U.S. patent application number 16/511234 was filed with the patent office on 2019-11-07 for bidding via bluetooth beacon.
This patent application is currently assigned to American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.. Invention is credited to Sibish Neelikattil Basheerahammed, Sastry VSM Durvasula, Premkumar Manivannan, Anuj K. Mathur, Sathish B. Muthukrishnan, Philip Norman, Robert Wilmes, David M. Wolf.
Application Number | 20190340598 16/511234 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 54556351 |
Filed Date | 2019-11-07 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20190340598 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Basheerahammed; Sibish Neelikattil
; et al. |
November 7, 2019 |
BIDDING VIA BLUETOOTH BEACON
Abstract
A method comprises transmitting, by a merchant web-client, a
signal using a low energy consuming device, wherein the signal may
be received by a transaction account holder web-client, wherein the
signal may carry content associated with a merchant, and wherein
the merchant is associated with the merchant web-client, and/or
receiving, by the merchant web-client, a response from the
transaction account holder web-client, wherein the response may be
transmitted by the transaction account holder web-client to the
merchant web-client using the low energy consuming device. The
content may comprise an advertisement associated with an item
offered for sale by the merchant.
Inventors: |
Basheerahammed; Sibish
Neelikattil; (Phoenix, AZ) ; Durvasula; Sastry
VSM; (Phoenix, AZ) ; Manivannan; Premkumar;
(Phoenix, AZ) ; Mathur; Anuj K.; (Phoenix, AZ)
; Muthukrishnan; Sathish B.; (Phoenix, AZ) ;
Norman; Philip; (Brooklyn, NY) ; Wilmes; Robert;
(Scottsdale, AZ) ; Wolf; David M.; (Brooklyn,
NY) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. |
New York |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
American Express Travel Related
Services Company, Inc.
New York
NY
|
Family ID: |
54556351 |
Appl. No.: |
16/511234 |
Filed: |
July 15, 2019 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14284817 |
May 22, 2014 |
10395237 |
|
|
16511234 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 20/3224 20130101;
G06Q 20/3278 20130101; G06Q 30/0267 20130101; G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G06Q 30/06 20130101; G06Q 20/12 20130101; G06Q 30/08 20130101; G06Q
20/18 20130101; G06Q 20/3829 20130101; G06Q 30/0641 20130101; G06Q
20/32 20130101; G06Q 20/327 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/32 20060101
G06Q020/32; G06Q 30/02 20060101 G06Q030/02; G06Q 30/06 20060101
G06Q030/06; G06Q 30/08 20060101 G06Q030/08; G06Q 20/12 20060101
G06Q020/12; G06Q 20/38 20060101 G06Q020/38; G06Q 20/18 20060101
G06Q020/18 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: receiving, by a merchant web-client and
from a transaction account holder web-client, a first signal using
a low energy consuming device, in response to a customer logging
into an app on the transaction account holder web-client, wherein
the first signal includes personal information associated with the
customer and a micro-location of the transaction account holder
web-client; and receiving, by the merchant web-client and from the
transaction account holder web-client using the low energy
consuming device, a response including a bid to purchase an item
from a plurality of items offered by a merchant associated with the
merchant web-client.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the low energy consuming device
comprises a low energy BLUETOOTH beacon ("BLE beacon"), and wherein
the BLE beacon utilizes a cryptographic key exchange protocol.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the low energy consuming device
communicates with the transaction account holder web-client within
300 meters of the low energy consuming device.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising uploading, by the
merchant web-client, merchant content for the plurality of items
offered for sale by the merchant.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein a transaction account of the
customer is synched with the transaction account holder web-client
to create a synched transaction account.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by the
merchant web-client, merchant content based upon the personal
information associated with the customer.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating, by the
merchant web-client, merchant content to create updated content
while the transaction account holder web-client is located within
the micro-location.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating, by the
merchant web-client, merchant content to create updated content
while the transaction account holder web-client is located within
the micro-location and based upon the micro-location of the
transaction account holder web-client and at least one of new
customer status, loyal customer status or time of day that the
transaction account holder web-client is located within the
micro-location.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
merchant web-client and to the transaction account holder
web-client, an interactive item catalog of the plurality of items
based on updated content and offered for sale by the merchant.
10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
merchant web-client and to the transaction account holder
web-client, an interactive item catalog of the plurality of items
based on updated content and offered for sale by the merchant while
the transaction account holder web-client is located within the
micro-location.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
merchant web-client, a second signal using the low energy consuming
device.
12. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
merchant web-client, a second signal using the low energy consuming
device, wherein the second signal is received by the transaction
account holder web-client associated with the customer while the
transaction account holder web-client is located within the
micro-location.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
merchant web-client, a second signal using the low energy consuming
device, wherein the second signal carries updated content
associated with the merchant.
14. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the
merchant web-client, a second signal using the low energy consuming
device, wherein the second signal carries updated content
associated with the merchant, wherein the updated content comprises
an advertisement for an item of the plurality of items offered for
sale by the merchant, and wherein the advertisement is based on the
updated content.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting, by the
merchant web-client, the bid from a plurality of bids based upon at
least one of: a highest bid, a loyalty associated with the customer
to the merchant, or a new customer status of the customer with the
merchant.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying, by the
merchant web-client, the transaction account holder web-client of
winning the bid.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the
merchant web-client and from a payment processor, payment
information and authentication details associated with the item, in
response to the transaction account holder web-client authorizing
the payment processor to pay for the item using a synched
transaction account.
18. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the
merchant web-client, feedback from the transaction account holder
web-client using the low energy consuming device.
19. A merchant web-client comprising: a processor; and a tangible,
non-transitory memory communicating with the processor, the
tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon
that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the
processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, by the
merchant web-client and from a transaction account holder
web-client, a first signal using a low energy consuming device, in
response to a customer logging into an app on the transaction
account holder web-client, wherein the first signal includes
personal information associated with the customer and a
micro-location of the transaction account holder web-client; and
receiving, by the merchant web-client and from the transaction
account holder web-client using the low energy consuming device, a
response including a bid to purchase an item from a plurality of
items offered by a merchant associated with the merchant
web-client.
20. An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible
computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that,
in response to execution by a merchant web-client, cause the
merchant web-client to perform operations comprising: receiving, by
the merchant web-client and from a transaction account holder
web-client, a first signal using a low energy consuming device, in
response to a customer logging into an app on the transaction
account holder web-client, wherein the first signal includes
personal information associated with the customer and a
micro-location of the transaction account holder web-client; and
receiving, by the merchant web-client and from the transaction
account holder web-client using the low energy consuming device, a
response including a bid to purchase an item from a plurality of
items offered by a merchant associated with the merchant
web-client.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of, claims priority to
and the benefit of, U.S. Ser. No. 14/284,817 filed May 22, 2014 and
entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DYNAMIC PROXIMITY BASED
E-COMMERCE TRANSACTIONS," which is hereby incorporated herein in
its entirety for all purposes.
FIELD
[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to e-commerce, and
more particularly, to the provision of content based upon a
micro-location of a transaction account user.
BACKGROUND
[0003] At present, consumers may only receive tailored content
(e.g., advertisements and offers), some of which may be very
broadly based upon location. It would be desirable to tailor
content to consumers based upon a micro-location, as defined below,
of a consumer.
SUMMARY
[0004] A method comprises transmitting, by a merchant web-client, a
signal using a low energy consuming device (such as a BLUETOOTH low
energy consuming device), wherein the signal may be received by a
transaction account holder web-client, and wherein the signal may
carry content associated with a merchant (wherein the merchant is
associated with the merchant web-client), and/or receiving, by the
merchant web-client, a response from the transaction account holder
web-client, wherein the response may be transmitted by the
transaction account holder web-client to the merchant web-client
using the low energy consuming device. In various embodiments, the
content may comprise an advertisement associated with an item
offered for sale by the merchant. The method may further comprise
receiving, by the merchant web-client, a bid to purchase an item
associated with the content, wherein the content comprises an item
offered for sale by the merchant. The method may further comprise
selecting, by the merchant web-client, a bid from a plurality of
bids based upon at least one of: a highest bid, a loyalty
associated with the customer to the merchant, or a new customer
status of the customer with the merchant. The content may comprise
an interactive item catalog of items offered for sale by the
merchant. The low energy consuming device may communicate with a
transaction account holder web-client within 300 meters of the low
energy consuming device. The method may further comprise
transmitting, by the computer-based system, content based upon
personal information associated with the transaction account
holder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The features and advantages of the present disclosure will
become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below
when taken in conjunction with the drawings. The left-most digit of
a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference
number first appears.
[0006] FIG. 1A illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments,
a system for providing tailored content to a transaction account
holder based upon a micro-location of the transaction account
holder;
[0007] FIG. 1B illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments,
a system for receiving a charitable donation from a transaction
account holder based upon a micro-location of the transaction
account holder;
[0008] FIG. 2A illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments,
a process for providing tailored content to a transaction account
holder based upon a micro-location of the transaction account
holder; and
[0009] FIG. 2B illustrates, in accordance with various embodiments,
a process for receiving a charitable donation from a transaction
account holder based upon a micro-location of the transaction
account holder.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein
makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which show the
exemplary embodiments by way of illustration and their best mode.
While these exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient
detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the
disclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may be
realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made
without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes of
illustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps
recited in any of the method or process descriptions may be
executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented.
Moreover, any of the functions or steps may be outsourced to or
performed by one or more third parties. Furthermore, any reference
to singular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more
than one component may include a singular embodiment.
[0011] Phrases and terms similar to a "transaction account holder,"
"buyer," "participant", "consumer," and/or "user" may include any
person, entity, software and/or hardware that receives items in
exchange for consideration (e.g. financial payment). For example, a
buyer may purchase, lease, rent, barter or otherwise obtain items
from a supplier and pay the supplier using a transaction
account.
[0012] Phrases or terms similar to a "processor" (such as a payment
processor) or "transaction account issuer" may include a company
(e.g., a third party) appointed (e.g., by a merchant) to handle
transactions for merchant banks. Processors may be broken down into
two types: front-end and back-end. Front-end processors have
connections to various transaction accounts and supply
authorization and settlement services to the merchant banks'
merchants. Back-end processors accept settlements from front-end
processors and, via The Federal Reserve Bank, move money from an
issuing bank to the merchant bank. In an operation that will
usually take a few seconds, the payment processor will both check
the details received by forwarding the details to the respective
account's issuing bank or card association for verification, and
may carry out a series of anti-fraud measures against the
transaction. Additional parameters, including the account's country
of issue and its previous payment history, may be used to gauge the
probability of the transaction being approved. In response to the
payment processor receiving confirmation that the transaction
account details have been verified, the information may be relayed
back to the merchant, who will then complete the payment
transaction. In response to the verification being denied, the
payment processor relays the information to the merchant, who may
then decline the transaction.
[0013] As used herein, "transmit" may include sending electronic
data from one system component to another over a network
connection. Additionally, as used herein, "data" may include
encompassing information such as commands, queries, files, data for
storage, and the like in digital or any other form.
[0014] Phrases or terms similar to "transaction account" may
include any account that may be used to facilitate a financial
transaction. A "transaction account" as used herein refers to an
account associated with an open account or a closed account system
(as described herein). The transaction account may exist in a
physical or non-physical embodiment. For example, a transaction
account may be distributed in non-physical embodiments such as an
account number, frequent-flyer account, and telephone calling
account or the like. Furthermore, a physical embodiment of a
transaction account may be distributed as a financial
instrument.
[0015] In general, transaction accounts may be used for
transactions between the user (or "transaction account holder") and
merchant through any suitable communication means, such as, for
example, a telephone network, intranet, the global, public
Internet, a point of interaction device (e.g., a point of sale
(POS) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone,
kiosk, etc.), online communications, off-line communications,
wireless communications, and/or the like.
[0016] As used herein, a "micro-location" of a transaction account
holder may comprise a location of a transaction account holder in
relation to any energy consuming device. For example, the energy
consuming device may comprise a high, medium, and/or low energy
consuming device and/or any combination thereof. For example, the
energy consuming device may be a low power and/or low energy
consuming device. Such a device may be a BLUETOOTH device, such as
a wireless beacon communicating using a low power or low energy
BLUETOOTH communication standard (a "BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY beacon"
or simply, a "BLE beacon"). However, in various embodiments, any
type of low energy consuming device may be implemented with the
systems described herein. For example, in various embodiments, any
device (including any other BLE beacon) capable of communicating
with a web-client and/or any other BLE beason within three hundred
meters of a BLE beacon may comprise a low energy consuming device.
Thus, although the phrase "BLE beacon" is used herein with
particular respect to a BLUETOOTH low energy consuming device, a
BLE beacon may comprise any energy consuming device capable of
communication with a web-client. In various embodiments, the low
energy consuming device may capable of communication with a
web-client to within approximately three hundred meters or
less--that is, any device capable of communicating with a
web-client within a micro-location of the web-client. As described
above, a low energy consuming device (e.g., BLE beacon 103a and/or
103b) may comprise any device capable of transmitting and/or
receiving a signal wirelessly using a low power or low energy
connection to a network. In various embodiments, such a signal may
comprise a BLUETOOTH signal. A BLUETOOTH signal may comprise and/or
utilize one or more internet protocol ("IP") session connections.
The IP session connections may enable a variety of piconet
communication technologies. In various embodiments, particularly
with regard IP version 6, a cryptographic key exchange protocol
(symmetric and/or asymmetric) may be implemented. For example, a
key management device may utilize IEEE Standard 1363.1-2013 for
identity based cryptographic techniques that utilize pairings such
that an encryption key may comprise one or more plain text strings
(such as one or more email addresses).
[0017] Accordingly, although the term "BLE beacon" is used herein
in association with a BLUETOOTH communication protocol and/or
signal, the phrase may refer to any communication protocol and/or
any other "low energy" signal. As used herein, a "low energy
signal" may comprise any signal capable of being received by a
web-client within a range of approximately three hundred meters or
less. In various embodiments, a BLE beacon 103a and/or 103b may
enable the discovery of a micro-location of a transaction account
holder. A micro-location may comprise any location of the
transaction account holder within, for example, three hundred
meters of a BLE beacon.
[0018] Phrases and terms similar to an "item" may include any good,
service, information, experience, data, discount, rebate, points,
virtual currency, content, access, rental, lease, contribution,
account, credit, debit, benefit, right, reward, points, coupons,
credits, monetary equivalent, anything of value, something of
minimal or no value, monetary value, non-monetary value and/or the
like. Moreover, the "transactions" or "purchases" discussed herein
may be associated with an item. Furthermore, a "reward" may be an
item.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 1A, a system 100A for providing tailored
content to a transaction account holder based upon a micro-location
of the transaction account holder is shown. The system may comprise
a merchant web-client 102, a low energy consuming device or BLE
beacon 103a, a network 104, a low energy consuming device or BLE
beacon 103b, a transaction account holder web-client 106, and/or a
transaction account server system 108.
[0020] Referring to FIG. 1B, a system for receiving a charitable
donation from a transaction account holder based upon a
micro-location of the transaction account holder is shown. The
system may comprise a low energy consuming device or BLE beacon
103a, a network 104, a low energy consuming device or BLE beacon
103b, a transaction account holder web-client 106, and/or a
transaction account server system 108.
[0021] A merchant web-client 102 and/or a transaction account
holder web-client 106 may include any device (e.g., personal
computing device/mobile communication device) which communicates
via any network. A web-client may be associated with and/or used by
a consumer, a merchant, or both. A web-client may comprise a
variety of browsing software or browser applications (e.g.,
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple
Safari, or any other of the myriad software packages available for
browsing the internet). Such browser applications may comprise
Internet browsing software installed within a computing unit or a
system to conduct online transactions and/or communications. These
computing units or systems may take the form of a computer or
processor, or a set of computers/processors, although other types
of computing units or systems may be used, including laptops,
notebooks, hand held computers, personal digital assistants,
cellular phones, smart phones (e.g., iPhone.RTM., BlackBerry.RTM.,
Droid.RTM., etc.) set-top boxes, workstations, computer-servers,
main frame computers, mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive
computers, network sets of computers, personal computers, such as
iPads, iMACs, and MacBooks, kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS)
devices and/or terminals, televisions, or any other device capable
of receiving data over a network 104.
[0022] As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web-client
may include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT,
95/98/2000/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, PalmOS,
etc.) as well as various conventional support software and drivers
typically associated with computers. A web-client may implement
security protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport
Layer Security (TLS). A web-client may implement one or more
application layer protocols, including, for example, http, https,
ftp, and sftp. Transactions originating at a web client may pass
through a firewall (not shown; see below) in order to prevent
unauthorized access from users of other networks.
[0023] A network 104 may comprise any electronic communications
system or method which incorporates software and/or hardware
components. Communication may be accomplished through any suitable
communication channels, such as, for example, a telephone network,
an extranet, an intranet, Internet, point of interaction device
(point of sale device, personal digital assistant, smart phone,
cellular phone (e.g., iPhone.RTM., Palm Pilot.RTM.,
Blackberry.RTM.), kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellite
communications, off-line communications, wireless communications,
transponder communications, local area network (LAN), wide area
network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networked or linked
devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication or data
input modality. Moreover, although a network 104 may be described
herein as being implemented with TCP/IP communications protocols,
the network 104 may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6,
NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or any
number of existing or future protocols. If the network 104 is in
the nature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may be
advantageous to presume the network 104 to be insecure and open to
eavesdroppers. Specific information related to the protocols,
standards, and application software utilized in connection with the
Internet is generally known to those skilled in the art and, as
such, need not be detailed herein. See, for example, DILIP NAIK,
INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2 COMPLETE, various
authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, MASTERING HTML 4.0
(1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997) and DAVID
GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002), the
contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
[0024] The various system components described herein may be
independently, separately or collectively coupled to the network
104 via one or more data links including, for example, a connection
to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) over a local loop as is
typically used in connection with standard modem communication,
cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), or
various wireless communication methods, see, e.g., GILBERT HELD,
UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which is hereby
incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network 104 may be
implemented variously. For example, network 104 may be implemented
as an interactive television (ITV) network. The systems and methods
disclosed herein contemplate the use, sale and/or distribution of
any goods, services or information over any network having
functionality similar to that described above with reference to
network 104.
[0025] In various embodiments, a transaction account server system
108 may comprise any type of hardware and/or software (e.g., a
computer server or computer server system) configured or
configurable to perform the processes described below.
[0026] With reference to FIG. 2A, an exemplary process 200A for
providing tailored content to a transaction account holder based
upon a micro-location of the transaction account holder is shown.
In various embodiments, a merchant may log into a BLE application
(such as a software application) using a merchant web-client 102
(step 202A). The merchant may acquire (e.g., the merchant may
photograph, download, or otherwise acquire) an image associated
with an item offered for sale by the merchant (step 204A). In
various embodiments, the merchant may associate data (e.g., price
data) with the item (step 206A). Further, in various embodiments,
the merchant may advertise the item for sale (or transmit a signal
carrying advertisement information) using a BLE beacon 103a linked
to the merchant web-client 102 via the network 104 (step 208A). As
described herein, an advertisement may relate to and/or be
associated with any item. A variety of (non-limiting) items are
described above. The merchant may further associate an offer with
the item, which may vary in time and/or based upon the transaction
account holder's status (e.g., new customer, loyal customer, etc.)
with the merchant.
[0027] Similarly, a merchant may transmit, to a transaction account
holder web-client 106, using a BLE beacon 103a and/or 103b, an
interactive item catalog and/or an interactive offer. Similarly, a
merchant may receive real-time feedback from a transaction account
holder in relation to an item purchased via the processes described
herein. Further still, the systems described herein may facilitate
interactive gas pump stations, such as a gas pump station installed
with a BLE beacon 103a and/or 103b that enables a transaction
account holder, using the transaction account holder's BLE
application, to select a fuel grade and/or pay for fuel using the
BLE application, for example. A BLE beacon 103a and/or 103b
installed in a gas pump station may further communicate to the
transaction account holder (e.g., through the transaction account
holder's BLE application) the benefits of using premium gasoline
based, for example, on the transaction account holder's vehicle
model and/or year, a cost or comparison of gas prices, such as a
comparison of two consecutive gas purchases, and the like.
[0028] Meanwhile (and/or at any time), a transaction account holder
may log into a BLE application (e.g., a software application) using
the transaction account holder web-client 106 (step 210A). Further,
in various embodiments, the transaction account holder may receive,
using the BLE application installed on the transaction account
holder web-client 106, the advertisement provided by the merchant
(step 212A). The transaction account holder BLE application may
display the advertisement for the transaction account holder using
the transaction account holder web-client 106.
[0029] In various embodiments, having received the advertisement,
for example, the transaction account holder may place a bid (e.g.,
a price the transaction account holder is willing to pay for the
item) on the item using the transaction account holder's BLE
application installed on the transaction account holder's
web-client 106 (step 214A). The transaction account holder may
further purchase the item (in response, for example, to winning the
bid by offering to pay the highest price among a plurality of
bidders). Moreover, in various embodiments, the transaction account
holder may simply purchase an advertised item, rather than, for
example, bidding on the item. Thus, in various embodiments, the
merchant web-client 102 may receive a response from the transaction
account holder's web-client 106 transmitted by one or more BLE
beacons 103a and/or 103b.
[0030] However, in the case of a bid, the merchant may determine
whether to accept a transaction account holder's bid from among a
plurality of bids (step 216A). The criteria for determining whether
to accept a bid may be based on the highest price bid, a loyalty of
a transaction account holder to the merchant, the fact that the
transaction account holder has never made a purchase with the
merchant, and the like. Similarly, merchants may offer bids to
transaction account holders based upon personal information
associated with a transaction account holder, the time of day, the
location of the transaction account holder, and the like. Factors
such as these may influence the merchant's determination as to
which transaction holder to award the item to. Thus, the highest
bidder may not necessarily win a bid, particularly where, for
example, the merchant wishes to reward a loyal customer and/or
entice a new customer to shop again with the merchant.
[0031] In response to accepting a bid and/or receiving a purchase
request (absent a bid), the transaction account holder may, through
the BLE application installed on the transaction account holder's
web-client 106, request, through the network 104, the transaction
account server system 108, payment by the transaction account
issuer, for the item (step 218A). In response, the merchant may
receive a purchase notification (e.g., from the transaction account
server system 108) and/or transaction account holder authentication
details (step 220A). Thus, the merchant may be notified, perhaps of
the merchant's BLE application, that the transaction account holder
has been approved to make the purchase. In response, the
transaction account holder may physically retrieve and/or receive
from the merchant the item (step 222A).
[0032] In various embodiments, a transaction account holder may, in
response to placing a bid and/or purchasing an item, provide to the
merchant, using the transaction account holder's BLE application,
feedback associated with the bid and/or purchase. The feedback may,
as described herein, be received by a BLE beacon 103a and/or 103b
and transmitted to the merchant BLE application.
[0033] With regard to FIG. 2B, a process 200B for receiving a
charitable donation from a transaction account holder based upon a
micro-location of the transaction account holder is shown. In
various embodiments, a charity and/or a requested donation amount
associated with a charity may be advertised within a micro-location
by a BLE beacon, such as BLE beacon 103a (step 202B). The BLE
beacon 103a may be communicatively coupled to a system for
receiving the donation.
[0034] Further, in various embodiments, a transaction account
holder may log into the transaction account holder's BLE
application (as described above) using the transaction account
holder's web-client 106 (step 204B). The transaction account holder
may, using the BLE application, select an amount and or select an
option to make a charitable donation, whereupon the transaction
account holder web-client 106 may request authorization from the
transaction account server system 108 and/or transaction account
issuer (in communication with or owning the transaction account
server system 108) for authorization. In response to authorization,
the transaction account server system 108 may communicate with the
BLE beacon 103a through network 104 to transfer funds to the
charity. The transaction account holder may further receive, in
response to the donation, a document or record indicating that the
transaction account holder made the donation, such as for example,
for tax purposes.
[0035] An "account", "account code", or "account number", as used
herein, may include any device, code, number, letter, symbol,
digital certificate, smart chip, digital signal, analog signal,
biometric or other identifier/indicia suitably configured to allow
the consumer to access, interact with or communicate with the
system (e.g., one or more of an authorization/access code, personal
identification number (PIN), Internet code, other identification
code, and/or the like). The account number may optionally be
located on or associated with a rewards card, charge card, credit
card, debit card, prepaid card, telephone card, embossed card,
smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card, transponder, radio
frequency card or an associated account. The system may include or
interface with any of the foregoing cards or devices, QR codes,
Bluetooth, Near Field Communication, or a transponder and RFID
reader in RF communication with the transponder (which may include
a fob). Typical devices may include, for example, a key ring, tag,
card, cell phone, wristwatch or any such form capable of being
presented for interrogation.
[0036] As used herein, a system, computing unit or device may
include a "pervasive computing device," which may include a
traditionally non-computerized device that is embedded with a
computing unit. Examples can include watches, Internet enabled
kitchen appliances, restaurant tables embedded with RF readers,
wallets or purses with imbedded transponders, etc.
[0037] The account code may be distributed and stored in any form
of plastic, electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio
and/or optical device capable of transmitting or downloading data
from itself to a second device. A customer account code may be, for
example, a sixteen-digit transaction account code, although each
transaction account provider has its own numbering system, such as
the fifteen-digit numbering system used by American Express. Each
company's transaction account codes comply with that company's
standardized format such that the company using a fifteen-digit
format will generally use three-spaced sets of numbers, as
represented by the number "0000 000000 00000". The first five to
seven digits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the
issuing bank, card type, etc. In this example, the last (fifteenth)
digit is used as a sum check for the fifteen digit number. The
intermediary eight-to-eleven digits are used to uniquely identify
the customer. A merchant account code may be, for example, any
number or alpha-numeric characters that identify a particular
merchant for purposes of card acceptance, account reconciliation,
reporting, or the like.
[0038] It should be noted that the transfer of information in
accordance with the present disclosure, may be completed in a
format recognizable by a merchant system or account issuer. In that
regard, by way of example, the information may be transmitted from
a contactless (e.g., an RFID device) to a contactless (e.g., RFID)
reader or from the contactless reader to the merchant system in a
variety of formats, e.g., magnetic stripe or multi-track magnetic
stripe format.
[0039] As used herein, phrases and terms similar to "financial
institution," "transaction account issuer" and "payment processor"
may include any person, entity, software and/or hardware that
offers transaction account services. Although often referred to as
a "financial institution," the financial institution may represent
any type of bank, lender or other type of account issuing
institution, such as credit card companies, card sponsoring
companies, or third party issuers under contract with financial
institutions. It is further noted that other participants may be
involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediary
settlement institution.
[0040] The terms "payment vehicle," "financial transaction
instrument," "transaction instrument," or "transaction account
product" may be used interchangeably throughout to refer to a
financial instrument. As used herein, an account code may or may
not be associated with a physical financial instrument.
[0041] In the detailed description herein, references to "one
embodiment", "an embodiment", "an example embodiment", "various
embodiments", etc., indicate that the embodiment described may
include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but
every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular
feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are
not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a
particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in
connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within
the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature,
structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments
whether or not explicitly described. After reading the description,
it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to
implement the disclosure in certain embodiments.
[0042] In various embodiments, the methods described herein are
implemented using the various particular machines described herein.
The methods described herein may be implemented using the
particular machines, and those hereinafter developed, in any
suitable combination, as would be appreciated immediately by one
skilled in the art. Further, as is unambiguous from this
disclosure, the methods described herein may result in various
transformations of certain articles.
[0043] For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking,
application development and other functional aspects of the systems
(and components of the individual operating components of the
systems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, the
connecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein are
intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or
physical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted
that many alternative or additional functional relationships or
physical connections may be present in a practical system.
[0044] The various system components discussed herein may include
one or more of the following: a host server or other computing
systems including a processor for processing digital data; a memory
coupled to the processor for storing digital data; an input
digitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data; an
application program stored in the memory and accessible by the
processor for directing processing of digital data by the
processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memory for
displaying information derived from digital data processed by the
processor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used
herein may include: client data; merchant data; financial
institution data; and/or like data useful in the operation of the
system. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, user computer
may include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000, XP,
Vista, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well as various
conventional support software and drivers typically associated with
computers. A user may include any individual, business, entity,
government organization, software and/or hardware that interact
with a system.
[0045] In an embodiment, various components, modules, and/or
engines of systems 100A and/or 100B may be implemented as
micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-apps are typically deployed
in the context of a mobile operating system, including for example,
a Palm mobile operating system, a Windows mobile operating system,
an Android Operating System, Apple iOS, a Blackberry operating
system and the like. The micro-app may be configured to leverage
the resources of the larger operating system and associated
hardware via a set of predetermined rules which govern the
operations of various operating systems and hardware resources. For
example, where a micro-app desires to communicate with a device or
network other than the mobile device or mobile operating system,
the micro-app may leverage the communication protocol of the
operating system and associated device hardware under the
predetermined rules of the mobile operating system. Moreover, where
the micro-app desires an input from a user, the micro-app may be
configured to request a response from the operating system which
monitors various hardware components and then communicates a
detected input from the hardware to the micro-app.
[0046] The system contemplates uses in association with web
services, utility computing, pervasive and individualized
computing, security and identity solutions, autonomic computing,
cloud computing, commodity computing, mobility and wireless
solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computing and/or mesh
computing.
[0047] Any databases discussed herein may include relational,
hierarchical, graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any
other database configurations. Common database products that may be
used to implement the databases include DB2 by IBM (Armonk, N.Y.),
various database products available from Oracle Corporation
(Redwood Shores, Calif.), Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server
by Microsoft Corporation (Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB
(Uppsala, Sweden), or any other suitable database product.
Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitable manner,
for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may be a
single file, a series of files, a linked series of data fields or
any other data structure. Association of certain data may be
accomplished through any desired data association technique such as
those known or practiced in the art. For example, the association
may be accomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic
association techniques may include, for example, a database search,
a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables
to speed searches, sequential searches through all the tables and
files, sorting records in the file according to a known order to
simplify lookup, and/or the like. The association step may be
accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a
"key field" in pre-selected databases or data sectors. Various
database tuning steps are contemplated to optimize database
performance. For example, frequently used files such as indexes may
be placed on separate file systems to reduce In/Out ("I/O")
bottlenecks.
[0048] More particularly, a "key field" partitions the database
according to the high-level class of objects defined by the key
field. For example, certain types of data may be designated as a
key field in a plurality of related data tables and the data tables
may then be linked on the basis of the type of data in the key
field. The data corresponding to the key field in each of the
linked data tables is preferably the same or of the same type.
However, data tables having similar, though not identical, data in
the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example. In
accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage technique
may be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets
may be stored using any suitable technique, including, for example,
storing individual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure;
implementing a domain whereby a dedicated file is selected that
exposes one or more elementary files containing one or more data
sets; using data sets stored in individual files using a
hierarchical filing system; data sets stored as records in a single
file (including compression, SQL accessible, hashed via one or more
keys, numeric, alphabetical by first tuple, etc.); Binary Large
Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped data elements encoded using
ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungrouped data elements
encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) as in
ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that may
include fractal compression methods, image compression methods,
etc.
[0049] In one exemplary embodiment, the ability to store a wide
variety of information in different formats is facilitated by
storing the information as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can
be stored in a storage space associated with a data set. As
discussed above, the binary information may be stored on the
financial transaction instrument or external to but affiliated with
the financial transaction instrument. The BLOB method may store
data sets as ungrouped data elements formatted as a block of binary
via a fixed memory offset using either fixed storage allocation,
circular queue techniques, or best practices with respect to memory
management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used, etc.). By
using BLOB methods, the ability to store various data sets that
have different formats facilitates the storage of data associated
with the financial transaction instrument by multiple and unrelated
owners of the data sets. For example, a first data set which may be
stored may be provided by a first party, a second data set which
may be stored may be provided by an unrelated second party, and yet
a third data set which may be stored, may be provided by an third
party unrelated to the first and second party. Each of these three
exemplary data sets may contain different information that is
stored using different data storage formats and/or techniques.
Further, each data set may contain subsets of data that also may be
distinct from other subsets.
[0050] As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be
stored without regard to a common format. However, in one exemplary
embodiment, the data set (e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a
standard manner when provided for manipulating the data onto the
financial transaction instrument. The annotation may comprise a
short header, trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to
each data set that is configured to convey information useful in
managing the various data sets. For example, the annotation may be
called a "condition header", "header", "trailer", or "status",
herein, and may comprise an indication of the status of the data
set or may include an identifier correlated to a specific issuer or
owner of the data. In one example, the first three bytes of each
data set BLOB may be configured or configurable to indicate the
status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED, INITIALIZED,
READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes of data may
be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer, user,
transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each of
these condition annotations are further discussed herein.
[0051] The data set annotation may also be used for other types of
status information as well as various other purposes. For example,
the data set annotation may include security information
establishing access levels. The access levels may, for example, be
configured to permit only certain individuals, levels of employees,
companies, or other entities to access data sets, or to permit
access to specific data sets based on the transaction, merchant,
issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, the security information may
restrict/permit only certain actions such as accessing, modifying,
and/or deleting data sets. In one example, the data set annotation
indicates that only the data set owner or the user are permitted to
delete a data set, various identified users may be permitted to
access the data set for reading, and others are altogether excluded
from accessing the data set. However, other access restriction
parameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a
data set with various permission levels as appropriate.
[0052] The data, including the header or trailer may be received by
a stand alone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify,
or augment the data in accordance with the header or trailer. As
such, in one embodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the
transaction device along with the associated issuer-owned data but
instead the appropriate action may be taken by providing to the
transaction instrument user at the stand alone device, the
appropriate option for the action to be taken. The system may
contemplate a data storage arrangement wherein the header or
trailer, or header or trailer history, of the data is stored on the
transaction instrument in relation to the appropriate data.
[0053] One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for
security reasons, any databases, systems, devices, servers or other
components of the system may consist of any combination thereof at
a single location or at multiple locations, wherein each database
or system includes any of various suitable security features, such
as firewalls, access codes, encryption, decryption, compression,
decompression, and/or the like.
[0054] A firewall may comprise any hardware and/or software
suitably configured to protect systems 100A and/or 100B components
and/or enterprise computing resources from users of other networks.
Further, a firewall may be configured to limit or restrict access
to various systems and components behind the firewall for web
clients connecting through a web server. A firewall may reside in
varying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,
access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. A firewall
may be integrated within a web server or any other CMS components
or may further reside as a separate entity. A firewall may
implement network address translation ("NAT") and/or network
address port translation ("NAPT"). A firewall may accommodate
various tunneling protocols to facilitate secure communications,
such as those used in virtual private networking. A firewall may
implement a demilitarized zone ("DMZ") to facilitate communications
with a public network such as the Internet. A firewall may be
integrated as software within an Internet server, any other
application server components or may reside within another
computing device or may take the form of a standalone hardware
component.
[0055] Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques
now available in the art or which may become available--e.g.,
Twofish, RSA, El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and
symmetric and asymmetric cryptosystems.
[0056] The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable
website or other Internet-based graphical user interface which is
accessible by users. In one embodiment, the Microsoft Internet
Information Server (IIS), Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and
Microsoft SQL Server, are used in conjunction with the Microsoft
operating system, Microsoft NT web server software, a Microsoft SQL
Server database system, and a Microsoft Commerce Server.
Additionally, components such as Access or Microsoft SQL Server,
Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be used to
provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database management
system. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in
conjunction with a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and
the Perl, PHP, and/or Python programming languages.
[0057] Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or
displays discussed herein may be facilitated through a website
having web pages. The term "web page" as it is used herein is not
meant to limit the type of documents and applications that might be
used to interact with the user. For example, a typical website
might include, in addition to standard HTML documents, various
forms, Java applets, JavaScript, active server pages (ASP), common
gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensible markup language (XML),
dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX (Asynchronous
Javascript and XML), helper applications, plug-ins, and the like. A
server may include a web service that receives a request from a web
server, the request including a URL
(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address
(123.56.789.234). The web server retrieves the appropriate web
pages and sends the data or applications for the web pages to the
IP address. Web services are applications that are capable of
interacting with other applications over a communications means,
such as the internet. Web services are typically based on standards
or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services
methods are well known in the art, and are covered in many standard
texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES: A ROADMAP FOR THE
ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.
[0058] Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably
configured to facilitate communications and/or process transactions
between disparate computing systems. Middleware components are
commercially available and known in the art. Middleware may be
implemented through commercially available hardware and/or
software, through custom hardware and/or software components, or
through a combination thereof. Middleware may reside in a variety
of configurations and may exist as a standalone system or may be a
software component residing on the Internet server. Middleware may
be configured to process transactions between the various
components of an application server and any number of internal or
external systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein.
WebSphere MQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is
an example of a commercially available middleware product. An
Enterprise Service Bus ("ESB") application is another example of
middleware.
[0059] Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number
of methods for displaying data within a browser-based document.
Data may be represented as standard text or within a fixed list,
scrollable list, drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text
field, pop-up window, and the like. Likewise, there are a number of
methods available for modifying data in a web page such as, for
example, free text entry using a keyboard, selection of menu items,
check boxes, option boxes, and the like.
[0060] The system and method may be described herein in terms of
functional block components, screen shots, optional selections and
various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such
functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or
software components configured to perform the specified functions.
For example, the system may employ various integrated circuit
components, e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic
elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carry out a
variety of functions under the control of one or more
microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the software
elements of the system may be implemented with any programming or
scripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,
Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages,
assembly, PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored
Procedures, PL/SQL, any UNIX shell script, and extensible markup
language (XML) with the various algorithms being implemented with
any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or
other programming elements. Further, it should be noted that the
system may employ any number of conventional techniques for data
transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the
like. Still further, the system could be used to detect or prevent
security issues with a client-side scripting language, such as
JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction of
cryptography and network security, see any of the following
references: (1) "Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And
Source Code In C," by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley &
Sons (second edition, 1995); (2) "Java Cryptography" by Jonathan
Knudson, published by O'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3)
"Cryptography & Network Security: Principles & Practice" by
William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall; all of which are
hereby incorporated by reference.
[0061] As used herein, the term "end user", "consumer", "customer",
"cardmember", "business" or "merchant" may be used interchangeably
with each other, and each shall mean any person, entity, machine,
hardware, software or business. A bank may be part of the system,
but the bank may represent other types of card issuing
institutions, such as credit card companies, card sponsoring
companies, or third party issuers under contract with financial
institutions. It is further noted that other participants may be
involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediary
settlement institution, but these participants are not shown.
[0062] Each participant is equipped with a computing device in
order to interact with the system and facilitate online commerce
transactions. The customer has a computing unit in the form of a
personal computer, although other types of computing units may be
used including laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, set-top
boxes, cellular telephones, touch-tone telephones and the like. The
merchant has a computing unit implemented in the form of a
computer-server, although other implementations are contemplated by
the system. The bank has a computing center shown as a main frame
computer. However, the bank computing center may be implemented in
other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PC server, a network of
computers located in the same of different geographic locations, or
the like. Moreover, the system contemplates the use, sale or
distribution of any goods, services or information over any network
having similar functionality described herein.
[0063] The merchant computer and the bank computer may be
interconnected via a second network, referred to as a payment
network. The payment network which may be part of certain
transactions represents existing proprietary networks that
presently accommodate transactions for credit cards, debit cards,
and other types of financial/banking cards. The payment network is
a closed network that is assumed to be secure from eavesdroppers.
Exemplary transaction networks may include the American
Express.RTM., VisaNet.RTM. and the Veriphone.RTM. networks.
[0064] The electronic commerce system may be implemented at the
customer and issuing bank. In an exemplary implementation, the
electronic commerce system is implemented as computer software
modules loaded onto the customer computer and the banking computing
center. The merchant computer does not require any additional
software to participate in the online commerce transactions
supported by the online commerce system.
[0065] As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,
the system may be embodied as a customization of an existing
system, an add-on product, upgraded software, a stand alone system,
a distributed system, a method, a data processing system, a device
for data processing, and/or a computer program product.
Accordingly, the system may take the form of an entirely software
embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or an embodiment
combining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore, the
system may take the form of a computer program product on a
computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program
code means embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable
computer-readable storage medium may be utilized, including hard
disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices,
and/or the like.
[0066] The system and method is described herein with reference to
screen shots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of
methods, apparatus (e.g., systems), and computer program products
according to various embodiments. It will be understood that each
functional block of the block diagrams and the flowchart
illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks in the block
diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be
implemented by computer program instructions.
[0067] These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a
general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other
programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such
that the instructions that execute on the computer or other
programmable data processing apparatus create means for
implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or
blocks. These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other
programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular
manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable
memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction
means which implement the function specified in the flowchart block
or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded
onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to
cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer
or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented
process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or
other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the
functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
[0068] Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and
flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for
performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for
performing the specified functions, and program instruction means
for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood
that each functional block of the block diagrams and flowchart
illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks in the block
diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by either
special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the
specified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of special
purpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations
of the process flows and the descriptions thereof may make
reference to user windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts,
etc. Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps
described herein may comprise in any number of configurations
including the use of windows, webpages, web forms, popup windows,
prompts and the like. It should be further appreciated that the
multiple steps as illustrated and described may be combined into
single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded for the sake
of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and described as
single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/or
windows but have been combined for simplicity.
[0069] Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have
been described herein with regard to specific embodiments. However,
the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements
that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or
become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical,
required, or essential features or elements of the disclosure. The
scope of the disclosure is accordingly to be limited by nothing
other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in
the singular is not intended to mean "one and only one" unless
explicitly so stated, but rather "one or more." Moreover, where a
phrase similar to `at least one of A, B, and C` or `at least one of
A, B, or C` is used in the claims or specification, it is intended
that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone may be present
in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, C alone
may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of the
elements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for
example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the
inventions have been described as a method in certain embodiments,
it is contemplated that it may be embodied as computer program
instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier, such as a
magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. All
structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of
the above-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those
of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by
reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims.
Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address
each and every problem sought to be solved by the present
disclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims.
Furthermore, no element, component, or method step in the present
disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of
whether the element, component, or method step is explicitly
recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to be construed
under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless the element is
expressly recited using the phrase "means for." As used herein, the
terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variation thereof,
are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a
process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of
elements does not include only those elements but may include other
elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,
article, or apparatus.
* * * * *
References