PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12072252-B2
Application Number: US-202217831365-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Gap-increasing capacitive pressure sensor for increased range

Abstract:
Aspects of the subject technology relate to a sensor device including a first cavity and a second cavity separated from the first cavity by a diaphragm. A first plate of the first cavity forms a first electrode of a capacitance. The diaphragm forms a second plate of the first cavity, which is the second electrode of the capacitance. The diaphragm is flexible and can deflect in response to an applied pressure.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A sensor device comprising:
 a plate; 
 a first cavity; and 
 a second cavity separated from the first cavity by a diaphragm, 
 wherein the plate forms a first electrode of a capacitance, 
 wherein the diaphragm forms a second electrode of the capacitance and is configured to deflect in response to an applied pressure, and 
 wherein the second electrode forms an auxiliary capacitance with a third electrode formed along a planar surface of a substrate of the sensor device and coupled to one or more cavity walls formed between the diaphragm and the substrate. 
 
     
     
       2. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the first cavity is exposed to an environment via a port that is configured to equalize a pressure of the first cavity with a pressure of the environment. 
     
     
       3. The sensor device of  claim 2 , wherein the port comprises an array of holes implemented in the plate of the first cavity. 
     
     
       4. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the second cavity is configured to be at a low pressure near vacuum. 
     
     
       5. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm is configured to deflect away from the plate of the first cavity to increase a gap distance between the first electrode and the second electrode in response to the applied pressure. 
     
     
       6. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the capacitance comprises a gap-increasing capacitance and a value of the capacitance decreases with an increase of the applied pressure. 
     
     
       7. The sensor device of  claim 6 , wherein a change in the value of the capacitance is configured to enable measurement of a wide range of pressures ranging from above sea-level pressures to underwater pressures. 
     
     
       8. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the substrate is formed of a material including at least one of a silicon, a glass, a polymer and a ceramic. 
     
     
       9. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the third electrode is formed of an electrically conductive material. 
     
     
       10. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the diaphragm comprises a material including at least one of a silicon, a glass, a polymer and a ceramic. 
     
     
       11. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein a gap distance between the first electrode and the second electrode is within a range of about 0.5 μm to greater than 500 μm depending on an operating range and a sensitivity of the sensor device. 
     
     
       12. The sensor device of  claim 1 , further comprising a first cavity wall and a second cavity wall, wherein the substrate is coupled to the diaphragm via the first cavity wall and the second cavity wall, and wherein the second cavity is formed between the first cavity wall and the second cavity wall. 
     
     
       13. The sensor device of  claim 1 , wherein the third electrode comprises an electrode layer disposed on the planar surface of the substrate. 
     
     
       14. A gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus, the apparatus comprising:
 a gap-increasing capacitance formed in a first cavity and configured to measure an applied pressure; and 
 a second cavity configured to support a gap-increasing feature of the gap-increasing capacitance, 
 wherein the gap-increasing capacitance is formed by a first electrode and a second electrode, 
 wherein the second electrode is formed on a first plate of the second cavity, 
 wherein a second plate of the second cavity comprises a substrate of the apparatus, and 
 wherein the second electrode forms an auxiliary capacitance with a third electrode formed along a planar surface of the substrate and coupled to one or more cavity walls formed between the second electrode and the substrate. 
 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the first electrode is stationary and includes one or more holes to equalize a pressure of the first cavity with a pressure of an environment. 
     
     
       16. The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the first plate of the second cavity comprises a diaphragm that is flexible and is configured to deflect away from the first electrode to increase a gap distance between the first electrode and the second electrode in response to a pressure of the environment. 
     
     
       17. The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the diaphragm comprises a material including at least one of a silicon, a glass, a polymer and a ceramic. 
     
     
       18. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein a change in a value of the gap-increasing capacitance is configured to enable measurement of a wide range of pressures ranging from above sea-level pressures to underwater pressures. 
     
     
       19. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the substrate is formed of a material including at least one of a silicon, a glass, a polymer and a ceramic. 
     
     
       20. The apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the third electrode is formed of an electrically conductive material. 
     
     
       21. A system comprising:
 a processor; and 
 a gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus comprising:
 a first cavity including a first electrode and a second electrode; and 
 a second cavity separated from the first cavity by a diaphragm, 
 
 wherein the first electrode is formed on a plate of the first cavity and the second electrode is formed by the diaphragm, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode form a gap-increasing capacitor, wherein a gap distance of the gap-increasing capacitor is changed in response to a pressure, wherein the processor is configured to measure a change in a capacitance value of the gap-increasing capacitor, and wherein the second electrode forms an auxiliary capacitance with a third electrode formed along a planar surface of a substrate of the gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus and coupled to one or more cavity walls formed between the diaphragm and the substrate. 
 
     
     
       22. The system of  claim 21 , wherein the pressure comprises a an environment pressure, and wherein the plate of the first cavity includes one or more holes to equalize a pressure of the first cavity with the environment pressure.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit of priority from the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/248,368, filed Sep. 24, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entireties for any and all purposes. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present description relates generally to handheld electronic devices, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to a gap-increasing capacitive pressure sensor for increased range. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Many mobile electronic devices are equipped with sensors and transducers that enable the devices to perform far more functionalities than communications. Media playing, photography, location detection, online shopping, social media, online banking, calendar and health applications such as heartbeat, blood pressure and blood oxygen level measurement are among the numerous applications that a smart mobile communication device can facilitate. Further, smart mobile communication devices (e.g., smartphones and smartwatches) can be equipped with environmental sensors, such as pressure sensors, humidity sensors and gas sensors. 
     Existing microelectro-mechanical system (MEMS) pressure sensors have a single diaphragm and a sealed cavity. The MEMS pressure sensors use a diaphragm that deflects to detect a pressure change. In a typical capacitive pressure sensor, the capacitance can change due to a diaphragm deflection. As the pressure increases, the gap between the top electrode (diaphragm) and the bottom electrode (substrate) decreases, which increases the device capacitance. The capacitance is then sensed and translated into pressure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purposes of explanation, several aspects of the subject technology are set forth in the following figures. 
         FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating an example of a gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus, in accordance with various aspects of the subject technology. 
         FIG.  2    is a chart illustrating example plots of capacitance versus pressure for the gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus of the subject technology and an existing capacitive pressure sensor, respectively. 
         FIGS.  3 A,  3 B and  3 C  are diagrams illustrating an isomeric view, an isomeric cross-sectional view and a front cross-sectional view showing a structure of a gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus, in accordance with various aspects of the subject technology. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates charts depicting pressure points of interest that can be measured by the wide-range gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus of the subject technology. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates a wireless communication device within which some aspects of the subject technology are implemented. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the subject technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the subject technology may be practiced. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitute a part of the detailed description. The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the subject technology. However, it will be clear and apparent to those skilled in the art that the subject technology is not limited to the specific details set forth herein and may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block-diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the subject technology. 
     The subject disclosure is directed to a gap-increasing capacitive sensor in which the gap distance between the top electrode and the bottom electrode can decrease in response to an applied pressure. The decrease in the gap distance (d) results in an increase in the sensor capacitance (C=ϵA/d). Portable communication devices such as smartphones or smartwatches may use pressure sensors to measure an altitude (e.g., when the user climbs up a hill or a mountain) or depth (e.g., depth in water). The altitude and/or depth pressure differentials are not always constant, so a high sensitivity is not necessarily needed for all pressure-sensing applications. For example, at the peak of Mount Everest with an elevation of about 8,840 meters, the pressure change per one meter of elevation change is about 4.7 Pascal (Pa), whereas at sea level (0 meters) the pressure change at one meter of elevation change is about 12 Pa, and underwater the change in pressure is about 9,800 Pa per one meter change in depth. This data suggests that less sensitivity is required to discern an altitude and/or depth difference at lower elevations or underwater when compared to high altitudes. Due to the inverse (l/d) relationship between capacitance (C) and gap-distance (d), the gap-increasing capacitive sensor of the subject technology will have high sensitivity at low pressures where high sensitivity is required, and low sensitivity at high pressures where less sensitivity is required. Thus, the disclosed gap-increasing capacitive sensor enables measuring a large range of pressures using a single sensor with a single cavity and a membrane and can be used in different applications such as in mountain-climbing applications, sea-level applications and underwater diving applications. 
       FIG.  1    is a diagram illustrating an example of a gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus  100 , in accordance with various aspects of the subject technology. The gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus  100  (hereinafter, pressure-sensor apparatus  100 ) includes a first cavity  110  and a second cavity  120  separated from the first cavity by a diaphragm  130 . A first plate (top plate) of the first cavity  110  forms a first electrode  140  of a capacitance. The diaphragm  130  forms a second plate (bottom plate) of the first cavity  110 , which is a second electrode of the capacitance. The second plate of the second cavity  120  is a substrate  160 . 
     The diaphragm  130  is flexible and can deflect in response to an applied pressure. The first cavity  110  is exposed to an environment via a port  150  that is configured to equalize a pressure of the first cavity  110  with a pressure of the environment (e.g., surrounding air pressure). The second cavity  120  can be configured to be at a low pressure, for example, near vacuum. The diaphragm  130  can deflect away from the first plate of the first cavity  110  to increase a gap distance between the first electrode  140  and the second electrode (diaphragm  130 ) in response to the applied pressure (air pressure). The capacitance is a gap-increasing capacitance the value of which decreases with an increase of the applied pressure. The change in the value of the capacitance enables measurement of a wide range of pressures ranging from above-sea-level pressures to underwater pressures. 
     In one or more implementations, the substrate  160 , optionally, includes a third electrode, which in combination with the second electrode (diaphragm  130 ) forms an auxiliary capacitance. The auxiliary capacitance can be calibrated to provide an additional measurement of the pressure, which can potentially increase the confidence level of the measured-pressure data. 
       FIG.  2    is a chart illustrating example plots  210  and  220  of capacitance versus pressure for the gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus of the subject technology and an existing capacitive pressure sensor, respectively. The horizontal axis represents the sensor input pressure (applied pressure) and is divided into three pressure regions. A first region is the low pressure region  202  associated with a high-altitude region. A second region  204  is a medium-pressure region associated with sea level, and a third region  206  is a high-pressure region associated with underwater. The plot  210  depicts the capacitance versus pressure variation of the pressure sensor device (e.g.,  100  of  FIG.  1   ) of the subject technology. The plot  210  shows that the disclosed pressure sensor device has a high sensitivity at the low-pressure region  202  and a low sensitivity at the high-pressure region  220 . This conforms with the required sensitivity for these regions. As described above, the pressure gradient per one meter of altitude change is much lower (e.g., 4.7 Pa) at a high altitude (e.g., Mount Everest Peak) than underwater (e.g., 9700 Pa) and thus needs a higher sensitivity that the subject technology provides. 
     The plot  220  shows that the existing pressure sensor devices have low sensitivity at the low-pressure region  202  and a high sensitivity at the high-pressure region  206 . This is clearly opposite to what is required for a wide range of measurement application. Therefore, the plots  210  and  220  clearly reveal the advantages of the disclosed pressure sensor device as compared to the existing solutions and validates the fact that the pressure sensor device of the subject technology has a wide range of pressure measurement applications from high altitudes to underwater environments. This allows a user of a smartwatch or smartphone that includes the disclosed pressure sensor device to be able to obtain pressure data at various altitudes and even underwater. 
       FIGS.  3 A,  3 B and  3 C  are diagrams illustrating an isomeric view  300 A, an isomeric cross-sectional view  300 B, and a front cross-sectional view  300 C showing a structure of a gap-increasing, capacitive, pressure-sensor apparatus, in accordance with various aspects of the subject technology. The isomeric view  300 A shows the three-dimensional (3-D) structure of the pressure-sensor apparatus  100  of  FIG.  1   . The first plate  340  of the first cavity  310  includes an array of holes  350 , which operate as the port  150  of  FIG.  1    and expose the first cavity  310  to the surrounding environment and allow the pressure of first cavity  310  to be equalized with the pressure of the surrounding environment and transfer that pressure to the diaphragm  330 . The first plate  340  is the first electrode of the gap-increasing capacitance of the first cavity  310  and can be made of an electrically conductive material such as silicon nitrate (SiN), silicon oxide (SiO 2 ), gold, silver, copper, aluminum or other suitable materials. The first plate  340  can have a thickness within a range of about 0.5 μm to greater than 1 mm and dimensions within a range of about 10 μm to greater than 10 mm. 
     In some implementations, the cavity walls  312  of the first cavity  310  and the second cavity  320  are made of silicon. In one or more implementations, the cavity walls  312  in the first cavity region can have holes  314 , which have the same pressure equalization effects as the holes  350 . The diaphragm  330 , which is the second plate of the first cavity  310  can be made of a material such as silicon, glass, polymer, ceramic or other suitable materials. In some implementations, the diaphragm  330  has a thickness within a range of about 0.5 μm to greater than 0.5 mm and dimensions within a range of about 10 μm to greater than 10 mm. The substrate  360  can be made of a material such as silicon, glass, polymer, ceramic or other suitable materials and can have has a thickness within a range of about 100 μm to greater than 10 mm. 
       FIG.  3 B  shows the isomeric cross-sectional view  300 B, which further reveals the first and second cavities  310  and  320 , the first plate  340 , cavity walls  312 , the diaphragm  330  and the substrate  360 . 
       FIG.  3 C  shows the front cross-sectional view  300 C, which further reveals the diaphragm  330 , holes  250 , holes  324 , cavity walls  312 , the substrate  360  and an optional electrode  362 . The optional electrode  362  can be made of an electrically conductive material such as silicon nitrate (SiN), silicon oxide (SiO 2 ), gold, silver, copper, aluminum or other suitable materials. The optional electrode  362  and the diaphragm  330  can be used as electrodes of an optional second capacitance within the second cavity  320 . The optional second capacitance can be calibrated to provide an additional measurement of the pressure, which can potentially increase confidence level of the measured-pressure data. 
       FIG.  4    illustrates charts  400  depicting pressure points of interest that can be measured by the wide-range gap-increasing capacitive pressure-sensor apparatus of the subject technology. The charts  400  includes a plot  410  of the pressure (Pa) versus altitude (m) of a number of above-sea-level locations of interest such as Cupertino (Calif.), Denver, Lake Tahoe (CA), Bogota (Colombia), El Alto (Bolivia) and Mount Everest. The charts  400  further include a plot  420  of the pressure (Pa) versus altitude (m) of a number of underwater locations of interest at depths of about 100 m, 60 m and 30 m. When drawn in a larger linear scale, the plots  410  and  420  are respectively converted plots  412  and  422 . The plots  412  and  422  indicate the high- and low-pressure-measurement sensitivity required for the high altitudes and underwater, respectively. 
       FIG.  5    illustrates a wireless communication device within which some aspects of the subject technology are implemented. In one or more implementations, the wireless communication device  500  can be a smartphone, a smartwatch, a tablet or other electronic devices in which a gap-increasing capacitive pressure sensor of the subject technology may be implemented. For example, the wireless communication device  500  can be the pressure-sensor apparatus  100  of  FIG.  1   . The wireless communication device  500  may comprise a radio-frequency (RF) antenna  510 , a duplexer  512 , a receiver  520 , a transmitter  530 , a baseband processing module  540 , a memory  550 , a processor  560 , a local oscillator generator (LOGEN)  570 , and sensors  580 . In various aspects of the subject technology, one or more of the blocks represented in  FIG.  5    may be integrated on one or more semiconductor substrates. For example, the blocks  520 - 570  may be realized in a single chip or a single system on a chip or may be realized in a multichip chipset. The wireless communication device  500  can also include a camera, a UWB device, a gyro and a GPS device that can be used to implement some aspect of the subject technology as described above. 
     The receiver  520  may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or code that may be operable to receive and process signals from the RF antenna  510 . The receiver  520  may, for example, be operable to amplify and/or downconvert received wireless signals. In various aspects of the subject technology, the receiver  520  may be operable to cancel noise in received signals and may be linear over a wide range of frequencies. In this manner, the receiver  520  may be suitable for receiving signals in accordance with a variety of wireless standards such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, and various cellular standards. In various aspects of the subject technology, the receiver  520  may not use any sawtooth acoustic wave (SAW) filters and few or no off-chip discrete components such as large capacitors and inductors. 
     The transmitter  530  may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or code that may be operable to process and transmit signals from the RF antenna  510 . The transmitter  530  may, for example, be operable to upconvert baseband signals to RF signals and amplify RE signals. In various aspects of the subject technology, the transmitter  530  may be operable to upconvert and amplify baseband signals processed in accordance with a variety of wireless standards. Examples of such standards may include Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, and various cellular standards. In various aspects of the subject technology, the transmitter  530  may be operable to provide signals for further amplification by one or more power amplifiers. 
     The duplexer  512  may provide isolation in the transmit band to avoid saturation of the receiver  520  or damaging parts of the receiver  520 , and to relax one or more design requirements of the receiver  520 . Furthermore, the duplexer  512  may attenuate the noise in the receive band. The duplexer  512  may be operable in multiple frequency bands of various wireless standards. 
     The baseband processing nodule  540  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to perform the processing of baseband signals. The baseband processing module  540  may, for example, analyze received signals and generate control and/or feedback signals for configuring various components of the wireless communication device  500 , such as the receiver  520 . The baseband processing module  540  may be operable to encode, decode, transcode, modulate, demodulate, encrypt, decrypt, scramble, descramble, and/or otherwise process data in accordance with one or more wireless standards. 
     The processor  560  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable processing data and/or controlling operations of the wireless communication device  500 . In this regard, the processor  560  may be enabled to provide control signals to various other portions of the wireless communication device  500 . The processor  560  may also control transfer of data between various portions of the wireless communication device  500 . Additionally, the processor  560  may enable implementation of an operating system or otherwise execute code to manage operations of the wireless communication device  500 . 
     The memory  550  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable storage of various types of information such as received data, generated data, code, and/or configuration information. The memory  550  may comprise, for example, RAM, ROM, flash, and/or magnetic storage. In various aspects of the subject technology, information stored in the memory  550  may be utilized for configuring the receiver  520  and/or the baseband processing module  540 . 
     The LOGEN  570  may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to generate one or more oscillating signals of one or more frequencies. The LOGEN  570  may be operable to generate digital and/or analog signals. In this manner, the LOGEN  570  may be operable to generate one or more clock signals and/or sinusoidal signals. Characteristics of the oscillating signals such as the frequency and duty cycle may be determined based on one or more control signals from, for example, the processor  560  and/or the baseband processing module  540 . 
     The sensors  580  may include one or more of the gap-increasing capacitive pressure sensors of the subject technology, as described with respect to  FIG.  1   . In one or more implementations, the processor  560  can be used to measure a change in a capacitance value of the gap-increasing capacitor of the sensors  580 . In some implementations, the memory  550  may store pressure measurement data associated with the sensors  580 . 
     In operation, the processor  560  may configure the various components of the wireless communication device  500  based on a wireless standard according to which it is designed to receive signals. Wireless signals may be received via the RF antenna  510 , amplified, and downconverted by the receiver  520 . The baseband processing module  540  may perform noise estimation and/or noise cancellation, decoding, and/or demodulation of the baseband signals. In this manner, information in the received signal may be recovered and utilized appropriately. For example, the information may be audio and/or video to be presented to a user of the wireless communication device  500 , data to be stored to the memory  550 , and/or information affecting and/or enabling operation of the wireless communication device  500 . The baseband processing module  540  may modulate, encode, and perform other processing on audio, video, and/or control signals to be transmitted by the transmitter  530  in accordance with various wireless standards. 
     It is well understood that the use of personally identifiable information should follow privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled so as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users. 
     Various functions described above can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, as well as in computer software, firmware or hardware. The techniques can be implemented by using one or more computer program products. Programmable processors and computers can be included in or packaged as mobile devices. The processes and logic flows can be performed by one or more programmable processors and by one or more programmable logic circuitries. General and special-purpose computing devices and storage devices can be interconnected through communication networks. 
     Some implementations include electronic components such as microprocessors and storage and memory that store computer program instructions in a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (alternatively referred to as computer-readable storage media, machine-readable media, or machine-readable storage media). Some examples of such computer-readable media include RAM, ROM or flash memory. The computer-readable media can store a computer program that is executable by at least one processing unit and include sets of instructions for performing various operations. Examples of computer programs or computer code include machine code, such as is produced by a compiler, and files, including higher-level code that are executed by a computer, an electronic component, or a microprocessor using an interpreter. 
     The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims wherein reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one,” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in the masculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., her and its), and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any, are used for convenience only and do not limit the subject disclosure. 
     The predicate words “configured to,” “operable to,” and “programmed to” do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of a subject, but rather are intended to be used interchangeably. For example, a processor configured to monitor and control an operation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed to monitor and control the operation or the processor being operable to monitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured to execute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute code or operable to execute code. 
     A phrase such as an “aspect” does not imply that such aspect is essential to the subject technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A phrase such as an aspect may refer to one or more aspects, and vice versa. A phrase such as a “configuration” does not imply that such configuration is essential to the subject technology or that such configuration applies to all configurations of the subject technology. A disclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A phrase such as a configuration may refer to one or more configurations, and vice versa. 
     The word “example” is used herein to mean “serving as an example or illustration.” Any aspect or design described herein as an “example” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. 
     All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for,” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.” Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “include,” “have,” or the like are used in the description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprise,” as “comprise” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20220602
Publication Date: 20240827
Grant Date: 20240827
Priority Date: 20210924
Inventors: Chiu, Jeffrey C.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G01L1/148", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01L9/0072", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G01L1/148", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 85718422