Patents Assigned to Apple
  • Patent number: 11122205
    Abstract: Various embodiments include a camera with image sensor shifting capabilities and a flexure arrangement. In various embodiments, the flexure arrangement may include an upper flexure and a lower flexure. The upper flexure may include a suspension wire that extends between two sheets. The lower flexure may include one or more flexure arms that connect a moveable platform to a stationary platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Shashank Sharma
  • Patent number: 11122328
    Abstract: In some implementations, a computing device can transfer a playback queue between the computing device and a playback device. For example, the computing device can detect when the computing device is within a threshold distance of a playback device. The computing device can establish a connection to the playback device and receive state information describing the media playback state of the playback device. The computing device can determine the media playback state of the computing device. The computing device can present graphical user interfaces for initiating a transfer of a playback queue between the computing device and the playback device based on the playback state of the devices. The computing device can initiate a transfer of the playback queue in response to user input to one of the graphical user interfaces or automatically based on the context of the computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: David C. Graham, Taylor G. Carrigan, Nicholas J. Paulson, Johannes P. Schmidt, Thomas Alsina, Bob Bradley, Haishan Ye, James C. Grandy, Pierre De Lastic, Julien Lerouge
  • Patent number: 11122193
    Abstract: A lighting module which provides adjustably controllable illumination of a camera field of view of a camera module includes an adjustable collimator which can be adjustably positioned such that the emitted light beam is adjustably directed to illuminate various regions of various camera fields of view. The collimator can be adjusted via an actuator which adjustably positions the collimator relative to static components of the lighting module, including the light emitter. The light beam can be directed to illuminate a selected limited region of a camera field of view, based on identification of a subject within the limited region. The light beam can be adjustably directed based on user interactions with a user interface, including adjusting the light beam according to user-commanded beam angle, intensity, and direction. The light beam can be adjustably directed to illuminate a region according to different fields of view of different camera modules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Miodrag Scepanovic, Angelo M. Alaimo, Florian R. Fournier, Andreas G. Weber, Simon S. Lee
  • Patent number: 11120264
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the invention pertain to an augmented reality interface for facilitating identification of an arriving vehicle and/or a passenger that improve upon some or all of the above-described deficiencies. According to some embodiments of the invention, a mobile device may be used by a passenger to scan scenery. The mobile device may determine whether and where a requested vehicle is located and display an indicator of the requested vehicle on the mobile device. Similarly, a mobile device may be used by a driver to scan scenery. The mobile device may determine whether and where a passenger is located and display an indicator of the requesting passenger on the mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander J. O'Connell, Justin M. Strawn, Ryan D. Shelby, Sunny Chan, Tadayasu Sasada, Vincent P. Arroyo
  • Patent number: 11122457
    Abstract: Embodiments of systems and techniques are described for supporting WLAN offloading. In some embodiments, a network management system (NMS) for WLAN offloading may include a network manager (NM); a first element manager (EM), coupled to the network manager, to communicate with the network manager and one or more WLANs; and a second EM, coupled to the NM, to communicate with the NM and one or more base stations of a cellular network. Coverage areas of at least one access point (AP) of the one or more WLANs are overlaid with at least one cell of the cellular network to support a WLAN offloading operation. Further, the NM is to activate the WLAN offloading operation based at least in part on at least one indicator received from the one or more WLANs. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventor: Joey Chou
  • Patent number: 11122256
    Abstract: A mixed reality direct retinal projector system that may include a headset that uses a reflective holographic combiner to direct light from a light engine into an eye box corresponding to a user's eye. The light engine may include light sources coupled to projectors that independently project light to the holographic combiner from different projection points. The light sources may be in a unit separate from the headset that may be carried on a user's hip, or otherwise carried or worn separately from the headset. Each projector may include a collimating and focusing element, an active focusing element, and a two-axis scanning mirror to project light from a respective light source to the holographic combiner. The holographic combiner may be recorded with a series of point to point holograms; each projector interacts with multiple holograms to project light onto multiple locations in the eye box.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Richard J. Topliss, Thomas M. Gregory, Paul J. Gelsinger-Austin, Richard H. Tsai
  • Patent number: 11119624
    Abstract: An electronic device may include a display for displaying image content to a user and dynamic image stabilization circuitry for dynamically compensating the image content if the device is moving unpredictably to help keep the image content aligned with the user's gaze. The electronic device may include sensors for detecting the displacement of the device. The dynamic image stabilization circuitry may include a usage scenario detection circuit and a content displacement compensation calculation circuit. The usage scenario detection circuit receives data from the sensors and infers a usage scenario based on the sensor data. The content displacement compensation calculation circuit uses the inferred usage scenario to compute a displacement amount by which to adjust image content. When motion stops, the image content may gradually drift back to the center of the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Paul V. Johnson, Ahmad Rahmati, Chaohao Wang, Cheng Chen, Graham B. Myhre, Jiaying Wu, Paolo Sacchetto, Sheng Zhang, Yunhui Hou, Xiaokai Li, Tim H. Cornelissen
  • Patent number: 11120445
    Abstract: A device in a payment transaction handoff system may include at least one processor configured to receive a request to perform a payment transaction and identify, using a first communication protocol, a respective device identifier of each of a plurality of proximate devices. The at least one processor is configured to select, based at least in part on a payment factor, a default payment device from the plurality of proximate devices. The at least one processor is configured to transmit, via a second communication protocol, a message to perform the payment transaction, the message comprising the device identifier of the default payment device. In one or more implementations, a first device of the plurality of proximate devices may be associated with a first user account and a second device of the plurality of proximate devices may be associated with a second user account, different from the first user account.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bob Bradley, Marc J. Krochmal, William M. Bumgarner, Vijay Sundaram, Margaret A. Moore, Nicholas J. Shearer, Brandon J. Kieft
  • Patent number: 11120525
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, are described for combining the crop function with zoom, pan and straighten functions as part of a single cropping environment, such that a user can select a portion of an image for cropping, apply zoom, pan and straighten transformations to the selected image portion and then crop the transformed image portion in a single utility. In one aspect, the methods include the actions of receiving user input defining a crop region within a displayed image. The methods also include the actions of displaying a user interface including a cropping panel that is configured to display a subset of the image corresponding to the defined crop region. Further, the methods include the actions of receiving user input requesting to perform at least one of a zoom, rotate or translate operation on the crop region displayed in the cropping panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Nikhil Bhatt, Timothy David Cherna
  • Patent number: 11122643
    Abstract: Embodiments of LWTP (long term evolution (LTE)/wireless local area network (WLAN) radio level integration Protocol) enhancements for reliable data radio bearer (DRB) switching are disclosed. A user equipment (UE) decodes a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration message, received from an evolved NodeB (eNB), the RRC connection reconfiguration message indicting switching DRBs from a first wireless transmission mode to second wireless transmission mode, and the RRC connection reconfiguration message including an uplink (UL) status report indicating a first missing UL sequence number, the UL status report being a UL LWIP status report. The UE causes reconfiguration of the UE according to the RRC connection reconfiguration message. The UE encodes, for transmission to the eNB, a RRC connection reconfiguration complete message. The UE encodes, for retransmission over the second wireless transmission mode, lost service data unit(s) (SDU) based on the UL status report.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jing Zhu, Nana Zhang
  • Patent number: 11122553
    Abstract: Systems and methods of early termination of uplink data transmissions for a UE are described. The UE transmits capacity information that indicates that the UE supports use of an ETS. The ETS indicates successful reception by the eNB of the uplink data prior to an end of a scheduled transmission period to transmit repeated instances of the data. The UE receives a schedule for repeated transmissions of the data that is based on a coverage level of the UE, and then transmits sets of one or more repetitions. After the transmission, the UE monitors a predetermined resource whether the ETS is present or whether the ETS indicates an ACK. If the ETS indicates successful reception, the UE terminates transmission of the remaining repetitions of the data and enters a sleep mode or transmits other uplink data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Qiaoyang Ye, Debdeep Chatterjee, Gang Xiong, Bharat Shrestha, Salvatore Talarico
  • Patent number: 11121808
    Abstract: Provided herein are method and apparatus for channel coding in the fifth Generation (5G) New Radio (NR) system. An embodiment provides an apparatus for a Next Generation NodeB (gNB), including circuitry, which is configured to: generate Downlink Control Information (DCI) payload for a NR-Physical Downlink Control Channel (NR-PDCCH); attach Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) to the DCI payload; mask the CRC with an Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) using a bitwise modulus 2 addition operation, wherein the number of bits for the RNTI is different from the number of bits for the CRC; and perform polar encoding for the DCI payload with the masked CRC.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Debdeep Chatterjee, Hong He, Gang Xiong, Ajit Nimbalker, Dmitry Dikarev, Yongjun Kwak
  • Patent number: 11121897
    Abstract: Technology for a user equipment (UE) configured for communication of sounding reference signal (SRS) resources is disclosed. The UE can decode a radio resource control (RRC) signal indicating an SRS to transmit with a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), wherein the PUCCH and the SRS are quasi co located (QCLed) based on a spatial received parameter. The UE can encode an SRS for transmission using the spatial received parameter. The UE can encode uplink control information (UCI) for transmission in the PUCCH using the spatial received parameter. The UE can have a memory interface configured to send to a memory the spatial received parameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Gang Xiong, Alexei Davydov, Alexey Khoryaev, Mikhail S. Shilov, Seung Hee Han, Yushu Zhang, Joonyoung Cho
  • Patent number: 11120591
    Abstract: One disclosed embodiment includes a method of graphics processing. The method includes receiving a first function, wherein the first function indicates a desired sampling rate for image content, wherein the desired sampling rate differs in a first location along a first axial direction and a second location along the first axial direction, and wherein the image content is divided into a plurality of tiles, determining a first rasterization rate for each tile of the plurality of tiles based, at least in part, on the desired sampling rate indicated by the first function corresponding to each respective tile, receiving one or more primitives associated with content for display, rasterizing at least a portion of a primitive associated with a respective tile based, at least in part, on the determined first rasterization rate for the respective tile, and displaying an image based on the rasterized portion of the primitive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Michal Valient, Michael Imbrogno, Rohan Sehgal, Kyle C. Piddington, Matthijs L. van der Meide
  • Patent number: 11121684
    Abstract: A device for digital envelope tracking with dynamically changing voltage levels for a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier is disclosed. A power management unit generates a set of supply voltages for a power amplifier based on a control signal. A setpoint generator in the power management integrated circuit gradually increases or decreases a target voltage such that the set of supply voltages output from the voltage converter gradually increase or decrease in response to a gradual transition of the target voltage. A transceiver includes digital models for replicating a behavior of the setpoint generator and a voltage regulator in the voltage converter such that a signal pre-distortion unit may use an instantaneous voltage level for signal predistortion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Stephan Henzler, Andreas Langer, Otto Schumacher
  • Patent number: 11120747
    Abstract: A display may have an active area that includes display pixels. The display may include an inactive notch region that extends into the active area. Data lines may provide image data from display driver circuitry to the display pixels. The image data may include data signals that correspond to portions of the display that do not include pixels, such as the inactive notch region. The null data signals may cause nonuniformities in the displayed image. The null data signals may be adjusted to minimize the nonuniformities. Null data signals corresponding to the inactive notch region may be adjusted to have gray levels that gradually decrease with distance from the border between the inactive notch and the active area. All of the data signals corresponding to the inactive notch may be set to a uniform gray level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Koorosh Aflatooni, Warren S. Rieutort-Louis, Jean-Pierre S. Guillou, Pierre-Yves Emelie, Myung-Je Cho, Marc Albrecht, Graeme M. Williams, Sean C. Chang, Zhao Wang
  • Patent number: 11120442
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for using an online resource to manage reloadable credentials on an electronic device are provided. In one example embodiment, a method, at an electronic device, includes, inter alia, receiving selection data via an online resource, where the selection data may be indicative of a particular credential applet stored on a secure element of the electronic device, in response to the receiving the selection data, accessing validation data from the particular credential applet on the secure element, transmitting initialization results comprising the accessed validation data to a remote subsystem associated with the online resource, in response to the transmitting, receiving reload data from the remote subsystem, and adjusting a balance of the particular credential applet based on the received reload data. Additional embodiments are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy S. Hurley, Ahmer A. Khan, George R. Dicker, Christopher Sharp
  • Patent number: 11119653
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are single-finger gestures for activating a trackpad mode on a touch-sensitive device with no force sensors. An example method includes: displaying a virtual keyboard on a touch-sensitive display with a spacebar key and other keys. Detecting a first extended contact over the virtual keyboard and, in accordance with a determination that the first extended contact is over any of the respective displayed representations of the other keys, interpreting the first extended contact as a keyboard input and activating a corresponding extended keyboard function. The method also includes: detecting a second extended contact over the virtual keyboard. The method further includes: in accordance with a determination that the second extended contact is over a respective displayed representation of the spacebar key, interpreting the second extended contact as a mode-switching input that causes the electronic device to operate at least a portion of the touch-sensitive display as a trackpad.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Randal J. Marsden, Marcos Alonso Ruiz, Morgan H. Winer, Colin D. Munro
  • Patent number: 11121709
    Abstract: A touch and force sensitive rocker switch or button array for a portable electronic device can include multiple dome switches or force sensors, as well as a capacitive sensing surface that can detect finger location and swipes. A cosmetic surface can cover the entire elongated switch/button and portions of device housing proximate the button, and can be configured to transfer each of multiple types of input there through to the button and also provide a seal to the device housing interior. The cosmetic surface can be a flexible polymer to allow local deformation, and/or the entire surface can tilt or bend to permit inputs to transfer there through. The elongated button/switch can be raised from a surface of the device, and can be located along a side of the device, with a front face of the device being a touchscreen, such as for a smart phone or watch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Tyler S. Bushnell, Adam T. Clavelle, Sameer Pandya, Sherry Tang
  • Patent number: D930409
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Allison Inouye, Jean-Marc Gady, Ismael Flores Trujano, Gregory Guillaume Lespinard, Mi Zou, Po Huang, Wesley Bryan Hamm, Russell John Kaaihue Heirakuji, Joshua Robert Edwards, Nicholas E. Corti, Manuel Dejesus, Alice Marlin Brugger