U.S. patent application number 13/865525 was filed with the patent office on 2014-10-23 for control system for indicating if people can reach locations that satisfy a predetermined set of conditions and requirements.
This patent application is currently assigned to International Business Machines Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Carlos Henrique Cardonha, Dimitri Kanevsky, Peter K. Malkin, Seetharami R. Seelam.
Application Number | 20140316701 13/865525 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51729652 |
Filed Date | 2014-10-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140316701 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Cardonha; Carlos Henrique ;
et al. |
October 23, 2014 |
CONTROL SYSTEM FOR INDICATING IF PEOPLE CAN REACH LOCATIONS THAT
SATISFY A PREDETERMINED SET OF CONDITIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
Abstract
Managing routes to meet one or more predetermined conditions, in
one aspect, may comprise receiving user information associated with
a user via a user's device. Based on the user information, at least
a target location to where the user is traveling may be determined.
Path information associated with one or more intermediary locations
leading to the target location may be received. The path
information may be received automatically from one or more sensors
installed at the respective intermediary locations for detecting
the path information. A route strategy that meets one or more
conditions may be estimated by analyzing the user information and
the path information. The user information may be obtained
automatically from one or more of social network profile data
associated with the user, electronic calendar data associated with
the user, or historical data associated with the user stored in a
user profile database.
Inventors: |
Cardonha; Carlos Henrique;
(Sao Paulo, BR) ; Kanevsky; Dimitri; (Ossining,
NY) ; Malkin; Peter K.; (Yorktown Heights, NY)
; Seelam; Seetharami R.; (Yorktown Heights, NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
International Business Machines
Corporation
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
51729652 |
Appl. No.: |
13/865525 |
Filed: |
April 18, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
701/537 ;
701/400 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C 21/20 20130101;
G01C 21/3423 20130101; G01C 21/3407 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/537 ;
701/400 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/00 20060101
G01C021/00 |
Claims
1. A method of managing routes to meet one or more predetermined
conditions, comprising: receiving user information associated with
a user via a user's device; determining, by a processor, based on
the user information, at least a target location to where the user
is traveling; receiving path information associated with one or
more intermediary locations leading to the target location, the
path information received automatically from one or more sensors
installed at the respective intermediary locations for detecting
the path information; and estimating a route strategy that meets
one or more conditions by analyzing the user information and the
path information.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user information is
automatically obtained from social network profile data associated
with the user, electronic calendar data associated with the user,
or historical data associated with the user stored in a user
profile database, or combinations thereof.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditions are
user-preferred conditions.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the path information comprises a
population density associated with a vehicle traveling to the
target location.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the vehicle comprises a multi-car
vehicle and the population density is provided for each car of the
multi-car vehicle.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the route strategy comprises
selecting a car of the multi-car vehicle that is less densely
populated.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the route strategy comprises
selecting a route to the target location that overlaps with a route
of another user.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the route strategy comprises
selecting a route to the target location that does not overlap with
a route of another user.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user information further
comprises time information associated with a time the user should
get to the target location.
10-20. (canceled)
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present application relates generally to computers, and
computer applications, and more particularly to a route management,
for example, a control system for indicating if people can reach
locations that satisfy a predetermined set of conditions and/or
requirements.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In situations in which people need to travel to a location
or event, and in which the people have the choice regarding the
arrival time, the travel path and/or positioning, one may want to
know the best strategy to follow given a set of conditions and
requirements and in accordance with one or more priorities. For
example, a passenger who is about to take the subway (underground
transit) may want to get on board or enter in the less densely
occupied car or in the ones where the passenger may (or will) find
people that he would like to meet. In another context, a person
attending an event (e.g., sports games, theatre) may want to avoid
coming early and being in a seat where the person might have to
stand up constantly to allow other people arriving later to pass to
reach their seats. Inventors in the present disclosure have
recognized that enabling the identification of such or other like
strategies may improve user experience in a variety of
scenarios.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0003] A method of managing routes to meet one or more
predetermined conditions, in one aspect, may comprise receiving
user information associated with a user via a user's device. The
method may also comprise determining based on the user information,
at least a target location to where the user is traveling. The
method may further comprise receiving path information associated
with one or more intermediary locations leading to the target
location, the path information received automatically from one or
more sensors installed at the respective intermediary locations for
detecting the path information. The method may also comprise
estimating a route strategy that meets one or more conditions by
analyzing the user information and the path information.
[0004] A system for managing routes to meet one or more
predetermined conditions, in one aspect, may comprise a server
operable to execute on a processor and further operable to receive
user information associated with a user via a user's device. The
server may be further operable to determine based on the user
information, at least a target location to where the user is
traveling. The server may be further operable to receive path
information associated with one or more intermediary locations
leading to the target location, the path information received
automatically from one or more sensors installed at the respective
intermediary locations for detecting the path information. The
server may be further operable to estimate a route strategy that
meets one or more conditions by analyzing the user information and
the path information. The user information may be automatically
obtained from social network profile data associated with the user,
electronic calendar data associated with the user, or historical
data associated with the user stored in a user profile database, or
combinations thereof.
[0005] A computer readable storage medium storing a program of
instructions executable by a machine to perform one or more methods
described herein also may be provided.
[0006] Further features as well as the structure and operation of
various embodiments are described in detail below with reference to
the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers
indicate identical or functionally similar elements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating components of the present
disclosure in one embodiment.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of the
present disclosure in one embodiment.
[0009] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of an example computer or
processing system that may implement a system in one embodiment of
the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] A system and method may be provided for enabling users to be
informed about what is considered the best or nearly best strategy
regarding reaching an event or location given a set of personal
conditions and requirements. For instance, information such as how
crowded a transportation medium is for traveling to the event or
location may be estimated and provided to the user for helping in
making a choice as to which path to take. To identify such
information, distributed sensor methodologies may be employed. So
for example, in order to identify a density of population in
trains, sub-ways, buses, and/or other transportation medium,
several distributed sensor methods may be utilized.
[0011] For example, a traveler's smartphone or like device may have
a global positioning system (GPS), and enable access to the
traveler's profiles such as schedules stored in an online calendar
application, social network profile, and other database data that
might be stored on or maintained by the smartphone or the like
device. This information may be transmitted to a computer server
device or the like. The information, e.g., may indicate the
location or event and the time the traveler needs to be there.
Taking the information, the computer server may estimate data
related to traveling to the location or event, and/or about the
location or event. For instance, information related to the
location, various paths thereto, conditions relating to traveling
to the location or event, and other information may be
estimated.
[0012] As in the above, some specific examples may include, but are
not limited to, the computer server estimating a density of
population in moving vehicles and predicting the expected density
of travelers at various stops or stations. The estimated density
may be estimated per car if the vehicle has multiple cars (e.g., as
in subways or trains).
[0013] Travelers who are waiting at a stop can also receive such
information on their smartphones or the like. The information would
aid in allowing the traveler to select a particular stop to board
the vehicle or even which car to board (e.g., in case of a subway
or train).
[0014] This information also may be displayed on screens
(electronic boards) attached to the vehicles to indicate occupancy
level, for example, coloring a digital band placed on a car of the
subway train that represents the density, for example, red to
represent more than 100 people in the car, green to represent less
than 10.
[0015] Cameras or the like may be placed in the vehicles and/or
station stops for transmitting information for estimating the
density or number of people riding in the vehicles. Microphones may
be installed in the vehicles for transmitting audio or noise
intensity, which the computer server may be able to translate to
density level of the vehicles. Motion detection sensor may be
installed and located at doors of the vehicles to detect entering
and exiting passengers, and that information may be transmitted to
the computer server. From such information the computer server may
estimate the density of the vehicles. In another aspect, turnstiles
used in transportation systems in stations may be able to detect
entering and exiting passengers, from which information the
computer server may be able to estimate the population density in
the location or area of the turnstiles. Information available on
social networks and blogs may be also employed to determine
population density.
[0016] In another aspect, a system and method may be provided for
verification of conditions pre-determined by a user when entering a
transportation vehicle. For instance, as discussed above, a sensor
may be embedded or installed in parts of the vehicle, for example,
to determine people density. Social network data may be used in
order to determine if one or more friends and acquaintances are in
one of the parts of the vehicle and can be met. For example, such
social network or blog data may be analyzed to determine which
friend might be traveling in which vehicle. Such social network or
blog data may be used to predict the strategy that other people
using the vehicle will follow, for example, forecasting based on
the analysis of data published in social networks and/or blogs,
what they will do. The resulting information may be displayed for
the user, for example, on the user's device such as a
smartphone.
[0017] Information about different users may be received by the
computer server. The computer server may analyze and estimate
strategies of different users. The estimated strategies of
different users may be used to determine strategy of a user. For
instance, user A's strategy is determined to be taking path X. User
B would like to take different path than user A. Using such
information, the computer server determines user B's strategy to be
taking path Y, rather than path X.
[0018] Conversely, as another example, if user B would like to take
the same path as user A, the computer server may determine user B's
strategy to be taking path X as well. In such case, an optimal
solution may be also provided, for example, suggesting that user A
and user B pool together.
[0019] In one aspect, a system implementing the above-described
methodologies may comprise the following elements. Event
tuples<entity, location, time interval>indicate where an
entity is at a moment or period of time. The entity may be an
event, a person, or an object (e.g., bus, subway). Affinity
tuples<entity 1, entity 2, affinity, context>indicate the
level of affinity between entity 1 and entity 2 in a context. The
context may contain information about time, location, weather,
presence of other entities, and others). Relationship
tuples<entity 1, entity 2, value, context>indicate the weight
(value) of the relation between entity 1 and entity 2 in a context.
The tuples are logical elements, which may be implemented as
computer data structures.
[0020] A storage engine may contain a list of locations, e.g., in a
city and/or another location. Level of granularity (i.e., distance
between two different locations) may be variable (very short in
stadiums and theaters, very large in open fields). This data can be
collected and may also updated constantly or periodically from
sources such as social networks, from open-access or
restricted-access databases from companies, e.g., interested in
supplying this information, and/or from tools allowing for direct
indication by users. Affinity and relationship tuples may be
requested or automatically calculated based on, for example,
statistical tools for prediction, association, and causal
inference.
[0021] A server engine or application module may receive
information, for example, from an application module deployed on a
portable device (e.g., a smartphone equipped with one or more
devices such as GPS sensor) about a user. The received information
and the storage engine stored information may be used for analysis.
Resulting data (e.g., prediction of strategies, routing path, and
others) may be provided. For instance, an algorithm may choose one
or more optimal paths containing and/or using criterion associated
with an event. The event may be an external event such as a weather
system, social event (e.g., sport game), a traffic pattern (e.g.,
rush hour), disaster (e.g., road washed out), a prediction of any
of the foregoing, density of a category of people in a location at
some time, and/or others. The event also may be a personal event,
e.g., that happens within a social network of the user, information
about one or more paths of one or more third party social contacts
of the user.
[0022] In another aspect, the storage engine may store a data
structure containing contact information about one or more of the
third party social contacts. The contact information in the data
structure may include one or more of the following: contact name,
contact origin location, contact destination information, contact
travel times, contact calendar information, contact
preferences/hobbies/things in common with the user, contact
preferred locations (recreational spots, etc.), contact
privilege/security/assess information, contact priority (e.g., 1st
tier, 2nd tier, etc.) contact category (e.g., close family, near
family, business associate), contact status (friend or foe),
etc.
[0023] The server engine may also comprise an optimizer
functionality that may match one or more of the paths of the user
to one or more paths of one or more of the contacts. If shared
paths are not desirable, the optimizer functionality may suggest a
route that minimizes the possibility of having undesired meetings.
The optimizer functionality may match a time of travel along the
path for the user and one or more of the contacts along with the
paths that are matched. The optimizer functionality may also choose
one or more intermediate destinations for the user and one or more
of the contacts in order to have their paths matched. An
intermediate destination may be a preferred location for both the
user and the contacts. The optimizer functionality may also match
one or more "approximate" path for the user and one or more of the
contacts. The optimizer functionality may also match one or more
"approximate" travel time for the user and one or more of the
contacts. A modified path and/or travel time for the user and/or
contact may be suggested so that an exact path and/or time match is
established.
[0024] The server engine may also predict approximate future path
and/or time matches, suggest the future exact path and/or matches,
and notify the user and/or contact of the future exact path and/or
time and the changes necessary to the user itinerary. A
communication function may send such notification of the
suggestions to the user and/or contact. The impact of communication
on user behavior may be predicted and a communication message may
be adjusted to satisfy overall user expectation. Communication may
be performed with intelligent agents (e.g., mobile communication
devices) associated with users.
[0025] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating components of the present
disclosure in one embodiment. A computer server 102 may include
hardware processor and an engine or application module that
performs the methodologies described above. A storage engine 104
may store data, such as input data, intermediary data, and
resulting data used in the methodologies of the present disclosure.
A computer server 102 may receive from one or more client
applications 106 (e.g., stored on a client device such as a mobile
phone and/or others) data about one or more respective users, such
as the calendar schedule information, social network profile
information, and others. The computer server 102 may also receive
location information from one or more sensors 108 installed in one
or more locations. Based on the received information (and
additional information stored in the storage engine 104, if
needed), the server 102 may compute a strategy desirable to a user,
and suggest the strategy to the user.
[0026] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of the
present disclosure in one embodiment. The method, for example,
manages routes to meet one or more predetermined conditions. At
202, user information associated with a user may be received via a
user's device. As discussed above, for instance, the user
information may be automatically obtained from social network
profile data associated with the user, electronic calendar data
associated with the user, or historical data associated with the
user stored in a user profile database, or combinations
thereof.
[0027] At 204, based on the user information, at least a target
location to where the user is traveling may be determined. Time of
travel and other information may be also obtained.
[0028] At 206, path information associated with one or more
intermediary locations leading to the target location may be
received. The path information may be received automatically from
one or more sensors installed at the respective intermediary
locations for detecting the path information. Examples of the path
information may include, but are not limited to, population density
associated with a vehicle traveling to the target location (e.g.,
as in subway cars as described above).
[0029] At 208, a route strategy that meets one or more conditions
may be estimated by analyzing the user information and the path
information. The one or more conditions may be user-preferred
conditions, for example, specified by the user, or automatically
determined based on the user information. Examples of
user-preferred conditions may include, but are not limited to,
not-crowded transportation vehicle, route that overlaps with
another person (e.g., to be able to meet up with that person),
route that does not overlap with another person's route (e.g., so
as to not meet with that person during the travel) and/or
others.
[0030] At 210, the estimated route strategy is provided to the
user.
[0031] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic of an example computer or
processing system that may implement a system in one embodiment of
the present disclosure. The computer system is only one example of
a suitable processing system and is not intended to suggest any
limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments
of the methodology described herein. The processing system shown
may be operational with numerous other general purpose or special
purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples
of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or
configurations that may be suitable for use with the processing
system shown in FIG. 3 may include, but are not limited to,
personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients,
thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer
electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer
systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include
any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
[0032] The computer system may be described in the general context
of computer system executable instructions, such as program
modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program
modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic,
data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types. The computer system may
be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments where
tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked
through a communications network. In a distributed cloud computing
environment, program modules may be located in both local and
remote computer system storage media including memory storage
devices.
[0033] The components of computer system may include, but are not
limited to, one or more processors or processing units 12, a system
memory 16, and a bus 14 that couples various system components
including system memory 16 to processor 12. The processor 12 may
include a module 10 that performs the methods described herein. The
module 10 may be programmed into the integrated circuits of the
processor 12, or loaded from memory 16, storage device 18, or
network 24 or combinations thereof.
[0034] Bus 14 may represent one or more of any of several types of
bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a
peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or
local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of
example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA)
bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards
Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component
Interconnects (PCI) bus.
[0035] Computer system may include a variety of computer system
readable media. Such media may be any available media that is
accessible by computer system, and it may include both volatile and
non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.
[0036] System memory 16 can include computer system readable media
in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)
and/or cache memory or others. Computer system may further include
other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer
system storage media. By way of example only, storage system 18 can
be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable,
non-volatile magnetic media (e.g., a "hard drive"). Although not
shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a
removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a "floppy disk"), and
an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable,
non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other
optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be
connected to bus 14 by one or more data media interfaces.
[0037] Computer system may also communicate with one or more
external devices 26 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a
display 28, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to
interact with computer system; and/or any devices (e.g., network
card, modem, etc.) that enable computer system to communicate with
one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur
via Input/Output (I/O) interfaces 20.
[0038] Still yet, computer system can communicate with one or more
networks 24 such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area
network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via
network adapter 22. As depicted, network adapter 22 communicates
with the other components of computer system via bus 14. It should
be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or
software components could be used in conjunction with computer
system. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode, device
drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,
RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems,
etc.
[0039] 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.
[0040] 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: 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), 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.
[0041] 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.
[0042] 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.
[0043] 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, a scripting
language such as Perl, VBS or similar languages, and/or functional
languages such as Lisp and ML and logic-oriented languages such as
Prolog. 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).
[0044] Aspects of the present invention are described 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.
[0045] 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.
[0046] 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.
[0047] 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.
[0048] The computer program product may comprise all the respective
features enabling the implementation of the methodology described
herein, and which--when loaded in a computer system--is able to
carry out the methods. Computer program, software program, program,
or software, in the present context means any expression, in any
language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to
cause a system having an information processing capability to
perform a particular function either directly or after either or
both of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or
notation; and/or (b) reproduction in a different material form.
[0049] 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 or more other features, integers,
steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
[0050] The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and
equivalents of all means or step plus function elements, if any, 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.
[0051] Various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied as
a program, software, or computer instructions embodied in a
computer or machine usable or readable medium, which causes the
computer or machine to perform the steps of the method when
executed on the computer, processor, and/or machine. A program
storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program
of instructions executable by the machine to perform various
functionalities and methods described in the present disclosure is
also provided.
[0052] The system and method of the present disclosure may be
implemented and run on a general-purpose computer or
special-purpose computer system. The terms "computer system" and
"computer network" as may be used in the present application may
include a variety of combinations of fixed and/or portable computer
hardware, software, peripherals, and storage devices. The computer
system may include a plurality of individual components that are
networked or otherwise linked to perform collaboratively, or may
include one or more stand-alone components. The hardware and
software components of the computer system of the present
application may include and may be included within fixed and
portable devices such as desktop, laptop, and/or server. A module
may be a component of a device, software, program, or system that
implements some "functionality", which can be embodied as software,
hardware, firmware, electronic circuitry, or etc.
[0053] The embodiments described above are illustrative examples
and it should not be construed that the present invention is
limited to these particular embodiments. Thus, various changes and
modifications may be effected by one skilled in the art without
departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in
the appended claims.
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