Abstract:
This disclosure describes, generally, methods and systems for implementing staged configurator modeling. The method may include initiating a staged product configurator model environment and presenting a user interface (UI) configured to allow for definition of stages. The method may further include receiving input via the UI indicating the definition of stages and storing the stages in a data store. Furthermore, the method may include defining product components and associating product components with one or more of the stages. The method may further include executing one or more applications associated with the product components. The method may further include executing one or more applications associated with the product components. Each application may be configured to use the one or more stages when executing a configurator, and each new stage supplied to the configurator may be equal to or linearly incremented from a previously supplied stage.

Description:
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 
       [0001]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates, in general, to the modeling of products and services with a configurator (“configurator modeling”) and, more particularly, to implementing staged modeling of products and services with a configurator (i.e., staged configurator modeling). 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Presently, businesses commonly use a hierarchical structure of items and options to organize both simple and complex products and/or services. This hierarchy is defined by the use of component relationships, which allow items to be further decomposed. This structure serves as a basis to further indicate how the products and services are to be marketed, priced, manufactured, assembled, provisioned, forecast, planned for, etc. 
         [0004]    The hierarchical structure can be used to organize both sales options and the corresponding manufacturing options. This dual use of the data structure can result in a quoted product including both sales and manufacturing information, which is undesirable to many businesses and their customers. Businesses have typically dealt with this problem by “hiding” the unwanted information or by separating the hierarchical data into separate sales and manufacturing structures. However, both approaches duplicate maintenance activities and require additional integration or custom software to be developed between the sales ordering and fulfillment systems. Hence, there is a need for improved methods and systems in the art. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method of implementing staged configurator modeling. The method may include initiating a staged product configurator model environment and presenting a user interface (UI) configured to allow for definition of stages. The method may further include receiving input via the UI indicating the definition of stages and storing the stages in a data store. 
         [0006]    Furthermore, the method may include defining product components and associating product components with one or more of the stages. The method may further include executing one or more applications associated with the product components. The applications may be configured to linearly increment through the stages. The method may further include generating runtime constraints for each of the stages and enforcing the runtime constraint for a current stage by displaying only product components associated with the current stage or any previous stage. 
         [0007]    According to further embodiments, a system for implementing staged configurator modeling is described. The system may include a product information manager (PIM) having a product database and a stage value storage device. In one embodiment, the PIM may be configured to define product components, to store the defined product components in the product database, and to store one or more stages in the stage value storage device. 
         [0008]    The system may further include a configurator coupled with the PIM. In one embodiment, the configurator may present a UI configured to allow for definition of stages. The configurator (or the PIM) may receive input via the UI indicating the definition of the one or more stages and associate product components with one or more of the one or more stages. The configurator may be called by an application associated with the product components. In one embodiment, the application may be configured to linearly increment through the one or more stages. The configurator may then generate runtime constraints for each of the one or more stages, and enforce the runtime constraint for a current stage by displaying only product components associated with the current stage or any previous stage. 
         [0009]    In an alternative embodiment, a machine-readable medium is described. The machine-readable medium may include instructions for initiating a staged product configurator model environment and presenting a UI configured to allow for definition of stages. The machine-readable medium may further include instructions for receiving input via the UI indicating the definition of stages and storing the stages in a data store. 
         [0010]    Furthermore, the machine-readable medium may include instructions for defining product components, and associating product components with one or more of the stages. The machine-readable medium may further include instructions for executing one or more applications that may be associated with the product components and may execute the configurator. Linear incrementation (or progression) through the stages may be performed by one or more than one of the applications. The machine-readable medium may further include instructions for generating runtime constraints for each of the stages and enforcing the runtime constraint for a current stage by displaying only product components associated with the current stage or any previous stage. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention may be realized by reference to the remaining portions of the specification and the drawings wherein like reference numerals are used throughout the several drawings to refer to similar components. In some instances, a sub-label is associated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiple similar components. When reference is made to a reference numeral without specification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to refer to all such multiple similar components. 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a generalized schematic diagram illustrating a computer system, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a networked system of computers, which can be used in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating one aspect of staged configurator modeling. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating another aspect of staged configurator modeling. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating yet another aspect of staged configurator modeling. 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system for implementing staged configurator modeling. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    While various aspects of embodiments of the invention have been summarized above, the following detailed description illustrates exemplary embodiments in further detail to enable one of skill in the art to practice the invention. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form. Several embodiments of the invention are described below and, while various features are ascribed to different embodiments, it should be appreciated that the features described with respect to one embodiment may be incorporated with another embodiment as well. By the same token, however, no single feature or features of any described embodiment should be considered essential to the invention, as other embodiments of the invention may omit such features. 
         [0019]    Aspects of the present invention relate to allowing businesses to define multiple “stages” which reflect the hierarchical structure which is used during an order lifecycle. Such stages may be progressively linear and cumulative and can be viewed as discrete phases in the lifecycle of an order. Examples of stages may be a “sales stage”, a “manufacturing stage”, a “sales opportunity stage”, a “quote stage”, a “fulfillment stage”, etc. In one embodiment, the present invention may restrict items associated with a stage that are further down the hierarchical structure that have not yet been reached. Accordingly, a customer cannot inadvertently be shown manufacturing parts at the sales stage, thus confusing the customer. 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computer system  100  that can perform the methods of the invention, as described herein, and/or can function, for example, as any part of configurator  620  or product information manager (PIM)  605  in  FIG. 6 . It should be noted that  FIG. 1  is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate.  FIG. 1 , therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may be implemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integrated manner. 
         [0021]    The computer system  100  is shown comprising hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus  105  (or may otherwise be in communication, as appropriate). The hardware elements can include one or more processors  110 , including without limitation one or more general-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration chips, and/or the like); one or more input devices  115 , which can include without limitation a mouse, a keyboard and/or the like; and one or more output devices  120 , which can include without limitation a display device, a printer and/or the like. 
         [0022]    The computer system  100  may further include (and/or be in communication with) one or more storage devices  125 , which can comprise, without limitation, local and/or network accessible storage and/or can include, without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storage device, solid-state storage device such as a random access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like. The computer system  100  might also include a communications subsystem  130 , which can include without limitation a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device, a wireless communication device and/or chipset (such as a Bluetooth™ device, an 802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMax device, cellular communication facilities, etc.), and/or the like. The communications subsystem  130  may permit data to be exchanged with a network (such as the network described below, to name one example), and/or any other devices described herein. In many embodiments, the computer system  100  will further comprise a working memory  135 , which can include a RAM or ROM device, as described above. 
         [0023]    The computer system  100  also can comprise software elements, shown as being currently located within the working memory  135 , including an operating system  140  and/or other code, such as one or more application programs  145 , which may comprise computer programs of the invention, and/or may be designed to implement methods of the invention and/or configure systems of the invention, as described herein. Merely by way of example, one or more procedures described with respect to the method(s) discussed above might be implemented as code and/or instructions executable by a computer (and/or a processor within a computer). A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored on a computer readable storage medium, such as the storage device(s)  125  described above. In some cases, the storage medium might be incorporated within a computer system, such as the system  100 . In other embodiments, the storage medium might be separate from a computer system (i.e., a removable medium, such as a compact disc, etc.), and or provided in an installation package, such that the storage medium can be used to program a general purpose computer with the instructions/code stored thereon. These instructions might take the form of executable code, which is executable by the computer system  100  and/or might take the form of source and/or installable code, which, upon compilation and/or installation on the computer system  100  (e.g., using any of a variety of generally available compilers, installation programs, compression/decompression utilities, etc.) then takes the form of executable code. 
         [0024]    It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection to other computing devices such as network input/output devices may be employed. 
         [0025]    In one aspect, the invention employs a computer system (such as the computer system  100 ) to perform methods of the invention. According to a set of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods are performed by the computer system  100  in response to processor  110  executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which might be incorporated into the operating system  140  and/or other code, such as an application program  145 ) contained in the working memory  135 . Such instructions may be read into the working memory  135  from another machine-readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)  125 . Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences of instructions contained in the working memory  135  might cause the processor(s)  110  to perform one or more procedures of the methods described herein. 
         [0026]    The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer readable medium”, as used herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodiment implemented using the computer system  100 , various machine-readable media might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)  110  for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry such instructions/code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, a computer readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as the storage device(s)  125 . Volatile media includes, without limitation dynamic memory, such as the working memory  135 . Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise the bus  105 , as well as the various components of the communication subsystem  130  (and/or the media by which the communications subsystem  130  provides communication with other devices). Hence, transmission media can also take the form of waves (including without limitation radio, acoustic and/or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications). 
         [0027]    Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code. 
         [0028]    Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s)  110  for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initially be carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer. A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to be received and/or executed by the computer system  100 . These signals, which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals, optical signals and/or the like, are all examples of carrier waves on which instructions can be encoded, in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. 
         [0029]    The communications subsystem  130  (and/or components thereof) generally will receive the signals, and the bus  105  then might carry the signals (and/or the data, instructions, etc., carried by the signals) to the working memory  135 , from which the processor(s)  105  retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received by the working memory  135  may optionally be stored on a storage device  125  either before or after execution by the processor(s)  110 . 
         [0030]    A set of embodiments comprises systems for implementing staged configurator modeling. In one embodiment, user computers  205  and/or servers  215  may be implemented as computer system  100  in  FIG. 1 . Merely by way of example,  FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic diagram of a system  200  that can be used in accordance with one set of embodiments. The system  200  can include one or more user computers  205 . The user computers  205  can be general purpose personal computers (including, merely by way of example, personal computers and/or laptop computers running any appropriate flavor of Microsoft Corp.&#39;s Windows™ and/or Apple Corp.&#39;s Macintosh™ operating systems) and/or workstation computers running any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX™ or UNIX-like operating systems. These user computers  205  can also have any of a variety of applications, including one or more applications configured to perform methods of the invention, as well as one or more office applications, database client and/or server applications, and web browser applications. Alternatively, the user computers  205  can be any other electronic device, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled mobile telephone, and/or personal digital assistant (PDA), capable of communicating via a network (e.g., the network  210  described below) and/or displaying and navigating web pages or other types of electronic documents. Although the exemplary system  200  is shown with three user computers  205 , any number of user computers can be supported. 
         [0031]    Certain embodiments of the invention operate in a networked environment, which can include a network  210 . The network  210  can be any type of network familiar to those skilled in the art that can support data communications using any of a variety of commercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP, SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, the network  210  can be a local area network (“LAN”), including without limitation an Ethernet network, a Token-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network (WAN); a virtual network, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”); the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network, including without limitation a network operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, the Bluetooth™ protocol known in the art, and/or any other wireless protocol; and/or any combination of these and/or other networks. 
         [0032]    Embodiments of the invention can include one or more server computers  215 . Each of the server computers  215  may be configured with an operating system, including without limitation any of those discussed above, as well as any commercially (or freely) available server operating systems. Each of the servers  215  may also be running one or more applications, which can be configured to provide services to one or more clients  205  and/or other servers  215 . 
         [0033]    Merely by way of example, one of the servers  215  may be a web server, which can be used, merely by way of example, to process requests for web pages or other electronic documents from user computers  205 . The web server can also run a variety of server applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, database servers, Java™ servers, and the like. In some embodiments of the invention, the web server may be configured to serve web pages that can be operated within a web browser on one or more of the user computers  205  to perform methods of the invention. 
         [0034]    The server computers  215 , in some embodiments, might include one or more application servers, which can include one or more applications accessible by a client running on one or more of the client computers  205  and/or other servers  215 . Merely by way of example, the server(s)  215  can be one or more general purpose computers capable of executing programs or scripts in response to the user computers  205  and/or other servers  215 , including without limitation web applications (which might, in some cases, be configured to perform methods of the invention). Merely by way of example, a web application can be implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in any suitable programming language, such as Java™, C, C#™ or C++, and/or any scripting language, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of any programming/scripting languages. The application server(s) can also include database servers, including without limitation those commercially available from Oracle™, Microsoft™, Sybase™, IBM™ and the like, which can process requests from clients (including, depending on the configurator, database clients, API clients, web browsers, etc.) running on a user computer  205  and/or another server  215 . In some embodiments, an application server can create web pages dynamically for displaying the information in accordance with embodiments of the invention, such as information displayed from PIM  605  or configurator  620  in  FIG. 6 . Data provided by an application server may be formatted as web pages (comprising HTML, Javascript, etc., for example) and/or may be forwarded to a user computer  205  via a web server (as described above, for example). Similarly, a web server might receive web page requests and/or input data from a user computer  205  and/or forward the web page requests and/or input data to an application server. In some cases a web server may be integrated with an application server. 
         [0035]    In accordance with further embodiments, one or more servers  215  can function as a file server and/or can include one or more of the files (e.g., application code, data files, etc.) necessary to implement methods of the invention incorporated by an application running on a user computer  205  and/or another server  215 . Alternatively, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, a file server can include all necessary files, allowing such an application to be invoked remotely by a user computer  205  and/or server  215 . It should be noted that the functions described with respect to various servers herein (e.g., application server, database server, web server, file server, etc.) can be performed by a single server and/or a plurality of specialized servers, depending on implementation-specific needs and parameters. 
         [0036]    In certain embodiments, the system can include one or more databases  220 . The location of the database(s)  220  is discretionary: merely by way of example, a database  220   a  might reside on a storage medium local to (and/or resident in) a server  215   a  (and/or a user computer  205 ). Alternatively, a database  220   b  can be remote from any or all of the computers  205 ,  215 , so long as the database can be in communication (e.g., via the network  210 ) with one or more of these. In a particular set of embodiments, a database  220  can reside in a storage-area network (“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. (Likewise, any necessary files for performing the functions attributed to the computers  205 ,  215  can be stored locally on the respective computer and/or remotely, as appropriate.) In one set of embodiments, the database  220  can be a relational database, such as an Oracle™ database, that is adapted to store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands. The database might be controlled and/or maintained by a database server, as described above, for example. 
         [0037]    In one embodiment, server  215  or user computer  205  may be used to implement methods  300 ,  400 , and  500  in  FIGS. 3 ,  4  and  5 . Furthermore, server  215  may be implemented as PIM  605  or configurator  620  in  FIG. 6 . Turning now to  FIG. 3  which illustrates a method  300  for implementing staged configurator modeling. At process block  305 , a staged product configurator environment may be initiated. In one embodiment, a staged product configurator environment may include establishing stages (or phases) within a hierarchical structure used to facilitate representation of an order lifecycle. 
         [0038]    For example, a product lifecycle may begin with a customer choosing a product, customizing the product, completing the order, the product being manufactured, and then ends with the product being shipped to the customer. Each of these stages may have specific information related to what should or should not be accessible and/or displayed to the customer. For example, when the customer is customizing the product, it is unlikely that the customer would not need to see shipping or manufacturing information. Thus, with a staged product configurator environment, the customer is only able to see information related to their current stage or any previous stage. 
         [0039]    At process block  310 , in conjunction with the initializing of the staged product configurator model environment, a set of initially seeded stages may be generated. These initially seeded stages may be accessible to an administrator “out-of-the-box.” These initially seeded stages may include a “sales stage” and a “manufacturing stage”; however, additional or alternative stages may be used. In one embodiment, the administrator may use the initially seeded stages or may wish to add additional customized stages. 
         [0040]    At process block  315 , the administrator may be presented with a UI configured to allow the administrator to modify and/or generate stages. For example, the administrator&#39;s company may not be involved in the manufacturing process and would not have a need for the initially seeded manufacturing stage, therefore, the administrator may wish to remove or modify the manufacturing stage. Furthermore, the administrator&#39;s company may require additional stages, such as those mentioned above, in which the UI would allow creation of such stages. 
         [0041]    At process block  320 , input from the UI may be received. In one embodiment, the input may be directed at modifying the initially seeded stages, adding additional stages, or modifying added stages. The administrator may add, remove or modify as many stages as needed to satisfy the needs of the company. This effectively allows a company to completely customize/optimize stages to fit the company&#39;s business model/product lifecycle. 
         [0042]    At process block  325 , a data store may be created to store representations of the set of generated stages. In one embodiment, the data store may be a database maintained on a server system. In an alternative embodiment, the data store may be stored on a single system or may be stored on a distributed system. Nonetheless, the data store may be accessed to store new stage information as well as to identify stage information. 
         [0043]    Turning now to  FIG. 4 , which illustrates a method  400  for implementing staged configurator modeling. In one embodiment, defined stages may be managed by a configurator. The configurator may be configured to execute and/or enforce constraints imposed by the defined stages. In addition, the applications may access the data store in order for the applications to be aware of the stages associated with each application (process block  405 ). In one embodiment, the application may be an integration point between the configurator and an end product. In another embodiment, the application may be one of a sales quote application, an order capture application, an installation application, a field service application, a distributed order application, etc. 
         [0044]    Companies may have products related to a company&#39;s business model, and the products may also be broken down into components. Such components may be a piece or part of a whole product. At process block  410 , components of products may be defined, thus creating product-components relationships. As such, one or more components can be grouped together to create a complete product (i.e., a product hierarchy). Such a product hierarchy may include not only component structures of a product and/or service, but may also include a hierarchy of attributes that may be set by the customer when ordering the product or its components. For example, attributes may include color, length, telephone number, warranty duration, etc. 
         [0045]    At process block  415 , components may be associated with one or more stages. This association creates a component-stage relationship. As such, by creating this relationship, each stage may be assigned certain components in which those assigned components are only viewable/accessible by its assigned stage. Accordingly, some components and attributes may only accessible to certain stages while being non-accessible to other stages. 
         [0046]    In one embodiment, in response to the association of each component to a stage or stages, metadata may be generated and associated with each component to indicate the stage or stages associated with the component (process block  420 ). Accordingly, the metadata may be accessed to determine which stages a component are associated with, and therefore which stages are able to access the component. 
         [0047]    Turning now to  FIG. 5 , which illustrates a method  500  for implementing staged configurator modeling. At process block  505 , the application or applications may be executed with a staged value. During execution of the application, a runtime constraint may be generated to enforce a current stage&#39;s constraints (process block  510 ). In one embodiment, the runtime constraints may be generated based on accessing the data store containing the component-stage designations. The runtime constraints generated for each stage may be configured to restrict components associated with later-stages from being included in the current stage. Accordingly, components associated with later stages in the product lifecycle are only available once the corresponding stage is reached. Stated differently, the runtime constraint restricts components associated with “downstream” stages from being incorrectly viewed by an “upstream” stage. 
         [0048]    At process block  515 , based on the runtime constraints the appropriate components may be displayed. At decision block  520 , a determination is made whether additional stages exist. If no more additional stages exist, then the process ends; however, if additional stages exist, then the process is moved to process block  525  and the stage is incremented. After the stage is incremented, new runtime constraints may be generated based on the current (or incremented) stage designation. In one embodiment, the process continues until no additional stages are present. 
         [0049]    Turning now to  FIG. 6 , which illustrates a system  600  for implementing staged configurator modeling. In one embodiment, system  600  may include a product information manager (PIM)  605 . PIM  605  may include a stage value storage  610  and a product database  615 . In one embodiment, PIM  605  may be a repository for bills of materials (BOMs), and product information. In one embodiment, a BOM may be a hierarchy of a number of products. Product database  615  may be configured to store the product information and BOMs. 
         [0050]    In a further embodiment, stage value storage  610  may be configured to store stage information and stage-component relationship information. This stage-component relationship information may be accessed by configurator  620  via stage accessor  625 . In one embodiment, after the stage-component relationship information is accessed, the stage-component relationship information is forwarded to configurator modeler  630  which is included in configurator  620 . Subsequently, configurator modeler  630  generates runtime constraints used to enforce the stage restrictions. Furthermore, calling application  635  may access configurator  620  upon execution, in which configurator  620  may enforce the runtime constraints in relation to calling application  635 . 
         [0051]    While the invention has been described with respect to exemplary embodiments, one skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications are possible. For example, the methods and processes described herein may be implemented using hardware components, software components, and/or any combination thereof. Further, while various methods and processes described herein may be described with respect to particular structural and/or functional components for ease of description, methods of the invention are not limited to any particular structural and/or functional architecture but instead can be implemented on any suitable hardware, firmware and/or software configurator. Similarly, while various functionalities are ascribed to certain system components, unless the context dictates otherwise, this functionality can be distributed among various other system components in accordance with different embodiments of the invention. 
         [0052]    Moreover, while the procedures comprised in the methods and processes described herein are described in a particular order for ease of description, unless the context dictates otherwise, various procedures may be reordered, added, and/or omitted in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. Moreover, the procedures described with respect to one method or process may be incorporated within other described methods or processes; likewise, system components described according to a particular structural architecture and/or with respect to one system may be organized in alternative structural architectures and/or incorporated within other described systems. Hence, while various embodiments are described with—or without—certain features for ease of description and to illustrate exemplary features, the various components and/or features described herein with respect to a particular embodiment can be substituted, added and/or subtracted from among other described embodiments, unless the context dictates otherwise. Consequently, although the invention has been described with respect to exemplary embodiments, it will be appreciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims.