Patents by Inventor Bill L. Merrill

Bill L. Merrill 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: 10792568
    Abstract: Navigation paths through complex physical or virtual spaces can be determined without the need to transmit complex map data for the spaces, avoiding issues with additional latency or bandwidth. In a video game environment, a path can be determined for a non-player character through a level of the game. A pathfinding algorithm can be used to determine a path from a start point to an end point in the level. A virtual element can be swept along the path to determine significant spatial variations. Spatial information, such as may include different radius values for a virtual sphere able to pass through these variations, can be provided along with the coordinates of the points used to approximate the path. A path following service can utilize the spatial information to direct the character along the path in a more natural way for that character based upon factors such kinematic limitations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: AMAZON TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Bill L. Merrill
  • Patent number: 10603583
    Abstract: Techniques for implementation of an entity-component architecture with components having multiple configurations are described herein. In some examples, at least one component within an entity-component architecture of a video game may have multiple different configurations. Each of the multiple configurations may, for example, relate to a different respective deployment context in which the configuration will be deployed. For example, in some cases, the different configurations may be defined for different device types, such as client, server, and others. Additionally, in some cases, the different configurations may be defined for different types of game consoles, and other different software, hardware, and/or contextual attributes. Furthermore, in some cases, configurations may be defined for use during video game development, such as within an editing interface that is used for video game development.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Juan Pablo Ferreyra, Pablo Puo Hen Cheng, Brian David Fisher, Bill L. Merrill
  • Patent number: 10375206
    Abstract: Techniques for implementation of an entity-component architecture with components having multiple configurations are described herein. In some examples, at least one component within an entity-component architecture of a video game may have multiple different configurations. Each of the multiple configurations may, for example, relate to a different respective deployment context in which the configuration will be deployed. For example, in some cases, the different configurations may be defined for different device types, such as client, server, and others. Additionally, in some cases, the different configurations may be defined for different types of game consoles, and other different software, hardware, and/or contextual attributes. Furthermore, in some cases, configurations may be defined for use during video game development, such as within an editing interface that is used for video game development.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Juan Pablo Ferreyra, Pablo Puo Hen Cheng, Brian David Fisher, Bill L. Merrill