U.S. patent application number 13/052501 was filed with the patent office on 2012-09-27 for asynchronous messaging tags.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Mark Bailey, James E. Christensen, Jason B. Ellis, Robert G. Farrell.
Application Number | 20120246238 13/052501 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46878235 |
Filed Date | 2012-09-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120246238 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bailey; Mark ; et
al. |
September 27, 2012 |
ASYNCHRONOUS MESSAGING TAGS
Abstract
A method includes receiving a message from a user device,
determining whether the message includes a tag, identifying at
least one interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag,
calculating a difference between a time the message was received
and a time associated with the at least one identified interaction,
determining whether the difference between the time the message was
received and the time associated with the at least one identified
interaction is within a threshold value, and associating the tag
with the application associated with the at least one interaction
responsive to determining that the difference between the time the
message was received and the time associated with the at least one
identified interaction is within the threshold value.
Inventors: |
Bailey; Mark; (Glendora,
CA) ; Christensen; James E.; (Cortlandt Manor,
NY) ; Ellis; Jason B.; (New York, NY) ;
Farrell; Robert G.; (Cornwall, NY) |
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
46878235 |
Appl. No.: |
13/052501 |
Filed: |
March 21, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0207
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving a message from a user device;
determining whether the message includes a tag; identifying at
least one interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag;
calculating a difference between a time the message was received
and a time associated with the at least one identified interaction;
determining whether the difference between the time the message was
received and the time associated with the at least one identified
interaction is within a threshold value; and associating the tag
with the application associated with the at least one interaction
responsive to determining that the difference between the time the
message was received and the time associated with the at least one
identified interaction is within the threshold value.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes:
identifying a second interaction the user device performed with a
second application responsive to determining that the message
includes the tag; calculating a difference between a time the
message was received and a time associated with the second
identified interaction; determining whether the difference between
the time the message was received and the time associated with the
second identified interaction is within a threshold value; and
associating the tag with the second application associated with the
second interaction responsive to determining that the difference
between the time the message was received and the time associated
with the second identified interaction is within the threshold
value.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes:
identifying a second interaction the user device performed with a
second application responsive to determining that the message
includes the tag; calculating a difference between a location the
message was sent from and a location associated with the second
identified interaction; determining whether the distance between
the location the message was sent from and the location associated
with the second identified interaction is within a threshold value;
and associating the tag with the second application associated with
the second interaction responsive to determining that the distance
between the location the message was sent from and the location
associated with the second identified interaction is within the
threshold value.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the tag includes a textual word
entry.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further includes:
receiving a message from at least one user device; determining
whether the message includes a request for data associated with the
tag; identifying the application associated with the tag responsive
to determining that the message includes a request for data
associated with the tag; and sending service data associated with
the application to the user device.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further includes:
receiving a message from at least one user device; determining
whether the message includes a request for data associated with the
tag; identifying the applications associated with the tag
responsive to determining that the message includes a request for
data associated with the tag; and sending service data associated
with the applications to the user device.
7. A method comprising: receiving a message from a user device;
determining whether the message includes a tag; identifying at
least one interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag;
calculating a distance between a location the message was sent from
and a location associated with the at least one identified
interaction; determining whether the distance between the location
the message was sent from and the location associated with the at
least one identified interaction is within a threshold value; and
associating the tag with the application associated with the at
least one interaction responsive to determining that the distance
between the location the message was sent from and the location
associated with the at least one identified interaction is within
the threshold value.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further includes:
identifying a second interaction the user device performed with a
second application responsive to determining that the message
includes the tag; calculating a difference between a time the
message was received and a time associated with the second
identified interaction; determining whether the difference between
the time the message was received and the time associated with the
second identified interaction is within a threshold value; and
associating the tag with the second application associated with the
second interaction responsive to determining that the difference
between the time the message was received and the time associated
with the second identified interaction is within the threshold
value.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further includes:
identifying a second interaction the user device performed with a
second application responsive to determining that the message
includes the tag; calculating a difference between a location the
message was sent from and a location associated with the second
identified interaction; determining whether the distance between
the location the message was sent from and the location associated
with the second identified interaction is within a threshold value;
and associating the tag with the second application associated with
the second interaction responsive to determining that the distance
between the location the message was sent from and the location
associated with the second identified interaction is within the
threshold value.
10. The method of claim 7, wherein the tag includes a textual word
entry.
11. The method of claim 7, wherein the method further includes:
receiving a message from at least one user device; determining
whether the message includes a request for data associated with the
tag; identifying the application associated with the tag responsive
to determining that the message includes a request for data
associated with the tag; and sending service data associated with
the application to the user device.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the method further includes:
receiving a message from at least one user device; determining
whether the message includes a request for data associated with the
tag; identifying the applications associated with the tag
responsive to determining that the message includes a request for
data associated with the tag; and sending service data associated
with the applications to the user device.
13. A system comprising: a user device; and a processor operative
to receive a message from a user device, determine whether the
message includes a tag, identify at least one interaction the user
device performed with an application responsive to determining that
the message includes the tag, calculating a difference between a
time the message was received and a time associated with the at
least one identified interaction, determine whether the difference
between the time the message was received and the time associated
with the at least one identified interaction is within a threshold
value, and associate the tag with the application associated with
the at least one interaction responsive to determining that the
difference between the time the message was received and the time
associated with the at least one identified interaction is within
the threshold value.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further
operative to identify a second interaction the user device
performed with a second application responsive to determining that
the message includes the tag, calculate a difference between a time
the message was received and a time associated with the second
identified interaction, determine whether the difference between
the time the message was received and the time associated with the
second identified interaction is within a threshold value, and
associate the tag with the second application associated with the
second interaction responsive to determining that the difference
between the time the message was received and the time associated
with the second identified interaction is within the threshold
value.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further
operative to identify a second interaction the user device
performed with a second application responsive to determining that
the message includes the tag, calculate a difference between a
location the message was sent from and a location associated with
the second identified interaction, determine whether the distance
between the location the message was sent from and the location
associated with the second identified interaction is within a
threshold value, and associate the tag with the second application
associated with the second interaction responsive to determining
that the distance between the location the message was sent from
and the location associated with the second identified interaction
is within the threshold value.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein the tag includes a textual word
entry.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is further
operative to receive a message from at least one user device,
determine whether the message includes a request for data
associated with the tag, identify the application associated with
the tag responsive to determining that the message includes a
request for data associated with the tag, and send service data
associated with the application to the user device.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further
operative to receive a message from at least one user device,
determine whether the message includes a request for data
associated with the tag, identify the applications associated with
the tag responsive to determining that the message includes a
request for data associated with the tag, and send service data
associated with the applications to the user device.
19. A system comprising: a user device; and a processor operative
to receive a message from a user device, determine whether the
message includes a tag, identify at least one interaction the user
device performed with an application responsive to determining that
the message includes the tag, calculate a distance between a
location the message was sent from and a location associated with
the at least one identified interaction, determine whether the
distance between the location the message was sent from and the
location associated with the at least one identified interaction is
within a threshold value, and associate the tag with the
application associated with the at least one interaction responsive
to determining that the distance between the location the message
was sent from and the location associated with the at least one
identified interaction is within the threshold value.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further
operative to identify a second interaction the user device
performed with a second application responsive to determining that
the message includes the tag, calculate a difference between a time
the message was received and a time associated with the second
identified interaction, determining whether the difference between
the time the message was received and the time associated with the
second identified interaction is within a threshold value, and
associate the tag with the second application associated with the
second interaction responsive to determining that the difference
between the time the message was received and the time associated
with the second identified interaction is within the threshold
value.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further
operative to identify a second interaction the user device
performed with a second application responsive to determining that
the message includes the tag, calculate a difference between a
location the message was sent from and a location associated with
the second identified interaction, determine whether the distance
between the location the message was sent from and the location
associated with the second identified interaction is within a
threshold value, and associate the tag with the second application
associated with the second interaction responsive to determining
that the distance between the location the message was sent from
and the location associated with the second identified interaction
is within the threshold value.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein the tag includes a textual word
entry.
23. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further
operative to receive a message from at least one user device,
determine whether the message includes a request for data
associated with the tag, identify the application associated with
the tag responsive to determining that the message includes a
request for data associated with the tag, and send service data
associated with the application to the user device.
24. The system of claim 21, wherein the processor is further
operative to receive a message from at least one user device,
determine whether the message includes a request for data
associated with the tag, identify the applications associated with
the tag responsive to determining that the message includes a
request for data associated with the tag, and send service data
associated with the applications to the user device.
25. An article of manufacture tangibly embodying computer readable
instructions which, when implemented, cause a computer to carry out
the steps of a method according to claim 1.
26. An article of manufacture tangibly embodying computer readable
instructions which, when implemented, cause a computer to carry out
the steps of a method according to claim 7.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present invention relates to asynchronous messaging, and
more specifically, to tags associated with asynchronous
messaging.
[0002] Though the functions of available mobile telephone devices
continue to advance, there are significant numbers of users who
utilize mobile telephone devices with limited functions or
features. For example, millions of mobile telephone device users
use simple mobile telephone devices with voice and texting/short
message service (SMS), but with limited alternative communications
features.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0003] According to one embodiment of the present invention, a
method includes receiving a message from a user device, determining
whether the message includes a tag, identifying at least one
interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag,
calculating a difference between a time the message was received
and a time associated with the at least one identified interaction,
determining whether the difference between the time the message was
received and the time associated with the at least one identified
interaction is within a threshold value, and associating the tag
with the application associated with the at least one interaction
responsive to determining that the difference between the time the
message was received and the time associated with the at least one
identified interaction is within the threshold value.
[0004] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a
method includes receiving a message from a user device, determining
whether the message includes a tag, identifying at least one
interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag,
calculating a distance between a location the message was sent from
and a location associated with the at least one identified
interaction, determining whether the distance between the location
the message was sent from and the location associated with the at
least one identified interaction is within a threshold value, and
associating the tag with the application associated with the at
least one interaction responsive to determining that the distance
between the location the message was sent from and the location
associated with the at least one identified interaction is within
the threshold value.
[0005] According to yet another embodiment of the present
invention, a system includes a user device, and a processor
operative to receive a message from a user device, determine
whether the message includes a tag, identify at least one
interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag,
calculating a difference between a time the message was received
and a time associated with the at least one identified interaction,
determine whether the difference between the time the message was
received and the time associated with the at least one identified
interaction is within a threshold value, and associate the tag with
the application associated with the at least one interaction
responsive to determining that the difference between the time the
message was received and the time associated with the at least one
identified interaction is within the threshold value.
[0006] According to yet another embodiment of the present
invention, a system includes a user device, and a processor
operative to receive a message from a user device, determine
whether the message includes a tag, identify at least one
interaction the user device performed with an application
responsive to determining that the message includes the tag,
calculate a distance between a location the message was sent from
and a location associated with the at least one identified
interaction, determine whether the distance between the location
the message was sent from and the location associated with the at
least one identified interaction is within a threshold value, and
associate the tag with the application associated with the at least
one interaction responsive to determining that the distance between
the location the message was sent from and the location associated
with the at least one identified interaction is within the
threshold value.
[0007] Additional features and advantages are realized through the
techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects
of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered
a part of the claimed invention. For a better understanding of the
invention with the advantages and the features, refer to the
description and to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at
the conclusion of the specification. The forgoing and other
features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a system.
[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method
for processing tags.
[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates an application usage table.
[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates an application table.
[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates a tag table.
[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates an application phone number table.
[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of another exemplary
method for processing tags.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] In many mobile telephone service areas, some users may
utilize voice features and texting or SMS features, but may not use
other data services due to device or network limitations, or the
cost of wireless data transmission over the networks. The
illustrated embodiments described below allow a user to interact
with a server in a session to perform a variety of tasks using text
messaging or voice messaging features. The interaction is
asynchronous because the session includes messages sent from a user
device to a server or from a server to a user device without a
constant connection (i.e., the communicative connection between the
server and the device is defined by individual discrete messages
sent between the server and the device.) Though the illustrated
embodiments describe texting or SMS services, one of ordinary skill
in the art would understand that any type similar messaging service
including e-mail and instant messaging or voice messaging, which
may be in some embodiments converted to textual messages or
processed with voice recognition methods may be used in a similar
manner as described below.
[0017] Tagging is a term used to describe assigning metadata to a
data object, session, content or service. Tags often include, for
example, a word or phrase that is associated with data to describe
the data. Thus, for example, tags such as "apples," "produce," or
"fruit" may be associated with a session that is associated with a
recipe for a salad. In practice, the tags may be used to search for
data or identify data having particular tags. Often, tags may be
entered and retrieved by users of a tagging system.
[0018] In this regard, FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment
of a system 100. The system 100 includes a server or processor 102
that is communicatively connected to a memory or database 104, a
display device 106, and an input device 108. The server 102 is
communicatively connected to a user device 110 that may include,
for example, a mobile phone or other type of user device via a
communications network 101 that may include, for example any
suitable communications network that is capable of transmitting
messages. The network 101 may also include conversion or gateway
devices that are operative to convert messages and data into
formats that may be processed by, the user device 110 and the
server 102. Though the illustrated embodiment includes one user
device 110, the system 100 may include any number of user devices
110. The server 102 is operative to receive messages sent from the
user device 110 that may be addressed to one or more phone numbers
associated with the server 102. For example, the user device may
send a message to the server 102 by addressing the message to a
particular phone number. The server 102 receives the message that
includes the phone number of the sender; the phone number that the
message was sent to; and the content of the message. The message
may also include the time the message was sent, the location of the
user device when the message was sent, or other information
associated with the user device or message content. Though the
illustrated embodiment includes the use of SMS messages and
associated phone numbers, one of ordinary skill in the art would
understand that a similar scheme may be implemented using other
types of asynchronous messaging such as, for example, email or
other messaging formats.
[0019] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method
for processing tags in an asynchronous data session. FIGS. 3-5
illustrate exemplary embodiments of tables that may be used in the
illustrated method. The tables 300, 400, and 500 may be stored in
the database 104 and maintained by the server 102. Referring to
FIG. 2, in block 202 an asynchronous data session is conducted
between the user device 110 (of FIG. 1) and the server 102. The
session may include, for example, a series of messages sent between
the user device 110 and the server 102. In the illustrated
embodiment, the sessions include the use of a recipe application
(A1) and a coupon application (A2). In this regard, in an exemplary
session, a user (U1) looks up a recipe for pancakes from the recipe
application by sending a message to the server 102 from the user
device 110. The server receives the message and sends a message
having a recipe for pancakes to the user. Later, the user interacts
with the coupon application to retrieve a coupon for an item the
user is purchasing. The coupon application sends a message via the
server 102 to the user device 110 that includes the relevant coupon
information. During the sessions described above, the tables in
FIGS. 3 and 4 are populated.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 4, table 400 includes an application table
having an application ID field 402 that includes unique identifiers
of applications and an application description field 404 that
includes descriptions of the applications associated with the
application identifiers. Referring to FIG. 3, table 300 includes an
application usage table having an application ID field 302 that
includes the unique identifier of an application, a user ID field
304 that includes a unique identifier of the user and/or user
device 110, a last user interaction field 306 that includes a time
stamp of the last interaction the user had with the associated
application, and a user location field 308 that may include a
location of the user or user device 110 during the associated
interaction. Referring back to FIG. 2, in block 202 the session the
table 300 is populated with the user interactions, for example, the
interaction described above with the recipe application is entered
into the table 300 in entry 301, while the interaction described
above with the coupon application is entered into the table 300 in
entry 303. The entries in the table 300 may include a user location
that may be, for example, based on a global positioning system
(GPS) or other type of location scheme used by the user device 110
to locate a position of the device. Thus, the messages processed by
the server 102 may include location data that identifies a location
where the user device 110 sent a message. In the illustrated
embodiment, the table 300 includes zip codes, however other
location data including, for example, GPS coordinates or other
similar location data may also be used.
[0021] In block 204, the server 102 receives a message from the
user device 110. In block 206, the server determines whether the
message includes a tag. The server 102 may make the determination
by, for example, determining whether the message includes an
indicator such as a word or phrase (e.g. "Tag:"). Alternatively, a
phone number may be associated with tagging, such that the user
enters tags into a message and sends the message to the phone
number associated with tagging. Other alternatives are possible,
such as, for example, text analysis of the message to extract words
or phrases. Tags may be part of reviews or comments added during or
after an activity. The server 102 receives the message addressed to
the phone number associated with tagging and thus, identifies the
data in the message as being tags. If the message includes a tag, a
tagging service that may be implemented by the server 102
determines whether the message meets time and/or location criteria.
For example, the time that the tag message was sent from may be
determined by header or other information in the message. The
location that the tag message was sent from may be determined from
software installed on the phone (e.g., a GPS receiver) or from
header information or other information in the message. The server
102 may use the message destination (phone number) from the SMS
header to determine the application ID in the application phone
number table 600. FIG. 6 illustrates an application phone number
table 600 that includes a phone number field 602 and an application
ID field 604; and is populated with entries that associate a phone
number with an application ID.
[0022] The server 102 uses the user ID to determine whether table
300 (of FIG. 3) includes any application usage entries associated
with the user ID. If there are application usage entries associated
with the user ID (for example. A1 and A2 are associated with User
ID U1 in Table 300), then the server 102 may calculate for each
retrieved application usage entry, a difference between the time
the tag message was sent from the user device and the last user
interaction time with the application ID retrieved from Table 300
and determine whether the difference is within a time threshold
(e.g., 30 minutes). Alternate embodiments may include several
methods for setting the time threshold. For example, one method may
determine the likely maximum time for users to tag after starting
an activity. For example, 90% of users complete shopping and tag
within 30 minutes. The location of the user device the tag message
was sent from may alternatively, or in conjunction with the time
the message was received be used to determine whether the tag
message meets the location criteria. For example, the server 102
may calculate a distance between the location the tag message was
sent from, and the location in the table 300 and compare the
distance with a threshold distance (e.g., in a same zip code).
Alternate embodiments may include a variety of ways of setting the
location threshold. For example, determine the likely maximum
distance across which applications for an activity might be used
may be determined. For example, 90% of users are likely to tag
within the same zip code as the store. Thus, the user ID, time,
and/or location associated with the tag message and relevant time
and/or distance thresholds may be used to identify applications
(i.e., application IDs) in the table 300. In block 208, the
identified application(s) are associated with the tag received in
the tag message. In the illustrated example, the user U1 sends a
tag message to the server 102 that includes the tag "Market." If
the tag message is sent from U1 at 1405-1-1-2011 in the location
30040, the tag message would meet the criteria (i.e. is within an
exemplary thirty minute time threshold, and sent from the same zip
code 30040). In block 210, the applications A1 and A2 are
identified and associated with the tag "Market," and the associated
tag is saved. FIG. 5 illustrates a table 500 that includes an
application ID field 502 and a tag field 504, which is populated in
block 210 (of FIG. 2).
[0023] If the message does not contain a tag, then the user and
application data are tracked in table 300. As above, the time
and/or location are determined. Then they are set into the last
user interaction 306 and user location 308 fields together.
Alternatively, if this is the first time a message was sent to this
application from this user (the user is subscribing), a new row is
added.
[0024] FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method
for retrieving tags performed by the system 100. In this regard, in
block 702, the server 102 receives a message from a user device
110. The message may be received from any user device 110. In block
704, the server 102 determines whether the message includes a
request for data that includes a tag. For example, the user device
(U2) may send a message to the server 102 that includes a request
for data or applications associated with the tag "Market." If the
message does not include a tag, the message may be processed for
other relevant session activities in block 706. If the message does
include a request for data that includes a tag, the server 102 may
use the table 500 (of FIG. 5) to identify application ID(s)
associated with the tag. In the illustrated embodiment, the
application IDs A1 and A2 are associated with the tag "Market." In
cases where user tags do not match stored tags, various text
processing techniques may be used to determine a degree of match.
For example, "Market" may match the tag "Markets" or "Supermarket".
In block 710, the server 102 sends a message associated with the
applications A1 and A2 to the user device U2 110. In the
illustrated embodiment, the message may include the tagged recipe
for pancakes and the coupon tagged by the user U1.
[0025] The system also allows the user to request the tags
associated with a given application (the `tag cloud`). It does this
by processing a message containing this request ("tags") to the
application (phone number). The server 102 then redirects this
request to the tagging service. The server 102 uses table 500 to
retrieve the tags associated with the application and return them
to the requesting user (phone number). The tags may be ordered
alphabetically. Alternatively, tags may be ordered by popularity,
recency, and/or proximity.
[0026] The technical effects and benefits of the methods and
systems described above, allow a user to associate tags with
sessions and applications in an asynchronous messaging system. The
system also allows a user to retrieve data or initiate sessions
using the asynchronous messaging system.
[0027] As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of
the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or
computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present
invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an
entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident
software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and
hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a
"circuit," "module" or "system." Furthermore, aspects of the
present invention may take the form of a computer program product
embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer
readable program code embodied thereon. Any combination of one or
more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer
readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a
computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage
medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,
magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor
system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the
foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the
computer readable storage medium would include the following: an
electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer
diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only
memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or
Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage
device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the
context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be
any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by
or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus,
or device.
[0028] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated
data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein,
for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a
propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable
combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any
computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage
medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device.
[0029] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited
to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any
suitable combination of the foregoing.
[0030] Computer program code for carrying out operations for
aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination
of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented
programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and
conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C"
programming language or similar programming languages. The program
code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the
user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the
user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the
remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider).
[0031] Aspects of the present invention are described below with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program
instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instructions which implement the function/act specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. The computer
program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a
series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other
programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer
implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the
computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for
implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or
block diagram block or blocks. The flowchart and block diagrams in
the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and
operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and
computer program products according to various embodiments of the
present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or
block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code,
which comprises one or more executable instructions for
implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be
noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions
noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures.
For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be
executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be
executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality
involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block
diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks
in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be
implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform
the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose
hardware and computer instructions.
[0032] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing
particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of
the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and
"the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood
that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this
specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers,
steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude
the presence or addition of one more other features, integers,
steps, operations, element components, and/or groups thereof.
[0033] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and
equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the
claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or
act for performing the function in combination with other claimed
elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present
invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and
description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the
invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations
will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without
departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The
embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the
principles of the invention and the practical application, and to
enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the
invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are
suited to the particular use contemplated.
[0034] The flow diagrams depicted herein are just one example.
There may be many variations to this diagram or the steps (or
operations) described therein without departing from the spirit of
the invention. For instance, the steps may be performed in a
differing order or steps may be added, deleted or modified. All of
these variations are considered a part of the claimed
invention.
[0035] While the preferred embodiment to the invention had been
described, it will be understood that those skilled in the art,
both now and in the future, may make various improvements and
enhancements which fall within the scope of the claims which
follow. These claims should be construed to maintain the proper
protection for the invention first described.
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