iPad To Soon Get Vibrator Support For Messages Alerts, Reveals Patent

US Patent & Trademark Office has published a patent application from Apple today which shows that the iPad will soon be able to deliver “original message alerts” that are available today on the iPhone, with the help of a vibrating motor (via Patently Apple). The filing reveals a dual channel audio codec chip that has two output pins, which can be used to drive a a vibrator and a single speaker simultaneously.

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The audio codec chip in the iPhone and iPod devices includes a dedicated signal channel to process a vibrator signal. However, using the same audio codec chip in the iPad device would be inefficient as the dedicated vibrator signal channel would not be used. According to the filing, each channel on Apple’s new audio codec has its own Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) and audio power amplifier to receive an audio signal for driving a speaker. The integrated circuit chip is capable of driving either a speaker and a vibrator simultaneously or a pair of speakers simultaneously, through the same output pins.

Each channel has a multiplexer with a first input that is coupled to receive an audio out signal from the output of a DAC, a second input that is coupled to the output of a variable signal generator, and a control input to receive a selection signal. The selection signal determines whether the channel is to be used for an audio signal or whether it is to be used for a vibrator signal. The multiplexer output is coupled to a corresponding power amplifier of the channel. The selection signal may be received, via a digital communications interface of the codec, from a central processing unit in the audio device that determines whether the specified channel in the audio codec chip is to drive a speaker or a vibrator through the same output pin. The audio codec chip may include additional audio channels and output pins.

The patent application was originally filed by Apple in Q3 2011.

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