Abstract:
A system and method for using an adaptable agent for downloading information to a handheld device in conjunction with the admittance to an event is presented. When a person attends an event, a generic bootstrap agent is downloaded into the persons&#39; handheld device. The bootstrap agent downloads a lifecycle control agent that is the primary agent that requests and receives information corresponding to the event. Both agents monitor each other and restart each other if an agent is determined to not be operating properly. The agent is temporary and is removed when the event concludes. Information, or content, that is downloaded to the user&#39;s handheld device may be stored for later retrieval after the event, or the information may be removed following a certain time limit as determined by the information vendor.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is related to the following co-pending U.S. patent application filed on the same day as the present application and having the same inventor and assignee: “System and Method for Managing Information Exchange Using Strip Information Elements,” (Docket No. AUS9-2001-0562-US1) by Barillaud and assigned to the IBM Corporation. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Technical Field  
           [0003]    The present invention relates in general to a system and method for exchanging data between computing devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for using an adaptable agent for downloading information to a handheld device in conjunction with the admittance of a user to an event.  
           [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0005]    In the pervasive device environment, handheld devices communicate with external entities. When the information exchange requires more than a single and simple communication exchange, one of the best approaches to solve the problem is to have an agent within the handheld computing device that takes care of the communication exchange. An agent is a program that performs information gathering or processing task in the background. Typically, an agent is given a very small and well-defined task. Tasks involved in the communication exchange include requesting and receiving the proper information content type. Examples of information content are text, non-real time video, real time video, and music. Bandwidth resources are wasted when a service provider sends text and video information to a device that is capable of processing text, but not video. Another varying factor in handheld devices is the screen. Many pagers have a small, monochrome screen, while laptop computers, however, often have larger, color screens. Bandwidth resources are wasted when a service provider sends information to the paging device that the paging device is not able to display properly. Unfortunately, there is no unique, common agent able to handle the different types of communication for the different types of information content.  
           [0006]    The type and amount of electronic devices for information exchange are increasing and improving at an exceptional rate due to the investments in technology research. Mobile telephones today, for example, are able to communicate on multiple frequencies as well as multiple air interfaces (analog, CDMA, TDMA, etc.). Mobile phones are also useful for more than just for phone conversations. For example, many mobile telephones can access the Internet or a host of services that provide information. Other handheld communication devices also have greatly improved capabilities in comparison to devices offered only a few years ago. Pagers can now transmit messages as well as access Internet information. Many Personal Digital Assistants (PDA&#39;s) have wireless connections that allow the PDA to send and receive wireless data and access computer networks, such as the Internet. With the increasing quantity and quality of portable electronic devices, a challenge is to develop an agent that is able to support the many devices that are available, as well as devices that are soon to be available.  
           [0007]    What is needed, therefore, is an agent that is adaptable to the constraints and features provided in any number of possible handheld devices.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0008]    It has been discovered that by introducing a two-step agent loading process, an agent can adapt to a targeted handheld device. A bootstrap agent is first loaded in the handheld device. The bootstrap agent manages the downloading of a second, more specialized agent that is based on both the characteristics of the handheld device and the services to which the user has subscribed. Both agents have functionality to monitor the operation of the other agent. In this manner, if one agent fails, the other agent restarts the failed agent.  
           [0009]    The agents control the information that is shown to the user. Event ID&#39;s are attached to information being transmitted by the service provider. An event ID identifies an event that corresponds to downloadable information. The agent compares the event IDs with the ID of the event to which the user has subscribed. The agent displays information that matches the ID of the event to which the user is subscribed. Information types are managed by the agents. In this manner, the agent does not request video information if the handheld device is not capable of displaying it or if the subscriber has not subscribed to a video service. The agents can also be time limited and removed after an event takes place. The time limit is extendable if the service provider chooses.  
           [0010]    The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations, and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth below.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features, and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is high level diagram of a Interactive Proximity Service Architecture;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a bootstrap agent and lifecycle control agent being downloaded into a handheld device;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a diagram of Strip Information Elements being transmitted from a Strip Distribution Engine;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 shows the field information included in a Strip Information Element;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a high level flowchart showing an agent loading process and information exchange;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the Bootstrap Agent loading process;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the Lifecycle Control Agent Loading process;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the Bootstrap Agent and Lifecycle Control Agent monitoring each other.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing information exchange between the handheld device and service provider;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a Strip Information Element being received and processed; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an information handling system capable of implementing the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]    The following is intended to provide a detailed description of an example of the invention and should not be taken to be limiting of the invention itself. Rather, any number of variations may fall within the scope of the invention which is defined in the claims following the description.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 is high level diagram of an Interactive Proximity Service Architecture (IPSA) . The core function of Interactive Proximity Service Architecture  100  is to transmit data from a single or multiple websites to a variety of wireless devices sharing the same proximity environment. The transmission of data is based not only on service provider actions, but also on user requests. Examples of data transmitted via the service include video replay and latest statistics of a player that just hit a home run during a baseball game, or audio excerpts of a painter&#39;s biography as the visitor is looking at his painting in a museum. Interactive Proximity Service Architecture  100  can be configured to communicate with handheld devices for a single event or for multiple events. For example, a baseball game may have one IPSA, and a football game in the same proximity may have a separate IPSA. As those skilled in the art can appreciate, a single IPSA can also be configured to support and communicate with multiple events (i.e. one IPSA supporting both a baseball game and a football game).  
         [0025]    A subscriber carries cell phone  110 , personal digital assistant (PDA)  130 , or other handheld device  120  to an event. Examples of other handheld devices includes electronic items such as a laptop computers. The subscriber enters an event and the handheld devices communicate with communication front end  105 . Communication front end  105  can be an infrared port, a wireless system such as a cellular or paging network. Communication front end  105  analyzes the signals from the handheld devices, and passes the information requests to web server  140 . For example, information requests can be in Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) format. Web Server  140  communicates with Servlet Engine  150  and Transcoding Application  160 . Transcoding Application  160  ascertains the type of device accessing the site and applies the proper style to display the data. For example, the screen size and resolution of the device are used in determining the proper style to display the information. Web server HTTP requests trigger Java servlets in servlet engine  150 . Servlet engine  150  accesses database  170  for the requested information, such as downloadable video or text content. Database  170  includes basic information and may be updated with new static information from non-real time data provider  180  or real-time information from real-time data provider  190 . Database  170  information includes formats such as text, audio, and video.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 2 is a diagram of a bootstrap agent and lifecycle control agent being downloaded into a handheld device. An Agent at the Gate concept means that every time a customer attends an event (sports game, museum, conference, etc.) a unique agent for the event downloads to his handheld device. The process is performed in two steps whereby a Bootstrap Agent (BA) is downloaded to the customer handheld device through the infrared port and the bootstrap agent in turn downloads the Lifecycle Controlled Agent (LCA) through a faster wireless link. Both BA and LCA have functionality that allows a mutual monitoring so if one agent fails, the other reloads and restarts the one which failed.  
         [0027]    When customer  220  arrives at an event that includes Interactive Proximity services from Service Provider  200 , customer  220  downloads bootstrap agent  225  from the service providers&#39; ( 200 ) infrared port  205 . Bootstrap agent  225  is downloaded into customers&#39; handheld device  250  through customer&#39;s Infrared port  255 . The primary purpose of the Bootstrap agent is to download the Lifecycle Controlled Agent (LCA). The bootstrap agent includes transfer and security functionality such as event identifier  230 , monitoring functionality  235 , and security enforcements  240 . Event Identifier  230  is unique and is used as a discriminator so that there is no overlap between information exchanged in different events that happen in the same proximity range at the same time. Monitoring  235  and security enforcement  240  are used to monitor the proper operation of the Lifecycle Controlled Agent and to reload the LCA if the LCA stops functioning. Once the bootstrap agent is loaded into handheld proximity application  260 , the bootstrap agent sends request  270  through handheld device wireless port  265  to download the lifecycle control agent. When service providers wireless station  210  receives request  270 , wireless station transmits lifecycle control agent  275  that includes service time to live (STTL)  280  and class of service  285 . Service time to live  280  is part of the security information with a main purpose of invalidating access to the services and to removing the agent after a certain period of time. This parameter may be upgraded on the fly during the event to meet specific service requirements. For example, the STTL could be extended for a football game that requires an overtime period to conclude. Or a museum can extend the STTL over several days according to the subscription taken by the customer. Class of service (COS)  285  represents different levels of services to which a customer can subscribe. The COS is defined by the event producer and may be different over the time even for the same type of event. Examples of COS are Audio, Text only, Video, and Video+. For Text only COS, the subscriber is allowed to receive and to request information in text format. For Audio, the subscriber receives all audio that is broadcast during the event. For Video COS, the subscriber receives all video that is broadcast during the event. For Video+ COS, the subscriber can interactively query additional video functionality such as slow motion replay or specific camera angles.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 3 is a diagram of Strip Information Elements being transmitted from a Strip Distribution Engine. Strip Distribution Engine  300  sends strips  310  to handheld devices  320  for a particular event. Strips  310  do not include all the data but includes elements necessary to retrieve, format, and display the information. The Information Proximity Service Architecture sends SIEs instead of pushing the whole information from the servers to the handheld devices in order minimize bandwidth usage. Agent  340  is internal to the handheld device and analyzes the strips that are sent to a handheld. Agent  340  authenticates the strip by analyzing the strips&#39; Event Identifier to prevent distribution of unauthorized information. After the security checking is completed, the strip is under the control of the local agent that scans the different fields and makes determinations according to the content of the fields. When the user wants to download data, the user sends request  350  to retrieve a particular piece of data. For example, request  350  can be for multimedia data such as video. Strip Distribution Engine sends multimedia data  360  to the handheld device. Multimedia information can be obtained from database  390  which can include video plus hypertext links. Data can also be obtained from database  380  which may contain video, or database  370  which may only contain text information.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 4 shows the field information in a Strip Information Element. Strip information Element (SIE)  400  contains multiple fields that allow the local agent and service provider to communicate to each other. The first field is Execution Field  410 . Execution Field  410  includes information that informs the handheld device whether data may be retrieved immediately or on user request. When immediate  414  is selected, the local agent initiates the connection of the wireless station to download the information upon receipt of the SIE. When on request  418  is selected, the local agent waits until the user asks for the specific information before downloading it. For example, live video information may be downloaded immediately, while replay video may be on user request.  
         [0030]    Lifecycle Field  420  includes information that determines whether the information may be kept after been processed by the local agent. When “keep” option  424  is selected, the user is allowed to keep the data that has been transferred to his handheld device. This field can be set up on a per strip element basis, allowing strict control over what the user is able to keep. For example, due to intellectual property rights limitations, this field could be set up to a value that prevents duplication of the retrieved information that contains intellectual property, but allow the user to keep information that does not contain intellectual property. Another example is that some data are transient at server level, and make it not possible to access the data after a certain period of time. In this case, the lifecycle field will also set up to a value that prevents the local agent to try to access the data. When “discard” option  426  is selected, the downloaded data is discarded from the user&#39;s device upon completion of the event. When conditional remove  428  is selected, data may also be accessed multiple times during a certain condition. For example, data may be accessed multiple times during a sporting event, but the data is discarded once the event is over.  
         [0031]    Navigation Field  430  includes information for the handheld device to logically store the strip information elements. As the SIE&#39;s are downloaded to the handheld device, they are stored in a way that allows an easy access according to a dynamic navigation scheme. Since the display sequence at time t may differ from the display sequence at time t+1, each SIE carries information about the navigation. This information represents the location of the information in a display tree. When a new SIE is received, it is placed in a specific location in the tree and as the dynamic structure of the tree evolves in time, the position of the SIE moves across the tree. When insert  432  is selected, the SIE is inserted between the specified SIE&#39;s. When remove  434  is selected, the SIE is removed from the display tree. When next  436  is selected, the SIE is stored in the next available location. When previous  438  is selected, the SIE is stored in the location prior to the last SIE in the display tree.  
         [0032]    Persistence Field  440  includes information that specifies what kind of repeated requests are expected for the piece of information. The user can select a persistence option that determines where and how the information is stored. The persistence can be local on the handheld device or remote. If local  442  is selected, the persistence is stored on the handheld device. If remote  444  is selected, persistence is stored on a remote device. Two example fields shown for a remote device are printer  446  and disk  448 . If printer  446  is selected, persistence comes from an external printer. If disk  448  is selected, persistence is stored on a nonvolatile storage device, such as a magnetic disk device.  
         [0033]    Security Field  450  includes information that pertains to the security of the information being transferred. Security Field  450  includes event ID  458  which is the unique identifier that is used as a first protection level. The event id allows the user to receive information for the particular event subscribed to, and not to receive information from a nearby event that has a different event id. Security Field  450  also includes key  454  which is a key from a public/private encryption key pair used by the local agent to protect sensitive data exchanged between the server and the client.  
         [0034]    Configuration Field  460  includes information such as Service Time To Live (STTL)  464 , Server information  466 , and transcoding information  468 . STTL  464  is used by the local agent to release further access to services once time has expired. Server information  466  includes information that can be negotiated by the handheld devices, such as bandwidth information, available protocols, and status information. Transcoding information  468  includes information about how the data is displayed based on the screen size and resolution of the handheld device.  
         [0035]    Id Field  470  includes Strip Information Element (SIE) Identifier  475 . SIE  475  is a unique identifier for SIE  400 . SIE Identifier  475  is different from the Event Identifier in that each SIE is assigned with a unique identifier that is mainly used to uniquely identify the data in the navigation tree.  
         [0036]    Description Field  480  includes description information about the corresponding content. The description includes the address of the content on the server, such as URL  482 . The description can also include data  484  about the content, such as any additional cost to download the corresponding content which may be in addition to any subscription fees paid by the user. Description  480  also includes text description  486  which includes a short description that can be displayed to the user in order for the user to determine whether he wants to download the corresponding content.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 5 is a high level flowchart showing an agent loading process and information exchange. Processing commences at  500 , whereupon a subscriber enters an area (step  510 ), such as an event location. A determination is made as to whether the subscriber is new or is already a registered subscriber (decision  520 ). If the subscriber is not new, decision  520  branches to “No” branch  524  whereupon a Lifecycle Control Agent is requested (step  550 ). For example, a subscriber can have an annual subscription to a museum, and already be registered at the museum and already have a bootstrap agent loaded in his handheld device. On the other hand, if the subscriber is new, decision  520  branches to “yes” branch  528  whereupon a subscription is activated for the event (step  530 ). Subscription activation may also include receiving payment information, such as a credit card number, from the user and charging the user the corresponding subscription fee. After the subscription activates, a bootstrap agent loads into the subscribers handheld device (pre-defined process block  540 , see FIG. 6 for further details). After the bootstrap agent loads, the bootstrap agent requests a Lifecycle Control Agent (LCA) (step  550 ) through handheld wireless port  554 . The LCA may be loaded if the handheld device does not yet have an LCA or if it is determined that an LCA currently loaded on the handheld device is outdated and needs to be upgraded with a new LCA version. The handheld wireless port sends the request to system wireless port  558  and receives the Lifecycle control agent in the same manner. A determination is made as to whether the LCA has been received (decision  560 ). If the LCA has not yet been received, decision  560  branches to “No” loop  554  whereupon processing loops back and waits for the LCA. On the other hand, when the LCA is received, decision  560  branches to “Yes” branch  558  whereupon the LCA loads (pre-defined process block  570 , See FIG. 8 for further details). The LCA is used for downloading content corresponding to the subscribed event. Agent Monitoring also commences (pre-defined process block  575 , see FIG. 8 for further details) whereupon the bootstrap agent and the Lifecycle Control Agent each monitor each other and restart one another in the event of a failure. The subscriber is now ready for information exchange (pre-defined process block  580 , See FIG. 9 for further details) during which time the Lifecycle Control Agent is used to download various content associated with the subscribed event. When information exchanges has completed, for example at the end of the event, processing terminates at  590 .  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the Bootstrap Agent loading process. Processing commences at  600 , whereupon the handheld receives a bootstrap agent (step  610 ) through handheld Infra Red (IR) port  620 . Handheld IR port  620  receives the bootstrap agent from system IR port  630 . Once the bootstrap agent is received, the bootstrap agent is initialized (step  640 ) and Event Identifier is stored (step  650 ) in Handheld Proximity Application  660 . Event ID is unique in time and space and is used as a discriminator to assure that there is no overlap between information exchanged in different events that happen in the same proximity range at the same time. Bootstrap agent security settings are loaded in handheld proximity application  660  (step  670 ) along with the Lifecycle control agent monitor (step  680 ). The security settings and LCA monitor are used to ensure proper operation of the LCA. If the LCA is determined to be inoperable when it should be operational, the bootstrap agent restarts the LCA (see FIG. 8 for further details). After the bootstrap agent information is loaded into handheld proximity application  660 , processing returns at  690 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the Lifecycle Control Agent Loading process. Processing commences at  700 , whereupon the Lifecycle Control Agent (LCA) is initialized (step  710 ). Class of Service (COS) information is retrieved from the LCA (step  720 ) and loaded into Handheld Proximity Application  730 . Examples of COS are text, video, and video plus. A determination is made as to whether the handheld is capable of the Class of Service (decision  740 ). For example, if the Class of Service is video, the handheld should have the capability of playing video. If the handheld is not capable of the COS, decision  740  branches to “No” branch  744  whereupon a error is returned (step  750 ) and processing returns at  760 . On the other hand, if the handheld is capable of the COS, decision  740  branches to “Yes” branch  748  whereupon the bootstrap agent monitor is loaded (step  770 ). The bootstrap agent monitor is used to ensure the proper operation of the LCA. If the bootstrap agent is determined to be inoperable when it should be functioning properly, the LCA restarts the bootstrap agent. Service time to live is loaded (step  780 ) into timer  735  that tracks how much time is remaining for the Lifecycle Control Agent to be active and processing returns at  790 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the Bootstrap Agent and Lifecycle Control Agent monitoring each other. Agent monitoring commences at  800 , whereupon the Lifecycle Control Agent (LCA) status is retrieved (step  810 ) from handheld proximity application  820 . The LCA status includes information about whether the LCA is functioning properly. A determination is made as to whether the LCA is active and functioning properly (decision  830 ). If the LCA is not functioning properly, decision  830  branches to “No” branch  835  whereupon the LCA is restarted (pre-defined process block  840 , See FIG. 7 for further details). On the other hand, if the LCA is functioning properly, decision  830  branches to “Yes” branch  845  whereupon the bootstrap agent status is retrieved (step  850 ) from handheld proximity application  820 . A determination is made as to whether the Bootstrap agent is functioning properly (decision  860 ). If the bootstrap agent is not functioning properly, decision  860  branches to “No” branch  865  whereupon the BA is restarted (pre-defined process block  870 , See FIG. 6 for further details). On the other hand, if the BA is functioning properly, decision  860  branches to “Yes” branch  875  whereupon a determination is made as to whether the monitoring continues (decision  880 ). If the user decides to stop information exchange activity, or the event is over, decision  880  branches to “No” branch  888  whereupon monitoring ends at  890 . On the other hand, if the event is ongoing, decision  880  branches to “Yes” loop  884  whereupon the monitoring process starts over.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing information exchange between the handheld device and service provider. Processing commences at  900 , whereupon the Service Time To Live (STTL) is retrieved (step  905 ) from the handheld proximity application. The STTL includes information about how long the handheld device is allowed to exchange information based on the length of the event. A determination is made as to whether the STTL is expired (decision  910 ). If the STTL is expired, decision  910  branches to “Yes” branch  915  whereupon an expiration message is reported (step  920 ). The lifecycle control agent is removed from the handheld (step  925 ) and processing returns at  930 . On the other hand, if more time remains for the service, decision  910  branches to “No” branch  935  whereupon a request for content is performed at  940 . The user request is sent from handheld wireless port  945  to system wireless port  950 . Service Provider Proximity Application  955  determines the corresponding content and sends it to the handheld device through system wireless port  950 . The requested information is received (step  960 ) through handheld wireless port  945  whereupon strip information element (SIE) processing takes place (pre-defined process block  965 , See FIG. 10 for further details). A determination is made as to whether more strips are being processed. If no more strips are being processed, decision  970  branches to “No” branch  975  whereupon processing returns at  985 . On the other hand, if more strips will be processed, decision  970  branches to “Yes” Loop  980  whereupon processing continues.  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a Strip Information Element (SIE) being received and processed. Processing commences at  1000 , whereupon processing compares event ID&#39;s for received SIE  1010  and authorized event ID from handheld proximity application  1015  (step  1005 ). A determination is made as to whether the handheld device is authorized to receive the SIE (decision  1020 ) based on the event ID comparison. If the handheld device is not authorized to receive the SIE, decision  1020  branches to “No” branch  1022  whereupon the strip is ignored (step  1025 ) and processing returns at  1030 . On the other hand, if the handheld device is authorized to receive the SIE, decision  1020  branches to “Yes” branch  1024  whereupon the received SIE is stored in handheld proximity application  1015  (step  1035 ). The SIE Execution field is retrieved at  1040  from handheld proximity application  1015 . The execution field includes information as to whether the data should be retrieved immediately or upon a user request. For example, live video information may be downloaded immediately, while replay video may be performed in response to a user request. A determination is made as to whether the data should be retrieved immediately or on user request (decision  1045 ). If the data is to be retrieved immediately, decision  1045  branches to “Yes” branch  1049  whereupon the SIE URL location is retrieved and the data is downloaded from Service Provider Proximity Application ( 1060 ) and the downloaded data is displayed on the display screen (step  1055 ). On the other hand, if the data is downloaded on user request, decision  1045  branches to “No” branch  1047  whereupon processing waits for a user request (step  1050 ). When the user requests the data, processing continues from step  1050  whereby the SIE URL location is retrieved and the data is downloaded from Service Provider Proximity Application ( 1060 ) and the downloaded data is displayed on the display screen (step  1055 ). The lifecycle field is retrieved at step  1060  which includes information as to whether the data can be stored after viewing, or if the data is discarded after viewing. For example, data that is readily available on the Internet, like a player&#39;s statistics, may be stored on the subscribers handheld device after the event. A determination is made as to whether the data is storable after viewing (decision  1065 ). If the data is not storable, decision  1065  branches to “No” branch  1067  whereupon the data is removed after viewing (step  1070 ). On the other hand, if the data can be stored after viewing, decision  1065  branches to “Yes” branch  1069  whereupon the data is stored if the user requests (step  1075 ), and processing returns at  1080 .  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 11 illustrates information handling system  1101  which is a simplified example of a computer system capable of performing the server and client operations described herein. Computer system  1101  includes processor  1100  which is coupled to host bus  1105 . A level two (L 2 ) cache memory  1110  is also coupled to the host bus  1105 . Host-to-PCI bridge  1115  is coupled to main memory  1120 , includes cache memory and main memory control functions, and provides bus control to handle transfers among PCI bus  1125 , processor  1100 , L 2  cache  1110 , main memory  1120 , and host bus  1105 . PCI bus  1125  provides an interface for a variety of devices including, for example, LAN card  1130 . PCI-to-ISA bridge  1135  provides bus control to handle transfers between PCI bus  1125  and ISA bus  1140 , universal serial bus (USB) functionality  1145 , IDE device functionality  1150 , power management functionality  1155 , and can include other functional elements not shown, such as a real-time clock (RTC), DMA control, interrupt support, and system management bus support. Peripheral devices and input/output (I/O) devices can be attached to various interfaces  1160  (e.g., parallel interface  1162 , serial interface  1164 , infrared (IR) interface  1166 , keyboard interface  1168 , mouse interface  1170 , and fixed disk (HDD)  1172 ) coupled to ISA bus  1140 . Alternatively, many I/O devices can be accommodated by a super I/O controller (not shown) attached to ISA bus  1140 .  
         [0044]    BIOS  1180  is coupled to ISA bus  1140 , and incorporates the necessary processor executable code for a variety of low-level system functions and system boot functions. BIOS  1180  can be stored in any computer readable medium, including magnetic storage media, optical storage media, flash memory, random access memory, read only memory, and communications media conveying signals encoding the instructions (e.g., signals from a network). In order to attach computer system  1101  to another computer system to copy files over a network, LAN card  1130  is coupled to PCI bus  1125  and to PCI-to-ISA bridge  1135 . Similarly, to connect computer system  1101  to an ISP to connect to the Internet using a telephone line connection, modem  1175  is connected to serial port  1164  and PCI-to-ISA Bridge  1135 .  
         [0045]    While the computer system described in FIG. 11 is capable of executing the invention described herein, this computer system is simply one example of a computer system. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that many other computer system designs are capable of performing the invention described herein.  
         [0046]    One of the preferred implementations of the invention is an application, namely, a set of instructions (program code) in a code module which may, for example, be resident in the random access memory of the computer. Until required by the computer, the set of instructions may be stored in another computer memory, for example, on a hard disk drive, or in removable storage such as an optical disk (for eventual use in a CD ROM) or floppy disk (for eventual use in a floppy disk drive), or downloaded via the Internet or other computer network. Thus, the present invention may be implemented as a computer program product for use in a computer. In addition, although the various methods described are conveniently implemented in a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by software, one of ordinary skill in the art would also recognize that such methods may be carried out in hardware, in firmware, or in more specialized apparatus constructed to perform the required method steps.  
         [0047]    While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended, such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is present. For a non-limiting example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim elements. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an”; the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles.