Abstract:
An apparatus including: a communication interface for receiving a multimedia data item associating captured multimedia data with metadata; at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: maintain reference metadata for a multimedia device ( 610 ); and receive the multimedia data item from the multimedia device ( 620 ). The apparatus is further caused to determine the associated metadata from the received multimedia data item ( 630 ); compare the associated metadata with the reference metadata to provide authenticity information ( 640 ); and validate the captured multimedia data based on the authenticity information ( 650 ).

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present application generally relates to a method and an apparatus for providing enhanced authenticity for a multimedia data item. The present application further relates to a method and an apparatus for validating captured multimedia data based on authenticity information. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0002]    A mobile apparatus may create multimedia data using, for example, camera and voice recording means for producing still images and/or streaming voice or video data. The mobile apparatus may also have some connectivity means for connecting the device to a network or to another device for uploading the captured images from the storage media of the camera to another storage media. 
         [0003]    Services exist in networks, e.g. the Internet, for managing data, e.g. multimedia data, received from mobile apparatuses. The services are typically accessed via a web browser or using a client application made specifically for the purpose of accessing the service. 
         [0004]    Mobile apparatuses are also connectable to devices such as cameras using a wired or wireless data communication means. The wired data communication means may be e.g. a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection. The wireless data communication means may utilize be e.g. a Bluetooth or a Wireless LAN connection between the apparatus and the camera. 
         [0005]    Because the service system provide multimedia data for users, the authenticity of the provided multimedia data is required. A solution for providing a validation of the captured multimedia data for a server apparatus receiving the multimedia data, is needed. Such validation should improve the authenticity of the multimedia captured by a certain multimedia device. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    According to a first example aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising:
       a communication interface for receiving a multimedia data item associating captured multimedia data with metadata;   at least one processor; and   at least one memory including computer program code;
 
wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
   maintain reference metadata for a multimedia device;   receive the multimedia data item from the multimedia device;   determine the associated metadata from the received multimedia data item;   compare the associated metadata with the reference metadata to provide authenticity information; and   validate the captured multimedia data based on the authenticity information.       
 
         [0015]    In an embodiment, the apparatus may comprise a server apparatus. 
         [0016]    In an embodiment, the reference metadata comprises at least one of the following elements:
       a multimedia device identifier;   multimedia device model information;   software version information of the multimedia device;   resolution information of the multimedia device; and   parameters of a camera of the multimedia device.       
 
         [0022]    In an embodiment, the associated metadata comprises at least one of the following elements:
       a multimedia device identifier;   multimedia device model information;   software version information of the multimedia device;   resolution information of the multimedia device; and   parameters of a camera of the multimedia device.       
 
         [0028]    In an embodiment, the associated metadata is stored to the reference metadata in response to the validating step. 
         [0000]    in an embodiment, the reference metadata is received over the communication interface. 
         [0029]    In an embodiment, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
       maintain reference metadata for a multimedia device, wherein the reference metadata comprises a multimedia device identifier;   determine the multimedia device identifier from the associated metadata; and   retrieve the reference metadata based on the multimedia device identifier.       
 
         [0033]    At least one element of the associated metadata may be compared with a corresponding element of the reference metadata. 
         [0034]    Furthermore, at least two elements of the associated metadata may be compared with corresponding elements of the reference metadata, wherein the at least two elements of the associated metadata have different weight factors. 
         [0035]    According to a second example aspect of the invention there is provided a method for providing enhanced authenticity for a multimedia data item, the multimedia data item associating captured multimedia data with metadata, wherein the method comprising:
       maintaining reference metadata for a multimedia device;   receiving the multimedia data item from the multimedia device;   determining the associated metadata from the received multimedia data item;   comparing the associated metadata with the reference metadata to provide authenticity information; and   validating the captured multimedia data based on the authenticity information.       
 
         [0041]    In an embodiment, the multimedia data is captured using at least one of the following:
       proprietary multimedia capturing application of a user apparatus;   default multimedia capturing application of a user apparatus; and   multimedia capturing application of a multimedia device.       
 
         [0045]    According to a third example aspect of the invention there is provided a computer program embodied on a computer readable medium comprising computer executable program code which, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, causes the apparatus to:
       maintain reference metadata for a multimedia device;   receive the multimedia data item from the multimedia device;   determine the associated metadata from the received multimedia data item;   compare the associated metadata with the reference metadata to provide authenticity information; and   validate the captured multimedia data based on the authenticity information.       
 
         [0051]    Different non-binding example aspects and embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the foregoing. The above embodiments are used merely to explain selected aspects or steps that may be utilized in implementations of the present invention. Some embodiments may be presented only with reference to certain example aspects of the invention. It should be appreciated that corresponding embodiments may apply to other example aspects as well. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0052]    The invention will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0053]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic picture of a system according to an example embodiment of the invention; 
           [0054]      FIG. 2  presents an example block diagram of a user apparatus in which various embodiments of the invention may be applied; 
           [0055]      FIG. 3  presents an example block diagram of a multimedia device in which various embodiments of the invention may be applied; 
           [0056]      FIG. 4  presents an example block diagram of a server apparatus in which various embodiments of the invention may be applied; 
           [0057]      FIG. 5  shows an overall block diagram of an example multimedia data item; and 
           [0058]      FIG. 6  shows a flow diagram showing operations in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0059]    In the following description, like numbers denote like elements. 
         [0060]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic picture of a system  100  according to an example embodiment of the invention. The system  100  comprises a multimedia device  110  configured to be capable of capturing multimedia, such as digital still images and/or video streams. The multimedia device  110  may comprise a storage  111  for multimedia data. The storage  111  may comprise a flash memory card, for example. The multimedia device  110  is configured to be connectable to a user apparatus  120  over a data connection  112 . The data connection  112  may be a wired connection or a wireless connection. The wired connection may comprise Universal Serial Bus (USB), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) or local area network (LAN), for example. The wireless connection may comprise Bluetooth™, Radio Frequency Identification (RF-ID) or wireless local area network (WLAN), for example. 
         [0061]    The multimedia device  110  is configured to send captured multimedia data over the data connection  112  to the user apparatus  120 . Such transmittal may be initiated by a user of the multimedia device  110 , by a user of the user apparatus  120 , or automatically based on settings. Such settings may comprise for example time of the day, amount of newly captured multimedia data or existence of the data connection  112  for the multimedia device  110 . 
         [0062]    The user apparatus  120  may comprise a multimedia device  110 , a mobile phone, an internet tablet or a laptop computer, for example. The user apparatus  120  is capable of downloading and locally executing software program code. The software program code may be a client application of a service whose server application is running on the server apparatus  130  of the system  100 . The user apparatus  120  may comprise multimedia capturing element, such as a camera, for capturing multimedia, such as still images or video streams, for example. The user apparatus  120  may also have a metadata element  121  for creating data usable as metadata of the multimedia content captured by the multimedia device  110 . The metadata element  121  may comprise at least one of the following: a microphone, a positioning device for determining the current location of the user apparatus  120 , and a clock. The user apparatus  120  is configured to be connectable to a wireless communication network  140  over a wireless connection  122 . The wireless connection  122  may comprise a mobile cellular network or a wireless local area network (WLAN), for example. The wireless communication network may be to a public data communication network  150 , for example the Internet, over a data connection  141 . 
         [0063]    In an embodiment, the system  100  comprises a server apparatus  130 , which comprises a storage device  131  for storing multimedia and metadata received over a data connection  151 . The system  100  may further comprise an external database  160 , wherein multimedia and metadata may be stored over a data connection  161 . The metadata stored in either of the storage device  131  or the external database  160  may comprise reference metadata, such as a multimedia device identifier, multimedia device model information, software version information of the multimedia device, resolution information of the multimedia device or parameters of a camera of the multimedia device, for example. 
         [0064]    In an embodiment, multimedia data captured by a user may travel to a server apparatus  130  over different paths. A first path may comprise sending multimedia data captured by a proprietary application of a user apparatus  120  over a wireless communication network  122 ,  140 ,  141  and public data communication network  150 ,  151  to the server apparatus  130 . A second path may comprise sending multimedia data captured by a default application of a user apparatus  120  over a wireless communication network  122 ,  140 ,  141  and public data communication network  150 ,  151  to the server apparatus  130 . A third path may comprise sending multimedia data captured by a multimedia device  110  to the user apparatus  120  and therefrom over a wireless communication network  122 ,  140 ,  141  and public data communication network  150 ,  151  to the server apparatus  130 . A fourth path may comprise sending multimedia data captured by the multimedia device  110  to a computer apparatus and therefrom over the public data communication network  150 ,  151  to the server apparatus  130 . 
         [0065]    In an embodiment, the proprietary application in the user apparatus  120  may be a client application of a service whose server application is running on the server apparatus  130  of the system  100 . The proprietary application may capture the multimedia data for the first path. Also metadata for the captured multimedia may be retrieved by the proprietary application from the metadata elements  121  of the user apparatus  120 . The default application may be an imaging application of the user apparatus  120 . For the second path, the multimedia data captured by the default application may be imported to the proprietary application before transmitting to the server apparatus  130 . The proprietary application may check the multimedia data and extract and apply metadata for the multimedia data. For the third path, the multimedia may be captured by the multimedia device  110  and transmitted to the proprietary application of the user apparatus  120  for sending to the server apparatus  130 . The proprietary application may check the multimedia data and extract and apply metadata for the multimedia data. User may provide additional metadata using the user apparatus  120 . For the fourth path, the multimedia may be captured by the multimedia device  110  and transmitted to a communication application of a computer apparatus. The communication application may check the multimedia data and extract and apply metadata for the multimedia data. User may provide additional metadata using the computer apparatus. In a further embodiment, the user may access the multimedia data on the server apparatus and provide additional metadata. 
         [0066]      FIG. 2  presents an example block diagram of a user apparatus  120  in which various embodiments of the invention may be applied. The user apparatus  120  may be a multimedia device  110 , a user equipment (UE), a user device or an apparatus, such as a mobile terminal, a smart phone or other communication device. 
         [0067]    The general structure of the user apparatus  120  comprises a user interface  240 , a communication interface  240 , a metadata element  270 , a camera, a processor  210 , and a memory  220  coupled to the processor  210 . The user apparatus  120  further comprises software  230  stored in the memory  220  and operable to be loaded into and executed in the processor  210 . The software  230  may comprise one or more software modules and can be in the form of a computer program product. The software  230  may also provide metadata information relating to the software and hardware of the user apparatus  120 . The user apparatus  210  may further comprise a user interface controller  280 . 
         [0068]    The processor  210  may be, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit, or the like.  FIG. 2  shows one processor  210 , but the user apparatus  120  may comprise a plurality of processors. 
         [0069]    The memory  220  may be for example a non-volatile or a volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a data disk, an optical storage, a magnetic storage, a smart card, or the like. The user apparatus  120  may comprise a plurality of memories. The memory  220  may be constructed as a part of the user apparatus  120  or it may be inserted into a slot, port, or the like of the user apparatus  120  by a user. The memory  220  may serve the sole purpose of storing data, or it may be constructed as a part of an apparatus serving other purposes, such as processing data. A proprietary multimedia application, a default multimedia application and multimedia data may be stored to the memory  220 . 
         [0070]    The user interface controller  280  may comprise circuitry for receiving input from a user of the user apparatus  120 , e.g., via a keyboard, graphical user interface shown on the display of the user interfaces  240  of the user apparatus  120 , speech recognition circuitry, or an accessory device, such as a headset, and for providing output to the user via, e.g., a graphical user interface or a loudspeaker. 
         [0071]    The metadata element  270  comprises element configured to provide metadata information. Such elements may comprise, for example, a positioning device, an accelerometer, a temperature gauge, a clock or a microphone. 
         [0072]    The camera  260  may be a still image camera or a video stream camera, capable for creating multimedia data and providing metadata information. 
         [0073]    The communication interface module  250  implements at least part of radio transmission. The communication interface module  250  may comprise, e.g., a wireless or a wired interface module. The wireless interface may comprise such as a WLAN, Bluetooth, infrared (IR), radio frequency identification (RF ID), GSM/GPRS, CDMA, WCDMA, or LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio module. The wired interface may comprise such as universal serial bus (USB), for example. The communication interface module  250  may be integrated into the user apparatus  120 , or into an adapter, card or the like that may be inserted into a suitable slot or port of the user apparatus  120 . The communication interface module  250  may support one radio interface technology or a plurality of technologies. The user apparatus  12  may comprise a plurality of communication interface modules  250 . Captured multimedia may be transmitted to a wireless communication network  140  using the communication interface  250 . 
         [0074]    A skilled person appreciates that in addition to the elements shown in  FIG. 2 , the user apparatus  120  may comprise other elements, such as microphones, extra displays, as well as additional circuitry such as input/output (I/O) circuitry, memory chips, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), processing circuitry for specific purposes such as source coding/decoding circuitry, channel coding/decoding circuitry, ciphering/deciphering circuitry, and the like. Additionally, the user apparatus  120  may comprise a disposable or rechargeable battery (not shown) for powering when external power if external power supply is not available. 
         [0075]    In an embodiment, the user apparatus  120  comprises speech recognition means. Using these means, a pre-defined phrase may be recognized from the speech and translated into a metadata tag. This tag may then be used as any other metadata, for example for characterizing the captured multimedia or for grouping images together, for example. 
         [0076]      FIG. 3  presents an example block diagram of a multimedia device  110  in which various embodiments of the invention may be applied. The multimedia device  110  may be a digital still camera or digital video camera, for example. 
         [0077]    The general structure of the multimedia device  110  comprises a processor  310 , and a memory  320  coupled to the processor  310 . The multimedia device  110  further comprises software  330  stored in the memory  320  and operable to be loaded into and executed in the processor  310 . The software  330  may comprise one or more software modules and can be in the form of a computer program product. The software  330  may provide metadata information of the software or hardware of the multimedia device  110 . 
         [0078]    The processor  310  may be, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit, or the like.  FIG. 3  shows one processor  310 , but the multimedia device  110  may comprise a plurality of processors. 
         [0079]    The memory  320  may be for example a non-volatile or a volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a data disk, an optical storage, a magnetic storage, a smart card, or the like. The multimedia device  110  may comprise a plurality of memories. The memory  320  may be constructed as a part of the multimedia device  110  or it may be inserted into a slot, port, or the like of the multimedia device  110  by a user. The memory  320  may serve the sole purpose of storing data, or it may be constructed as a part of an apparatus serving other purposes, such as processing data. 
         [0080]    The image sensor  340  may be a device converting an optical image into an electronic signal, for example a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) active pixel sensor. The image sensor  340  may provide metadata information of the image sensor  340 . 
         [0081]    The communication interface module  350  implements at least part of radio transmission. The communication interface module  350  may comprise, e.g., a wireless or a wired interface module. The wireless interface may comprise such as a WLAN, Bluetooth, infrared (IR), radio frequency identification (RF ID), GSM/GPRS, CDMA, WCDMA, or LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio module. The wired interface may comprise such as universal serial bus (USB), for example. The communication interface module  350  may be integrated into the multimedia device  110 , or into an adapter, card or the like that may be inserted into a suitable slot or port of the multimedia device  110 . The communication interface module  350  may support one radio interface technology or a plurality of technologies. The multimedia device  110  may comprise a plurality of communication interface modules  350 . Captured multimedia data of the multimedia device  110  may be transmitted to a user apparatus  120  or to a computer apparatus using the communication interface  350 . 
         [0082]    A skilled person appreciates that in addition to the elements shown in  FIG. 3 , the multimedia device  110  may comprise other elements, such as microphones, displays, as well as additional circuitry such as input/output (I/O) circuitry, memory chips, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), processing circuitry for specific purposes such as source coding/decoding circuitry, channel coding/decoding circuitry, ciphering/deciphering circuitry, and the like. Additionally, the multimedia device  110  may comprise a disposable or rechargeable battery (not shown) for powering when external power if external power supply is not available 
         [0083]      FIG. 4  presents an example block diagram of a server apparatus  130  in which various embodiments of the invention may be applied. 
         [0084]    The general structure of the server apparatus  130  comprises a processor  410 , and a memory  420  coupled to the processor  410 . The server apparatus  130  further comprises software  430  stored in the memory  420  and operable to be loaded into and executed in the processor  410 . The software  430  may comprise one or more software modules and can be in the form of a computer program product. 
         [0085]    The processor  410  may be, e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a graphics processing unit, or the like.  FIG. 4  shows one processor  410 , but the server apparatus  130  may comprise a plurality of processors. 
         [0086]    The memory  420  may be for example a non-volatile or a volatile memory, such as a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a data disk, an optical storage, a magnetic storage, a smart card, or the like. The server apparatus  130  may comprise a plurality of memories. The memory  420  may be constructed as a part of the server apparatus  130  or it may be inserted into a slot, port, or the like of the server apparatus  130  by a user. The memory  420  may serve the sole purpose of storing data, or it may be constructed as a part of an apparatus serving other purposes, such as processing data. 
         [0087]    The communication interface module  450  implements at least part of radio transmission. The communication interface module  450  may comprise, e.g., a wireless or a wired interface module. The wireless interface may comprise such as a WLAN, Bluetooth, infrared (IR), radio frequency identification (RF ID), GSM/GPRS, CDMA, WCDMA, or LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio module. The wired interface may comprise such as universal serial bus (USB), for example. The communication interface module  450  may be integrated into the server apparatus  130 , or into an adapter, card or the like that may be inserted into a suitable slot or port of the server apparatus  130 . The communication interface module  450  may support one radio interface technology or a plurality of technologies. The server apparatus  130  may comprise a plurality of communication interface modules  450 . Captured multimedia data of the multimedia device  110  or the user apparatus  120  may be received by the server apparatus  130  using the communication interface  450 . 
         [0088]    The e-mail server process  460 , which receives e-mail messages sent from user apparatuses  120  and computer apparatuses via the network  150 . The server  460  may comprise a content analyzer module  461 , which checks if the content of the received message meets the criteria that are set for new content data of the service. The content analyzer module  461  may for example check, whether the e-mail message contains a valid still image or a video stream. The valid content data received by the e-mail server is then sent to an application server  440 , which provides application services e.g. relating to the user accounts stored in a user service database  470  and content of the content management service. In the service database  470  reference metadata for multimedia data validation may be stored. The reference metadata may also be stored in the external database  160 , wherein multimedia and metadata may be stored over a data connection  161 . 
         [0089]    The metadata stored in either of the storage device  131  or the external database  160  may comprise reference metadata, such as a multimedia device identifier, multimedia device model information, software version information of the multimedia device, resolution information of the multimedia device or parameters of a camera of the multimedia device, for example. Furthermore, user account information may be stored in the service database  470  or in the external database  160 . The user account information may comprise information of registered users and their registered apparatuses. Registration information may comprise for example, a multimedia device type, multimedia device model information or software version information of the multimedia device, for example. Content provided by the service system  100  is stored in a content database  480 . 
         [0090]    A skilled person appreciates that in addition to the elements shown in  FIG. 4 , the server apparatus  130  may comprise other elements, such as microphones, displays, as well as additional circuitry such as input/output (I/O) circuitry, memory chips, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), processing circuitry for specific purposes such as source coding/decoding circuitry, channel coding/decoding circuitry, ciphering/deciphering circuitry, and the like. 
         [0091]      FIG. 5  shows an overall block diagram of an example multimedia data item  500  according to an example embodiment of the invention. 
         [0092]    The multimedia data item  500  comprises multimedia data  510 , such as image data. Furthermore, the multimedia data item  500  comprises metadata  520 . In an embodiment, the metadata  520  comprises multimedia device information  530  as a searchable metadata element for validation of the multimedia data item  500 . The metadata  520  may further comprise metadata tags  525  for validation of the multimedia data item  500 . 
         [0093]    The metadata  520  may be written into the multimedia data item  500  for identifying who owns the multimedia data, such as image data  510 , copyright &amp; contact information, what camera created the file, along with exposure information and descriptive information such as keywords about the photo, making the file searchable on the computer and/or the Internet. Some metadata  520  may be written by the camera and further metadata  520  may be input by the photographer, user and/or computer software after downloading the multimedia data  510  to a computer, for example. 
         [0094]    The metadata  520  may be configured to use a certain standard format, such as Exchangeable Image Format (EXIF). Specifically,  FIG. 5  illustrates a single digital image  500  stored in the EXIF format, such as in a file on a computer or on a removable media device in a digital camera. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, an EXIF file  500  may contain multiple digital images having a similar format. The metadata  520  may also comprise at least two metadata, for example simple metadata and complex metadata. In  FIG. 5  only a single metadata  520  is showed, for simplicity. The metadata  520  may include tags  525 . The tags  525  include information such as descriptions, copyright information, date and time information, camera settings such as camera model and make, and information that varies with each image such as orientation (rotation), aperture, shutter speed, focal length, metering mode, location information, and ISO speed information. The tags may further comprise a thumbnail for previewing the picture on the camera&#39;s LCD screen, in file managers, or in photo manipulation software. 
         [0095]    The metadata  520  format may comprise standard tags  525  for location information. Cameras and mobile devices may have a built-in GPS receiver or a cellular positioning device that stores the location information in the metadata tags  525  when the picture is taken. Some other cameras have a separate GPS receiver that fits into the flash connector, for example. Recorded GPS data can also be added to any digital photograph on a computer, either by correlating the time stamps of the photographs with a GPS record from a hand-held GPS receiver or manually using a map or mapping software. The process of adding geographic information to a photograph is known as geocoding. A system server may allow their users to upload geocoded pictures or to add geolocation information online. 
         [0096]    In an embodiment, geographic location data is comprised in the tags  525 . Furthermore, the device info  530  may be comprised in the tags  525 . 
         [0097]    In an embodiment, the metadata  520  may be configured to use any other standard format, such as:
       IPTC Information Interchange Model IIM (International Press Telecommunications Council),   IPTC Core Schema for XMP,   XMP—Extensible Metadata Platform (an Adobe standard),   Dublin Core (Dublin Core Metadata Initiative—DCMI), or   PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System).       
 
         [0103]      FIG. 6  shows a flow diagram showing operations in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention. In step  600 , the method for providing enhanced authenticity for a multimedia data item, the multimedia data item associating captured multimedia data with metadata, is started. In step  610 , reference metadata for a multimedia device is maintained. In step  620 , the multimedia data item is received from the multimedia device. The associated metadata is determined from the received multimedia data item in step  630 . In step  640 , the associated metadata is compared with the reference metadata to provide authenticity information. The captured multimedia data is validated based on the authenticity information in step  650 . The method ends in step  660 . 
         [0104]    Various embodiments have been presented. It should be appreciated that in this document, words comprise, include and contain are each used as open-ended expressions with no intended exclusivity. If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional or may be combined. Although various aspects of the invention are set out in the independent claims, other aspects of the invention comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims. 
         [0105]    The foregoing description has provided by way of non-limiting examples of particular implementations and embodiments of the invention a full and informative description of the best mode presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. It is however clear to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not restricted to details of the embodiments presented above, but that it can be implemented in other embodiments using equivalent means or in different combinations of embodiments without deviating from the characteristics of the invention. 
         [0106]    Furthermore, some of the features of the above-disclosed embodiments of this invention may be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoing description shall be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention, and not in limitation thereof. Hence, the scope of the invention is only restricted by the appended patent claims.