Patents by Inventor Shahrooz Shahparnia

Shahrooz Shahparnia 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: 10845901
    Abstract: A touch controller that can configure touch circuitry according to a scan plan, which can define a sequence of scan events to be performed on a touch panel is disclosed. The touch controller can include a configurable transmit section to generate stimulation signals to drive the panel, a configurable receive section to receive and process touch signals from the panel, and a configurable memory to store the touch signals. The touch controller can also include a programmable scan engine to configure the transmit section, the receive section, and the memory according to the scan plan. The touch controller advantageously provides more robust and flexible touch circuitry to handle various types of touch events at the panel. An active stylus that can generate stimulation signals that can be detected by the touch controller during various touch events at the panel is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Marduke Yousefpor
  • Publication number: 20200201411
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a stylus includes one or more electrodes and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying first logic for transmitting signals wirelessly to a device through a touch-sensor of the device. The stylus has a first power mode in which components of the stylus for receiving signals from or transmitting signals to the device are powered off; a second power mode in which components of the stylus for receiving signals from the device are powered on at least periodically and components of the stylus for transmitting signals to the device are powered off; and a third power mode in which components of the stylus for transmitting signals to the device are powered on at least periodically. The media further embodies second logic for transitioning the stylus from one of the first, second, and third power modes to another one of the first, second, and third power modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2020
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Trond Jarle Pedersen, John Logan, Vemund Kval Bakken, Kishore Sundara-Rajan
  • Patent number: 10664113
    Abstract: Power consumption of touch sensing operations for touch sensitive devices can be reduced by implementing a coarse scan (e.g., banked common mode scan) to coarsely detect the presence or absence of an object touching or proximate to a touch sensor panel and the results of the coarse scan can be used to dynamically adjust the operation of the touch sensitive device to perform or not perform a fine scan (e.g., targeted active mode scan). In some examples, the results of the coarse scan can be used to program a touch controller for the next touch sensing frame to idle when no touch event is detected or to perform a fine scan when one or more touch events are detected. In some examples, the results of the coarse scan can be used to abort a scheduled fine scan during the current touch sensing frame when no touch event is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Vivek Pant, Marduke Yousefpor, Christoph H. Krah
  • Publication number: 20200107785
    Abstract: This relates to a monitoring system capable of measuring a plurality of vital signs. The monitoring system can include a plurality of sensors including, but not limited to, electrodes, piezoelectric sensors, temperature sensors, and accelerometers. The monitoring system can be capable of operating in one or more operation modes such as, for example: capacitance measurement mode, electrical measurement mode, piezoelectric measurement mode, temperature measurement mode, acceleration measurement mode, impedance measurement mode, and standby mode. Based on the measured values, the monitoring system can analyze the user's sleep, provide feedback and suggestions to the user, and/or can adjust or control the environmental conditions to improve the user's sleep. The monitoring system can further be capable of analyzing the sleep of the user(s) without directly contacting or attaching uncomfortable probes to the user(s) and without having to analyze the sleep in an unknown environment (e.g., a medical facility).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Publication date: April 9, 2020
    Inventors: Shahrooz SHAHPARNIA, Erno H. KLAASSEN
  • Patent number: 10613643
    Abstract: Active styli, methods and non-transitory computer readable storage media can be used for mitigating noise coupling from an active stylus to a touch sensing system. An active stylus can include a force sensor that can be used to detect stylus touch-down and lift-off events. Based on a touch-down and lift-off events, the stylus can generate stimulation signals and ramp up or ramp down the amplitude of the stimulation signals. Additionally or alternatively, an active stylus can receive information to synchronize the active stylus with a touch-sensitive device. Based on the information, the stylus can synchronize generation of stimulation signals with the stylus scan performed by the touch-sensitive device. The stimulation signals can be ramped up during a guard band period before a stylus scan and can be ramped down during a guard band period after the stylus scan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Vivek Pant
  • Publication number: 20200089344
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a device includes a stylus tip capable of communicating wirelessly with another device through a touch sensor of the other device. The stylus tip includes one or more surface areas, one or more substrates disposed along one or more of the surface areas of the stylus tip, and a plurality of electrodes disposed on or in the one or more substrates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Publication date: March 19, 2020
    Inventors: Kishore Sundara-Rajan, Shahrooz Shahparnia
  • Patent number: 10579120
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a stylus includes one or more electrodes and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying first logic for transmitting signals wirelessly to a device through a touch-sensor of the device. The stylus has a first power mode in which components of the stylus for receiving signals from or transmitting signals to the device are powered off; a second power mode in which components of the stylus for receiving signals from the device are powered on at least periodically and components of the stylus for transmitting signals to the device are powered off; and a third power mode in which components of the stylus for transmitting signals to the device are powered on at least periodically. The media further embodies second logic for transitioning the stylus from one of the first, second, and third power modes to another one of the first, second, and third power modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: Wacom Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Trond Jarle Pedersen, John Logan, Vemund Kval Bakken, Kishore Sundara-Rajan
  • Patent number: 10558302
    Abstract: Coded integration of a self-capacitance array to improve signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of self-capacitance measurements is disclosed. A composite measurement of the self-capacitance of a plurality of electrodes can be measured for a plurality of integration periods. The composite measurements can include weighted contributions of charge from the plurality of electrodes, the weighting corresponding to a code. In some examples, the weighted contribution can include positive contributions integrated by a first integrator circuit and negative contributions integrated by a second integrator circuit. The composite measurements of the self-capacitance for the plurality of integration periods can be decoded to extract the self-capacitance measurement for the electrodes. The SNR for the self-capacitance measurements can therefore be improved by increasing the number of samples during the total integration period without requiring dedicated sensing circuitry for the electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Marduke Yousefpor
  • Patent number: 10512432
    Abstract: This relates to a monitoring system capable of measuring a plurality of vital signs. The monitoring system can include a plurality of sensors including, but not limited to, electrodes, piezoelectric sensors, temperature sensors, and accelerometers. The monitoring system can be capable of operating in one or more operation modes such as, for example: capacitance measurement mode, electrical measurement mode, piezoelectric measurement mode, temperature measurement mode, acceleration measurement mode, impedance measurement mode, and standby mode. Based on the measured values, the monitoring system can analyze the user's sleep, provide feedback and suggestions to the user, and/or can adjust or control the environmental conditions to improve the user's sleep. The monitoring system can further be capable of analyzing the sleep of the user(s) without directly contacting or attaching uncomfortable probes to the user(s) and without having to analyze the sleep in an unknown environment (e.g., a medical facility).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Erno H. Klaassen
  • Patent number: 10488992
    Abstract: A multi-chip touch architecture for scalability can include one or more touch controller application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and one or more switching circuits coupled between the one or more touch controller ASICs and the touch sensor panel. The number of touch controller ASICs and switching circuits can be scaled based on the size of the touch sensor panel. The touch controller ASICs can include an interface for data transfer between the touch controller ASICs to allow for parallel processing of an image of touch by more than one touch controller ASIC. The touch controller ASIC can also include a memory directly accessible by more than one processing circuit (e.g., hardware accelerators), and circuitry to dynamically adjust the coupling between portions (e.g., banks) of memory and inputs of the one or more processing circuits to minimize data transfer and improve processing speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Vivek Pant, Christoph H. Krah
  • Patent number: 10488952
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a device includes a stylus tip capable of communicating wirelessly with another device through a touch sensor of the other device. The stylus tip includes one or more surface areas, one or more substrates disposed along one or more of the surface areas of the stylus tip, and a plurality of electrodes disposed on or in the one or more substrates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Wacom Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kishore Sundara-Rajan, Shahrooz Shahparnia
  • Patent number: 10474277
    Abstract: Position-based sensing methods and systems can be used to transmit data from an input device to a touch-sensitive device. For example, the touch sensing system may perform one or more coarse input device sub-scans to determine a coarse location of the input device. The coarse location can be used to select one or more touch sensors (or sensor channels) to sample for decoding data encoded in the stimulation signals from the input device. During one or more fine input device sub-scans, the touch sensing system can determine a fine location of the input device and decode the data from the input device sampled from the selected touch sensors (or sensor channels).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Vivek Pant, Moshe Malkin, Shahrooz Shahparnia
  • Patent number: 10459546
    Abstract: A touch input device configured to detect stylus signals generated by an external stylus is provided. The touch input device includes a plurality of stylus signal detectors that receive at its input a combination of stylus receive channels that are combined in a manner to minimize noise while at the same time keeping the stylus signal strength uniform independent of the position of the stylus on the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Kevin J. White, Manu Agarwal
  • Patent number: 10452212
    Abstract: In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method including determining which sense lines are potentially corrupted based on touch image information, measuring a sense signal on each sense line, and applying a trained best compensation factor to the measured sense signal on potentially corrupted sense lines in order to produce a corrected sense signal. The corrected sense signal eliminates active stylus signal that has cross-coupled to a touch contact (e.g., a finger or conductive stylus) and thereby mitigates errors in stylus location due to cross-coupled signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Leah Gum, Wayne C. Westerman, Seyed Mohammad Navidpour, Shahrooz Shahparnia
  • Publication number: 20190138152
    Abstract: A touch panel electrode structure for user grounding correction in a touch panel is disclosed. The electrode structure can include an array of electrodes for sensing a touch at the panel, and multiple jumpers for selectively coupling groups of the electrodes together to form electrode rows and columns that cross each other. In some examples, the array can have a linear configuration and can form the rows and columns by coupling diagonally adjacent electrodes using the jumpers in a zigzag pattern, or the array can have a diamond configuration and can form the rows and columns by coupling linearly adjacent electrodes using the jumpers in a linear pattern. In various examples, each electrode can have a solid structure with a square shape, a reduced area with an outer electrode and a physically separate center electrode, a hollow center, or a solid structure with a hexagonal shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2018
    Publication date: May 9, 2019
    Inventors: Marduke YOUSEFPOR, Shahrooz SHAHPARNIA
  • Publication number: 20190101971
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a stylus includes one or more electrodes and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying first logic for transmitting signals wirelessly to a device through a touch-sensor of the device. The stylus has a first power mode in which components of the stylus for receiving signals from or transmitting signals to the device are powered off; a second power mode in which components of the stylus for receiving signals from the device are powered on at least periodically and components of the stylus for transmitting signals to the device are powered off; and a third power mode in which components of the stylus for transmitting signals to the device are powered on at least periodically. The media further embodies second logic for transitioning the stylus from one of the first, second, and third power modes to another one of the first, second, and third power modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Shahrooz Shahparnia, Trond Jarle Pedersen, John Logan, Vemund Kval Bakken, Kishore Sundara-Rajan
  • Publication number: 20190095006
    Abstract: Power consumption of touch sensing operations for touch sensitive devices can be reduced by implementing a coarse scan (e.g., banked common mode scan) to coarsely detect the presence or absence of an object touching or proximate to a touch sensor panel and the results of the coarse scan can be used to dynamically adjust the operation of the touch sensitive device to perform or not perform a fine scan (e.g., targeted active mode scan). In some examples, the results of the coarse scan can be used to program a touch controller for the next touch sensing frame to idle when no touch event is detected or to perform a fine scan when one or more touch events are detected. In some examples, the results of the coarse scan can be used to abort a scheduled fine scan during the current touch sensing frame when no touch event is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Publication date: March 28, 2019
    Inventors: Shahrooz SHAHPARNIA, Christopher Tenzin MULLENS, Martin Paul GRUNTHANER, Adam GEBOFF, Vivek PANT, Marduke YOUSEFPOR, Christoph H. KRAH, Shwetabh VERMA, Sumant RANGANATHAN
  • Publication number: 20190079603
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a device includes a stylus tip capable of communicating wirelessly with another device through a touch sensor of the other device. The stylus tip includes one or more surface areas, one or more substrates disposed along one or more of the surface areas of the stylus tip, and a plurality of electrodes disposed on or in the one or more substrates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Publication date: March 14, 2019
    Inventors: Kishore Sundara-Rajan, Shahrooz Shahparnia
  • Patent number: 10209827
    Abstract: A touch sensing system can demodulate sensor data using a dynamically adjusted demodulation waveform and/or demodulation window. The demodulation waveform and/or demodulation window can be dynamically adjusted to account for dynamically changing noise in a touch sensing system. The system can dynamically adjust the demodulation window based on noise measured by the touch sensing system to generate an optimized or otherwise noise-tailored window to suppress detected noise. In some examples, the noise measured by the touch sensing system can be sampled from sense channels localized to a detected touch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Moshe Malkin, Shahrooz Shahparnia, Vivek Pant
  • Publication number: 20190042046
    Abstract: Systems for detecting an amount and/or location of a force applied to a device using a piezoelectric film are provided. One example system can include a transparent piezoelectric film for generating an electric charge in response to a deformation of the film. Electrodes positioned on opposite surfaces of the piezoelectric film can be used to detect the generated electric charge and determine an amount and/or location of force applied to the film based on the generated electric charge. In another embodiment, the system can include a capacitive touch sensor for determining a location of a touch event on the device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Publication date: February 7, 2019
    Inventors: Sinan Filiz, Brian Q. Huppi, Christopher J. Butler, Martin P. Grunthaner, Shahrooz Shahparnia, Sunggu Kang, Kai Wang