Patents by Inventor Orit A. Shamir
Orit A. Shamir 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).
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Publication number: 20230288186Abstract: Disclosed herein are electronic devices having touch input surfaces. A user's touch input or press on the touch input surface is detected using a set of lasers, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that emit beams of light toward the touch input surface. The user's touch causes changes in the self-mixing interference within the VCSEL of the emitted light with reflected light, such as from the touch input surface. Deflection and movement (e.g., drag motion) of the user's touch is determined from detected changes in the VCSELs' operation due to the self-mixing interference.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 24, 2023Publication date: September 14, 2023Inventors: Mark T. Winkler, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Tong Chen, Wenrui Cai, Chau H. Nguyen, Giovanni Gozzini, Michael K. McCord, Orit A. Shamir, Prashanth S. Holenarsipur
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Patent number: 11599224Abstract: Disclosed herein are electronic devices having touch input surfaces. A user's touch input or press on the touch input surface is detected using a set of lasers, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that emit beams of light toward the touch input surface. The user's touch causes changes in the self-mixing interference within the VCSEL of the emitted light with reflected light, such as from the touch input surface. Deflection and movement (e.g., drag motion) of the user's touch is determined from detected changes in the VCSELs' operation due to the self-mixing interference.Type: GrantFiled: September 22, 2021Date of Patent: March 7, 2023Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Mark T. Winkler, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Tong Chen, Wenrui Cai, Chau H. Nguyen, Giovanni Gozzini, Michael K. McCord, Orit A. Shamir, Prashanth S. Holenarsipur
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Publication number: 20220011902Abstract: Disclosed herein are electronic devices having touch input surfaces. A user's touch input or press on the touch input surface is detected using a set of lasers, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that emit beams of light toward the touch input surface. The user's touch causes changes in the self-mixing interference within the VCSEL of the emitted light with reflected light, such as from the touch input surface. Deflection and movement (e.g., drag motion) of the user's touch is determined from detected changes in the VCSELs' operation due to the self-mixing interference.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 22, 2021Publication date: January 13, 2022Inventors: Mark T. Winkler, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Tong Chen, Wenrui Cai, Chau H. Nguyen, Giovanni Gozzini, Michael K. McCord, Orit A. Shamir, Prashanth S. Holenarsipur
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Patent number: 11157113Abstract: Disclosed herein are electronic devices having touch input surfaces. A user's touch input or press on the touch input surface is detected using a set of lasers, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that emit beams of light toward the touch input surface. The user's touch causes changes in the self-mixing interference within the VCSEL of the emitted light with reflected light, such as from the touch input surface. Deflection and movement (e.g., drag motion) of the user's touch is determined from detected changes in the VCSELs' operation due to the self-mixing interference.Type: GrantFiled: April 12, 2019Date of Patent: October 26, 2021Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Mark T. Winkler, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Tong Chen, Wenrui Cai, Chau H. Nguyen, Giovanni Gozzini, Michael K. McCord, Orit A. Shamir, Prashanth S. Holenarsipur
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Patent number: 11112233Abstract: Aspects of the subject technology relate to an apparatus for self-mixing particulate-matter sensing using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with extrinsic photodiodes. The apparatus includes a dual-emitting light source disposed on a first chip and to generate a first light beam and a second light beam. The first light beam illuminates a particulate matter (PM), and a light detector extrinsic to the first chip measures the second light beam and variations of the second light beam and generates a self-mixing signal. The variations of the second light beam are caused by a back-scattered light resulting from back-scattering of the first light beam from the PM. The light detector is coupled to the dual-emitting light source. The direction of the second light beam is opposite to the direction of the first light beam, and the second light beam is directed to a sensitive area of the light detector.Type: GrantFiled: September 12, 2019Date of Patent: September 7, 2021Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Mehmet Mutlu, Michael K. Brown, Wesley S. Smith, Orit A. Shamir, Richard T. Chen, Mark T. Winkler, Miaolei Yan, Richard Yeh
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Publication number: 20210080245Abstract: Aspects of the subject technology relate to an apparatus for self-mixing particulate-matter sensing using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with extrinsic photodiodes. The apparatus includes a dual-emitting light source disposed on a first chip and to generate a first light beam and a second light beam. The first light beam illuminates a particulate matter (PM), and a light detector extrinsic to the first chip measures the second light beam and variations of the second light beam and generates a self-mixing signal. The variations of the second light beam are caused by a back-scattered light resulting from back-scattering of the first light beam from the PM. The light detector is coupled to the dual-emitting light source. The direction of the second light beam is opposite to the direction of the first light beam, and the second light beam is directed to a sensitive area of the light detector.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 12, 2019Publication date: March 18, 2021Inventors: Mehmet MUTLU, Michael K. BROWN, Wesley S. SMITH, Orit A. SHAMIR, Richard T. CHEN, Mark T. WINKLER, Miaolei YAN, Richard YEH
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Patent number: 10771884Abstract: An electronic device such as an earbud may have control circuitry mounted in a housing. The housing may have portions such as an ear portion with a speaker port through which a speaker plays audio and a stalk portion that extends from the ear portion. Proximity sensors may be formed in the electronic device. For example, one or more proximity sensors may be formed on the ear portion to detect when a user has inserted an earbud into the ear of the user and/or one or more proximity sensors may be formed on a stalk portion to detect when a user is holding an earbud by the stalk or when a user is providing finger touch input such as taps, swipes, and/or other gestures on the stalk portion. The proximity sensors may be optical proximity sensors such as coherent self-mixing proximity sensors.Type: GrantFiled: March 13, 2019Date of Patent: September 8, 2020Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Mehmet Mutlu, Mark T. Winkler, Orit A. Shamir
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Patent number: 10523318Abstract: Techniques are disclosed by which electronic devices that include line-of-sight optical communication systems may become optically aware of other electronic devices and perform optical communication handshakes with other devices. An electronic device may use a motion sensor to record its posing when it determines, during the performance of an optical communication handshake, that it is pointed at the electronic device with which it is performing the optical communication handshake (or that the other electronic device is within a field of view of the electronic device). A recorded device posing, in combination with optical communications and motion sensor data, may also be used to map another device's location and enable a user of an electronic device to pan away from and break optical communication with the other device, then easily return to a recorded posing that enables a continuation of optical communications with the other device.Type: GrantFiled: April 30, 2019Date of Patent: December 31, 2019Assignee: Apple Inc.Inventors: Tong Chen, Mark T. Winkler, Wenrui Cai, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Orit A. Shamir
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Publication number: 20190372668Abstract: Techniques are disclosed by which electronic devices that include line-of-sight optical communication systems may become optically aware of other electronic devices and perform optical communication handshakes with other devices. An electronic device may use a motion sensor to record its posing when it determines, during the performance of an optical communication handshake, that it is pointed at the electronic device with which it is performing the optical communication handshake (or that the other electronic device is within a field of view of the electronic device). A recorded device posing, in combination with optical communications and motion sensor data, may also be used to map another device's location and enable a user of an electronic device to pan away from and break optical communication with the other device, then easily return to a recorded posing that enables a continuation of optical communications with the other device.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 30, 2019Publication date: December 5, 2019Inventors: Tong Chen, Mark T. Winkler, Wenrui Cai, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Orit A. Shamir
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Publication number: 20190317639Abstract: Disclosed herein are electronic devices having touch input surfaces. A user's touch input or press on the touch input surface is detected using a set of lasers, such as vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that emit beams of light toward the touch input surface. The user's touch causes changes in the self-mixing interference within the VCSEL of the emitted light with reflected light, such as from the touch input surface. Deflection and movement (e.g., drag motion) of the user's touch is determined from detected changes in the VCSELs' operation due to the self-mixing interference.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 12, 2019Publication date: October 17, 2019Inventors: Mark T. Winkler, Mehmet Mutlu, Omid Momtahan, Tong Chen, Wenrui Cai, Chau H. Nguyen, Giovanni Gozzini, Michael K. McCord, Orit A. Shamir, Prashanth S. Holenarsipur
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Publication number: 20190313178Abstract: An electronic device such as an earbud may have control circuitry mounted in a housing. The housing may have portions such as an ear portion with a speaker port through which a speaker plays audio and a stalk portion that extends from the ear portion. Proximity sensors may be formed in the electronic device. For example, one or more proximity sensors may be formed on the ear portion to detect when a user has inserted an earbud into the ear of the user and/or one or more proximity sensors may be formed on a stalk portion to detect when a user is holding an earbud by the stalk or when a user is providing finger touch input such as taps, swipes, and/or other gestures on the stalk portion. The proximity sensors may be optical proximity sensors such as coherent self-mixing proximity sensors.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 13, 2019Publication date: October 10, 2019Inventors: Mehmet Mutlu, Mark T. Winkler, Orit A. Shamir
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Patent number: 7680383Abstract: An optical modulator is provided. The optical modulator includes a ridge-shaped active region comprising a plurality of alternating high and low index layers. The ridge-shaped active region is used to confine a selective optical mode for optical modulation. A plurality of oxidized layers positioned so as to confine the selective optical mode in the middle region of the ridge-shaped active region. The oxidized layers enable the optical modulator to withstand high operating voltages both in reverse and forward bias without concern of breakdown or carrier loss.Type: GrantFiled: August 26, 2008Date of Patent: March 16, 2010Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyInventors: Leslie A. Kolodziejski, Gale S. Petrich, Orit Shamir
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Publication number: 20100054656Abstract: An optical modulator is provided. The optical modulator includes a ridge-shaped active region comprising a plurality of alternating high and low index layers. The ridge-shaped active region is used to confine a selective optical mode for optical modulation. A plurality of oxidized layers positioned so as to confine the selective optical mode in the middle region of the ridge-shaped active region. The oxidized layers enable the optical modulator to withstand high operating voltages both in reverse and forward bias without concern of breakdown or carrier loss.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 26, 2008Publication date: March 4, 2010Inventors: Leslie A. Kolodziejski, Gale S. Petrich, Orit Shamir