Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090257201 | Device Bracket with Integrated Device Hub - An device bracket for mounting devices to a flat panel display incorporates a device hub able to form a network with devices coupled to it where the device hub associates one or more physical characteristics to devices coupled to it, including locality, orientation and position relative to the device hub. The device hub is conveys data indicating these physical characteristics associated with these devices to one or more of the devices coupled to it, thereby either enabling the devices with those physical characteristics to modify the manner in which they perform their own functions in response to those physical characteristics, or enabling other devices to modify data that they exchange with the devices having those physical characteristics in response to those physical characteristics. | 10-15-2009 |
20090259778 | Automatic Device Function Control Based on Device Hub Coupling Selection - One or more physical characteristics are selected to be associated with a device attached to a device hub depending on which connector of the device hub the device is electrically coupled to, depending on the orientation of the casing of the device hub relative to a pull of gravity, and/or depending on the position of the device relative to a the connector of the device hub to which the device is electrically coupled. Further, where more than one device are capable of forming an assembly that is capable of performing a function, still another device is falsely presented by the device hub with an indication of the presence of a single device capable of performing the function to induce the still another device to convey data to the device hub as if the device hub were that single device. | 10-15-2009 |
20090271639 | Personal Wireless Network Power-Based Task Distribution - Apparatus and method for dynamically reassigning between a plurality of personal portable devices in a wireless network one or more task portions of a task that have been distributed among the personal portable devices in response to at least one of the personal portable devices having diminishing access to electric power. A reassignment may be prompted by the remaining electric power available to one of the personal portable devices diminishing to a predetermined level, and/or it may be prompted as a result of a goal of causing the remaining operating times of the personal portable devices engaged in performing the task to be as close to equal as possible. A reassignment may be prompted by the remaining electric power available to one of the personal portable devices being changed either by the coupling of that personal portable device to an external power supply or by a suspension of execution of a task routine associated with a task portion that had been assigned to that personal portable device. A reassignment of a particular task routine between two of the personal portable devices may be forestalled as a result of it being impermissible to transmit a copy of a task routine associated with a task portion and/or a piece of data associated with that task routine from one of the two personal portable devices to the other. A task portion reassigned between two personal portable devices may be associated with communications between personal portable devices and its reassignment may result in a changing in topological positions of the two personal portable devices within the topology of the wireless network. | 10-29-2009 |
20090318074 | Personal Wireless Network Capabilities-Based Task Portion Distribution - Where a plurality of personal portable devices communicating with each other through a personal wireless network are to cooperate to perform a task made up of a plurality of task portions, the task portions are automatically distributed among the personal portable devices at least partially in response to comparisons between the capabilities required to perform each task portion and the capabilities of each of the personal portable devices. In making such comparisons, the capabilities of each of the personal portable devices that are actually available for the performance of one or more of the task portions at the time such comparisons are made may be taken into account, and further, such comparisons may be repeated as the capabilities of each of the personal portable devices that are actually available change over time. | 12-24-2009 |
20100027463 | Personal Wireless Network User Behavior Based Topology - Point-to-point links making up a wireless network in which the point-to-point links connect at least personal portable devices are dynamically altered (i.e., new point-to-point links are established and/or other point-to-point links are removed) in response to recurring comparisons of the extents of interaction of each of the personal portable devices with the wireless network to increase the resiliency of the wireless network to the observed behavior of the user of the personal portable devices in changing which personal portable devices are within the network at any given time. | 02-04-2010 |
20100027815 | Acoustic-Mechanical Vibrating - Acoustic devices that include passive radiators. The passive radiators may include an acoustic drivers. The acoustic device may be hand-held or pocket sized. The passive radiators may provide perceptible mechanical vibration. | 02-04-2010 |
20100246836 | Personal Acoustic Device Position Determination - Apparatus and method for determining an operating state of an earpiece of a personal acoustic device and/or the entirety of the personal acoustic device through tests to determine the current operating state, wherein the tests differ depending on a current power mode of the personal acoustic device, and wherein at least one lower power test is employed during at least one lower power mode. | 09-30-2010 |
20100246846 | Personal Acoustic Device Position Determination - Apparatus and method for determining an operating state of a personal acoustic device by receiving a signal from one or more movement sensors indicating movement detected by the one or more movement sensors, wherein the one or more movement sensors are disposed on portions of the personal acoustic device structured to be worn on a user's head to enable the one or more movement sensors to detect rotational movements of a user's head when the personal acoustic device is in position on the user's head such that a casing of the personal acoustic device is adjacent an ear of the user. | 09-30-2010 |
20100246847 | Personal Acoustic Device Position Determination - Apparatus and method for determining an operating state of a personal acoustic device by receiving signal from first and second movement sensors indicating movement detected by each, wherein the first movement sensor is disposed on a portion of the personal acoustic device structured to be worn on a user's head to enable the first movement sensors to detect movements of a user's head when the personal acoustic device is in position on the user's head such that a casing of the personal acoustic device is adjacent an ear of the user, and wherein the second movement sensor is disposed on a portion of the personal acoustic device structure to not be worn on a user's head. | 09-30-2010 |
20110037739 | MULTIMEDIA DEVICE BRACKET - An apparatus and method for mounting various audio devices to a flat panel display employing mounting holes disposed on a rearward face of the panel of the flat panel display that are otherwise normally employed to couple a support of the flat panel display to the panel of the flat panel display, wherein a hub supporting rods that in turn support the audio devices is coupled to the rearward face of the panel with the aid of those holes, and wherein the hub and rods together convey electrical signals between at least one of the audio devices and at least one cable. | 02-17-2011 |
20110113374 | Graphical User Interface User Customization - A user interface for an audio/visual device enables a user to customize the selection of menu items that are displayable on a menu, perhaps a racetrack menu, provided by the user interface to enable the user to operate the audio/visual device, in which a multitude of menu items that may be selected for being so displayed are visually displayed and the user is able to operate a first manually-operable control (or a first set of manually-operable controls) to select a menu item from among that multitude for being displayed on the menu. It may be that the menu is simultaneously displayed with the multitude of menu items to enable the user to immediately see the results of their selections. It may be that the user is able to again select that menu item within the multitude of menu items to cause that menu item to cease being displayed on the menu. It may be that a second manually-operable control is provided to the user to enable the user to select another menu item already being displayed on the menu to cause that menu item to cease being displayed. | 05-12-2011 |
20110113380 | Audio/Visual Device Graphical User Interface Submenu - A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates one or both of a touch sensor having a touch surface on which is defined a racetrack surface having a ring shape and a display element on which is displayed a racetrack menu also having a ring shape, and where the user interface incorporates both, the ring shapes of the racetrack surface and the racetrack menu are structured to generally correspond such that the position of a marker on the racetrack menu is caused to correspond to the position at which a digit of a user's hand touches the racetrack surface. A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates a display element on which is displayed a racetrack menu having a ring shape, where the selection of a menu item positioned along the racetrack menu is responded to with the display of a submenu positioned within a display area on the display element that is surrounded by the racetrack menu, and where the manner in which menu items of the submenu are selected in substantially the same manner as menu items positioned along the racetrack menu. | 05-12-2011 |
20110188665 | CONVERTIBLE FILTER - Apparatus and method for implementing a convertible filter in differing ones of its delay and weighting elements are powered through different power conductors, thereby enabling the convertible filter to be dynamically configured to be operable as different types of digital filter through selective provision of power to differing ones of the power conductors. | 08-04-2011 |
20110227631 | Zero Power Drain Pushbutton Controls - A plurality of normally-open pushbutton switches are coupled to and cooperate with a pair of MOSFETs to provide each pushbutton switch of the plurality of pushbutton switches with a power on switch function for a personal audio device that does not require power to be drawn from a power source to monitor each of the pushbutton switches or to identify which of the pushbutton switches was manually operated to power on the personal audio device while awaiting operation of one of the pushbutton switches to cause the personal audio device to be powered on. | 09-22-2011 |
20110240826 | MULTIMEDIA DEVICE BRACKET - An apparatus and method for mounting various audio devices to a flat panel display employing mounting holes disposed on a rearward face of the panel of the flat panel display that are otherwise normally employed to couple a support of the flat panel display to the panel of the flat panel display, wherein a hub supporting rods that in turn support the audio devices is coupled to the rearward face of the panel with the aid of those holes, and wherein the hub and rods together convey electrical signals between at least one of the audio devices and at least one cable. | 10-06-2011 |
20120259612 | Computer System Audio Device Switching - A detachable audio device structured to be coupled to an interface port of a computer system simulates the coupling and uncoupling of an audio controller to trigger an operating system being executed by a processing device of the computer system to select between an audio driver for that same audio controller and another audio driver for a different audio controller to which the processing device of the computer system has access, thus triggering a selection between causing audio played by the computer system to be acoustically output through either an acoustic driver to which the detachable audio device relays the audio or another acoustic driver associated with the other audio controller to which the processing device of the computer system has access. | 10-11-2012 |
20120308030 | Communications Headset Power Provision - Electric power is provided to a two-way communications headset by creating a differential DC voltage potential between a ground conductor associated with a microphone of that headset and a ground conductor associated with an acoustic driver of that headset, thereby enabling that headset to refrain from drawing electric power from a more limited local power source. | 12-06-2012 |
20120308048 | Communications Headset Power Provision - Electric power is provided to a two-way communications headset by creating a differential DC voltage potential between a ground conductor associated with a microphone of that headset and a ground conductor associated with an acoustic driver of that headset, thereby enabling that headset to refrain from drawing electric power from a more limited local power source. | 12-06-2012 |
20120314881 | CONVERTIBLE FILTER - Apparatus and method for implementing a convertible filter in differing ones of its delay and weighting elements are powered through different power conductors, thereby enabling the convertible filter to be dynamically configured to be operable as different types of digital filter through selective provision of power to differing ones of the power conductors. | 12-13-2012 |
20130104082 | AUDIO/VISUAL DEVICE APPLICATIONS GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE - A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates a racetrack menu made up of menu items disposed about the periphery of a display element in which the visual display of at least one menu item is made up of submenu items of that one menu item that are disposed about the periphery of the visual display of that one menu item, and where navigation among the submenu items of that one menu item is effected in a manner that is substantially similar to the navigation of the menu items of the racetrack menu. | 04-25-2013 |
20140181329 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AUDIO DEVICE SWITCHING - A detachable audio device structured to be coupled to an interface port of a computer system simulates the coupling and uncoupling of an audio controller to trigger an operating system being executed by a processing device of the computer system to select between an audio driver for that same audio controller and another audio driver for a different audio controller to which the processing device of the computer system has access, thus triggering a selection between causing audio played by the computer system to be acoustically output through either an acoustic driver to which the detachable audio device relays the audio or another acoustic driver associated with the other audio controller to which the processing device of the computer system has access. | 06-26-2014 |