Patents Assigned to Apple
  • Publication number: 20200154184
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to speakers and more specifically to an array speaker for distributing music uniformly across a room. A number of audio drivers can be radially distributed within a speaker housing so that an output of the drivers is distributed evenly throughout the room. In some embodiments, the exit geometry of the audio drivers can be configured to bounce off a surface supporting the array speaker to improve the distribution of music throughout the room. The array speaker can include a number of vibration isolation elements distributed within a housing of the array speaker. The vibration isolation elements can be configured reduce the strength of forces generated by a subwoofer of the array speaker.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2020
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Meiting Wu, Simon K. Porter, Glenn K. Trainer, Jacob A. Pfitsch, Rex P. Price, Samuel G. Parker, Ethan L. Huwe, Craig M. Stanley
  • Publication number: 20200153092
    Abstract: A housing for an electronic device, including an aluminum layer enclosing a volume that includes a radio-frequency (RF) antenna is provided. The housing includes a window aligned with the RF antenna; the window including a non-conductive material filling a cavity in the aluminum layer; and a thin aluminum oxide layer adjacent to the aluminum layer and to the non-conductive material; wherein the non-conductive material and the thin aluminum oxide layer form an RF-transparent path through the window. A housing for an electronic device including an integrated RF-antenna is also provided. A method of manufacturing a housing for an electronic device as described above is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2020
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Colin M. Ely, Christopher D. Prest, Lucy E. Browning, Stephen B. Lynch, Eric S. Laakmann, Paul L. Nangeroni
  • Patent number: 10652644
    Abstract: An earbud tip for an in-ear headphone can include an outer body; an inner tube extending at least partially within the outer body, the tube having opposing first and second ends and first and second openings at the opposing first and second ends, respectively, the first opening configured to emit audio signals provided by a speaker of an in-ear headphone into a user's ear canal during operation of the in-ear headphone and when the earbud tip seals the user's ear canal and the second opening configured to be removably coupled to a portion of the in-ear headphone; and one or more channels extending from an outer periphery of the earbud tip to the inner tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: John R. Bruss, Duy P. Le, Sean S. Corbin, Robert A. Boyd
  • Patent number: 10651685
    Abstract: A wireless transmitter device is configurable and operable to transfer energy to multiple receiver devices at the same time. The transmitter device includes at least one layer of discrete transmitter coils. The wireless transmitter device is configured to enable one or more sections of a charging surface to transfer energy by selectively choosing one or more discrete transmitter coils in the wireless transmitter device based on the position of the receiver device on the charging surface. The size and shape of each section of the charging surface that is used to transfer energy to a receiver device can change dynamically based on each receiver device. Additionally, the process of transferring energy to each receiver device may be adjusted during energy transfer based on conditions specific to each receiver device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Steven G. Herbst, Todd K. Moyer, Eric S. Jol, Christopher S. Graham, Christopher M. Pinciuc, Brandon R. Garbus
  • Patent number: 10650278
    Abstract: Systems and methods for semantic labeling of point clouds using images. Some implementations may include obtaining a point cloud that is based on lidar data reflecting one or more objects in a space; obtaining an image that includes a view of at least one of the one or more objects in the space; determining a projection of points from the point cloud onto the image; generating, using the projection, an augmented image that includes one or more channels of data from the point cloud and one or more channels of data from the image; inputting the augmented image to a two dimensional convolutional neural network to obtain a semantic labeled image wherein elements of the semantic labeled image include respective predictions; and mapping, by reversing the projection, predictions of the semantic labeled image to respective points of the point cloud to obtain a semantic labeled point cloud.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Huy Tho Ho, Jingwei Wang, Kjell Fredrik Larsson
  • Patent number: 10651879
    Abstract: A handheld electronic device may be provided that contains a conductive housing and other conductive elements. Transceiver circuitry, such as radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry configured to transmit and receive RF signals, may be connected to the resonating elements by transmission lines such as coaxial cables. The electronic device may have an integrated touch screen display in which a user can control the device by interacting directly with the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Phillip Michael Hobson, Erik L. Wang, Kenneth A. Jenks, Robert J. Hill, Robert W. Schlub, Richard Hung Minh Dinh, Tang Yew Tan, Adam D. Mittleman, Bartley K. Andre, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele de Iuliis, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Steven P. Jobs, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Douglas B. Satzger, Calvin Q. Seid, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico L. Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: 10652578
    Abstract: Image processing techniques may accelerate coding of viewport data contained within multi-view image data. According to such techniques, an encoder may shifting content of a multi-directional image data according to the viewport location data provided by a decoder. The encoder may code the shifted multi-directional image data by predictive coding, and transmit to the decoder, the coded multi-directional image data and data identifying an amount of the shift. Doing so may move the viewport location to positions in the image data that are coded earlier than the positions that the viewport location naturally occupies and, thereby, may accelerate coding. On decode, a decoder may compare its present viewport location with viewport location data provided by the encoder with coded video data. The decoder may decode the coded video data and extract a portion of the decoded video data corresponding to a present viewport location for display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Jae Hoon Kim, Dazhong Zhang, Hang Yuan, Jiefu Zhai, Ming Chen, Xiaosong Zhou, Chris Y. Chung, Hsi-Jung Wu
  • Patent number: 10651716
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an actuator or circuit includes elements moveably coupled via bearings positioned between curved grooves. The bearings and the curves may exert a restorative force to return the elements to an original position after movement and may be spherical, cubic, cylindrical, and/or include gears that interact with groove gears. In some embodiments, an electrical coil may be coplanar with a surface of an element and a hard magnet may be positioned in the center and be polarized to stabilize or destabilize the element with respect to another element. In various embodiments, a magnetic circuit includes an element with an electrical coil wrapped in multiple directions around the element. In some embodiments, an actuator includes attraction elements and exertion of force causes an element to approach, contact, and/or magnetically attach to one of the attraction elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Camille Moussette, John S. Morrell, Patrick Kessler, Samuel Weiss
  • Patent number: 10650699
    Abstract: Improved techniques and systems are disclosed for determining the components of resistance experienced by a wearer of a wearable device engaged in an activity such as bicycling or running. By monitoring data using the wearable device, improved estimates can be derived for various factors contributing to the resistance experienced by the user in the course of the activity. Using these improved estimates, data sampling rates may be reduced for some or all of the monitored data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Craig H. Mermel, Alexander Singh Alvarado, Daniel M. Trietsch, Hung A. Pham, Karthik Jayaraman Raghuram, Richard Channing Moore, III
  • Patent number: 10652859
    Abstract: A method and a mobile device configured, when in idle mode, to select a target frequency from a network in response to a redistribution information from the network, including starting an evaluation timer; performing measurements on a first set of frequencies throughout a duration of the evaluation timer; selecting the target frequency based on the measurements of the first set of frequencies; and starting a second timer, which is distinct from the evaluation timer, during which time the device performs measurements on a second set of frequencies comprising the target frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kristian Biss, Roland Gruber
  • Patent number: 10651979
    Abstract: An apparatus includes first and second receiver circuits and a decision circuit. The first receiver circuit is configured to generate a first data symbol from a particular input data symbol of a plurality of input data symbols included in an input signal. The second receiver circuit is configured to generate a second data symbol from the particular input data symbol. The decision circuit is configured to select, using respective values of one or more previous output data symbols, either the first or second data symbol as a current output data symbol. In response to a change in value between successive input data symbols, the first and second receiver circuits are configured to generate the first and second data symbols with respective data valid windows with different durations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Mitesh D. Katakwar, Seong Hoon Lee, Huy M. Nguyen
  • Patent number: 10652065
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices are provided for correcting compression distortion of wireless signals due to variations in operation parameters of the radio frequency system. The method may include using circuitry to generate a reference signal that is not pre-distorted by a processing block. The method may involve receiving an envelope signal representative of a signal being transmitted by a transceiver. The method may also involve determining a first peak-to-average ratio of the envelope signal and receiving a second peak-to-average ratio of the reference signal. The method may additionally involve determining a difference between the first peak-to-average ratio and the second peak-to-average ratio. The method may also include adjusting a gain of an amplifier of the transceiver based on the difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Ioannis Sarkas, Berke Cetinoneri, Qishan Yu
  • Patent number: 10651857
    Abstract: A phase locked loop system includes bias voltage adjustment circuitry and a voltage regulator that outputs a smoothed core voltage to an oscillator. The bias voltage adjustment circuitry is configured to compute a scaled bias voltage based at least on a target frequency for the oscillator. The voltage regulator is configured to input i) the scaled bias voltage and ii) a selected core voltage that is selected based on the target operating frequency of the oscillator and generate the smoothed core voltage for output to the oscillator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Andreas Roithmeier, Thomas Gustedt, Herwig Dietl-Steinmaurer, Christian Wicpalek
  • Patent number: 10652788
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for a link budget limited UE to improve communications performance with a cellular network. The UE may perform signal to interference noise ratio (SINR) measurements and use these measurements to adjust a received signal power value that is provided to the cellular network as a received signal power measurement. The UE may generate the received signal power value based at least in part on the SINR measurement in order to reduce the likelihood of handover when the UE has good SINR but poor received signal power. The UE may also provide preferred configuration information to the base station which enhances the performance of the UE when link budget limited. The configuration information may specify one or more parameter values designed to provide improved performance for a link budget limited device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Tarik Tabet, Farouk Belghoul, Samy Khay-Ibbat, Sarma V. Vangala, Rafael L. Rivera-Barreto, David Boettger, Awais M. Hussain, Syed Aon Mujtaba
  • Patent number: 10652394
    Abstract: In one example, a recorded voicemail is first converted from speech to text, and a proposed action to be performed by the user is extracted from the voice message. For example, in the voicemail “this is John, call me at 650.987.0987 at 9 am tomorrow,” the action is to call John. At least one action parameter for undertaking the action is determined. For example, the action parameters may include the 650.987.0987 telephone number and the 9 am time the following morning, The at least one action parameter may be extracted from the voicemail message or it may be determined by other means, e.g., from a user's contact book. Finally, the user is presented with a prompt to facilitate undertaking the action using the at least one the parameter. For example, the user may be given the option to set a reminder to call John the following morning at 9 am.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Marcel Van Os, Gregory B. Novick, Scott M. Herz
  • Patent number: 10650546
    Abstract: A method of providing a descriptor for at least one feature of an image comprises the steps of providing an image captured by a capturing device and extracting at least one feature from the image, and assigning a descriptor to the at least one feature, the descriptor depending on at least one parameter which is indicative of an orientation, wherein the at least one parameter is determined from the orientation of the capturing device measured by a tracking system. The invention also relates to a method of matching features of two or more images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel Kurz, Selim Benhimane
  • Patent number: 10646117
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a system and method of detecting activity by a wheelchair user. In one aspect, a method comprises collecting motion data of a user device located on an appendage of the user; detecting, by a processor circuit, that one or more activities by the wheelchair user occurred based on the motion data; calculating, by a processor circuit, an energy expenditure by the user based the one or more activities by the wheelchair user occurred; and outputting, by a processor circuit, the energy expenditure estimation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Xing Tan, Karthik Jayaraman Raghuram, Adeeti Ullal, Umamahesh Srinivas, Mrinal Agarwal, Daniel Trietsch, Alexander Singh Alvarado, Hung A. Pham, Ronald K. Huang, Adam Howell
  • Patent number: 10652786
    Abstract: Systems and methods of providing 5G access for a UE are generally described. The UE is simultaneously connected via dual radio operation to a legacy and 5G access system. The UE mobility management states for the access systems are independent of each other. The EPC and 5G CN share an HSS and may share a IP anchor. When handover occurs between access systems, the IP address is retained and the IP anchor used when the UE transmits an Attach Request having a Handover Attach Request Type and otherwise a new IP address is provided and the HSS but not the IP anchor is common between the access systems. The 5G eNB to which the UE is connected is standalone and connected to the 5G CN or dual mode and connected with an EPC via an LTE anchor in addition to the 5G CN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexandre Saso Stojanovski, Muthaiah Venkatachalam
  • Patent number: D883986
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Akana, Molly Anderson, Bartley K. Andre, Shota Aoyagi, Anthony Michael Ashcroft, Marine C. Bataille, Jeremy Bataillou, Markus Diebel, M. Evans Hankey, Julian Hoenig, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Julian Jaede, Duncan Robert Kerr, Peter Russell-Clarke, Benjamin Andrew Shaffer, Mikael Silvanto, Sung-Ho Tan, Clement Tissandier, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: D884016
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Chan, Imran Chaudhri, Alan C. Dye, Aurelio Guzmán, Jonathan P. Ive, Pedro Mari, Alessandro Francesco Sabatelli, Christopher Wilson, Eric Lance Wilson