Other

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., At&t Bell Laboratories

American Telephone and Telegraph, Co.

Michael E Diesel

Louis M Taff

Nicholas D Moats

Brian R Churm

A system may be provided that includes an adaptor connected to a dimmer and virtual three-way switch. The virtual three-way switch can be for a lamp plugged into wall-switched receptacle. The virtual three-way switch can control a lamp, appliance, or any device that is connected to the three-way switch by one or more of the connected switches, independent of the position of the unused switch. The virtual three-way switch may include a power input that receives power from a first power source, a sensor detecting a state change of a second power source, a user input sensor receiving a user command, and a power output delivering received power at a rate as function of the state change and of the user command. The virtual three-way switch can be connected to a user input device that is waiting to receive a command. The power output can deliver power to a connected device.

Virtual three-way switch, systems and methods

A data hashing arrangement particularly suitable for efficient database storage and fast retrieval of large numbers of character strings. A database address is determined for a character string by replacing individual characters with random numbers selected from a predefined table of random numbers. The table locations of the selected random numbers are uniquely defined by the characters. The selected numbers are combined by iteractive bit reordering and exclusive-OR operations to form a result, which is then used to derive the database address where the character string is stored.

Method and apparatus for data hashing using selection from a table of

A call forwarding method that allows the called party to selectively forward individual alerting calls based, for example, on the calling party identity or on how busy the called party is at any given time, but without requiring the called party to first answer the calls. The called party can effect the transfer even though engaged in conversation with someone else.

Growing community of inventors

Newark, IL, United States of America

Michael E Diesel