Patents by Inventor Timothy J. Millet

Timothy J. Millet 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: 20240144932
    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: November 3, 2023
    Publication date: May 2, 2024
    Inventors: Timothy J. Millet, Manu Gulati, Michael F. Culbert
  • 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: 20210341317
    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 12, 2021
    Publication date: November 4, 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
  • 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: 11079261
    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: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    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
  • 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
  • Patent number: 10911673
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an electronic device may be configured to capture still frames during video capture but may capture the still frames in the 4×3 aspect ratio and at higher resolution than the 16×9 aspect ratio video frames. The device may interleave high resolution, 4×3 frames and lower resolution 16×9 frames in the video sequence, and may capture the nearest higher resolution, 4×3 frame when the user indicates the capture of a still frame. Alternatively, the device may display 16×9 frames in the video sequence, and then expand to 4×3 frames when a shutter button is pressed. The device may capture the still frame and return to the 16×9 video frames responsive to a release of the shutter button.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: D. Amnon Silverstein, Shun Wai Go, Suk Hwan Lim, Timothy J. Millet, Ting Chen, Bin Ni
  • Patent number: 10776022
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a memory that is delineated into transparent and non-transparent portions. The transparent portion may be controlled by a control unit coupled to the memory, along with a corresponding tag memory. The non-transparent portion may be software controlled by directly accessing the non-transparent portion via an input address. In an embodiment, the memory may include a decoder configured to decode the address and select a location in either the transparent or non-transparent portion. Each request may include a non-transparent attribute identifying the request as either transparent or non-transparent. In an embodiment, the size of the transparent portion may be programmable. Based on the non-transparent attribute indicating transparent, the decoder may selectively mask bits of the address based on the size to ensure that the decoder only selects a location in the transparent portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: James Wang, Zongjian Chen, James B. Keller, Timothy J. Millet
  • 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
  • Publication number: 20200149932
    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: November 20, 2019
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    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
  • Publication number: 20200068129
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an electronic device may be configured to capture still frames during video capture but may capture the still frames in the 4×3 aspect ratio and at higher resolution than the 16×9 aspect ratio video frames. The device may interleave high resolution, 4×3 frames and lower resolution 16×9 frames in the video sequence, and may capture the nearest higher resolution, 4×3 frame when the user indicates the capture of a still frame. Alternatively, the device may display 16×9 frames in the video sequence, and then expand to 4×3 frames when a shutter button is pressed. The device may capture the still frame and return to the 16×9 video frames responsive to a release of the shutter button.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Inventors: D. Amnon Silverstein, Shun Wai Go, Suk Hwan Lim, Timothy J. Millet, Ting Chen, Bin Ni
  • 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: 10498960
    Abstract: In an embodiment, an electronic device may be configured to capture still frames during video capture but may capture the still frames in the 4×3 aspect ratio and at higher resolution than the 16×9 aspect ratio video frames. The device may interleave high resolution, 4×3 frames and lower resolution 16×9 frames in the video sequence, and may capture the nearest higher resolution, 4×3 frame when the user indicates the capture of a still frame. Alternatively, the device may display 16×9 frames in the video sequence, and then expand to 4×3 frames when a shutter button is pressed. The device may capture the still frame and return to the 16×9 video frames responsive to a release of the shutter button.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: D. Amnon Silverstein, Shun Wai Go, Suk Hwan Lim, Timothy J. Millet, Ting Chen, Bin Ni
  • Patent number: 10488230
    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: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    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
  • 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
  • Publication number: 20190171380
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a memory that is delineated into transparent and non-transparent portions. The transparent portion may be controlled by a control unit coupled to the memory, along with a corresponding tag memory. The non-transparent portion may be software controlled by directly accessing the non-transparent portion via an input address. In an embodiment, the memory may include a decoder configured to decode the address and select a location in either the transparent or non-transparent portion. Each request may include a non-transparent attribute identifying the request as either transparent or non-transparent. In an embodiment, the size of the transparent portion may be programmable. Based on the non-transparent attribute indicating transparent, the decoder may selectively mask bits of the address based on the size to ensure that the decoder only selects a location in the transparent portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Publication date: June 6, 2019
    Inventors: James Wang, Zongjian Chen, James B. Keller, Timothy J. Millet
  • Patent number: 10313683
    Abstract: A context switching method for video encoders that enables higher priority video streams to interrupt lower priority video streams. A high priority frame may be received for processing while another frame is being processed. The pipeline may be signaled to perform a context stop for the current frame. The pipeline stops processing the current frame at an appropriate place, and propagates the stop through the stages of the pipeline and to a transcoder through DMA. The stopping location is recorded. The video encoder may then process the higher-priority frame. When done, a context restart is performed and the pipeline resumes processing the lower-priority frame beginning at the recorded location. The transcoder may process data for the interrupted frame while the higher-priority frame is being processed in the pipeline, and similarly the pipeline may begin processing the lower-priority frame after the context restart while the transcoder completes processing the higher-priority frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph J. Cheng, Timothy J. Millet, Shun Wai Go, Guy Cote