Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for monitoring the fetal condition in an objective, quantitative, and non-invasive manner by enabling continuous and highly specific data collection during pre-natal development and the intra-partum period. In an embodiment, monitoring the fetal condition comprises monitoring a fetal heart rate, a fetal heart rate variability, and/or the fetal heart vector orientation of a fetus in a pregnant mother. Automated signal processing techniques are applied to a multiplicity of transducers to select an optimum signal vector to monitor at least one of a fetal heart rate, a fetal heart rate variability, and/or the fetal heart vector orientation of a fetus in a pregnant mother.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for monitoring the fetal condition in an objective, quantitative, and non-invasive manner by enabling continuous and highly specific data collection during pre-natal development and the intra-partum period. In an embodiment, monitoring the fetal condition comprises monitoring a fetal heart rate, a fetal heart rate variability, and/or the fetal heart vector orientation of a fetus in a pregnant mother. Automated signal processing techniques are applied to a multiplicity of transducers to select an optimum signal vector to monitor at least one of a fetal heart rate, a fetal heart rate variability, and/or the fetal heart vector orientation of a fetus in a pregnant mother.

Abstract: A distributed database system includes a plurality of nodes connected via a network medium. Each node runs at least one application and stores a database. Each database at least partially overlaps at least one other database. Each database includes a plurality of tables, and each table includes at least one record. Ownership of each table in the database is assigned to only one application, and only an owning application can modify a table owned by the owning application. Each node also schedules running of the applications on the node such that only one application reads from and writes to the database at a time, distributes updates made to the database to every other database, and updates the database in accordance with received distributed updates.