U.S. patent application number 16/846207 was filed with the patent office on 2020-07-30 for system and method for dynamic domain-specific sequence diagram visualization.
The applicant listed for this patent is Cisco Technology, Inc.. Invention is credited to Roberto Attias.
Application Number | 20200241992 16/846207 |
Document ID | 20200241992 / US20200241992 |
Family ID | 1000004752402 |
Filed Date | 2020-07-30 |
Patent Application | download [pdf] |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200241992 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Attias; Roberto |
July 30, 2020 |
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC DOMAIN-SPECIFIC SEQUENCE DIAGRAM
VISUALIZATION
Abstract
A system, method and computer-readable storage devices for
enhancing the presentation of structured log files. A system
configured according to this disclosure can track events of a
computing entity. The computing entity can be a state machine, a
virtual machine, a thread, a process, a software component, or a
hardware component. The computing entity can be any device that
generates or contributes to an event log. The events can be tracked
from at least one of a structured log file and a stream of event
data, for example. The system can identify event types for the
events. The system can identify relationships between the events,
and generate a sequence diagram of the events. The sequence diagram
can include visual indications of the relationships based on the
event types. The system can further select an icon for each event
from an event-specific icon directory based on event type.
Inventors: |
Attias; Roberto; (Alameda,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Cisco Technology, Inc. |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000004752402 |
Appl. No.: |
16/846207 |
Filed: |
April 10, 2020 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
14796289 |
Jul 10, 2015 |
10621063 |
|
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16846207 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 11/328 20130101;
G06F 11/301 20130101; G06F 11/3086 20130101; G06F 11/3409
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 11/32 20060101
G06F011/32; G06F 11/34 20060101 G06F011/34; G06F 11/30 20060101
G06F011/30 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: identifying a plurality of event types for
a plurality of events; identifying relationships between the
plurality of events; and generating a sequence diagram including
visual indications positioned between respective ones of the
plurality of events to illustrate a respective relationship of the
relationships between the respective ones of the plurality of
events.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the plurality of events are
associated with a plurality of entities, and the plurality of
entities include at least one of a state machine, a thread, or a
logical entity.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of events are
tracked from a plurality of structured log files output from
multiple hardware and/or software components acting in concert.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: selecting different
icons for different ones of the plurality of events from an event
directory based on the event types.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the different icons are selected
from an event-specific event directory.
6. The method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving an input to
switch from a first icon set to a second icon set, wherein each of
the first icon set and the second icon set targets a different
domain with different, domain-specific visual cues; and
transitioning the visual indications based on the second icon
set.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: rendering at least a
portion of the sequence diagram on a display; and presenting
controls on the display to visually navigate within the sequence
diagram.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying a region
of interest within the sequence diagram; and highlighting the
region of interest with a visual indicator.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the region of interest is
identified based on at least one of an input, a profile, and/or
data contained in a file associated with plurality of events.
10. A system comprising: at least one processor; a memory storing
instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor,
cause the at least one processor to: identify a plurality of event
types for a plurality of events; identify relationships between the
plurality of events; and generate a sequence diagram including
visual indications positioned between respective ones of the
plurality of events to illustrate a respective relationship of the
relationships between the respective ones of the plurality of
events.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein, the plurality of events are
associated with a plurality of entities, and the plurality of
entities include a state machine, a thread, or a logical
entity.
12. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of events are
tracked from a plurality of structured log files output from
multiple hardware and/or software components acting in concert.
13. The system of claim 10, comprising further instructions, which
when executed cause the at least one processor to: select different
icons for different ones of the plurality of events from an event
directory based on the event types.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein the different icons are
selected from an event-specific event directory.
15. The system of claim 13, comprising further instructions, which
when executed cause the at least one processor to: receive input to
switch from a first icon set to a second icon set, wherein each of
the first icon set and the second icon set targets a different
domain with different, domain-specific visual cues; and transition
the visual indications based on the second icon set.
16. The system of claim 10, comprising further instructions, which
when executed cause the at least one processor to: render at least
a portion of the sequence diagram on a display; and present
controls on the display to visually navigate within the sequence
diagram.
17. The system of claim 10, comprising further instructions, which
when executed cause the at least one processor to: identify a
region of interest within the sequence diagram; and highlight the
region of interest with a visual indicator.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the region of interest is
identified based on at least one of an input, a profile, and/or
data contained in a file associated with the events.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing
instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause
the processor to: identify a plurality of event types for a
plurality of events; identify relationships between the plurality
of events; and generate a sequence diagram including visual
indications positioned between respective ones of the plurality of
events to illustrate a respective relationship of the relationships
between the respective ones of the plurality of events.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage device of claim
19, comprising further instructions, which when executed cause the
at least one processor to: select different icons for different
ones of the plurality of events from an event directory based on
event type, the different icons selected from an event-specific
event directory; receive input to switch from a first icon set to a
second icon set, each of the first icon set and the second icon set
targeting a different domain with different, domain-specific visual
cues; and transition the visual indications based on the second
icon set.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/796,289 filed on Jul. 10, 2015, the
contents of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates to visualizing log files and
more specifically to domain-specific visualizations of log files to
be more understandable to a human viewer.
2. Introduction
[0003] Distributed and concurrent systems can implement complex
control flows spawning multiple concurrent components. For example,
in the context of Openstack a northbound API request to create a
virtual machine (VM) is implemented by various components handling
different concerns, such as authentication, networking, VM
spawning. Potentially each component in the system can produce log
files or traces. Analyzing a particular flow execution requires
inspection and correlation of multiple such files, which is not
particularly suitable to a human being.
[0004] One common way to represent flow information for concurrent
systems is sequence diagrams. Sequence diagram are an UML technique
originally intended to capture flows and interactions at design
time. Some tools can generate sequence diagrams out of traces or
logs collected from a running system. However the amount of
information visualized is typically much greater, and can include
multiple flows interlaced with each other. This representation of
sequence diagrams is mostly concerned with depicting interactions
and activity blocks, and does not provide any type of visual clues
to allow rapid identification of desired flows. Thus, the amount of
information is simply overwhelming and, though all the information
is displayed, the significance or meaning of the information is
difficult for humans to decipher.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 illustrates an example enhanced log file;
[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example system for
enhancing log files;
[0007] FIG. 3 illustrates an example traditional log file;
[0008] FIG. 4 illustrates an example enhanced version of a state
machine based on the log file of FIG. 3;
[0009] FIG. 5 illustrates an example method embodiment; and
[0010] FIG. 6 illustrates an example system embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0011] A system, method and computer-readable storage devices are
disclosed which visually enhance sequence diagrams to facilitate
visual inspection when diagrams include a large amount of
information, such as sequence diagrams automatically constructed
from log or trace files.
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an example enhanced log file 102 in an
example software tool 100 for graphical visualization of sequence
diagrams from structured log files. While most of the examples
presented herein are discussed in terms of a single log file, in
practically every instance the tools 100 can apply equally to
multiple related log files, such as the separate log file outputs
from multiple hardware and/or software components acting in
concert. Traditional sequence diagrams visualize interactions as
arrows and local activities as "activate" blocks (rectangles on the
life line of an entity). The tool 100 represents events from the
structured log files with graphical icons 106, 108 or arrows 104
specific to the event type, and supplemented by additional metadata
when needed. The additional metadata can include text in a popup,
tooltip, or rollover, sounds, video clips, more detailed or larger
graphical icons, an additional graphical emphasis on related events
or relationships such as a blinking icon, a wobbly icon, a
highlighted icon, and so forth. Thus, the tool 100 can render,
instead of a straight wall of text entries from the log file, a
graphically enhanced presentation of the data in the log file. The
graphical enhancements can demonstrate relationships between
collections of entries in the log file.
[0013] For example, the enhanced log file 102 of FIG. 1 visualizes
interactions of two entities. The first entity is a state machine.
The first visible event is a triangle, identifying the birth of the
state machine. Below the birth of the state machine is an incoming
interaction with a thunderbolt-shaped icon, representing a state
machine event received by the state machine, which will cause a
transition to be taken. The next, larger circle represents the
event of leaving or entering a state of the state machine. Arrows
represent taken transitions. So in this example, the state machine
leaves the "start" state and enters the "wait_active" state due to
event "pm_go_active_ev". In taking the transition, the state
machine performs some additional actions, one of which is sending a
particular type of message (CAPI) to the second entity.
[0014] The second entity is not a state machine, but a thread. The
thread sends and receives various CAPI messages, but also it
initiates and completes an asynchronous connection, as indicated by
the icons with labels "connecting to . . . " and "connected to . .
. ". As shown, a user aware of the particular domain specific
notation used can quickly identify different type of events such as
state machines interactions, reception of state machine events,
sending/receiving CAPI messages, initiation/completion of
interactions.
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example system 200
for enhancing log files with graphical elements. The system 200 can
include tool 100 as in FIG. 1 in the form of a log file viewer 204
or similar software application. The viewer 204 receives a
structured log file 202, whether loaded directly from a locally or
remotely stored file, or streamed over a network, for example. The
viewer can consult a templates database 206 for supported log file
types. The templates database 206 can define different
relationships and types of events to highlight, as well as rules
for recognizing the relationships and rules for enhancing the
presentation of the log file according to the various templates.
The viewer 204 can also retrieve icons or graphical elements from
an icon database 208. The icon database 208 and the templates
database 206 can be related, such as the templates database 206
indicating a preferred or default set of corresponding icons in the
icon database 208. However, the viewer 204 can receive user input
to select a specific template and/or set of icons. The viewer 204
then overlays one or more icon or graphical element from the icon
database 208 over at least part of the log file 202 on a display
210 or as graphical output to a video or image file.
[0016] In order to keep the viewer 204 more generically applicable
to different types of event logs and structured log files, the
viewer 204 can have no knowledge a priori regarding the particular
event types and their graphical representation. When loading a log
file 202, the viewer 204 can discover event types in the log file
202 and look for an icon corresponding to that event type in the
icon database 208 or icon directory. The icon database can be a
list of image files, such as PNG files corresponding to event files
based on the file name. For example, a PNG file for an event file
entry "pm_go_active_ev" can be named "pm_go_active_ev.PNG," and a
PNG file for an event file entry "wait_active" can be named
"wait_active.PNG."
[0017] Thus, the viewer 204 can provide a domain-specific graphical
representation of events while remaining a generic tool able to
display different types of events. Further, a user can specify a
specific type perspective of the log file 202 that is of interest.
A single type of log file can be presented differently to emphasize
different aspects of the events contained therein that may be
meaningful to different users. For example, a domain-specific
graphical representation of network logs may highlight different
events and relationships for a network security engineer than for a
quality of service performance analyst, even though the underlying
event logs contain the same information. This domain-specific
graphical representation can highly enhance the visual separation
of information and further facilitate interpretation of diagrams
derived from structured log files.
[0018] The viewer 204 can provide an increased ability to visually
navigate an extended sequence diagram, and can graphically identify
regions of interest based on visual clues. The viewer 204 can allow
a user to load different domain-specific sets of visual clues to be
used with domain specific logs/traces, without modifying the tool.
The viewer 204 can improve visual inspection of graphical
representation of logs, resulting increased ease of debugging a
system. The viewer allows the user to assign specific icons or
visual cues to different types of state transitions in a state
diagram generated from one or more structured log files.
[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates an example traditional log file 300. In
this traditional log file 300, the entries are simply a listing of
text events. While this log file 300 contains a very simplistic set
of log entries for device1, device2, and device3, the log file 300
can include many other details, such as a timestamp, a thread ID, a
username, a message or descriptor, a status, a permission level, a
network address, a unique identifier, a file name, a computer name,
and so forth.
[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates an example enhanced version of a state
machine 400 based on the log file of FIG. 3. In this example, the
state machine 400 identifies the three entities, device1, device2,
and device3, in the structured log and organizes events for the
three entities into three corresponding columns 402, 404, 406. The
state machine 400 shows an arrow 408 from device1 event1 to device2
event1, signifying a request for device2 to perform an action.
Lightning bolt 410 represents device2 attempting to perform the
requested action. The cross 412 and arrow from device2 event2
represent reporting a failure to perform the requested action.
However, before receiving the report of a failure, device1 event3
sends a request, represented by a bold arrow, to device3 to perform
a different action. After receiving the request, device3 performs
the requested action, indicated by database icon 414. Then device3
can report success to device1 with a circle icon 420. However, in
the intervening time device3 took to perform the action, device1
sends another request to device2 to re-perform the previously
failed action, represented as the second lightning bolt 416. This
time, device2 succeeds and reports accordingly, as indicated by the
circle 418. The actions and behaviors of this portion of a state
machine 400 are far more understandable than the straight,
unannotated text of FIG. 3. The enhanced display 400 can allow for
interactions, as well. For example, a user can click on an icon,
such as icon 414 to view more details from the underlying event
logs.
[0021] This approach enables the user to apply a wider set of
graphical representations which are more easily recognizable at a
glance, so the user can quickly navigate the format and isolate the
desired parts. The system rendering the graphical representations
can be separated from the graphical elements themselves, so
alternate graphical representations are pluggable for different
domains. The system can display different logs with different icon
sets specific to that tool, event, or communication type. Users can
customize and share different libraries of icons and patterns for
interpreting log files. In this way, a first user can create or
modify one set of icons and share that set of icons with other
users, who can, in turn, also modify the set of icons. The system
can incorporate an icon library hosting feature to share icon
libraries with other users, or to search a server hosting different
icon libraries. Alternatively, users can create or download other
icon libraries and install them in the system, or simply save them
on a local machine for later use.
[0022] Having disclosed some basic system components and concepts,
the disclosure now turns to the exemplary method embodiment shown
in FIG. 5. For the sake of clarity, the method is described in
terms of an exemplary system 600 as shown in FIG. 6 configured to
practice the method. The steps outlined herein are exemplary and
can be implemented in any combination thereof, including
combinations that exclude, add, or modify certain steps.
[0023] A system configured according to this disclosure can track
events of a computing entity (502). The computing entity can be a
state machine, a virtual machine, a thread, a process, a software
component, a logical entity, or a hardware component. The computing
entity can be any device that generates or contributes to an event
log. The events can be tracked from at least one of a structured
log file and a stream of event data, for example. The system can
identify event types for the events (504). The system can identify
relationships between the events (506). Then the system can
generate a sequence diagram of the events, wherein the sequence
diagram includes visual indications of the relationships based on
the event types (508). The system can further select an icon for
each event from an event directory based on event type. The icons
can be selected from an event-specific icon directory. The system
can optionally receive user input to switch from a first icon set
to a second icon set, wherein each of the first icon set and the
second icon set targets a different domain with different,
domain-specific visual cues, and transition the visual indications
based on the second icon set. The system can identify a region of
interest within the sequence diagram, and highlight the region of
interest with a visual indicator. The region of interest can be
identified based on at least one of user input, a user profile, and
data contained in a file associated with the events.
[0024] The system can render at least a portion of the sequence
diagram on a display, and present controls on the display for a
user to visually navigate within the sequence diagram, such as
scrolling, zooming in and out, selecting one or more element of the
sequence diagram, drill down to the associated underlying log file
data for a particular graphical element, search for other instances
of a particular pattern of interaction, and so forth. The user can
toggle display of all or part of the graphical elements, in order
to view the underlying data in an unmodified or non-enhanced
form.
[0025] In one variation, the system can look in the log file for
clues or directives for where to find appropriate sets of icons for
enhanced display of that log file. For example, the log file can
include a URL to an icon set repository for use with that type of
log file. Alternatively, the system can use pattern recognition or
some other recognition mechanism to determine a type of log file,
and automatically find an appropriate library of icons for use with
that log file. The system can generate and display a legend
describing the meanings of the various icons in the enhanced
graphical display of the log file.
[0026] Various embodiments of the disclosure are described in
detail below. While specific implementations are described, it
should be understood that this is done for illustration purposes
only. Other components and configurations may be used without
parting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
[0027] A brief description of a basic general purpose system or
computing device in FIG. 6 which can be employed to practice the
concepts, methods, and techniques disclosed is illustrated. These
variations shall be described herein as the various embodiments are
set forth. The disclosure now turns to FIG. 6.
[0028] With reference to FIG. 6, an exemplary system and/or
computing device 600 includes a processing unit (CPU or processor)
620 and a system bus 610 that couples various system components
including the system memory 630 such as read only memory (ROM) 640
and random access memory (RAM) 650 to the processor 620. The system
600 can include a cache 622 of high-speed memory connected directly
with, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of the processor
620. The system 600 copies data from the memory 630 and/or the
storage device 660 to the cache 622 for quick access by the
processor 620. In this way, the cache provides a performance boost
that avoids processor 620 delays while waiting for data. These and
other modules can control or be configured to control the processor
620 to perform various operations or actions. Other system memory
630 may be available for use as well. The memory 630 can include
multiple different types of memory with different performance
characteristics. It can be appreciated that the disclosure may
operate on a computing device 600 with more than one processor 620
or on a group or cluster of computing devices networked together to
provide greater processing capability. The processor 620 can
include any general purpose processor and a hardware module or
software module, such as module 1 662, module 2 664, and module 3
666 stored in storage device 660, configured to control the
processor 620 as well as a special-purpose processor where software
instructions are incorporated into the processor. The processor 620
may be a self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores
or processors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core
processor may be symmetric or asymmetric. The processor 620 can
include multiple processors, such as a system having multiple,
physically separate processors in different sockets, or a system
having multiple processor cores on a single physical chip.
Similarly, the processor 620 can include multiple distributed
processors located in multiple separate computing devices, but
working together such as via a communications network. Multiple
processors or processor cores can share resources such as memory
630 or the cache 622, or can operate using independent resources.
The processor 620 can include one or more of a state machine, an
application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a programmable
gate array (PGA) including a field PGA.
[0029] The system bus 610 may be any of several types of bus
structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a
peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus
architectures. A basic input/output (BIOS) stored in ROM 640 or the
like, may provide the basic routine that helps to transfer
information between elements within the computing device 600, such
as during start-up. The computing device 600 further includes
storage devices 660 or computer-readable storage media such as a
hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical disk drive, tape
drive, solid-state drive, RAM drive, removable storage devices, a
redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID), hybrid storage device,
or the like. The storage device 660 can include software modules
662, 664, 666 for controlling the processor 620. The system 600 can
include other hardware or software modules. The storage device 660
is connected to the system bus 610 by a drive interface. The drives
and the associated computer-readable storage devices provide
nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data
structures, program modules and other data for the computing device
600. In one aspect, a hardware module that performs a particular
function includes the software component stored in a tangible
computer-readable storage device in connection with the necessary
hardware components, such as the processor 620, bus 610, display
670, and so forth, to carry out a particular function. In another
aspect, the system can use a processor and computer-readable
storage device to store instructions which, when executed by the
processor, cause the processor to perform operations, a method or
other specific actions. The basic components and appropriate
variations can be modified depending on the type of device, such as
whether the device 600 is a small, handheld computing device, a
desktop computer, or a computer server. When the processor 620
executes instructions to perform "operations", the processor 620
can perform the operations directly and/or facilitate, direct, or
cooperate with another device or component to perform the
operations.
[0030] Although the exemplary embodiment(s) described herein
employs the hard disk 660, other types of computer-readable storage
devices which can store data that are accessible by a computer,
such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile
disks (DVDs), cartridges, random access memories (RAMs) 650, read
only memory (ROM) 640, a cable containing a bit stream and the
like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.
Tangible computer-readable storage media, computer-readable storage
devices, or computer-readable memory devices, expressly exclude
media such as transitory waves, energy, carrier signals,
electromagnetic waves, and signals per se.
[0031] To enable user interaction with the computing device 600, an
input device 690 represents any number of input mechanisms, such as
a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or
graphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech and so
forth. An output device 670 can also be one or more of a number of
output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. In some
instances, multimodal systems enable a user to provide multiple
types of input to communicate with the computing device 600. The
communications interface 680 generally governs and manages the user
input and system output. There is no restriction on operating on
any particular hardware arrangement and therefore the basic
hardware depicted may easily be substituted for improved hardware
or firmware arrangements as they are developed.
[0032] For clarity of explanation, the illustrative system
embodiment is presented as including individual functional blocks
including functional blocks labeled as a "processor" or processor
620. The functions these blocks represent may be provided through
the use of either shared or dedicated hardware, including, but not
limited to, hardware capable of executing software and hardware,
such as a processor 620, that is purpose-built to operate as an
equivalent to software executing on a general purpose processor.
For example the functions of one or more processors presented in
FIG. 6 may be provided by a single shared processor or multiple
processors. (Use of the term "processor" should not be construed to
refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software.)
Illustrative embodiments may include microprocessor and/or digital
signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) 640 for
storing software performing the operations described below, and
random access memory (RAM) 650 for storing results. Very large
scale integration (VLSI) hardware embodiments, as well as custom
VLSI circuitry in combination with a general purpose DSP circuit,
may also be provided.
[0033] The logical operations of the various embodiments are
implemented as: (1) a sequence of computer implemented steps,
operations, or procedures running on a programmable circuit within
a general use computer, (2) a sequence of computer implemented
steps, operations, or procedures running on a specific-use
programmable circuit; and/or (3) interconnected machine modules or
program engines within the programmable circuits. The system 600
shown in FIG. 6 can practice all or part of the recited methods,
can be a part of the recited systems, and/or can operate according
to instructions in the recited tangible computer-readable storage
devices. Such logical operations can be implemented as modules
configured to control the processor 620 to perform particular
functions according to the programming of the module. For example,
FIG. 6 illustrates three modules Mod1 662, Mod2 664 and Mod3 666
which are modules configured to control the processor 620. These
modules may be stored on the storage device 660 and loaded into RAM
650 or memory 630 at runtime or may be stored in other
computer-readable memory locations.
[0034] One or more parts of the example computing device 600, up to
and including the entire computing device 600, can be virtualized.
For example, a virtual processor can be a software object that
executes according to a particular instruction set, even when a
physical processor of the same type as the virtual processor is
unavailable. A virtualization layer or a virtual "host" can enable
virtualized components of one or more different computing devices
or device types by translating virtualized operations to actual
operations. Ultimately however, virtualized hardware of every type
is implemented or executed by some underlying physical hardware.
Thus, a virtualization compute layer can operate on top of a
physical compute layer. The virtualization compute layer can
include one or more of a virtual machine, an overlay network, a
hypervisor, virtual switching, and any other virtualization
application.
[0035] The processor 620 can include all types of processors
disclosed herein, including a virtual processor. However, when
referring to a virtual processor, the processor 620 includes the
software components associated with executing the virtual processor
in a virtualization layer and underlying hardware necessary to
execute the virtualization layer. The system 600 can include a
physical or virtual processor 620 that receive instructions stored
in a computer-readable storage device, which cause the processor
620 to perform certain operations. When referring to a virtual
processor 620, the system also includes the underlying physical
hardware executing the virtual processor 620.
[0036] Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure may
also include tangible and/or non-transitory computer-readable
storage devices for carrying or having computer-executable
instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such tangible
computer-readable storage devices can be any available device that
can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer,
including the functional design of any special purpose processor as
described above. By way of example, and not limitation, such
tangible computer-readable devices can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM,
CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or
other magnetic storage devices, or any other device which can be
used to carry or store desired program code in the form of
computer-executable instructions, data structures, or processor
chip design. When information or instructions are provided via a
network or another communications connection (either hardwired,
wireless, or combination thereof) to a computer, the computer
properly views the connection as a computer-readable medium. Thus,
any such connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium.
Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope
of the computer-readable storage devices.
[0037] Computer-executable instructions include, for example,
instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer,
special purpose computer, or special purpose processing device to
perform a certain function or group of functions.
Computer-executable instructions also include program modules that
are executed by computers in stand-alone or network environments.
Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components,
data structures, objects, and the functions inherent in the design
of special-purpose processors, etc. that perform particular tasks
or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable
instructions, associated data structures, and program modules
represent examples of the program code means for executing steps of
the methods disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such
executable instructions or associated data structures represents
examples of corresponding acts for implementing the functions
described in such steps.
[0038] Other embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced in
network computing environments with many types of computer system
configurations, including personal computers, hand-held devices,
multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable
consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe
computers, network routers, wearable devices, and the like.
Embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing
environments where tasks are performed by local and remote
processing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links,
wireless links, or by a combination thereof) through a
communications network. In a distributed computing environment,
program modules may be located in both local and remote memory
storage devices.
[0039] The various embodiments described above are provided by way
of illustration only and should not be construed to limit the scope
of the disclosure. Various modifications and changes may be made to
the principles described herein without following the example
embodiments and applications illustrated and described herein, and
without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Claim language reciting "at least one of" a set indicates that one
member of the set or multiple members of the set satisfy the
claim.
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