Patents by Inventor Michael F. Culbert

Michael F. Culbert 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: 11862173
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Publication number: 20210333132
    Abstract: In an embodiment, a system on a chip (SOC) includes a component that remains powered when the remainder of the SOC is powered off. The component may include a sensor capture unit to capture data from various device sensors, and may filter the captured sensor data. Responsive to the filtering, the component may wake up the remainder of the SOC to permit the processing. The component may store programmable configuration data, matching the state at the time the SOC was most recently powered down, for the other components of the SOC, in order to reprogram them after wakeup. In some embodiments, the component may be configured to wake up the memory controller within the SOC and the path to the memory controller, in order to write the data to memory. The remainder of the SOC may remain powered down.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Publication date: October 28, 2021
    Inventors: Brijesh Tripathi, Shane J. Keil, Manu Gulati, Jung Wook Cho, Erik P. Machnicki, Gilbert H. Herbeck, Timothy J. Millet, Joshua P. de Cesare, Anand Dalal, Michael F. Culbert
  • Publication number: 20210287677
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Publication date: September 16, 2021
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 11049503
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Publication number: 20200184976
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2020
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 10573319
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Publication number: 20190378514
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2019
    Publication date: December 12, 2019
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 10431224
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Publication number: 20190287532
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2019
    Publication date: September 19, 2019
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 10276165
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 10199873
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a wirelessly powered local computing environment are described. The wireless powered local computing environment includes at least a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply arranged to wirelessly provide power to any of a number of suitably configured devices. In the described embodiments, the devices arranged to receive power wirelessly from the NFMR power supply must be located in a region known as the near field that extends no further than a distance D of a few times a characteristic size of the NFMR power supply transmission device. Typically, the distance D can be on the order of 1 meter or so.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Michael F. Culbert, Brett C. Bilbrey, David I. Simon, Peter M. Arnold
  • Publication number: 20180350369
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 13, 2018
    Publication date: December 6, 2018
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 10079019
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an integrated circuit may include one or more CPUs, a memory controller, and a circuit configured to remain powered on when the rest of the SOC is powered down. The circuit may be configured to receive audio samples from a microphone, and match those audio samples against a predetermined pattern to detect a possible command from a user of the device that includes the SOC. In response to detecting the predetermined pattern, the circuit may cause the memory controller to power up so that audio samples may be stored in the memory to which the memory controller is coupled. The circuit may also cause the CPUs to be powered on and initialized, and the operating system (OS) may boot. During the time that the CPUs are initializing and the OS is booting, the circuit and the memory may be capturing the audio samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 9955426
    Abstract: Apparatuses and methods to operate a display device of an electronic device. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a user setting of a display control parameter, and altering, based on the user setting, an effect of an ambient light sensor value (ALS) on control of the display control parameter. Also, according to embodiments of the inventions, a method of operating a display of an electronic device includes receiving a change to one of a display brightness output level and an ambient light sensor output level, and altering, according to the change, a display contrast output level. In some embodiments, a method of operating a proximity sensor of an electronic device includes receiving a light sensor output, and altering, according to the output, an on/off setting of a proximity sensor. Other apparatuses and methods and data processing systems and machine readable media are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Scott M. Herz, Roberto G. Yepez, Michael F. Culbert, Scott Forstall
  • Publication number: 20170366045
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a wirelessly powered local computing environment are described. The wireless powered local computing environment includes at least a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply arranged to wirelessly provide power to any of a number of suitably configured devices. In the described embodiments, the devices arranged to receive power wirelessly from the NFMR power supply must be located in a region known as the near field that extends no further than a distance D of a few times a characteristic size of the NFMR power supply transmission device. Typically, the distance D can be on the order of 1 meter or so.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Publication date: December 21, 2017
    Inventors: Brett C. Bilbrey, Michael F. Culbert, Peter M. Arnold, David I. Simon, Mushtaq Sarwar, Richard W. DeVaul
  • Publication number: 20170018972
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a wirelessly powered local computing environment are described. The wireless powered local computing environment includes at least a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply arranged to wirelessly provide power to any of a number of suitably configured devices. In the described embodiments, the devices arranged to receive power wirelessly from the NFMR power supply must be located in a region known as the near field that extends no further than a distance D of a few times a characteristic size of the NFMR power supply transmission device. Typically, the distance D can be on the order of 1 meter or so.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2016
    Publication date: January 19, 2017
    Inventors: Michael F. CULBERT, Brett C. BILBREY, David I. SIMON, Peter M. ARNOLD
  • Patent number: 9542914
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for improving graphics abilities while switching between graphics processing units (GPUs). Some embodiments may include a display system, including a plurality of graphics processing units (GPUs) and a memory buffer coupled to the GPUs via a timing controller, where the memory buffer stores data associated with a first video frame from a first GPU within the plurality of GPUs and where the timing controller is switching between the first GPU and a second GPU within the plurality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Kapil V. Sakariya, Victor H. Yin, Michael F. Culbert
  • Patent number: 9466989
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a wirelessly powered local computing environment are described. The wireless powered local computing environment includes at least a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply arranged to wirelessly provide power to any of a number of suitably configured devices. In the described embodiments, the devices arranged to receive power wirelessly from the NFMR power supply must be located in a region known as the near field that extends no further than a distance D of a few times a characteristic size of the NFMR power supply transmission device. Typically, the distance D can be on the order of 1 meter or so.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Michael F. Culbert, Brett C. Bilbrey, David I. Simon, Peter M. Arnold
  • Patent number: 9436497
    Abstract: A linked multiple independent control system can include two or more independent controllers configured to cooperatively control operating points of a system. In one particular embodiment, the linked multiple independent control system can control operating temperatures of a computing device. In one embodiment, the independent controllers can operate in parallel to develop control effort signals that are used by the computing device to affect operating parameters of one or more components included in the computing device. In another embodiment, independent controllers can have independent temperature thresholds that can affect control effort signals only from the related controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Keith Cox, Kit-Man Wan, Michael F. Culbert
  • Publication number: 20150263540
    Abstract: Various embodiments of a wirelessly powered local computing environment are described. The wireless powered local computing environment includes at least a near field magnetic resonance (NFMR) power supply arranged to wirelessly provide power to any of a number of suitably configured devices. In the described embodiments, the devices arranged to receive power wirelessly from the NFMR power supply must be located in a region known as the near field that extends no further than a distance D of a few times a characteristic size of the NFMR power supply transmission device. Typically, the distance D can be on the order of 1 meter or so.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Publication date: September 17, 2015
    Inventors: Michael F. Culbert, Brett C. Bilbrey, David I. Simon, Peter M. Arnold