ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,771,979, issued on Oct. 20, was assigned to Waymo LLC (Mountain View, Calif.).
"External microphone heater" was invented by Cheng-Han Wu (Sunnyvale, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Example embodiments described herein involve reducing the formation of ice on external modules by incorporating a heater within the module. The system may include a microphone module for an autonomous vehicle. The microphone module may include a housing and a microphone inside an opening of the housing. The system may further include a cover abutting the opening of the housing. The cover may enclose the microphone within the housing and seal the opening ...