Abstract: A system is described comprising: a local node to distribute multimedia content to a plurality of remote nodes; a power detection module to detect power usage of a multimedia device coupled to a first one of the remote nodes; a power analysis module to determine, based on the detected power usage, whether the multimedia device is in a first power state or a second power state; and a transmitter to transmit an indication of the detected state to the local node, the indication usable by the node to allocate multimedia processing resources across the plurality of remote nodes.

Abstract: One embodiment in accordance with the invention includes a capacitive sensing apparatus that includes a capacitive sensor configured to sense an object proximate to a physical capacitive sensing reference surface. The capacitive sensing apparatus also includes a plurality of dielectric materials disposed between the capacitive sensor and the physical capacitive sensing reference surface. Note that at least one of the plurality of dielectric materials has a non-uniform thickness. The plurality of dielectric materials can be configured such that capacitive coupling between the capacitive sensor and the object proximate to the physical capacitive sensing reference surface is substantially constant across the physical capacitive sensing reference surface.