Patents by Inventor Amer Aref Hassan

Amer Aref Hassan has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11968160
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums which provide for sidebar communication threads forked from, or related to, a principal thread. Messages in the sidebar communication thread may include a history of the principal thread, including one or more messages from the principal thread, and may include a proposed principal thread message that is the subject of the sidebar thread discussion. The sidebar thread may also include sidebar thread messages that carries the conversation of the sidebar thread participants. Once a termination condition is reached for the sidebar thread, the sidebar thread terminates and either the proposed principal thread message (as potentially modified by participants of the sidebar thread) becomes an accepted principal thread message and it is posted to the principal thread as if it was sent by the sidebar initiator or no message is posted (e.g., the proposed principal thread message is rejected).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Wei-Chen Chen
  • Patent number: 11956286
    Abstract: A system provides dynamically controlled participation allocations for communication sessions. A system can create a queue for participants of a communication session, such as an online meeting. The queue can be generated for a communication session having an intended format that allows participants to individually speak in succession, such as a Question and Answer (Q&A) session. The system manages a user interface (UI) of the communication session displaying a timer that changes dynamically for each participant indicating a total time for his or her questions or comments based on an amount of time left for the meeting to end. The system displays, augments, and associates a timer for each participant indicating a total time for his or her questions or comments, which is based on an amount of time left for the meeting to end, number of users providing a “hand raise” input, and history of participation for each participant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Philip Ibo Ibrahima Drammeh, Mahendra Sekaran
  • Patent number: 11949642
    Abstract: The techniques disclosed herein provide a system that can identify two or more independently managed message threads and modify a user interface to enable a common user of the threads to view messages of both threads. For instance, if a user is participating in a first chat session that is displayed within a first message thread, the system can identify other threads that are related to the first thread. The related threads can be identified by a user input or by a query performed by a system. In some embodiments, the system can only search for threads that have at least one common user to the first thread. The system can provide this display of two related threads while linking the threads but not merging the messages of the threads. A data structure can be maintained to control the display of each thread.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventor: Amer Aref Hassan
  • Publication number: 20240106969
    Abstract: Systems and methods for conducting a videoconference including receiving multimedia streams of a plurality of participants in a multimedia conference, the multimedia streams including audio components and video components and displaying video tiles of the participants on a display screen. The audio components and/or the video components of the multimedia streams are analyzed to detect characteristics indicative of a first participant and a second participant having a first conversation with each other. Camera positions on the computing devices of the participants are identified. In response to identifying that the first participant and the second participant are having the first conversation with each other, a video tile for the first participant and a video tile for the second participant are moved to edges of the respective display screens toward the camera positions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2022
    Publication date: March 28, 2024
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Eric Edmond THOMASIAN, Shaun Paul DUNNING, Amer Aref HASSAN
  • Patent number: 11943190
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums which provide for sidebar communication threads forked from, or related to, a principal thread. Messages in the sidebar communication thread may include a history of the principal thread, including one or more messages from the principal thread, and may include a proposed principal thread message that is the subject of the sidebar thread discussion. The sidebar thread may also include sidebar thread messages that carries the conversation of the sidebar thread participants. Once a termination condition is reached for the sidebar thread, the sidebar thread terminates and either the proposed principal thread message (as potentially modified by participants of the sidebar thread) becomes an accepted principal thread message and it is posted to the principal thread as if it was sent by the sidebar initiator or no message is posted (e.g., the proposed principal thread message is rejected).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Wei-Chen Chen
  • Patent number: 11941471
    Abstract: A sensor device includes a first antenna configured to receive an interrogation radio frequency (RF) signal; a first sensor configured to detect a first state of a first sensed signal, to output a first sensor signal responsive to the first state meeting a first threshold condition; a first circuit coupled to the first antenna, the first circuit configured to receive the interrogation RF signal from the first antenna, modulate a second RF signal, and transmit the modulated second RF signal as a RF response signal; and a first tag controller configured to receive the first sensor signal and to selectively connect or disconnect the first antenna to or from ground responsive to the first sensor signal, wherein connecting the first antenna to ground prevents the first antenna from transmitting the RF response signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Shaun Paul Dunning, Eric Edmond Thomasian
  • Publication number: 20240080388
    Abstract: A method and system for causing a call leg transition based on determining that a screen of a device is not viewable to a user are disclosed, comprising receiving, using a default first telephony application, an incoming call event having a first call leg over a first connection to a telecommunication network addressed to the device, accepting the incoming call event using a second telephony application, creating a second connection having a second call leg to the telecommunication network corresponding to the incoming call event, associating a call event continuity identifier unique to the incoming call event with each of the first and second call legs so that the first and second call legs are connectable at a common port in the telecommunication network, determining if the screen of the device is viewable to the user, and causing a transition from the second call leg to the first call leg based on determining that the screen of the device is not viewable to the user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2023
    Publication date: March 7, 2024
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Vandana THOMAS, Michael J. DAVIS, Abhilash Chandrasekharan NAIR
  • Publication number: 20230421521
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums which provide for sidebar communication threads forked from, or related to, a principal thread. Messages in the sidebar communication thread may include a history of the principal thread, including one or more messages from the principal thread, and may include a proposed principal thread message that is the subject of the sidebar thread discussion. The sidebar thread may also include sidebar thread messages that carries the conversation of the sidebar thread participants. Once a termination condition is reached for the sidebar thread, the sidebar thread terminates and either the proposed principal thread message (as potentially modified by participants of the sidebar thread) becomes an accepted principal thread message and it is posted to the principal thread as if it was sent by the sidebar initiator or no message is posted (e.g., the proposed principal thread message is rejected).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2023
    Publication date: December 28, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Wei-Chen Chen
  • Patent number: 11856127
    Abstract: A method and system for triggering hand-off of an incoming call event from a default first telephony application to a second telephony application on a device are disclosed, comprising receiving an incoming call event addressed to the device, causing a notification of the incoming call event using the default first telephony application on the device, during the notification of the incoming call event, and without answering the incoming call event using the default first telephony application, receiving a navigation input on a user interface of the device to navigate to the second telephony application on the device, and, responsive to receiving the input to navigate to the second telephony application on the device, causing the second telephony application to be displayed on the device, and accepting the incoming call event using the second telephony application, creating a telephony connection corresponding to the incoming call event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Vandana Thomas, Michael J. Davis, Abhilash Chandrasekharan Nair
  • Publication number: 20230413187
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, and machine-readable mediums in which interference is mitigated on a wireless radio frequency channel used by multiple computing devices by adjusting (e.g., lowering) the power level of one or more computing devices (e.g., mobile devises such as User Equipment (UE) devices) and using successive interference cancellation to decode the combined signals, Successive interference cancellation may first decode a strongest signal of a combined signal of all computing devices. The decoded signal is then subtracted from the combined signal. The strongest signal of that combined signal is then decoded and then subtracted and so on until all signals are decoded.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Roy D. Kuntz
  • Publication number: 20230410766
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are display systems, methods, devices, and machine-readable mediums which provide for a gesture-based method for specifying a region of a display in which to show shared content. Also disclosed are pairing methods for associating the region of the display with a content source device, methods for sharing content within the region, and methods for providing input from the region back to the content source device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 3, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Wei-Chen CHEN
  • Publication number: 20230412726
    Abstract: A method and system for triggering hand-off of an incoming call event from a default first telephony application to a second telephony application on a device are disclosed, comprising receiving an incoming call event addressed to the device, causing a notification of the incoming call event using the default first telephony application on the device, during the notification of the incoming call event, and without answering the incoming call event using the default first telephony application, receiving a navigation input on a user interface of the device to navigate to the second telephony application on the device, and, responsive to receiving the input to navigate to the second telephony application on the device, causing the second telephony application to be displayed on the device, and accepting the incoming call event using the second telephony application, creating a telephony connection corresponding to the incoming call event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2022
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Vandana THOMAS, Michael J. DAVIS, Abhilash Chandrasekharan NAIR
  • Publication number: 20230412695
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, and machine-readable mediums which automatically initiate a connection to a network-based communication session using a second communication application responsive to the communication service detecting that the user is unable to join the network-based communication session using a first communication application. The first and second communication applications may be on a same or different computing device. For example, if a user's desktop device is unavailable or experiencing connection issues, then the communication server may automatically request that a communication application on a mobile phone of the user join the network-based communication session.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2021
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Mahendra D. SEKARAN, Scott Edward VAN VLIET
  • Publication number: 20230412554
    Abstract: A method and system for providing a command-based communication are disclosed, comprising identifying a target user from a user database based on parsed entries subsequent to an action command in a compose field of a group thread, receiving a user selection of one of two operation modes in which the system operates, including a fork mode and a notification mode, and responsive to the user selection selecting the fork mode, creating and transmitting a fork communication thread between the user and a second user, the fork communication thread diverging from the group thread.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2022
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Eric Edmond THOMASIAN, Zhen ZHU
  • Publication number: 20230403249
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums which provide for sidebar communication threads forked from, or related to, a principal thread. Messages in the sidebar communication thread may include a history of the principal thread, including one or more messages from the principal thread, and may include a proposed principal thread message that is the subject of the sidebar thread discussion. The sidebar thread may also include sidebar thread messages that carries the conversation of the sidebar thread participants. Once a termination condition is reached for the sidebar thread, the sidebar thread terminates and either the proposed principal thread message (as potentially modified by participants of the sidebar thread) becomes an accepted principal thread message and it is posted to the principal thread as if it was sent by the sidebar initiator or no message is posted (e.g., the proposed principal thread message is rejected).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Wei-Chen Chen
  • Publication number: 20230403367
    Abstract: Systems for customizing user interfaces displaying an image of multiple participants of a communication session are disclosed. A system allows a user to make one or more selections of attendees from a video stream that includes multiple attendees, such as video captured by a conference room camera. In response to the selection, the system generates new video streams or images for each of the selected attendee(s) by extracting images of the selected attendee(s) from the video stream of the conference room camera. The system displays additional renderings for the new video streams or images to accompany the rendering of the video stream of the conference room camera. By allowing users to generate additional renderings of people from images that are initially displayed in a group video, the system can allow viewers to control the display of details of each person that may not be observable from the initial group image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2022
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Mahendra D. SEKARAN
  • Publication number: 20230403637
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums in which an ad-hoc neighbor group of wireless devices provides a retransmission service to a first wireless device in the neighboring group over an out-of-band wireless protocol. That is, a first transmission from a transmitter to the first wireless device over a first wireless protocol may be received by a second wireless device in a neighboring group of wireless devices. The second wireless device may then retransmit information (e.g., packets) from the first transmission to the first wireless device over a second wireless protocol and/or channel. Thus, for example, a second wireless device may receive a satellite signal sent to the first wireless device and provide a retransmission of the signal or information from the signal to the first wireless device over a Wi-Fi direct protocol.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2022
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, David Anthony Lickorish, Edward C. Giaimo, III
  • Publication number: 20230403250
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums which provide for sidebar communication threads forked from, or related to, a principal thread. Messages in the sidebar communication thread may include a history of the principal thread, including one or more messages from the principal thread, and may include a proposed principal thread message that is the subject of the sidebar thread discussion. The sidebar thread may also include sidebar thread messages that carries the conversation of the sidebar thread participants. Once a termination condition is reached for the sidebar thread, the sidebar thread terminates and either the proposed principal thread message (as potentially modified by participants of the sidebar thread) becomes an accepted principal thread message and it is posted to the principal thread as if it was sent by the sidebar initiator or no message is posted (e.g., the proposed principal thread message is rejected).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2022
    Publication date: December 14, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Wei-Chen Chen
  • Publication number: 20230384913
    Abstract: A system provides permission controls for group messages. A system can support user accessibility by the use of a permissions that indicates that a user has accessibility needs with respect to a voice input. When a user is known to have accessibility issue with providing a voice input, a system data structure, such as a Teams directory, can indicate when specific users have special needs. The system can grant them with rights to prevent others from providing messages to a message thread. This allows that person to become a presenter of a meeting while using a message thread to give their presentation without interruption from others. The system can unlock the thread and allow others to provide messages when the user is done with their presentation. By controlling a message thread in this manner, a system can allow users having special needs to participate as a meeting presenter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Publication date: November 30, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref HASSAN, Wei-Chen CHEN
  • Publication number: 20230362662
    Abstract: Disclosed in some examples are methods, systems, devices, and machine-readable mediums that detect evil twin and other anomalous access points in an IT infrastructure by detecting access points that are not in their expected locations based upon an analysis of access point reports from one or more computing devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2023
    Publication date: November 9, 2023
    Inventors: Amer Aref Hassan, Roy D. KUNTZ, Michael Davis