19554results about How to "Reduce the number" patented technology

Described herein is a system for executing distributed transactions. A coordinator and one or more participants cooperate to execute a distributed transaction, the distributed transaction including for each participant a transaction executed by the participant. To manage the transaction, the coordinator and the participant communicate over a network using, for example, a stateless protocol. Before each participant commits the transaction, the participants determine that the coordinator has committed the transaction. The coordinator commits the transaction after receiving acknowledgment from all the participants that they will commit the transaction. To determine whether the coordinator has committed the transaction, a participant transmits a message to the coordinator to acknowledge that it will commit the distributed transaction. The participant commits its respective transaction if it receives an acknowledgement from the coordinator. For the particular transaction being executed by a participant, the participant prevents other transactions from modifying a data item affected by the particular transaction. The participant will prevent such modifications until termination criteria for the particular transaction is satisfied, in which case the participant terminates the transaction.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stores one or more programs including instructions, which when executed by an electronic device, cause the electronic device to receive natural-language speech input from one of a plurality of users, the natural-language speech input having a set of acoustic properties; and determine whether the natural-language speech input corresponds to both a user-customizable lexical trigger and a set of acoustic properties associated with the user; where in accordance with a determination that the natural language speech input corresponds to both a user-customizable lexical trigger and a set of acoustic properties associated with the user, invoke a virtual assistant; and in accordance with a determination that either the natural language speech input fails to correspond to a user-customizable lexical trigger or the natural-language speech input fails to have a set of acoustic properties associated with the user, forego invocation of a virtual assistant.

An apparatus, method and system are disclosed for providing AC line power to lighting devices such as light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). An exemplary apparatus comprises: a plurality of LEDs coupled in series to form a plurality of segments of LEDs; first and second current regulators; a current sensor; and a controller to monitor a current level through a series LED current path, and to provide for first or second segments of LEDs to be in or out of the series LED current path at different current levels. A voltage regulator is also utilized to provide a voltage during a zero-crossing interval of the AC voltage. In an exemplary embodiment, first and second segments of LEDs are both in the series LED current path regulated at a lower current level compared to when only the first segment of LEDs is in the series LED current path.

An apparatus, method and system are disclosed for providing AC line power to lighting devices such as light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). An exemplary apparatus comprises: a plurality of LEDs coupled in series to form a first plurality of segments of LEDs; a plurality of switches coupled to the plurality of segments of LEDs to switch a selected segment into or out of a series LED current path in response to a control signal; a memory; and a controller which, in response to a first parameter and during a first part of an AC voltage interval, determines and stores in the memory a value of a second parameter and generates a first control signal to switch a corresponding segment of LEDs into the series LED current path; and during a second part of the AC voltage interval, when a current value of the second parameter is substantially equal to the stored value, generates a second control signal to switch a corresponding segment of LEDs out of the first series LED current path.

An architecture and system are described that provide a unified file access service within in a managed computing environment composed of diverse networks, computing devices, and storage devices. The service provides mechanisms for remotely accessing the file systems of any managed computer or disk snapshot, independently of the computer's current state (powered on, suspended or powered off), its location within the environment, its hardware type (virtual vs. physical), its operating system type, and its file system formats. The system isolates centralized FPAs from the details of clients, proxies and storage elements by providing a service that decomposes offloaded file system access into two steps. A FPA or a requester acting on behalf of the FPA first expresses the disk set or the computer containing the file systems it wishes to access, along with requirements and preferences about the access method. The service figures out an efficient data path satisfying the FPA's needs, and then automatically configures a set of storage and computing resources to provide the data path. The service then replies with information about the resources and instructions for using them. The FPA then accesses the requested file systems using the returned information.

Described herein is a system for executing distributed transactions. A participant and a coordinator cooperate to execute a distributed transaction, the distributed transaction including a transaction executed by the participant. To manage the transaction, the coordinator and the participant communicate over a network using, for example, a stateless protocol. The distributed transaction may be terminated when communication between the participant and coordinator regarding the transaction does not occur within a time period. The time period may reflect the time required for a coordinator to send a message and a participant to acknowledge receipt of the message, and the time for the participant to perform operations executed for the transaction. The latency of network traffic between the participant and the coordinator is monitored, and the time periods adjusted accordingly. In addition, the amount of time required for the participant to execute operations for the transaction is monitored, and the time periods adjusted accordingly.

The system described herein enables clinicians and researchers to use aggregated genetic and phenotypic data from clinical trials and medical records to make the safest, most effective treatment decisions for each patient. This involves (i) the creation of a standardized ontology for genetic, phenotypic, clinical, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and other data sets, (ii) the creation of a translation engine to integrate heterogeneous data sets into a database using the standardized ontology, and (iii) the development of statistical methods to perform data validation and outcome prediction with the integrated data. The system is designed to interface with patient electronic medical records (EMRs) in hospitals and laboratories to extract a particular patient's relevant data. The system may also be used in the context of generating phenotypic predictions and enhanced medical laboratory reports for treating clinicians. The system may also be used in the context of leveraging the huge amount of data created in medical and pharmaceutical clinical trials. The ontology and validation rules are designed to be flexible so as to accommodate a disparate set of clients. The system is also designed to be flexible so that it can change to accommodate scientific progress and remain optimally configured.

A mobile robot system for performing a plurality of separate operations, and including at least one autonomous wheeled mobile robot having at least one wheel-driving motor, an on-board computer, a system for navigation, orientation, and maneuvering in an environment with moving obstacles, a sensor system, a wireless communication system operative to receive and send signals, and a plurality of dockable operation modules and operative to be selectively coupled to the autonomous mobile robot to form an operation unit, wherein the autonomous wheeled mobile robot autonomously docks to the dockable operation modules.

A touch sensor panels having segmented electrodes for both the drive and sense lines. The touch sensor panel may include a number of columns of sense electrodes and a number of rows of drive electrodes. Each of the drive and sense electrodes are connected to one of the metal bus lines using a connecting trace. Pixels on the touch sensor panel are formed by the unique pairings of individual drive electrodes and their adjacent sense electrodes. Electrically, the mutual capacitance of one touch-sensing pixel can be distinguished from the mutual capacitance of another touch sensing pixel because the two mutual capacitances are formed with combinations of different drive electrodes and sense electrodes. In one embodiment, the drive electrodes and sense electrodes in adjacent columns are staggered horizontally with respect to each other by half a Y-pitch of the electrodes.

An apparatus, method and system are disclosed for providing AC line power to lighting devices such as light emitting diodes (“LEDs”). An exemplary apparatus comprises: a plurality of LEDs coupled in series to form a first plurality of segments of LEDs; a plurality of switches coupled to the plurality of segments of LEDs to switch a selected segment into or out of a series LED current path in response to a control signal; a current sensor; and a controller which, in response to a first parameter and during a first part of an AC voltage interval, generates a first control signal to switch a corresponding segment of LEDs into the series LED current path; and during a second part of the AC voltage interval, generates a second control signal to switch a corresponding segment of LEDs out of the first series LED current path.

An underwater cable arrangement includes systems and method for distributing and / or transferring power and / or data to internal devices and external devices disposed along an underwater cable. Under water coupling systems and underwater electrical devices may be used in the distribution and / or transfer of the power and / or data.

Methods of forming dielectric films with increased density and improved film properties are provided. The methods involve exposing dielectric films to microwave radiation. According to various embodiments, the methods may be used to remove hydroxyl bonds, increase film density, reduce or eliminate seams and voids, and optimize film properties such as dielectric constant, refractive index and stress for particular applications. In certain embodiments, the methods are used to form conformal films deposited by a technique such as PDL. The methods may be used in applications requiring low thermal budgets.

The invention provides methods to detect molecular recognition events. The invention also provides methods to detect the presence of or identify a target species based on its interaction with one or more probe species. The methods of the invention are based on amplification of the signal due to each molecular recognition event. The amplification is achieved through photopolymerization, with the polymer formed being associated with the molecular recognition event. In an embodiment, a fluorescent polymer, a magnetic polymer, a radioactive polymer or an electrically conducting polymer can form the basis of detection and amplification. In another embodiment, a polymer gel swollen with a fluorescent solution, a magnetic solution, a radioactive solution or an electrically conducting solution can form the basis of detection and amplification. In another embodiment, sufficient polymer forms to be detectable by visual inspection.

Location-based services are provided in a communication system comprising at least a portion of at least one wireless network. In one aspect of the invention, one or more interested parties are permitted to bid on available opportunities for delivery of messages to mobile user devices, and delivery of at least one message to a given one of the mobile user devices is controlled based on user profile information and at least one received bid for a corresponding message delivery opportunity. The message delivery opportunities may be specified as combinations of two or more of a message category, a location for message delivery and a time for message delivery. For example, a given message delivery opportunity may be a category-location-time combination.

A vehicle monitoring apparatus for obtaining a distance image including an image data and three-dimensional distance information and for monitoring surrounding conditions on the basis of the distance image, comprises: means for dividing the distance image into a plurality of blocks composed of picture elements, means for collecting the blocks having a similar distance data and for grouping the blocks into an independent group, means for calculating an area size of the independent group, means for extracting the image data as an object data if the area size of the group is larger than a predetermined value and for discarding the image data as a false data if the area size is smaller than the predetermined value, means for preparing a histogram having a lateral axis representing a deviation amount and a longitudinal axis representing a frequency corresponding to a number of the image data, and means for detecting an object and a distance to the object by deleting the frequency having a smaller number of the image data than a threshold value along the lateral axis on the histogram. Thereby, false data can be removed from the image data and a mismatching can be prevented.

A hardware Secure Processing Unit (SPU) is described that can perform both security functions and other information appliance functions using the same set of hardware resources. Because the additional hardware required to support security functions is a relatively small fraction of the overall device hardware, this type of SPU can be competitive with ordinary non-secure CPUs or microcontrollers that perform the same functions. A set of minimal initialization and management hardware and software is added to, e.g., a standard CPU / microcontroller. The additional hardware and / or software creates an SPU environment and performs the functions needed to virtualize the SPU's hardware resources so that they can be shared between security functions and other functions performed by the same CPU.

Location-based services are provided in a communication system comprising at least a portion of at least one wireless network. One aspect of the invention relates to generation of user movement statistics that may be utilized to facilitate the development of targeted marketing campaigns or other types of message delivery. In this aspect, the user movement statistics are generated based on location and profile information for mobile user devices, and delivery of at least one message to a given one of the mobile user devices is controlled based on the user movement statistics. The user movement statistics may comprise, for example, information sufficient to determine approximately how many users having particular designated characteristics are likely to be in a given location at a given time, and may be utilized to determine prices charged for delivery of messages to the mobile user devices.

The invention provides a system and a method for data input that can be used with or incorporated into electronic, computer, and portable devices. The interface includes a small set of control buttons or keys that are used to provide access to an associated set of secondary keys, from which the user can select a character for input into the device. Intelligent ordering and grouping of the control and secondary keys allows the user to input information in a manner conducive to speed, accuracy, and ease of use, while the interface can be minimized to require less real estate than traditional keyboards. In accordance with one embodiment, a set of characters or symbols is divided into subsets, each subset being represented by a control button. Selecting a control button displays a secondary set of buttons representing actual characters or symbols that can be selected, stored, or displayed.

Location-based services are provided in a communication system comprising at least a portion of at least one wireless network. In one aspect of the invention, profile information is obtained for users associated with respective mobile user devices, and location and presence information is obtained for the mobile user devices. Delivery of at least one message to a given one of the mobile user devices is controlled based on a combination of the location, presence and profile information.

A combined wireless transceiver and signal conversion unit comprises a radio receiver for receiving a wireless radio signal, and a converter for converting the signal into a form having a communications protocol supported by a communications port of a user digital device. An output device is provided for transmitting the converted signal to a user digital device via a wireline or other suitable medium for carrying the converted signal. The unit includes an input device for receiving a communications signal from the communication port of a user digital device via a wireline or other suitable signal transmission medium, and a transmitter for converting the received signal to a form for wireless transmission.

A sectional cassette (10) for use in a process for harvesting and handling tissue samples for biopsy analysis is disclosed. In the procedure, a tissue biopsy sample is placed on a tissue trapping supporting material (A′) that can withstand tissue preparation procedures, and which can be cut with a microtome. The tissue is immobilized on the material, and the material and the tissue are held in the cassette (10) subjected to a process for replacing tissue fluids with wax. The tissue and supporting material are sliced for mounting on slides using a microtome. Harvesting devices and containers (200) using the filter material (202) are disclosed. An automated process is also disclosed.

A device concurrently displays a background user interface and a first version of a notification associated with a first application. The device detects a first contact at a location that corresponds to the first version of the notification. In response to the detection, and upon a determination that the contact meets application-launching criteria, the device initiates a process to launch the first application. In response to the detecting, and upon a determination that the contact meets notification-expansion criteria, where the notification-expansion criteria require that the characteristic intensity of the contact meet a preview intensity threshold, the device displays a second version of the notification, where the second version of the notification has a size larger than the first version, includes expanded notification content that is not displayed in the first version, and is overlaid on the background user interface.

Methods and associated systems for autonomous package delivery utilize a UAS / UAV, an infrared positioning senor, and a docking station integrated with a package delivery vehicle. The UAS / UAV accepts a package for delivery from the docking station on the delivery vehicle and uploads the delivery destination. The UAS / UAV autonomously launches from its docked position on the delivery vehicle. The UAS / UAV autonomously flies to the delivery destination by means of GPS navigation. The UAS / UAV is guided in final delivery by means of a human supervised live video feed from the UAS / UAV. The UAS / UAV is assisted in the descent and delivery of the parcel by precision sensors and if necessary by means of remote human control. The UAS / UAV autonomously returns to the delivery vehicle by means of GPS navigation and precision sensors. The UAS / UAV autonomously docks with the delivery vehicle for recharging and preparation for the next delivery sequence.

Several inventions are disclosed. A cell architecture using hexagonal shaped cells is disclosed. The architecture is not limited to hexagonal shaped cells. Cells may be defined by clusters of two or more hexagons, by triangles, by parallelograms, and by other polygons enabling a variety of cell shapes to be accommodated. Polydirectional non-orthogonal three layer metal routing is disclosed. The architecture may be combined with the tri-directional routing for a particularly advantageous design. In the tri-directional routing arraingement, electrical conductors for interconnecting terminals of microelectronic cells of an integrated circuit preferrably extend in three directions that are angularly displaced from each other by 60°. The conductors that extend in the three directions are preferrably formed in three different layers. A method of minimizing wire length in a semiconductor device is disclosed. A method of minimizing intermetal capacitance in a semiconductor device is disclosed. A novel device called a "tri-ister" is disclosed. Triangular devices are disclosed, including triangular NAND gates, triangular AND gates, and triangular OR gates. A triangular op amp and triode are disclosed. A triangular sense amplifier is disclosed. A DRAM memory array and an SRAM memory array, based upon triangular or parallelogram shaped cells, are disclosed, including a method of interconnecting such arrays. A programmable variable drive transistor is disclosed. CAD algorithms and methods are disclosed for designing and making semiconductor devices, which are particularly applicable to the disclosed architecture and tri-directional three metal layer routing.

A heat-sensitive negative-working lithographic printing plate precursor includes on a grained and anodized aluminum support a coating including hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles, a hydrophilic binder, and an organic compound, wherein the organic compound includes at least one phosphonic acid group or at least one phosphoric acid group or a salt thereof.