Patents by Inventor Robert E. Harris, JR.

Robert E. Harris, JR. 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).

  • Publication number: 20230359468
    Abstract: User engagement is detected and used to control operation of a computing device. User engagement is detected by a sensor such as a camera that identifies if a user's face is oriented towards a display device. If the user is not facing the display device, the sensor determines that the user is unengaged. The computing device is thus able to perform a power-saving operation, such as dimming the display device, when the user is unengaged. The computing device includes an API that abstracts sensor data into a user engagement signal indicating that the user is either engaged or unengaged. The OS and applications running on the computing device act on the user engagement signal provided by the API without communicating directly with the sensor. The user engagement signal may be provided as an input to a state machine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2022
    Publication date: November 9, 2023
    Inventors: Ugan SIVAGNANENTHIRARAJAH, Sathyanarayanan KARIVARADASWAMY, Sanjeev Chandra REDDY, Sanjana Ramakrishnan SUNDER, Sayak CHATTERJEE, Sarah Anne BARNETTE, Mark LIN, Robert E. HARRIS, JR., Mike AJAX
  • Patent number: 10715381
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein are directed to mechanisms that enable roles (e.g., host vs. function, power provider vs. power consumer, master vs. slave, server vs. client, source vs. sink, upstream vs. downstream) to be dynamically assigned between two interconnected dual-role devices in an intelligent and deterministic manner based on the available context on each device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Firdosh K. Bhesania, Anthony Y. Chen, Vivek Gupta, Andrea A. Keating, Randall E. Aull, Rahul Ramadas, Robert E. Harris, Jr., Jayson L. Kastens, Philip A. Froese, Cong Yang
  • Publication number: 20190052525
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein are directed to mechanisms that enable roles (e.g., host vs. function, power provider vs. power consumer, master vs. slave, server vs. client, source vs. sink, upstream vs. downstream) to be dynamically assigned between two interconnected dual-role devices in an intelligent and deterministic manner based on the available context on each device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 9, 2018
    Publication date: February 14, 2019
    Inventors: Firdosh K. Bhesania, Anthony Y. Chen, Vivek Gupta, Andrea A. Keating, Randall E. Aull, Rahul Ramadas, Robert E. Harris Jr., Jayson L. Kastens, Philip A. Froese, Cong Yang
  • Patent number: 10122576
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein are directed to mechanisms that enable roles (e.g., host vs. function, power provider vs. power consumer, master vs. slave, server vs. client, source vs. sink, upstream vs. downstream) to be dynamically assigned between two interconnected dual-role devices in an intelligent and deterministic manner based on the available context on each device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Firdosh K. Bhesania, Anthony Y. Chen, Vivek Gupta, Andrea A. Keating, Randall E. Aull, Rahul Ramadas, Robert E. Harris, Jr., Jayson L. Kastens, Philip A. Froese, Cong Yang
  • Publication number: 20160277235
    Abstract: Embodiments described herein are directed to mechanisms that enable roles (e.g., host vs. function, power provider vs. power consumer, master vs. slave, server vs. client, source vs. sink, upstream vs. downstream) to be dynamically assigned between two interconnected dual-role devices in an intelligent and deterministic manner based on the available context on each device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2015
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Inventors: Firdosh K. Bhesania, Anthony Y. Chen, Vivek Gupta, Andrea A. Keating, Randall E. Aull, Rahul Ramadas, Robert E. Harris, JR., Jayson L. Kastens, Philip A. Froese, Cong Yang
  • Publication number: 20140354310
    Abstract: Capacitive sensor testing techniques are described. In one or more implementations, a plurality of conductive pads of a test apparatus are caused to transition to a grounded state. The plurality of conductive pads is disposed proximal to one or more capacitive sensors of a device. An output is examined that describes a response of the one or more capacitive sensors of the device to the transition to the grounded state by the plurality of conductive pads to test operation of the one or more capacitive sensors of the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2013
    Publication date: December 4, 2014
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: David C. Hargrove, Dhaval M. Shah, Robert E. Harris, JR.