven in by the air mover(s). Also, the electronic device is designed to receive the ambient air through openings that define a 360-degree air inlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kristopher P. Laurent, Brett W. Degner, Jay S. Nigen, Eric R. Prather, David H. Narajowski
  • Accurate sign change for radio frequency transmitters
    Patent number: 11949769
    Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein relate to improving a power output of a transmitter of an electronic device. To do so, the transmitter may include signal selection circuitry to adjust a sign selection signal to accurately transition between polarities of a quadrature (e.g., I or Q) component signal stored in or for which an indication is stored in a storage cell of a radio frequency digital-to-analog converter. The sign selection signal may generate a separate adjusted sign selection signal for each polarity of each quadrature component signal such that a transition of the selection signal between a first value and a second value (e.g., logic high and low) occurs when the respective quadrature (e.g., +/? and I/Q) component signal is a logic low. In this way, the signal selection circuitry reduces an error pulse in the output of the transmitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Voravit Vorapipat, Morteza Nick, Krishna Chaitanya Reddy Gangavaram, Antonio Passamani
  • Online modeling for real-time facial animation
    Patent number: 11948238
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to a method for real-time facial animation, and a processing device for real-time facial animation. The method includes providing a dynamic expression model, receiving tracking data corresponding to a facial expression of a user, estimating tracking parameters based on the dynamic expression model and the tracking data, and refining the dynamic expression model based on the tracking data and estimated tracking parameters. The method may further include generating a graphical representation corresponding to the facial expression of the user based on the tracking parameters. Embodiments pertain to a real-time facial animation system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sofien Bouaziz, Mark Pauly
  • Camera format selection
    Patent number: 11949529
    Abstract: The subject technology receives, at a local device, a requested camera format based on specifications of a display associated with a remote device. The remote device and the local device are devices participating in a video conference. The requested camera format includes a first resolution. Camera formats supported by a camera associated with the local device are determined. If a second resolution of a first camera format matches among the supported camera formats matches with the first resolution, the first camera format is selected for capturing the video stream by the camera. Otherwise, a second camera format among the supported camera formats is determined for capturing the video stream so as to maximize a field of view of the video stream relative to other camera formats supported by the camera.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Karthick Santhanam, Eric L. Chien, Christopher M. Garrido, Kyle W. Horn, Ian J. Baird, Qian Sun, David L. Biderman
  • Power converter with DCR sensing circuit having improved noise immunity
    Patent number: 11949334
    Abstract: A power converter is disclosed. The power converter includes a switching circuit configured to source current to a switch node that is coupled, via an inductor, to a regulated power supply node. A DC resistance sensing circuit includes a first filter and a second filters. The first filter circuit is configured to filter a voltage level of a first terminal of the inductor to generate a first filtered signal, while the second filter circuit is configured to filter a voltage level of a second terminal of the inductor to generate a second filtered signal. A control circuit is configured to adjust the operation of the switching circuit using a voltage level of the regulated power supply node, the first filtered signal, and the second filtered signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan F. Bolus, Alberto Alessandro Angelo Puggelli, Fabio Gozzini, Hao Zhou
  • Communication devices and methods for operating a communication device
    Patent number: 11949721
    Abstract: A communication device may include a message generator configured to generate a message in accordance with a command set to use a communication service provided by a communication session setup protocol; and a modem circuit coupled to the message generator and configured to operate in accordance with the message generated by the message generator; wherein the message generator is configured to generate the message comprising a command to at least one of control or establish an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Frank Kowalewski
  • Automatic speech recognition imposter rejection on a headphone with an accelerometer
    Patent number: 11948561
    Abstract: A signal processing method to determine whether or not a detected key-phrase is spoken by a wearer of a headphone. The method receives an accelerometer signal from an accelerometer in a headphone and receives a microphone signal from at least one microphone in the headphone. The method detects a key-phrase using the microphone signal and generates a voice activity detection (VAD) signal based on the accelerometer signal. The method determines whether the VAD signal indicates that the detected key-phrase is spoken by a wearer of the headphone. Responsive to determining that the VAD signal indicates that the detected key-phrase is spoken by the wearer of the headphone, triggering a virtual personal assistant (VPA).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sorin V. Dusan, Sungyub D. Yoo, Dubravko Biruski
  • Motion control system
    Patent number: 11945279
    Abstract: A motion control system is coupled to a first mass and a second mass and is configured to regulate motion of the first mass with respect to the second mass. The motion control system is configured to increase a contact area between the second mass and a surface on which the second mass rests by increasing a displacement of the motion control system from a neutral position in a direction toward the first mass.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Randol W. Aikin, Thaddeus J. Stefanov-Wagner
  • Scalable cache coherency protocol
    Patent number: 11947457
    Abstract: A scalable cache coherency protocol for system including a plurality of coherent agents coupled to one or more memory controllers is described. The memory controller may implement a precise directory for cache blocks from the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. Multiple requests to a cache block may be outstanding, and snoops and completions for requests may include an expected cache state at the receiving agent, as indicated by a directory in the memory controller when the request was processed, to allow the receiving agent to detect race conditions. In an embodiment, the cache states may include a primary shared and a secondary shared state. The primary shared state may apply to a coherent agent that bears responsibility for transmitting a copy of the cache block to a requesting agent. In an embodiment, at least two types of snoops may be supported: snoop forward and snoop back.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: James Vash, Gaurav Garg, Brian P. Lilly, Ramesh B. Gunna, Steven R. Hutsell, Lital Levy-Rubin, Per H. Hammarlund, Harshavardhan Kaushikkar
  • Media browsing user interface with intelligently selected representative media items
    Patent number: 11947778
    Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to navigating a collection of media items. In accordance with one embodiment, in response to receiving an input, a device displays a first view of a collection of media items, including concurrently displaying a representation of a first time period and a representation of a second time period. In accordance with a determination that a current time is associated with a first recurring temporal event: the representation of the first time period includes a first representative media item and the representation of the second time period includes a second representative media item. In accordance with a determination that the current time is associated with a second recurring temporal event, the representation of the first time period includes a third representative media item and the representation of the second time period includes a fourth representative media item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Graham R. Clarke, Simon Bovet, Eric M. G. Circlaeys, Richard R. Dellinger, Lynne Devine, Alan C. Dye, Daniel E. Gobera Rubalcava, Andreas Karlsson, Matthieu Lucas, Johnnie B. Manzari, Nicole R. Ryan, William A. Sorrentino, III, Andre Souza Dos Santos, Gregg Suzuki, Sergey Tatarchuk
  • Speaker assembly
    Patent number: 11950036
    Abstract: An electronic device can include a housing defining an aperture and a display positioned in the aperture. The display and the housing can define an internal volume in which a speaker assembly is positioned. The speaker assembly can include a speaker module and a speaker enclosure in fluid communication, with the speaker enclosure at least partially defining a speaker volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Paul X. Wang, Chanjuan Feng, Christopher Wilk, Dinesh C. Mathew, Keith J. Hendren, Stuart M. Nevill, Daniel K. Boothe, Nicholas A Rundle, Simon S. Lee, Xiang Zhang, Thomas H. Tsang, Rebecca J. Mikolajczyk
  • Head-mounted devices with forward facing cameras
    Patent number: 11950022
    Abstract: A head-mounted device may have a head-mounted support structure with a left side portion, a right side portion, and a transparent front portion forming a lens. The lens may extend across the front of a user's face between the left and right side portions. The lens may have a mirror coating or other optical coating that helps obscure objects on the inner side of the lens when viewed from an exterior region surrounding the head-mounted device. Left and right forward-facing cameras with overlapping fields of view may be used to capture visible-light images through the lens. The cameras may also be used for gaze tracking. Left and right light sources may provide eye illumination that reflects from the lens into left and right eye boxes. Images from the eye boxes may reflect from the lens towards the left and right forward-facing cameras.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: David A. Kalinowski, Brian S. Lau
  • Control channel and reference signal transmission in wireless networks
    Patent number: 11950230
    Abstract: The present application relates to devices and components including apparatus, systems, and methods for control signaling and reference signal transmission in wireless networks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Hong He, Chunhai Yao, Chunxuan Ye, Dawei Zhang, Haitong Sun, Huaning Niu, Jie Cui, Oghenekome Oteri, Seyed Ali Akbar Fakoorian, Sigen Ye, Wei Zeng, Weidong Yang, Yushu Zhang
  • Management of MIMO communication systems
    Patent number: 11949474
    Abstract: Apparatuses of a user equipment (UE), a cellular base station, and radio access network (RAN) nodes are disclosed. An apparatus of a wireless communication device includes circuitry configured to measure reference signals received from a plurality of antennas of an other wireless communication device, and circuitry configured to cause one or more antennas of the wireless communication device to transmit information regarding the received reference signals back to the other wireless communication device to enable the other wireless communication device to estimate a utility function for different transmit parameter sets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Jan Schreck, Nageen Himayat, Hosein Nikopour, Feng Xue, Ehsan Aryafar, Oner Orhan, Mustafa R. Akdeniz, Wook Bong Lee, Jing Zhu
  • Headphones
    Patent number: D1020688
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shota Aoyagi, Robert Boyd, Robert Brunner, Monica Fernandez, Christopher Kuh, Christopher J. Stringer
  • Display screen or portion thereof with graphical user interface
    Patent number: D1020773
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alan C. Dye, Daniel Satoru Hamaguchi, Wan Si Wan
  • Display screen or portion thereof with a group of icons
    Patent number: D1020799
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Greg Christie, Elizabeth Caroline Cranfill, Bas Ording, Raymond Sepulveda
  • Type font
    Patent number: D1020866
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Teofila Connor, Thalia Jimena Echevarria Fiol, Vincenzo Vuono
  • Type font
    Patent number: D1020867
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Teofila Connor, Thalia Jimena Echevarria Fiol, Vincenzo Vuono