Patents Assigned to Apple
  • Patent number: 7167966
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a calibrated variable phase offset timing between synchronous clock subdomains is described. In one embodiment, the invention is an apparatus. The apparatus includes a first subsystem and a second subsystem coupled to the first subsystem. The apparatus also includes a clock signal generator coupled to the first subsystem and coupled to the second subsystem. The clock signal generator is to supply a first clock to the first subsystem and to supply a second clock to the first subsystem and to supply a third clock to the second subsystem. Each of the first clock, the second clock and the third clock are derived from a common clock, the first clock having a first predetermined phase offset relative to the third clock, and the second clock having a second predetermined phase offset relative to the third clock.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: William Cornelius, Minoru Taoyama, Paul Thompson
  • Patent number: 7166795
    Abstract: An electronic keyboard simulates the keyboard action of one or more acoustic pianos and/or organs. Sensors associated with each key capture the force exerted on the key, the speed of the key and the position of the key to compute an amount of force to apply in feedback to the depressed key. An actuator associated with each key provides the computed feedback value as a counter-force to the player's finger pressure. Feedback may be computed in one or more processors by applying the sensor readings to a system model of the desired instruments mechanical key action. Also, feedback may be determined through a lookup table containing feedback values defining a particular instrument's action. The player can switch between different instrument action definitions as desired, and may tune certain parameters to achieve a customized action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Gerhard Lengeling
  • Patent number: 7168047
    Abstract: A mouse for controlling movements on a display screen is disclosed. The mouse includes a housing that is gripped by a user during manipulation of the mouse and a sensor configured to detect the presence of a user's hand or portions thereof located outside of and in close proximity to a predetermined portion of the housing. The signals produced by the sensor are used to control functionalities of the mouse, as for example, switching between a cursor control mode and a scroll/pan control mode of the mouse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Brian Q. Huppi
  • Patent number: 7167897
    Abstract: A system and method providing capability expansion in a teleconferencing environment. One or more accessories are invoked and arranged in an accessory stack associated with an application. The accessory stack is positioned logically between a teleconferencing application and a conference component in both a local and a remote end point. Each accessory provides at least one additional capability to the system independent of the application and the conference component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Guy Riddle
  • Patent number: 7165227
    Abstract: A method for accessing a data field having fine resolution is disclosed. The method includes providing a scalable scroll controller with a scale controller to modify a scale for controlling a magnification for accessing data within the data field. The method also includes receiving a first user event to select the scale controller and receiving a second user event to modify a position of the scale controller. The scale is adjusted based on the position of the scale controller. An apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Randall Hayes Ubillos
  • Patent number: 7164426
    Abstract: A deferred graphics pipeline processor comprising a texture unit and a texture memory associated with the texture unit. The texture unit applies texture maps stored in the texture memory, to pixel fragments. The textures are MIP-mapped and comprise a series of texture maps at different levels of detail, each map representing the appearance of the texture at a given distance from an eye point. The texture unit performs tri-linear interpolation from the texture maps to produce a texture value for a given pixel fragment that approximates the correct level of detail. The texture memory has texture data stored and accessed in a manner which reduces memory access conflicts and thus improves throughput of said texture unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Jerome F. Duluk, Jr., Richard E. Hessel, Joseph P. Grass, Abbas Rashid, Bo Hong, Abraham Mammen
  • Patent number: 7165032
    Abstract: Pronunciation for an input word is modeled by generating a set of candidate phoneme strings having pronunciations close to the input word in an orthographic space. Phoneme sub-strings in the set are selected as the pronunciation. In one aspect, a first closeness measure between phoneme strings for words chosen from a dictionary and contexts within the input word is used to determine the candidate phoneme strings. The words are chosen from the dictionary based on a second closeness measure between a representation of the input word in the orthographic space and orthographic anchors corresponding to the words in the dictionary. In another aspect, the phoneme sub-strings are selected by aligning the candidate phoneme strings on common phoneme sub-strings to produce an occurrence count, which is used to choose the phoneme sub-strings for the pronunciation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Jerome R. Bellegarda
  • Patent number: 7164423
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus are provided for controlling a graphical user interface to display a plurality of data items in a first orientation. In the event that the GUI is subsequently requested to display the data items in a second orientation, the GUI, operating under software control, animates the required movement of the individual data items such that the individual data items are shown moving from their positions in the first orientation to their positions in the second orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventor: Peter T. Westen
  • Publication number: 20070006183
    Abstract: A digital rights management system permits an application owner to cause code to be injected into the application's run-time instruction stream so as to restrict execution of that application to specific hardware platforms. In a first phase, an authorizing entity (e.g., an application owner or platform manufacturer) authorizes one or more applications to execute on a given hardware platform. Later, during application run-time, code is injected that performs periodic checks are made to determine if the application continues to run on the previously authorized hardware platform. If a periodic check fails, at least part of the application's execution string is terminated—effectively rendering the application non-usable. The periodic check is transparent to the user and difficult to circumvent.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2005
    Publication date: January 4, 2007
    Applicant: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: James Mensch, Jerry Hauck, Ronnie Misra
  • Publication number: 20070005674
    Abstract: The invention provides a system and method for performing convolution in a single channel of a vector processing computer system. The invention takes advantage of the parallel computing capability of the vector processing system and the distributed properties of the discrete-time convolution sum by performing convolution on portions of an overall data stream, or data chunks, simultaneously. Partial solutions are thereby obtained and superimposed to achieve an overall solution data stream. To simplify the convolution sum and eliminate the need for calculating products, an embodiment of the invention utilizes a specialized data signal or vector in the convolution operation. Specifically, a specialized vector comprising a series of ones may be used to simplify calculations.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2006
    Publication date: January 4, 2007
    Applicant: APPLE COMPUTER, INC.
    Inventors: Ali Sazegari, Doug Clarke
  • Patent number: 7158158
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for nonlinear scaling of video images. To match the aspect ratios of a video image and the target display area, at least one embodiment of the present invention scales the video image according to one or more nonlinear functions along the horizontal direction and/or the vertical direction. In one embodiment, the nonlinear functions are such that the original aspect ratio of the video image is preserved near the center region (or strip) of the image and the image is gradually stretched (or compressed) as it is mapped to the edges. In one example, the scaling is implemented by the texture mapping functionality of OpenGL using graphics hardware. In one embodiment of the present invention, the nonlinear mapping is constructed according to a polynomial mapping; and, the coefficients of the polynomial are adjustable by a user to trade off distortion between the image center and the image edges, giving the user control over the location and the amount of distortion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2003
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Charles G. Fleming, Ralph T. Brunner
  • Publication number: 20060291154
    Abstract: A guard system is provided for a portable computer disk drive slot. A guard is positioned substantially adjacent the computer disk drive slot for movement between an open position and a closed position. The open position is substantially adjacent, and not obstructing access through, the disk drive slot. The closed position is substantially adjacent and across the disk drive slot, and obstructs access through the disk drive slot. The guard is positioned in the closed position across the disk drive slot for at least one of a configuration of the portable computer when the disk drive is not to be used, and a configuration of the portable computer when a disk has been loaded into the disk drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2005
    Publication date: December 28, 2006
    Applicant: APPLE COMPUTER, INC.
    Inventors: John DiFonzo, Chris Ligtenberg
  • Patent number: 7155682
    Abstract: Windows in a graphical user interface are automatically repositioned and resized in response to changes in a display configuration. If a window is not capable of being fully displayed within the reconfigured display area, it is constrained to fit the available space. In determining the constraints for the window, the window is given a size which permits an integral amount of information to be displayed to the user. If a minimum required size is not already present in the available display area, the window is moved into the available area until the minimum size is attained. If the visible portion of the window already contains the minimum required area, a determination is made whether additional integral components of the window can be displayed. The window is then appropriately shrunk or expanded to permit an integral number of components to be displayed, and control elements are added to the window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: James F. Rodden, Guyerik B. Fullerton
  • Patent number: 7154477
    Abstract: A low power tracking device and a method of use thereof is described. The method includes receiving first tracking information from a first tracking device and periodically determining accuracy of the first tracking information. A second tracking device is activated and used to acquire second tracking information when said determining indicates that the accuracy of the first tracking information is inadequate. The first tracking device is substantially lower power device that the second tracking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Steve Hotelling, Joshua Strickon, Brian Huppi, Christoph Krah
  • Publication number: 20060284878
    Abstract: Graphical user interface material map objects are specified by a collection of attribute-value pairs, the collection of which comprises a complete description of the material map and may be used by a rendering engine to create a visual representation of the material map at any resolution. That is, material map representations in accordance with the invention are resolution independent. Another benefit of representing material maps in accordance with the invention is that they may be encrypted to prevent unauthorized inspection or use.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2006
    Publication date: December 21, 2006
    Applicant: APPLE COMPUTER, INC.
    Inventor: Mark Zimmer
  • Publication number: 20060288053
    Abstract: An apparatus and method of synchronizing a datum between a plurality of stores is disclosed. A version history is associated with the datum in each store. The version history has one or more entries, and each entry has an identifier and a value. The identifier identifies a store that has modified the datum, and the value indicates a number of modifications to the datum made by the store. When synchronizing the datum between stores, the version histories of the datum are compared to determine whether one version history is subordinate to another version history. The datum in the store having the subordinate version history is then replaced with the datum having the dominant version history. When compared, a conflict resolution by a user is required if the version histories are not identical, if the version histories do not have all the same identifiers, and if one version history does not contain all of the identifiers with equal or greater values of those in the other version history.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2005
    Publication date: December 21, 2006
    Applicant: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Joe Holt, Gordie Freeman, Scott Forstall
  • Patent number: 7148415
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for evaluating and correcting rhythm of audio data. Embodiments of the invention are capable of obtaining preferred rhythm in audio data, and strategically correcting the portions of audio data resulting an enhancing rhythm. A system embodying the invention may detect each transient in audio data, compute an ideal time for the transient and determine the time deviation from the expected ideal time. The system may correct for the time of the transient by altering the audio data before or after the transient. The system utilizes one or more methods to correct for the timing while preserving the audio quality of the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2006
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Gerhard Lengeling, Sol Friedman
  • Patent number: D534065
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steve Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zorkendorfer
  • Patent number: D534921
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Steve Jobs, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: D535308
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Apple Computer, Inc.
    Inventors: Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Steve Jobs, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer