The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 38 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. Yesterday we reported on the new Apple-Cisco Partnership for the enterprise that includes Cisco's famous tools such as Cisco Telepresence and WebEx video conferencing for meetings. Apple was granted a high level patent on enterprise level video conferencing last July covering a multi-view camera system and today they were granted yet another patent for an advanced video conferencing system. Apple was also granted a patent today for a smoke detection system that could be integrated into iDevices that they first introduced in November and the last patent that we cover in our report today is for Apple's version of 3D Street-View mapping. We wrap up this week's granted patent report with our traditional listing of the remaining granted patents that were issued to Apple today.

Granted Patent: Optimizing Video Conferencing in iDevices

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to data communications, and more particularly, to a method for managing performance of audio and/or video conferencing in varying network conditions.

In an embodiment, the at least one route quality indicator can include at least one of: a network statistic, a radio performance metric, a user performance metric, and a predictive performance metric. The network statistic can include at least one of: a one-way network latency, a round-trip time, a packet loss pattern, an available bandwidth, an end-to-end network latency, an end-to-end packet loss, and a jitter. The radio performance metric can include at least one of: a Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), a transmit power level, and a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). The user performance metric can include at least one of: a thermal metric, a power consumption rate, a CPU load, a buffer occupancy, a media playback state, a media playback configuration, and a user communication route preference.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 shows an exemplary videoconferencing communication system; FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an exemplary method of determining a network quality metric.

Apple credits Joe Abuan, Xiaosong Zhou, Sundararaman Shiva, His-Jung Wu, Yan Yang, Hyeonkuk Jeong, James Normile, Chris Chung, Roberto Garcia and Thomas Jansen as the inventors of granted patent 9,125,138 which was originally filed in Q4 2012 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Granted Patent: 3D Position Tracking for Panoramic Imagery Navigation (Street-View Maps)

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and more particularly to GUIs for navigating panoramic imagery.

Street-level imaging software provides panoramic views from various positions along streets throughout the world. Conventional street-level viewing applications or Web-based street-level viewing services allow a user to rotate within a panoramic "bubble" to view a particular street location from all directions. The user can rotate in the bubble using a navigation control and an input device (e.g., a mouse) or finger. To turn a street corner and enter a another street (e.g., a street intersection), the user has to "jump" to a panoramic "bubble" at the intersection then pan in the bubble to face in the direction of the target street. This can be a tedious experience for a user of a handheld device that needs to navigate streets of a neighborhood quickly.

Apple's invention is about position tracking subsystems and onboard sensors that will enable a mobile device to navigate virtually in a location in panoramic imagery. Physically moving the device through space provides translation data that can be used to move up or down a virtual street or other navigation actions. In some implementations, forward and backward translation enables the user to enter an indoor panorama of a structure (e.g., a commercial venue). When the observer is inside the structure, forward/backward translation could perform other actions, such as selecting an object for purchase, etc.

In some implementations, forward/backward translation enables the user to enter an intersection and navigate a turn onto another street at the intersection. In some implementations, information or an information layer can be displayed when translating. In some implementations, distance data can be used to move up or down a street a particular distance.

Apple credits Patrick Piemonte and Billy Chen as the inventors of granted patent 9,121,724 which was originally filed in Q3 2011 and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Granted Patent: Wireless Device Networks with Smoke Detection Capabilities

Apple's newly granted patent covers their invention relating to electronic devices, and more particularly, to using networked electronic devices to detect smoke associated with fires. We covered Apple's original patent filing for this invention in a report posted in November. For more details see our report titled "Apple Aims to Embed a Fire Detector into Future iDevices & Macs."

Apple's patent FIG. 1 noted below is a diagram of a system in which a network of electronic devices may be used to monitor for the presence of smoke in the surrounding environment and may be used to take actions such as issuing alerts or controlling fire suppression equipment

Apple's patent FIG. 10 noted above is a cross-sectional side view of a possible future iPhone with a smoke detector mounted within its housing adjacent to a speaker grill in a speaker port; FIG. 8 noted below is a perspective view of a possible future Apple Watch with a built-in smoke detector; FIG. 11 is an overview of such a system that includes a smoke detector.

Apple credits Paul Puskarich as the sole inventor of granted patent 9,123,221 that was filed in May 2013 and published today by USPTO.

The Remaining Patents granted to Apple Today

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Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of granted patents with associated graphics for journalistic news purposes as each Granted Patent is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any Granted Patent should be read in its entirety for full details. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Comments are reviewed daily from 5am to 6pm MST and sporadically over the weekend.