Patents by Inventor Alexander Lloyd
Alexander Lloyd has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 11561953Abstract: The technology relates to cosharding tables within a distributed storage system. A data table including one or more rows may be received. Each row in the data table may include an identifier key and pieces of data. Each piece of data in the data table may be indexed into individual rows of an index table, wherein each row in the index table includes data associated with the identifier key of the data table from which the piece of data in the respective row was indexed. The index table may be sharded into splits, wherein the sharding includes assigning each row of the index table into one of the splits based on the identifier key of the data table from which the piece of data in the respective row was indexed. The splits may be stored into two or more portions of the distributed storage system.Type: GrantFiled: March 18, 2020Date of Patent: January 24, 2023Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Alexander Khesin, Alexander Lloyd, Sebastian Kanthak
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Patent number: 11556375Abstract: In a distributed system where a client's call to commit a transaction occurs outside the transaction's lock-hold interval, computation of timestamp information for the transaction is moved to a client library, while ensuring that no conflicting reads or writes are performed between a time of the computation and acquiring all locks for the transaction. The transaction is committed in phases, with each phase being initiated by the client library. Timestamp information is added to the locks to ensure that timestamps are generated during lock-hold intervals. An increased number of network messages is thereby overlapped with a commit wait period in which a write in a distributed database is delayed in time to ensure concurrency in the database.Type: GrantFiled: June 8, 2020Date of Patent: January 17, 2023Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Brian Frank Cooper, Alexander Lloyd, Sebastian Kanthak, Andrew Fikes, Christopher Taylor
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Publication number: 20220398227Abstract: The various embodiments described herein include methods, devices, and systems for reading and writing data from a database table. In one aspect, a method includes: (1) initiating a read transaction to read from a first non-key column of a row in the database table, the database table having a plurality of rows, each row comprising a primary key and a plurality of non-key columns, the initiating including: (a) determining that a write transaction holds a lock on a second non-key column of the row in the database table, and (b) determining that no lock is held on the first non-key column; and (2) in response, concurrently reading data from the first non-key column and writing a new column value to the second non-key column; where each non-key column includes a last-write timestamp that indicates when the last write occurred for the respective non-key column.Type: ApplicationFiled: May 25, 2022Publication date: December 15, 2022Inventors: Wilson Cheng-Yi Hsieh, Alexander Lloyd, Eric Hugh Veach
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Patent number: 11520753Abstract: The subject matter described herein provides techniques to ensure that queries of a distributed database observe a consistent read of the database without locking or logging. In this regard, next-write timestamps uniquely identify a set of write transactions whose updates can be observed by reads. By publishing the next-write timestamps from within an extendable time lease and tracking a “safe timestamp,” the database queries can be executed without logging read operations or blocking future write transactions, and clients issuing the queries at the “safe timestamp” observe a consistent view of the database as it exists on or before that timestamp. Aspects of this disclosure also provide for extensions, done cheaply and without the need for logging, to the range of timestamps at which read transactions can be executed.Type: GrantFiled: August 13, 2020Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Wilson Cheng-Yi Hsieh, Eric Hugh Veach, Michael James Boyer Epstein, Alexander Lloyd
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Patent number: 11522694Abstract: The present invention is a diverse acoustical object containing a range of particles that have acoustical wave impedances that are substantially different from the binder. The particles create a substantially different reflection as an acoustic wave is scattered by the particles. A negative reflection is created when the scattered wave is from a particle that has a wave impedance that is substantially less than the binder impedance. Practically, it may be necessary to encase this material in a thin material that will withstand the fabrication process (e.g., air or silicone elastomer could be encased in glass). If the wavelength is large compared to the encasing material thickness, then the reflection will be more dependent on the interior material. A mixture of materials that generate positive as well as negative reflections within the binder would add to the complexity of the PUF.Type: GrantFiled: February 24, 2021Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.Inventors: Scott Richard Castle, Alexander Lloyd Chapman, Keith Bryan Hardin
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Patent number: 11496572Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for sending and receiving remote procedure calls (RPCs). Based on a message in a first RPC, a second set of RPCs are created by one or more computing devices, where each of the second set of RPCs includes a portion of the message in the first RPC. The message in the first RPC is replaced with a reference to each RPC of the second set of RPCs. The one or more computing devices send the first RPC with the references, and also send the second set of RPCs.Type: GrantFiled: August 12, 2019Date of Patent: November 8, 2022Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Iulian Moraru, Brian Frank Cooper, Sebastian Kanthak, Alexander Lloyd, Mert Akdere
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Patent number: 11442925Abstract: The present technology proposes techniques for ensuring globally consistent transactions. This technology may allow distributed systems to ensure the causal order of read and write transactions across different partitions of a distributed database. By assigning causally generated timestamps to the transactions based on one or more globally coherent time services, the timestamps can be used to preserve and represent the causal order of the transactions in the distributed system. In this regard, certain transactions may wait for a period of time after choosing a timestamp in order to delay the start of any second transaction that might depend on it. The wait may ensure that the effects of the first transaction are not made visible until its timestamp is guaranteed to be in the past. This may ensure that a consistent snapshot of the distributed database can be determined for any past timestamp.Type: GrantFiled: June 29, 2018Date of Patent: September 13, 2022Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Wilson Cheng-Yi Hsieh, Alexander Lloyd, Peter Hochschild, Michael James Boyer Epstein, Sean Quinlan
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Publication number: 20220222531Abstract: A neural network training apparatus is described which has a network of worker nodes each having a memory storing a subgraph of a neural network to be trained. The apparatus has a control node connected to the network of worker nodes. The control node is configured to send training data instances into the network to trigger parallelized message passing operations which implement a training algorithm which trains the neural network. At least some of the message passing operations asynchronously update parameters of individual subgraphs of the neural network at the individual worker nodes.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 28, 2022Publication date: July 14, 2022Inventors: Ryota TOMIOKA, Matthew Alastair JOHNSON, Daniel Stefan TARLOW, Samuel Alexander WEBSTER, Dimitrios VYTINIOTIS, Alexander Lloyd GAUNT, Maik RIECHERT
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Patent number: 11372825Abstract: The various embodiments described herein include methods, devices, and systems for reading and writing data from a database table. In one aspect, a method of reading and writing data from a database table, includes: (1) initiating a write transaction to write data to a first non-key column of a row of the database table, the database table having a plurality of rows, each row comprising a primary key and a plurality of non-key columns; (2) locking the first non-key column; and (3) in accordance with a determination that the second non-key column is not locked, initiating a read transaction to read data from the second non-key column, where initiation of the read transaction occurs prior to completion of the write transaction.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2019Date of Patent: June 28, 2022Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Wilson Chang-Yi Hsieh, Alexander Lloyd, Eric Hugh Veach
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Patent number: 11353917Abstract: The present technology proposes techniques for generating globally coherent timestamps. This technology may allow distributed systems to causally order transactions without incurring various types of communication delays inherent in explicit synchronization. By globally deploying a number of time masters that are based on various types of time references, the time masters may serve as primary time references. Through an interactive interface, the techniques may track, calculate and record data relative to each time master thus providing the distributed systems with causal timestamps.Type: GrantFiled: August 13, 2020Date of Patent: June 7, 2022Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Peter Hochschild, Alexander Lloyd, Wilson Cheng-Yi Hsieh, Robert Edman Felderman, Michael James Boyer Epstein
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Patent number: 11288575Abstract: A neural network training apparatus is described which has a network of worker nodes each having a memory storing a subgraph of a neural network to be trained. The apparatus has a control node connected to the network of worker nodes. The control node is configured to send training data instances into the network to trigger parallelized message passing operations which implement a training algorithm which trains the neural network. At least some of the message passing operations asynchronously update parameters of individual subgraphs of the neural network at the individual worker nodes.Type: GrantFiled: May 18, 2017Date of Patent: March 29, 2022Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Ryota Tomioka, Matthew Alastair Johnson, Daniel Stefan Tarlow, Samuel Alexander Webster, Dimitrios Vytiniotis, Alexander Lloyd Gaunt, Maik Riechert
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Publication number: 20220019568Abstract: The technology relates to cosharding tables within a distributed storage system. A data table including one or more rows may be received. Each row in the data table may include an identifier key and pieces of data. Each piece of data in the data table may be indexed into individual rows of an index table, wherein each row in the index table includes data associated with the identifier key of the data table from which the piece of data in the respective row was indexed. The index table may be sharded into splits, wherein the sharding includes assigning each row of the index table into one of the splits based on the identifier key of the data table from which the piece of data in the respective row was indexed. The splits may be stored into two or more portions of the distributed storage system.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 18, 2020Publication date: January 20, 2022Applicant: Google LLCInventors: Alexander KHESIN, Alexander LLOYD, Sebastian KANTHAK
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Publication number: 20220012264Abstract: Paxos transactions are pipelined in a distributed database formed by a plurality of replica servers. A leader server is selected by consensus of the replicas, and receives a lock on leadership for an epoch. The leader gets Paxos log numbers for the current epoch, which are greater than the numbers allocated in previous epochs. The leader receives database write requests, and assigns a Paxos number to each request. The leader constructs a proposed transaction for each request, which includes the assigned Paxos number and incorporates the request. The leader transmits the proposed transactions to the replicas. Two or more write requests that access distinct objects in the database can proceed simultaneously. The leader commits a proposed transaction to the database after receiving a plurality of confirmations for the proposed transaction from the replicas. After all the Paxos numbers have been assigned, inter-epoch tasks are performed before beginning a subsequent epoch.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 27, 2021Publication date: January 13, 2022Inventors: Wilson Cheng-Yi Hsieh, Alexander Lloyd
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Publication number: 20210334655Abstract: Methods, computer systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for predicting one or more properties of a material. One of the methods includes maintaining data specifying a set of known materials each having a respective known physical structure; receiving data specifying a new material; identifying a plurality of known materials in the set of known materials that are similar to the new material; determining a predicted embedding of the new material from at least respective embeddings corresponding to each of the similar known materials; and processing the predicted embedding of the new material using an experimental prediction neural network to predict one or more properties of the new material.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 26, 2021Publication date: October 28, 2021Inventors: Annette Ada Nkechinyere Obika, Tian Xie, Victor Constant Bapst, Alexander Lloyd Gaunt, James Kirkpatrick
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Patent number: 11150875Abstract: An editing tool is described which has a memory storing a neural network having been trained to compute a change representation from pairs, each pair comprising a representation of a first version of a content item and a second version of the content item, and for each of the change representations, predict an updated content item from the change representation and the first version of the content item. The editing tool has a processor configured to receive an input content item and to compute an updated version of the input content item according to a change representation, using the neural network.Type: GrantFiled: September 27, 2018Date of Patent: October 19, 2021Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Marc Manuel Johannes Brockschmidt, Miltiadis Allamanis, Alexander Lloyd Gaunt, Pengcheng Yin
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Patent number: 11132381Abstract: Paxos transactions are pipelined in a distributed database formed by a plurality of replica servers. A leader server is selected by consensus of the replicas, and receives a lock on leadership for an epoch. The leader gets Paxos log numbers for the current epoch, which are greater than the numbers allocated in previous epochs. The leader receives database write requests, and assigns a Paxos number to each request. The leader constructs a proposed transaction for each request, which includes the assigned Paxos number and incorporates the request. The leader transmits the proposed transactions to the replicas. Two or more write requests that access distinct objects in the database can proceed simultaneously. The leader commits a proposed transaction to the database after receiving a plurality of confirmations for the proposed transaction from the replicas. After all the Paxos numbers have been assigned, inter-epoch tasks are performed before beginning a subsequent epoch.Type: GrantFiled: January 7, 2019Date of Patent: September 28, 2021Assignee: Google LLCInventors: Wilson Cheng-Yi Hsieh, Alexander Lloyd
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Publication number: 20210266159Abstract: The present invention is a diverse acoustical object containing a range of particles that have acoustical wave impedances that are substantially different from the binder. The particles create a substantially different reflection as an acoustic wave is scattered by the particles. A negative reflection is created when the scattered wave is from a particle that has a wave impedance that is substantially less than the binder impedance. Practically, it may be necessary to encase this material in a thin material that will withstand the fabrication process (e.g., air or silicone elastomer could be encased in glass). If the wavelength is large compared to the encasing material thickness, then the reflection will be more dependent on the interior material. A mixture of materials that generate positive as well as negative reflections within the binder would add to the complexity of the PUF.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 24, 2021Publication date: August 26, 2021Inventors: SCOTT RICHARD CASTLE, ALEXANDER LLOYD CHAPMAN, KEITH BRYAN HARDIN
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Publication number: 20210224355Abstract: Examples are disclosed that relate to encoding data on a data-storage medium. The method comprises obtaining a representation of a measurement performed on the data-storage medium, the representation being based on a previously recorded pattern of data encoded in the data-storage medium in a layout that defines a plurality of data locations. The method further comprises inputting the representation into a data decoder comprising a trained machine-learning function, and obtaining from the data decoder, for each data location of the layout, a plurality of probability values, wherein each probability value is associated with a corresponding data value and represents the probability that the corresponding data value matches the actual data value in the previously recorded pattern of data at a same location in the layout.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 5, 2021Publication date: July 22, 2021Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Ioan Alexandru STEFANOVICI, Benn Charles Thomsen, Alexander Lloyd Gaunt, Antony Ian Taylor Rowstron, Reinhard Sebastian Bernhard Nowozin
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Patent number: 10970363Abstract: Examples are disclosed that relate to reading stored data. The method comprises obtaining a representation of a measurement performed on a data-storage medium, the representation being based on a previously recorded pattern of data encoded in the data-storage medium in a layout that defines a plurality of data locations. The method further comprises inputting the representation into a data decoder comprising a trained machine-learning function, and obtaining from the data decoder, for each data location of the layout, a plurality of probability values, wherein each probability value is associated with a corresponding data value and represents the probability that the corresponding data value matches the actual data value in the previously recorded pattern of data at a same location in the layout.Type: GrantFiled: October 17, 2017Date of Patent: April 6, 2021Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLCInventors: Ioan Alexandru Stefanovici, Benn Charles Thomsen, Alexander Lloyd Gaunt, Antony Ian Taylor Rowstron, Reinhard Sebastian Bernhard Nowozin
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Publication number: 20200394024Abstract: A computer program predictor is described which has a processor configured to access a program attribute predictor; and a memory storing a search component configured to search a space of possible programs, to find a program which, given an input data instance and an output data instance, will compute the output data instance from the input data instance, the search being guided by attributes predicted by the attribute predictor given the input data instance and the output data instance.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 28, 2020Publication date: December 17, 2020Inventors: Alexander Lloyd GAUNT, Sebastian NOWOZIN, Marc Manuel Johannes BROCKSCHMIDT, Daniel Stefan TARLOW, Matej BALOG