Abstract:
Provided are techniques for physically coupling, via a docking port, a first stand-alone computing device to a communication bus coupled to a set of processing resources; detecting, by the communication bus, the coupling; responsive to the detecting of the coupling, correlating the stand-alone computing device to a subset of the set of processing resources; signaling, by the communication bus, each resource of the subset of the coupling; and responsive to the signaling, dynamically configuring the stand-alone computing device and each resource of the subset to enable the stand-alone computing device to utilize, each resource of the subset.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present application is a continuation and claims the benefit of the filing date of an application entitled, “Dynamic Resource Management in Mobile Computing Devices” Ser. No. 13/343,802, filed Jan. 5, 2012, assigned to the assignee of the present application, and herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    The claimed subject matter relates generally to computing and, more specifically, to techniques for augmenting processing power and memory of mobile computing devices. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    Provided are techniques for augmenting processing power and memory of mobile computing devices. Hand-held device such as smart phones, app phones, tablet computers and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are becoming increasingly popular. Wide-spread adoption of such devices has fueled a demand for higher computing capacity and memory in these devices, in addition, mobile and hand-held devices are becoming a necessity rather than a luxury, which also increases the demand for increased computing resources. In current hand-held and other mobile devices, the amount of available resources may depend upon battery life and thermal tolerance. 
         [0004]    Disclosed techniques include techniques for physically coupling, via a docking, port, a first stand-alone computing device to a communication bus coupled to a set of processing resources; detecting, by the communication bus, the coupling; responsive to the detecting of the coupling, correlating the stand-alone computing device to a subset of the set of processing resources; signaling, by the communication bus, each resource of the subset of the coupling; and responsive to the signaling, dynamically configuring the stand-alone computing device and each resource of the subset to enable the stand-alone computing device to utilize each resource of the subset. 
         [0005]    This summary is not intended as a comprehensive description of the claimed subject matter but, rather, is intended to provide a brief overview of some of the functionality associated therewith. Other systems, methods, functionality, features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    A better understanding of the claimed subject matter can be obtained when the following, detailed description of the disclosed embodiments is considered in conjunction with the following figures, in which: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a one example of a computing system architecture that may implement the claimed subject matter. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a docking station, first introduced in  FIG. 1 , in greater detail. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a Setup Docking Station process that implements aspects of the claimed subject matter. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of an Operate Docking Station process that may implement aspects of the claim subject matter. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a Dock Device process that may implement aspects of the claimed subject matter. 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of an Undock Device process that may implement aspects of the claimed subject matter. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
         [0014]    Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0015]    A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0016]    Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
         [0017]    Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
         [0018]    Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0019]    These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0020]    The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational actions to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0021]    As the use of hand-held communication devices has increased, the demand for additional computing resources related to these communication devices has also increased. Currently, additional resources are limited by such factors as battery life and thermal tolerance. In the example of a person with a smart phone and a laptop, both devices may perform some functions in common but a smart phone may not have enough processing power or memory to handle larger tasks. If the smart phone possessed additional computing power and memory, the smart phone could accomplish tasks that would otherwise need to be executed on a laptop or desktop computer. Current systems that enable a portable device to be plugged into peripheral devices typically only enable the portable device to use monitors, keyboards, pointing devices and video USB and other communication ports. 
         [0022]    Turning now to the figures.  FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a computing architecture  100  that incorporates the claimed subject matter. A computing system  102  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  104 , which includes one or more processors (not shown), a display device, or monitor,  106 , a keyboard  108  and a pointing device, or “mouse,”  110 . Monitor  106 , keyboard  108  and mouse  110  facilitate human interaction with computing architecture  100  and computing system  102 . 
         [0023]    Coupled to computing system  102  and attached to CPU  104  is a computer-readable storage medium (CRSM)  112 , which may either be incorporated into client system  102  i.e. an internal device, or attached externally to CPU  104  by means of various, commonly available connection devices such as but not limited to, a universal serial bus (USB) port (not shown). CRSM  112  is shown storing an operating system (OS)  114 , which may be any available operating system and will be familiar to those with skill in the relevant arts. Also stored on CRSM  112  are docking station logic  116  and docking, station data  118 , which are described in more detail below in conjunction with  FIGS. 2-6 . 
         [0024]    Also coupled to computing system  102  is a docking station  120 . Docking station  120 , CPU  104 , CRSM  112  and an input/output (I/O) module  124  communicate over a communication bus  122  that is controlled by a bus controller (BC)  123 . Docking station  120  provides connectivity for a mobile computer  126 , a mobile telephone  127  and a personal digital assistant (PDA)  128  in accordance with the claimed subject matter. Devices  126 ,  127  and  128  are used as examples of some types of communication and computing devices that may take advantage of the disclosed technology. Other examples include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, notebook computers, netbook computers, tablet computers and other types of communication and computing devices. Docking station  120  is described in more detail in conjunction with  FIGS. 2-6 . 
         [0025]    Computing system  102  is connected to the Internet  130  via input/output module  124 . Also coupled to the Internet  130  is a server computer  132 . Although in this example, computing system system  102  and server  132  are communicatively coupled via the Internet  130 , they could also be coupled through any number of communication mediums such as, but not limited to, a local area network (LAN) (not shown). It should be noted there are many possible computing system configurations that may incorporate the disclosed technology, of which computing architecture  100  and computing system  102  are only simple examples. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of docking station  120 , first introduced in  FIG. 1 , in greater detail. Docking station  120  includes an input/output (I/O) module  140 , docking station data  118  ( FIG. 1 ) and docking station logic  116  ( FIG. 1 ), which is executable code for controlling the operation of docking station  120 . For the sake of the following examples, docking station logic  116  is assumed to execute on computer system  102  ( FIG. 1 ) and to be stored on CRSM  112  ( FIG. 1 ). It should be understood that the claimed subject matter can be implemented in many types of computing systems and data storage structures but, for the sake of simplicity, is described only in terms of computing system  102  and system architecture  100  ( FIG. 1 ). Further, the representation of docking station  120  in  FIG. 2  is a logical model. In other words, components  116 ,  118  and  140  may be stored in the same or separates files and loaded and/or executed within computing system  102  either as a single system or as separate processes interacting via any available inter process communication (IPC) techniques. 
         [0027]    I/O module  140  handles any communication docking station  120  has with other components of computing system  102  and architecture  100 . Coupled to I/O module  140  are four (4) communication ports, i.e. a docking port_ 1 , or “DP_ 1 ,”  141 , a docking port_ 2 , or “DP_ 2 ,”  142 , a docking port_ 3 , or “DP_ 3 ,”  143  and a universal docking port, or “UDP,”  144 . Docking ports  141 - 143  are employed by specific devices, which in this example are mobile computer  126 , mobile telephone  127  and PDA  128 , respectively. In this example, UDP  144  is a universal connection device such as, but not limited to a universal serial bus (USB) connection that may accommodate multiple devices that include an appropriate connector. 
         [0028]    Docking station data  118  is a data repository for information, including settings and parameters, that docking station  120  requires during normal operation. Examples of the types of information stored in docking station data  118  include system information  150 , device information  152 , option parameters  156  and a working cache  156 . System information  152  stores information about computing system  102  that is necessary for docking station  120  to implement the disclosed functionality. Examples of system configuration information include, but are not limited to, the number and type of processors and number and type of memory devices. 
         [0029]    Device information  152  stores information, including configuration options for devices that may employ docking station in accordance with the claimed subject matter. Some examples include, but are not limited to, mobile computer  126  ( FIG. 1 ), mobile telephone  127  ( FIG. 1 ) and PDA  128  ( FIG. 1 ). Option parameters  154  stores information relating to user configurable options for controlling docking station  120 . Examples of user configurable information include, but are not limited to, timeout parameters and user notification options. Working cache  156  is employed by docking station  120  to store the intermediate results of running processes. The elements of data cache  118  and docking station  120  are explained in more detail below in conjunction with the examples described in  FIGS. 3-6 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a Setup Docking Station process  200  that implements aspects of the claimed subject matter. In this example, logic associated with process  200  is stored on CRSM  112  ( FIG. 1 ) and executed on one or more processors (not shown) of CPU  104  of computing system  102 . 
         [0031]    Process  200  starts in a “Begin Setup Docking Station” block  202  and proceeds immediately to a “Retrieve System Parameters” block  204 . During processing associated with block  204 , parameters associated with the configuration of computing architecture  100  are retrieved from system information  150  ( FIG. 2 ) of docking station data  118  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). During processing associated with a “Retrieve Device Parameters” block  206 , parameters corresponding to devices that may utilize docking station  120  are retrieved from device information  152  ( FIG. 2 ) of docking station data  118 . Examples of such devices include, but are not limited to, mobile computer  126  ( FIG. 1 ), mobile telephone  127  ( FIG. 1 ), PDA  128  ( FIG. 1 ) and a tablet computer (not shown). 
         [0032]    During processing associated with a “Retrieve Option Parameters” block  208 , information relating to the configuration of docking station  120  is retrieved from Options parameters  156  ( FIG. 2 ) of docking station data  118 . During processing associated with a “Configure Docking Station” block  210 , docking station is setup for normal operation using the parameters retrieved during processing associated with blocks  204 ,  206  and  208 . Configuration of docking station  120  includes the configuration of docking ports  141 - 144  ( FIG. 2 ). During processing associated with a “Spawn Operating Processes” block  212 , a process is spawned to execute the normal operation of docking station  120  (see  250 ,  FIG. 4 ;  300 ,  FIG. 5 and 350 ,  FIG. 6 ). Finally, control proceeds to an “End Setup Docking Station” block  219  during which process  200  is complete. 
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of an Operate Docking Station process  250  that implements aspects of the claimed subject matter. Like process  200  ( FIG. 3 ), in this example, logic associated with process  250  is stored on CRSM  112  ( FIG. 1 ) and executed on one or more processors (not shown) of CPU  194  of computing system  192 . Process  250  is initiated during processing associated with block  212  ( FIG. 3 ) of Setup Docking station process  200  ( FIG. 3 ). 
         [0034]    Process  250  starts in a “Begin Operate Docking Station” block  252  and proceeds immediately to a “Detect Device” block  254 . During processing associated with block  254 , docking station  120  waits for a device such as mobile computer  126  ( FIG. 1 ), mobile telephone  127  ( FIG. 1 ), PDA  128  ( FIG. 1 ) or a tablet computer (not shown) to be either coupled to or uncoupled from docking station  120 , i.e. a change of status is detected on one of docking ports  141 - 144  ( FIG. 2 ). During processing associated with a “Device Docking?” block  256 , a determination is made as to whether or not the status change detected during processing associated with block  254  represents that a device has been coupled to docking station  120 . If so, control proceeds to a “Dock Device” block  258 . Processing associated with block  258  is explained in more detail below in conjunction with a Dock Device process  300  of  FIG. 5 . 
         [0035]    If during processing associated with block  256 , a determination is made that the status change detected during processing associated with block  254  does not represent the coupling of a device to docking station  120 , i.e. the change represents a device uncoupling from docking station  120 , control proceeds to an “Undock Device” block  260 . Processing associated with block  260  is described below in conjunction with process  350  of  FIG. 6 . Following processing associated with blocks  258  and  260 , process  250  returns to Detect Device block  254  and awaits the next change of status with respect to docking ports  141 - 144  and processing continues as described above. 
         [0036]    Typically process  250  loops continuously through blocks  254 ,  256 ,  258  and  260  processing status changes detected on docking ports  141 - 144 . In the event computing system  102  is halted or an administrator chooses to halt process  250  an asynchronous interrupt  262  is generated. Asynchronous interrupt  262  initiates a change of control to an “End Operate Docking Station” block  269  in which process  250  is complete. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a Dock Device process  300  that implements aspects of the claimed subject matter. In this example, logic associated with process  300  is primarily stored on CRSM  112  ( FIG. 1 ) and executed on one or more processors (not shown) of CPU  104  of computing system  102 . Portions of process  300  may be stored and executed on devices such as devices  126 - 128  ( FIG. 1 ) that utilize docking station  120 . As explained above in conjunction with  FIG. 4 , process  300  is executed in response to the detection of a status change on one of docking ports  441 - 144  ( FIG. 2 ) (see  254 ,  FIG. 4 ) and a determination the status change represents a device such as mobile computer  126  ( FIG. 1 ), mobile telephone  127  ( FIG. 1 ), PDA  128  ( FIG. 1 ) or a tablet computer (not shown) coupling, to one of docking ports  141 - 144 . 
         [0038]    Process  300  starts in a “Begin Dock Device” block  302  and proceeds immediately to an “Identify Device” block  304 . During processing associated with block  304 , the device that triggered the status change is identified, if possible. The identification may be implemented using data from device information  152  ( FIG. 2 ) of docking station data  118  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). During processing associated with a “Known Device?” block  306 , a determination is made as to whether or not the device that triggered the status change was able to be identified during, processing associated with block  304 . If not, control proceeds to a “Throw Exception” block  308  during which appropriate measures are taken to address the inability of docking station  120  to accommodate the current docking attempt. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, notifying an administrator, logging the attempt and/or transmitting a failure signal to the device that has attempted to dock. 
         [0039]    If a determination is made during processing associated with block  306  that that device attempting to dock is a known device, control proceeds to a “Correlate Resources” block  310 . During processing associated with block  319 , the resources of computing system  102  that are configured for operation with the docking device are identified. This determination is based upon both device information  152  and option parameters  156  ( FIG. 2 ), both of docking station data  118 . 
         [0040]    During processing associated with a “Configure Resources” block  312 , the resources identified during processing associated with block  310  are reconfigured to augment the resources of the docking device. A signal is transmitted from docking station  120  to bus  122  ( FIG. 1 ), under the control of BC  123  ( FIG. 1 ), to initiate the configuration of the resources identified during processing associated with block  310 . BC  123  and bus  122  then signal the identified resources, or components, which may include, but are not limited to, CPU  104 , monitor  106 , keyboard  108 , mouse  110 . CRSM  112  and IO  124 . During processing associated with a “Configuration (Config.) Successful?” block  314 , a determination is made as to whether or not the configuration of resource initiated during processing associated with block  312  was successful. This determination is made based upon acknowledgements to BC  123  and bus  122  from the various identified components. It should be noted that some components may acknowledge success and some components may either acknowledge a configuration failure or fail to respond. 
         [0041]    In the event of a complete lack of configuration success, i.e. no component signals success, control proceeds to a “Throw Exception” block  316 . During processing associated with block  316 , bus  122  and BC  123  signal docking station  120  and docking station  120  takes appropriate action, including but not limited to, action such as notifying an administrator, logging the attempt and/or transmitting a failure signal to the device that has attempted to dock. 
         [0042]    In the event that the a determination is made during processing associated with block  314  that the configuration initiated during processing associated with block  312  was a least partially successful, control proceeds to a “Signal Device” block  318 . During processing associated with block  318 , the device that was identified during processing associated with block  304  is notified, via bus  122 , of the components that have become available, i.e. transmitted an indication of successful configuration during processing associated with block  314 . During processing associated with a “Configure Device” block  320 , the device identified during processing associated with block  304 , reconfigures to utilize the available components. 
         [0043]    Finally, once the device has been configured during processing associated with block  320 , and confirmation of the reconfiguration has been received by bus  122  and BC  123 , of an exception has been thrown during processing associated with either block  308  or block  316 , control proceeds to an “End Dock Device” block  329  during which process  300  is complete. 
         [0044]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart of an Undock Device process  350  that implements aspects of the claimed subject matter. Like process  300 , in this example, logic associated with process  350  is primarily stored on CRSM  112  ( FIG. 1 ) and executed an one or more processors (not shown) of CPU  104  of computing system  102 . Portions of process  350  may be stored and executed on devices such as devices  126 - 128  ( FIG. 1 ) that utilize docking station  120 . As explained above in conjunction with  FIG. 4 , process  250  is executed in response to the detection of a status change on one of docking ports  141 - 144  ( FIG. 2 ) (see  254 ,  FIG. 4 ) and a determination the status change represents a device such as mobile computer  126  ( FIG. 1 ), mobile telephone  127  ( FIG. 1 , PDA  128  ( FIG. 1 ) or a tablet computer (not shown) uncoupling from one of docking ports  141 - 144 . 
         [0045]    Process  350  starts in a “Begin Undock Station” block  352  and proceeds immediately to an “Identify Device” block  354 . During processing associated with block  354 , the device that triggered the status change is identified if possible. The identification is implemented using data from device information  152  ( FIG. 2 ) of docking station data  118  ( FIGS. 1 and 2 ). During processing associated with a “Device Identified?” block  356 , a determination is made as to whether or not the device that triggered the status change was able to be identified during processing associated with block  354 . If not, control proceeds to a “Throw Exception” block  364  during which appropriate measures are taken to address the inability of docking station  120  to identify the undocking device. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, notifying an administrator and/or logging the attempt. 
         [0046]    If a determination is made during processing associated with block  356  that that device attempting to dock is a known device, control proceeds to a “Correlate Resources” block  358 . During processing associated with block  358 , the resources of computing system  102  that have been configured for operation with the docking device (see  312 ,  FIG. 5 ) are identified. This determination is based upon both device information  152 , option parameters  156  ( FIG. 2 ) and information in working cache  156  of docking station data  118 . 
         [0047]    During processing associated with a “Re-Configure Resources” block  360 , the resources identified during processing associated with block  358  are reconfigured to account for the undocking of the device identified during processing associated with block  354 . A signal is transmitted from docking station  120  to bus  122  ( FIG. 1 ), under the control of BC  123  ( FIG. 1 ), to initiated the re-configuration of the resources identified during processing associated with block  358 . BC  123  and bus  122  then signal the identified resources, or components, which may include, but are not limited to, CPU  104 , monitor  106 , keyboard  108 , mouse  110 , CRSM  112  and IO  124 . During processing associated with a “Re-Configuration (Re-Config.) Successful?” block  362 , to determination is made as to whether or not the re-configuration of resources initiated during processing associated with block  312  was successful. This determination is made based upon acknowledgements to BC  123  and bus  122  from the various identified components. It should be noted that some components may acknowledge success and some components may either acknowledge a configuration failure or fail to respond. In the event that any of the components either signal a re-configuration failure or fail to respond, control proceeds to “Throw Exception” block  364 . During block  364 , appropriate measures are taken to address the inability of any components to re-configure. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, notifying an administrator and/or logging the attempt. 
         [0048]    Finally, if a determination is made during block  362  that the re-configuration of all components was successful, or, once an exception has been processed during processing associated with block  364 , control proceeds to an “End Undock Device” block  369  during which process  350  is complete. 
         [0049]    The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
         [0050]    The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the an without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. 
         [0051]    The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer pro grain products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.