Apple Patents

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, tablets and personal computers, including the iPhone, iPad, Mac. It also produces the iPod, Apple Watch and Apple TV, as well as the operating systems and applications that support these devices. The company also sells digital content and applications through its iTunes Store, App Store, Mac App Store, iBooks Store and Apple Music.

Apple Patents by Type
  • Apple Patents Granted: Apple patents that have been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • Apple Patent Applications: Apple patent applications that are pending before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • Patent number: 11941688
    Abstract: A computing device provides methods and workflow for setting up a shared family account on a content storage system, including the creation of accounts for child family members. A computing device supports the creation of a family account using an account on the content storage system associated with an adult family member acting as a family organizer. The family organizer can designate a specific account as a purchase account for allowing other family member to purchase content from content servers associated with the content storage system. The family organizer can invite other adult family members to join the shared family account. The family organizer can create new accounts on the content storage system for child family members, and can designate access and purchase restrictions for such child family members. Family members have access to shared storage content, as well as services such as family calendar, group messaging, and device location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Megan M. Frost, Patrick L Coffman, Maria D Ioveva
  • Patent number: 11943759
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for a wireless device to dynamically adapt its bandwidth use using network scheduling information in a cellular communication system. A radio resource control connection between a cellular base station and a wireless device may be established. The wireless device may receive network scheduling information from the cellular base station. The wireless device may dynamically select a receive bandwidth for receiving transmissions from the cellular base station based at least in part on the network scheduling information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yuchul Kim, Jia Tang, Yang Li, Wei Zeng, Haitong Sun, Yu Zhang, Zhu Ji, Dawei Zhang
  • Patent number: 11943722
    Abstract: Aspects are presented herein of apparatuses, systems, and methods for secondary cell group (SCG) addition. A wireless device may establish communication with a first base station that is comprised in a master cell group (MCG) and a second base station that is comprised in the SCG. The wireless device may maintain timing advance (TA) parameters for performing uplink communication with the second base station. The wireless device may perform a plurality of signal quality measurements after receiving an indication to deactivate the SCG. The wireless device may determine whether to reuse the TA parameters for communicating with the second base station after receiving an indication. The determination may be based on comparing one or more signal quality measurements of the second base station to one or more signal quality thresholds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Naveen Kumar R. Palle Venkata, Fangli Xu, Dawei Zhang, Haijing Hu, Yuqin Chen
  • Patent number: 11941742
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed relating to processor communications fabrics. In some embodiments, a processor includes multiple client circuitry and fabric circuitry that includes at least first and second instances of a tile. The tile may include: client inputs configured to interface with client circuits, tile inputs configured to interface with one or more other tile instances, and communication resources assignable to the client inputs and tile inputs. The communications resources may include: multiple internal links, client outputs configured to interface with client circuits, and tile outputs configured to interface with one or more other tile instances. Control circuitry may, in a given cycle, assign communication resources of a given tile instance to at least a portion of the client inputs and tile inputs for a next cycle, based on priority information. The control circuitry may update priority information based on assignment results over multiple cycles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Adam J. Smith, Sergio V. Tota, Christopher G. Martin, Yoong Chert Foo, Terence M. Potter, Max J. Batley
  • Patent number: 11942285
    Abstract: An electronic device has a keyboard with an internal membrane. The membrane has a set of strain gauges configured to respond to a key press, such as when a collapsible dome collapses into contact with the membrane. The strain gauges are connected in a half Wheatstone bridge configuration and are positioned on the membrane in order to limit effects of temperature and subtle flexure of the membrane. The strain gauges are also configured to magnify detection of a resistance differential when a keycap is pressed with sufficient force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Chia Chi Wu, Michael Vosgueritchian, Ming Gao, Nan Chen, Vyom Sharma, Wenhao Wang
  • Patent number: 11942034
    Abstract: Display panel redundancy schemes and redundancy building blocks are described. In an embodiment, pixel driver chips are connected to both primary and redundant strings of LEDs within a local passive matrix, and driver terminal switches within the pixel driver chip are used to select either the primary or redundant strings of LEDs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Hjalmar Edzer Ayco Huitema, Hopil Bae, Kapil V. Sakariya, Mahdi Farrokh Baroughi, Stanley B. Wang, Tore Nauta
  • Patent number: 11941968
    Abstract: An electronic device includes a processor, and a memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to learn a sound emitted by a legacy device and to issue an output when the electronic device subsequently hears the sound. For example, the electronic device can receive a training input and extract a compact representation of a sound in the training input, which the device stores. The device can receive an audio signal corresponding to an observed acoustic scene and extract a representation of the observed acoustic scene from the audio signal. The electronic device can determine whether the sound is present in the observed acoustic scene at least in part from a comparison of the representation of the observed acoustic scene with the representation of the sound. The electronic device emits a selected output responsive to determining that the sound is present in the acoustic scene.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Hyung-Suk Kim, Daniel C. Klingler, Miquel Espi Marques, Carlos M. Avendano
  • Patent number: 11942649
    Abstract: The disclosed technology relates to battery pack that includes a first prismatic cell having a first surface, and a second prismatic cell having a second surface, wherein the first prismatic cell and the second prismatic cell are electrically coupled and arranged such that the first surface and the second surface form an L-shaped pack surface. In some aspects, the battery pack includes an adhesive that is disposed on the pack surface away from a junction between the first surface and the second surface. A battery-powered electronic device and method of manufacture are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Joshua M. Chien, Srinath D. Chandrashekarpur, Rajesh Kandibanda, Nathan J. Bohney
  • Patent number: 11941620
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for communicating electronic device secure element data over multiple paths for online payments are provided. In one example embodiment, a method includes, inter alia, at a commercial entity subsystem, receiving, from an electronic device, device transaction data that includes credential data indicative of a payment credential on the electronic device for funding a transaction with a merchant subsystem, accessing a transaction identifier, deriving a transaction key based on transaction key data that includes the accessed transaction identifier, transmitting, to one of the merchant subsystem and the electronic device, merchant payment data that includes a first portion of the credential data and the accessed transaction identifier, and sharing, with a financial institution subsystem using the transaction key, commercial payment data that includes a second portion of the credential data that is different than the first portion of the credential data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Manoj K. Thulaseedharan Pillai, Ahmer A. Khan, Thomas Elliott, Timothy S. Hurley, Jennifer J. Bailey, David E. Brudnicki
  • Patent number: 11943054
    Abstract: The subject technology provides for block acknowledgment requests and block acknowledgment frames that can be used in conjunction with multicast transmissions that include multiple concurrent streams. Thus, the subject technology reduces the overhead associated with multicast transmissions that include multiple concurrent streams by aggregating the acknowledgments across multiple streams into a block acknowledgment, thereby increasing the effective throughput of such transmissions and overall network efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Yoel Boger, Ido Shani, Koby Vainapel, Leor Kehaty, Marcelo Senter, Guoqing Li
  • Patent number: 11943191
    Abstract: Techniques for live location sharing are described. A first mobile device and a second mobile device can communicate with one another using an IM program. The first mobile device can receive a user input to share a location of the first mobile device in the IM program. Sharing the location can include causing the second mobile device to display a location of the first mobile device in an IM program user interface on the second mobile device. Duration of sharing the location can be user-configurable. The second mobile device may or may not share a location of the second device for display in the IM program executing on the first mobile device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Roberto Garcia, Eugene M. Bistolas, Justin Wood, Lawrence Yuan Yang, Scott Lopatin, Richard R. Dellinger
  • Patent number: 11942661
    Abstract: Batteries according to embodiments of the present technology may include a housing including a first terminal disposed on a first side of the housing and a second terminal disposed on the first side of the housing. The batteries may include an electrode stack positioned within the housing. The electrode stack may include an anode current collector. The anode current collector may define an anode tab along a second side of the anode current collector, and be electrically coupled with the first terminal. The electrode stack may include a cathode current collector. The cathode current collector may define a cathode tab along a second side of the cathode current collector. The cathode tab and anode tab may extend in a direction normal to a direction facing the first side of the housing. The cathode tab may be electrically coupled with the second terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher T. Campbell, Nivay Anandarajah, William A. Braff, Oskar Dondelewski, Russell A. McLellan
  • Patent number: 11943438
    Abstract: An image decoding method according to the present invention includes: a step for dividing the current picture into a plurality of tiles; a step for decoding division information indicating a slice defining method; and a step for determining a first slice on the basis of the division information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Bae Keun Lee
  • Patent number: 11943679
    Abstract: Location mapping and navigation user interfaces may be generated and presented via mobile computing devices. A mobile device may detect its location and orientation using internal systems, and may capture image data using a device camera. The mobile device also may retrieve map information from a map server corresponding to the current location of the device. Using the image data captured at the device, the current location data, and the corresponding local map information, the mobile device may determine or update a current orientation reading for the device. Location errors and updated location data also may be determined for the device, and a map user interface may be generated and displayed on the mobile device using the updated device orientation and/or location data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Robert William Mayor, Isaac T. Miller, Adam S. Howell, Vinay R. Majjigi, Oliver Ruepp, Daniel Ulbricht, Oleg Naroditsky, Christian Lipski, Sean P. Cier, Hyojoon Bae, Saurabh Godha, Patrick J. Coleman
  • Patent number: 11943702
    Abstract: Provided is a method for a user equipment (UE). The method comprises determining a first time period for the UE, based on whether the UE uses Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and whether the UE uses Measurement Gap (MG). The first time period indicates a respective timing criterion for the UE to determine a time period of maintaining available downlink timing for a reference cell; The method further comprises determining, based on the first time period, a first time threshold for the UE to determine reference cell availability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Jie Cui, Qiming Li, Yang Tang, Manasa Raghavan, Xiang Chen, Huaning Niu, Dawei Zhang, Hong He, Haitong Sun, Yushu Zhang
  • Publication number: 20240094023
    Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for an application executing on a mobile device. The method renders an animated navigation presentation for output to an external display screen not part of the mobile device. The navigation presentation includes an animated map showing at least a portion of a route to a destination. The method simultaneously displays information regarding a maneuver along the route on a display screen of the mobile device without displaying a same animated map on the mobile device. In some embodiments, the displayed information regarding the maneuver comprises a graphical instruction and a text instruction for a next maneuver along the route.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bradford A. Moore, Emanuele A. Vulcano, Jorge Fino, Marcel Van Os
  • Publication number: 20240095958
    Abstract: Methods for performing a calibration process for outward-facing cameras on devices such as head-mounted display devices are disclosed. Extrinsic parameters of the camera are first estimated using inputs to the calibration process such as information from an inertial measurement unit and points of interest within images captured by the camera that are tracked with time. Then, extrinsic and intrinsic parameters are concurrently determined in an optimization problem such that updated values of said parameters may be stored and used by applications that run on the device and make use of the camera. The calibration process may be extended to concurrently calibrate multiple cameras based, at least in part, on information from the inertial measurement unit that is local to the camera.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shuntaro Yamazaki, Ravi Teja Sukhavasi, Oleg Naroditsky, Stergios Roumeliotis, Daniel C Byrnes
  • Publication number: 20240097244
    Abstract: A battery may include an enclosure and an electrode cell disposed within the enclosure. A first pair of notches may be formed in the enclosure. Each notch of the first pair of notches may include a protrusion that extends into the enclosure. A second pair of notches may be formed in the electrode cell. The first pair of notches may be aligned with the second pair of notches. The protrusions may be configured to engage with the second pair of notches when the cell moves within the enclosure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Zuqin Liu, Shabab Amiruddin, Aswin Karthik Manohar, Hongxia Zhou
  • Publication number: 20240096275
    Abstract: A electronic display device designed to calibrate brightness levels in a flat-panel display by using adjacent code calibration for a variable electroluminescence voltage supply in the flat-panel display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2022
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Shubham A. Gandhi, Jonathan H. Beck, Koorosh Aflatooni, Mohammad Ali Jangda, Graeme M. Williams, Kingsuk Brahma, Snehal T. Jariwala, Salman Kabir, Josiah Smith
  • Publication number: 20240098746
    Abstract: The present application relates to devices and components including apparatus, systems, and methods to provide reduced sensing schemes to facilitate sidelink transmissions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Chunxuan Ye, Dawei Zhang, Haijing Hu, Haitong Sun, Hong He, Jia Tang, Oghenekome Oteri, Weidong Yang, Zhibin Wu, Wei Zeng
  • Publication number: 20240097667
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes embodiments of driver circuit. The driver circuit includes a first impedance element electrically coupled to a first inverter circuit and a second impedance element electrically coupled to the first impedance element and a second inverter circuit. For a first encoding using the driver circuit, the first inverter circuit and the second inverter circuit are controlled such that a first current flows through the first and second impedance elements, the first current having a first value and a first direction. For a second encoding using the driver circuit, the first inverter circuit and the second inverter circuit are controlled such that a second current flows through the first and second impedance elements, the second current having a second value and a second direction. The first value is substantially the same as the second value and the first direction is opposite to the second direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Charles L. WANG, Yi-Hsiu E. CHEN, Pranavi SUNKARA
  • Publication number: 20240097767
    Abstract: Herein described are apparatuses, systems, and methods for measurement and reporting of channel state information within wireless network systems. In embodiments, an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) may include memory to store a rank indicator (RI), a precoding matrix index (PMI), and a channel quality indicator (CQI) of channel state information (CSI) for the UE. The apparatus may further include circuitry to concatenate the RI, the PMI, and the CQI to produce a concatenated CSI element, generate a CSI report that includes the concatenated CSI element, and cause the CSI report to be transmitted to a base station within a single slot. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Alexei DAVYDOV, Sameer PAWAR, Wook Bong LEE, Yushu ZHANG, Victor SERGEEV, Joonyoung CHO, Dmitry DIKAREV
  • Publication number: 20240098655
    Abstract: Techniques described herein are directed toward smart external interference detection and avoidance. An example method includes determining a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value of a received first signal across a radio band, wherein the first RSSI value is based at least in part on a second signal transmitted by an interfering device. The first received RSSI value is compared with a threshold value. A first gain adjustment value is determined for a receiver chain of the first computing device and a second gain adjustment value of a transmitter chain based at least in part on the comparison. A first gain of a first amplifier of the receiver chain is adjusted based at least in part on the first gain adjustment value. A second gain of a second amplifier of the transmitter chain is adjusted based at least in part on the second gain adjustment value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2022
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sathish Shanbhag Kota, Vijay Kumar Ramamurthi, Vijaykrishnan Ramakrishnan
  • Publication number: 20240098644
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for Wake up signal monitoring in a radio resource control connected (RRC) mode. An example method can include a user equipment (UE) determining capability information associated with wake-up signal (WUS) monitoring, the capability information to include an indication that the UE supports WUS monitoring in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode. The UE can transmit, to a base station, an indication of the capability. The UE can perform, while in a sleep state in which transmitting and receiving by a main radio is suspended, WUS monitoring to detect a trigger. The UE can transition from the sleep state to the awake state based on the trigger. The UE can monitor for a downlink (DL) transmission in the awake state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sigen Ye, Seyed Ali Akbar Fakoorian, Wei Zeng, Ankit Bhamri, Dawei Zhang, Hong He, Chunxuan Ye, Weidong Yang, Huaning Niu, Chunhai Yao, Oghenekome Oteri
  • Publication number: 20240097807
    Abstract: Some aspects relate to apparatuses and methods for calculating an uplink pathloss in a wireless communication system. A user equipment (UE) can be configured to perform operations for calculating the uplink pathloss. The operations can include determining a transmission power of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission for a UE, TxpPUSCH, where the PUSCH transmission is from the UE to a base station. The operations can further include determining a receiving power of a sounding reference signal (SRS) by the base station, Rxpsrs; and further calculating the uplink pathloss based on the transmission power of the PUSCH transmission TxpPUSCH and the receiving power of the SRS Rxpsrs.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 20, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Dongzhou YANG, Lijie ZHANG, Kai ZHANG, Zhiwei WANG, Qiang MIAO, Lele CUI
  • Publication number: 20240098690
    Abstract: The present application relates to devices and components including apparatus, systems, and methods for paging timing collision control, with respect to exchange of offset values (e.g., IMSI offset values) between a user equipment and a network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Vivek G. Gupta, Sethuraman Gurumoorthy, Sridhar Prakasam
  • Publication number: 20240096199
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for facilitating disabling an alarm in response to particular types of activity-indicative data. More specifically, activity-indicative data (e.g., measurements obtained by an electronic device) can be detected prior to a preset alarm time. Upon determining, based on the activity-indicative data, that a wakefulness condition is satisfied, the alarm can be disabled such that the alarm stimuli is not to be presented at the preset alarm time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bharath Narasimha Rao, Kevin Will Chen, Reed E. Olsen, Umamahesh Srinivas, Kevin M. Lynch, John-Peter E. Cafaro
  • Publication number: 20240098645
    Abstract: Techniques are provided for Wake up signal monitoring in a radio resource control connected (RRC) mode. An example method can include a base station receiving an indication from a user equipment (UE) of a capability for wake-up signal (WUS) monitoring in a radio resource control (RRC) connected mode while in a sleep state. The base station can configure the UE with a first frequency domain resource for WUS monitoring in the RRC connected mode while in the sleep state. The base station can transmit a WUS using the first frequency domain resource and a first time domain resource, wherein a main radio of the UE is configured to transmit and receive based on the WUS. The base station can transmit a first downlink (DL) transmission.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 6, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Sigen Ye, Ankit Bhamri, Chunhai Yao, Chunxuan Ye, Dawei Zhang, Hong He, Huaning Niu, Oghenekome Oteri, Seyed Ali Akbar Fakoorian, Wei Zeng, Weidong Yang
  • Publication number: 20240098571
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and apparatuses disclosed herein can mitigate transmitting latency to improve the quality of a voice or the video call. These systems, methods, and apparatuses reset a transmitting latency timer upon retrieving a packet from a transmitting buffer. Thereafter, these systems, methods, and apparatuses start the count of the transmitting latency timer as the packet is being processed. And these systems, methods, and apparatuses compare the transmitting latency timer e with a transmitting latency threshold as these systems, methods, and apparatuses are processing a packet for transmission. These systems, methods, and apparatuses can drop the packet and/or can select another packet for processing in response to the transmitting latency timer exceeding the transmitting latency threshold to mitigate the transmitting latency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kai ZHANG, Lele CUI, Deepankar BHATTACHARJEE
  • Publication number: 20240090782
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a method comprises: establishing, by a wireless wearable computer worn by a user, a wireless communication connection with a fitness machine; obtaining machine data from the fitness machine while the user is engaged in a workout session on the fitness machine; obtaining, from a heart rate sensor of the wireless device, heart rate data of the user; determining a calibrated maximal oxygen consumption of the user based on the heart rate data and the machine data; determining a heart rate caloric expenditure based on the heart rate data and the calibrated maximal oxygen consumption of the user; and providing information corresponding to the heart rate caloric expenditure for presentation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Bharath Narasimha Rao, Jennifer Strasser, Umamahesh Srinivas, Kevin Sheridan, James Ochs, Vinay R. Majjigi, Karthik Jayaraman Raghuram, Olivier Humblet, Jay Kriz Blahnik
  • Publication number: 20240097937
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to including information in a data packet transmitted by a transmitting integrated circuit (e.g., SOC) to account for a time delay associated with an unsuccessful arbitration attempt to send the data packet over a multi-drop bus. The unsuccessful arbitration attempt by the integrated circuit may delay the transmission of the data packet until the multi-drop bus becomes available for the integrated circuit to send the data packet. The data packet includes a data field to include time delay information caused by the unsuccessful arbitration attempt. A receiving integrated circuit may determine the time that the data packet would have been sent out from the transmitting integrated circuit absent the unsuccessful arbitration attempt based on the delay information. Embodiments also relate to a synchronization generator circuit in an integrated circuit that generates timing signals indicating times at which periodic events occur at another integrated circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Helena Deirdre O'SHEA, Matthias SAUER, Jorge L. RIVERA ESPINOZA
  • Publication number: 20240097248
    Abstract: A battery may include an enclosure that defines an interior volume, an electrode cell disposed within the interior volume, and a pair of retaining elements. The electrode cell may include a pair of notches formed therein. The pair of retaining elements may be disposed within volumes defined by the pair of notches. The pair of retaining elements may be connected to the enclosure and may be configured to engage with a respective notch of the pair of notches to arrest movement of the electrode cell with respect to the enclosure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2022
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Zuqin Liu, Shabab Amiruddin, Aswin Karthik Manohar, Hongxia Zhou
  • Patent number: 11934230
    Abstract: Support systems and stands for electronic devices include tilt hinges, lift arms, and their component parts. Some tilt hinges include assemblies for guiding and retaining bars or protrusions into preferred positioning within receiver openings to unify the parts, particularly as they move, and to reduce wobble or slop in the joints. Lift arms provide simplified and low-cost guidance and counterbalance mechanisms for controlling movement of the electronic device relative to the base of a stand. In some cases, the lift arms have sheaths to help protect or cover mechanisms while allowing additional space for the mechanisms within the lift arm. Other interconnection systems hide and protect a connector interface between the stand and the electronic device within a housing until unlocked and the connector is moved into an exposed position. These systems improve efficiency, comfort, ergonomics, accessibility, and user satisfaction of the electronic devices and their supports.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Brett W. Degner, Kevin M. Robinson, Christoph M. Pistor, Mehrdad Hooshmand, Simon J. Trivett, Bradley J. Hamel, Kristopher P. Laurent, David H. Narajowski, Stephen V Jayanathan, Laura M. DeForest
  • Patent number: 11934063
    Abstract: A system may have a display that includes a plurality of light sources such as light-emitting diodes. The display may be an exterior display that is routinely operated in daytime conditions where ambient light levels are very high. To increase contrast in an exterior display, the display may include a sunlight blocking element. A static sunlight blocking element may include a louver film with asymmetric light blocking portions. The system may include an ambient light sensor that is configured to determine ambient light levels. Based on the detected ambient light level, control circuitry in the system may adjust one or more adjustable components in the display. The display may include an adjustable diffuser that has at least two states with different haze levels. The display may include an adjustable tint layer that has at least two states with different transmission levels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Tao Zhan, Yu P Sun, Rong Liu, Yong Seok Choi, Joshua A Spechler, Jun Qi, Victor H Yin
  • Patent number: 11931147
    Abstract: Robust estimation of a characteristic of a user's physiological signals can be achieved by filtering or classifying samples. Rather than estimating the characteristic of the user's physiological signals based on each sample at a first wavelength and a second wavelength, a robust system and method can, in some examples, estimate the characteristic using samples at the first wavelength and the second wavelength that meet one or more criteria and filter out samples that fail to meet the one or more criteria. In some examples, the system and method can weight samples based on the one or more criteria, and estimate the characteristic using the weighted samples. Samples failing to meet the one or more criteria can be given less weight or no weight in the estimation. The one or more criteria can include a criterion based on at least the physiological signal at a third wavelength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Saeed Mohammadi, Albert E. Cerussi, Paul D. Mannheimer
  • Patent number: 11932172
    Abstract: A first seat, a surface located behind the first seat, a display screen, and a support assembly. The support assembly is configured to move the display screen to a storage position, in which the display screen is positioned adjacent to the surface. The support assembly includes a pivot connected to the display screen and a track configured to support the pivot. The pivot is configured to move along the track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Philipp J. Wolf, Jeffrey M. Riepling, James J. Dowle
  • Patent number: 11935322
    Abstract: Devices, methods, and non-transitory program storage devices are disclosed to: obtain an input image; identify a first face in the input image; divide the first face into a plurality of regions; identify obstructions in one or more of the plurality of regions; select a subset of regions, based on the identified obstructions; and determine a white point for the first face based, at least in part, on the selected subset of regions. In some embodiments, obstructions may be identified using a face obstruction detection model (e.g., a logistic regression model trained based on a large dataset of annotated facial images with and without obstructions). The identified obstructions may comprise, e.g., facial hair, head hair, glasses, a facial covering, a head covering, a face mask, or clothing. In some embodiments, a white balancing operation may be performed on the input image based, at least in part, on the determined white point.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Renbo Cao, Christophe Seyve, Yonghui Zhao
  • Patent number: 11937204
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure describe methods, apparatuses, storage media, and systems for delivering UE capability indication to a positioning server in a wireless communication network. A user equipment (UE) or access note (AN) may notify a positioning server of UE capability information associated with positioning measurements so that the positioning server may determine corresponding positioning measurement configurations based on acknowledgement of such UE capability information in terms of the positioning measurement. Embodiments describe UE capability indications to a positioning server that may enable flexible deployment and integration of various types of UEs. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jie Cui, Yang Tang
  • Patent number: 11934240
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed relating to thermal control implemented by a power management unit. In some embodiments, the power management unit itself is configured to monitor thermal conditions, implement control for one or more thermal loops, and send reduction alerts, via an inter-chip interconnect, to the processor circuitry it powers. In some embodiments, the power management unit implements both thermal and electromigration control loops. Disclosed techniques may advantageously reduce or avoid thermal issues, potentially with reduced impact on processor performance relative to traditional techniques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Inder M. Sodhi, Achmed R. Zahir, Carmel Yamberger, Daniele Perretta, Jan Krellner, Ron Neuman, James S. Ismail, Keith Cox
  • Patent number: 11933949
    Abstract: A freeform folded optical system that include two freeform prisms with optical power. At least one of the freeform prisms is configured to fold the optical axis twice. Thus, embodiments of the freeform folded optical system fold the optical axis three or four times. Folding the optical axis three or four times in the freeform prisms allows for long focal lengths required for telephoto lens applications without requiring additional lens elements between the prisms. In addition, the configuration of the freeform folded optical system provides reduced Z-axis height when compared to conventional folded lens systems with similar optical characteristics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventor: Takeyoshi Saiga
  • Patent number: 11934444
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to synchronized sharing of playlists from a source client device to a listening client device. To facilitate synchronized sharing, a current playlist of one or more tracks of digital content is obtained from the source client device. A current playback location within the currently playing playlist is also obtained from the source client device. A shared queue accessible by the listener client device is generated. Further, a shared queue context for the listener client device is identified based in part upon the current playback location. This enables the listener client device to start playback synchronized with the source client device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Arvind S. Shenoy, Thomas M. Alsina, Paul C. Irvine
  • Patent number: 11935272
    Abstract: A system comprises an encoder configured to compress attribute information for a point cloud and/or a decoder configured to decompress compressed attribute information for the point cloud. Attribute values for at least one starting point are included in a compressed attribute information file and attribute correction values used to correct predicted attribute values are included in the compressed attribute information file. Attribute values are predicted based, at least in part, on attribute values of neighboring points and distances between a particular point for whom an attribute value is being predicted and the neighboring points. The predicted attribute values are compared to attribute values of a point cloud prior to compression to determine attribute correction values. A decoder follows a similar prediction process as an encoder and corrects predicted values using attribute correction values included in a compressed attribute information file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Khaled Mammou, Fabrice A. Robinet
  • Patent number: 11935285
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to techniques for synthesizing out of focus highlighting effects in images in real-time. Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and other cameras having wide aperture lenses typically capture images with a shallow depth of field (SDOF). So-called SDOF photography may be particularly fit for portrait photography, since it nicely emphasizes the subject, while essentially deemphasizing the background via blurring. Simulating this kind of blurring, particularly around background light sources, using a comparatively larger depth of field (LDOF) camera, may require a high dynamic range (HDR) image capture system, to accurately determine the color of background light sources, which are prone to saturation. However, small form-factor cameras having smaller lens apertures may not have the bandwidth or processing power to process full HDR images in real time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Frederic Cao, Philip G. Lee
  • Patent number: D1018011
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, M. Evans Hankey, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Shin Nishibori, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: D1018023
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    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, Joe Sung-Ho Tan, Clement Tissandier, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: D1018505
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Akana, Bartley K. Andre, Jeremy Bataillou, Daniel J. Coster, Daniele De Iuliis, M. Evans Hankey, Julian Hoenig, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr, Matthew Dean Rohrbach, Peter Russell-Clarke, Mikael Silvanto, Christopher J. Stringer, Eugene Antony Whang, Rico Zörkendörfer
  • Patent number: D1018528
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Jody Akana, Molly Anderson, Bartley K. Andre, Shota Aoyagi, Anthony Michael Ashcroft, Marine C. Bataille, Jeremy Bataillou, Abidur Rahman Chowdhury, Clara Geneviève Marine Courtaigne, Markus Diebel, Jonathan Gomez Garcia, M. Evans Hankey, Richard P. Howarth, Jonathan P. Ive, Julian Jaede, Duncan Robert Kerr, Peter Russell-Clarke, Benjamin Andrew Shaffer, Joe Sung-Ho Tan, Clement Tissandier, Eugene Antony Whang
  • Patent number: D1018549
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    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: D1018567
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Conrad Herbert Albrecht-Buehler, Richard R. Dellinger, Robert Garcia, III, Daniel Satoru Hamaguchi, YunJae Kim, Eileen Y. Lee
  • Patent number: D1018594
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kevin Will Chen, Hanwen Fan, Aurelio Guzmán, Lauren Kim Trottier, Christopher I. Wilson