Patents Assigned to Apple
  • Patent number: 10597762
    Abstract: The disclosure provides an aluminum alloy including having varying ranges of alloying elements. In various aspects, the alloy has a wt % ratio of Zn to Mg ranging from 4:1 to 7:1. The disclosure further includes methods for producing an aluminum alloy and articles comprising the aluminum alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Brian M. Gable, James A. Wright, Charles J. Kuehmann, Brian Demers, Chune-Ching Young, Chun-Hsien Chiang
  • Patent number: 10599868
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein provide a privacy mechanism to protect user data when transmitting the data to a server that estimates a frequency of such data amongst a set of client devices. One embodiment uses a differential privacy mechanism to enhance a user experience by identifying particular websites that exhibit particular characteristics. In one embodiment, websites that are associated with a high resource consumption are identified. High resource consumption can be identified based on threshold of particular resources such as processor, memory, network bandwidth, and power usage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Gavin Barraclough, Christophe Dumez, Abhishek Bhowmick, Andrew H. Vyrros, Umesh S. Vaishampayan
  • Patent number: 10602406
    Abstract: In a communication device and communication method, channel quality information for first and the second communication protocols is calculated. Further, allocation information can be generated for the first and the second communication protocols based on the corresponding channel quality information. Sequence numbers of corresponding data frames to be transmitted by the communication device can be generated. Further, the data frames and corresponding sequence numbers can be allocated to the first and the second communication protocols based on the allocation information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Solomon Trainin, Michael Glik, Shani Ben-Haim, Izoslav Tchigevsky, Alexander Sirotkin
  • Patent number: 10600928
    Abstract: An item may include circuitry, a battery that powers the circuitry, and one or more photovoltaic cells that are used to recharge the battery. The photovoltaic cell may be a thin-film photovoltaic cell with a flexible substrate. The flexible substrate may be formed from fabric, leather, polymer, or other soft materials. In arrangements where the substrate is formed from fabric with conductive strands, the photovoltaic cell may include a first electrical terminal coupled to a first conductive strand and a second electrical terminal coupled to a second conductive strand. The first and second conductive strands may be coupled to control circuitry. The control circuitry may route the electricity from the photovoltaic cell to a battery or other circuitry. Items such as cases, covers, bands, headphones, interiors, and other items may have flexible or soft surfaces that can form substrates for photovoltaic films.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph B. Walker, Kathleen A. Bergeron, Daniel D. Sunshine
  • Patent number: 10599297
    Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to user interfaces for multi-user communication sessions. In some examples, a device initiates a live stream in a communication session. In some examples, a device transitions between streaming live audio and live video. In some examples, a device enables synchronizing media playback during a live stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Freddy Allen Anzures, Nicholas V. King, Stephen O. Lemay, Hoan Pham, Giancarlo Yerkes
  • Patent number: 10599331
    Abstract: The method for manipulating a cursor is performed at a portable multifunction device with one or more processors, memory, and a touch screen display. Initially, content of an electronic document is displayed on the display, where a cursor is displayed within the electronic document. Two substantially simultaneous touch inputs are then detected on the touch screen display, and preferably anywhere on the touch screen display. In response to detecting the two substantially simultaneous touch inputs, a portion of the content in the document closest to the cursor is selected, and the portion of the content is displayed as selected content.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Marcos Alonso Ruiz, Stephen O. Lemay, Tiffany S. Jon, Nicholas V. King, Imran A. Chaudhri, Patrick L. Coffman, Morgan H. Winer, Nicholas K. Jong, Craig M. Federighi
  • Patent number: 10602506
    Abstract: 5G methods and architectures to determine active SCells and their bandwidth parts (BWP) used in carrier aggregation (CA) are disclosed in which activating a BWP for an active SCell is performed initially according to a default value provided in initial radio resource control (RRC) messaging. After initialization, SCells and the SCell BWPs used by the user equipment (UE) are activated by RRC messaging, downlink control information (DCI) or dedicated medium access control (MAC) control elements (MAC CEs) with the initial BWP used for an activated SCell being a default value provided during initialization.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yujian Zhang, Jeongho Jeon, Youn Hyoung Heo, Candy Yiu, Bharat Shrestha
  • Patent number: 10599223
    Abstract: A module includes a permanent magnet biased electromagnetic haptic engine, a constraint, and a force sensor. The force sensor includes a stator and a shuttle. The constraint is coupled to the stator and the shuttle. The force sensor is at least partially attached to the permanent magnet biased electromagnetic haptic engine and configured to sense a force applied to the module. The constraint is configured to constrain closure of a gap between the stator and the shuttle and bias the shuttle toward a rest position in which the shuttle is separated from the stator by the gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Darya Amin-Shahidi, Alex M. Lee
  • Patent number: 10599867
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein provide a privacy mechanism to protect user data when transmitting the data to a server that estimates a frequency of such data amongst a set of client devices. In one embodiment, a differential privacy mechanism is implemented using a count-mean-sketch technique that can reduce resource requirements required to enable privacy while providing provable guarantees regarding privacy and utility. For instance, the mechanism can provide the ability to tailor utility (e.g. accuracy of estimations) against the resource requirements (e.g. transmission bandwidth and computation complexity).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Abhishek Bhowmick, Andrew H. Vyrros, Umesh S. Vaishampayan, Kevin W. Decker, Conrad Shultz, Steve Falkenburg, Mateusz Rajca
  • Patent number: 10601250
    Abstract: A half bridge power converter can be coupled to, or included in, a wireless transmitter device. The half bridge power converter includes an upper switching element connected between a direct current supply voltage and a lower switching element. A duty controller is coupled to the upper and the lower switching elements and is configured to asymmetrically control the duty cycles of the upper and lower switching elements based on a voltage level of the direct current supply voltage. In general, the duty cycle of the lower switching element is different than the duty cycle of the upper switching element. Additionally or alternatively, the duty controller is configured to determine and control the duty cycles of the upper and lower switching elements to adjust a direct current gain of a wireless energy transfer system that includes the wireless transmitter device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: InHwan Oh, Shimon Elkayam, Manisha P. Pandya
  • Patent number: 10600989
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a hinge that allows the device to be flexed about a bend axis. A display may span the bend axis. To facilitate bending about the bend axis, the display may have layers such as a display cover layer with grooves or other recesses. The recesses form a flexible portion in the display layer. The display layer may be formed from glass or other materials that are transparent. Elastomeric material, fluids, and other materials may be placed in the recesses in the display layer. The material in the display layer may have an index of refraction that is matched to the index of refraction of the display layer. A hinge may be formed between rigid planar layers that are separated by a gap. Flexible layers that lie flush with opposing surfaces of the rigid planar layers may be used to span the gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jiang Ai, Erik A. Uttermann, Soyoung Kim
  • Patent number: 10601429
    Abstract: Methods and systems for substantially simultaneously scan of two or more frequencies using one transceiver are discussed herein. For example, a listening device can include a controller configured to control its transceiver to alternate between two or more frequencies from two or more sets of frequencies. The controller is also configured to capture a portion of a preamble of a received signal to determine whether the received signal is intended for the listening device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Mik Cohen, Shahar Meir, Yuval Avner
  • Patent number: 10602623
    Abstract: An electronic device may have a flexible display. The electronic device may have housing portions that are rotatably coupled to each other so that the flexible display may fold along one or more bend axes. A device may have rollers that store a flexible display and that help deploy the display from within a housing when additional display area is desired. A touch screen in a housing may be overlapped by a flexible display that has been scrolled outwardly from the housing. Wireless transmitter and receiver circuitry may be used to convey image data to display driver circuitry. The display driver circuitry may display images on a pixel array in a flexible display based on the image data. Magnets may be used to outwardly bias edge-mounted bistable support structures to help prevent a rolled flexible display from wrinkling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Scott A. Myers
  • Patent number: 10602556
    Abstract: A wireless communication device may locate a proximate object in an environment, such as an electronic device or a resource. During this communication technique, the wireless communication device may receive a transmission that includes an identifier associated with the object. The wireless communication device may determine a range and/or a direction of the object from the wireless communication device. For example, the wireless communication device may determine the range and/or the direction, at least in part, using wireless ranging. Next, the wireless communication device may present output information that indicates the range and/or the direction. In particular, the wireless communication device may display a map of a proximate area with an indicator representative of the object shown on the map. Alternatively, the wireless communication device may display an image of the proximate area with the indicator representative of the object on the image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: James H. Foster, Duncan R. Kerr
  • Patent number: 10599199
    Abstract: A method is disclosed. The method can include receiving a command to shut down an electronic device based on a measurement of power delivery to the electronic device. After receiving the command to shut down, the method can determine whether an indication of remaining power capacity at the electronic device exceeds a threshold value. The method can shut down the electronic device and, after shutting down the electronic device, in accordance with a determination that the indication of remaining power capacity exceeds the threshold value, automatically reboot the electronic device. In accordance with a determination that the indication of the remaining power capacity does not exceed the threshold value, automatically rebooting the electronic device can be foregone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Cyril De La Cropte De Chanterac, Michael Eng, Karen Eckert, Alessandro Pelosi, David M. Demuro, Stephen D. Sterz, Nicholas W. Ruhter
  • Patent number: 10600310
    Abstract: Companion and accessory devices can be wirelessly leashed together in a manner that enables the devices to estimate their proximities to each other. One device can periodically attempt to detect a signal from the other device. For each attempt, the attempting device can store an indication of whether the signal was detected. If a number of times that the signal was undetected exceeds a threshold, then the attempting device can perform specified operations, such as alerting a user that the wireless leash was broken. As another example, one device can detect that a strength of a signal from the other device exceeds a threshold. In response, the detecting device can measure signal strengths more frequently. If the measuring device then detects that the signal strength exceeds another threshold, then the measuring device can cause specified operations to be performed, such as data synchronization between the devices or unlocking a device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Tyler D. Hawkins
  • Patent number: 10602025
    Abstract: Image and video processing techniques are disclosed for processing components of a color space individually by determining limits for each component based on the relationship between each component in a color space. These limits may then be used to clip each component such that the component values are within the determined range for that component. In this manner, more efficient processing of images and/or video may be achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexandros Michael Tourapis, Yeping Su, David William Singer, Hsi-Jung Wu
  • Patent number: 10599353
    Abstract: This application sets forth techniques for managing the allocation of storage space within a storage device that is communicably coupled to a computing device. Requests are received from a plurality of applications executing on the computing device, in which each request specifies a respective amount of storage space to be reserved within the storage device. Detection is performed for the availability of a minimum amount of free space that corresponds to an optimal amount of space for executing at least one application of the plurality of applications. A respective priority ranking for each application is identified based on historical data gathered for the applications. Based on the priority rankings, a subset of requests from the plurality of requests is established. For each request of the subset, at least a portion of the respective amount of space specified by the request is reserved while maintaining the minimum amount of free space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Mark A. Pauley, Cameron S. Birse, Kazuhisa Yanagihara, Susan M. Grady, Timothy P. Hannon
  • Patent number: 10599247
    Abstract: Thermal compensation can be applied to force measurements of a force-sensitive button. A temperature differential between an object and the force-sensitive button can result in changes in the reconstructed force by the force sensor due to thermal effects rather than actual user force, which in turn can result in degraded performance of the force sensor (e.g., false positive or inconsistent activation force). In some examples, a force-sensitive button can include a force sensor configured to measure an amount of force applied to the force-sensitive button, and a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature associated with the force sensor. The measured temperature can be used to compensate the amount of force measured by the force sensor based on the temperature associated with the force sensor. In some examples, the thermal compensation can be applied when an object is detected contacting the force-sensitive button (i.e., when rapid temperature differentials can occur).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Eric S. Winokur, Robert Leo Sheridan, Leah M. Gum, Sora Kim, Giovanni Gozzini
  • Patent number: D879132
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Aurelio Guzmán, Jane E. Koo, Daniel J. Wiersema, Christopher I. Wilson, Eric Lance Wilson