Patent Publication Number: US-11029741-B2

Title: Deactivating a display of a smart display device based on a vision-based mechanism

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Embodiments of the invention relate generally to smart display devices. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to deactivating a display of a smart display device based on a vision-based mechanism. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Smart display devices, such as Google Home Smart Display or Amazon Echo Show, can be voice assistant smart speakers that include an integrated display or touchscreen display to present a user with information. Commands and instructions are provided to the smart device either through voice commands from a user of the smart display device or by physical inputs of commands via the touchscreen display. The display of the smart display device can then present a user with information via the display based on the received command. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a display controller of a smart display device according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a network configuration according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is an illustration of an example of characteristics provided to an algorithmic control module to determine whether to deactivate a display of a smart display device in accordance with embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a process of display off time smoothing according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating a process of determining to deactivate a display of a smart display device based on characteristics of an image according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system according to one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various embodiments and aspects of the invention will be described with reference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present inventions. 
     Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. 
     Accordingly, embodiments of the invention provide a smart display device that deactivates a display of the smart display device based on a vision-based mechanism. Normally, smart display devices do not deactivate their displays as long as the smart display device is powered on. A smart display device will typically continuously display information on the display, regardless of whether or not a user is present. However, in some instances a user of a smart display device may desire for the display of the smart display device to be deactivated (e.g., turned off). For example, a user may wish reduce the power consumption of the smart display device by turning off the display. In another example, when a user leaves the house or goes to sleep they may wish to turn off the display. Accordingly, a user of the device may provide a voice command such as “screen off” or provide an input via a touchscreen of the smart display device that causes the display to deactivate. Such methods of deactivating the display of the smart display device are cumbersome, inefficient and may not be effective under certain circumstances. 
     Embodiments of the inventive system and methods provide a solution to this task by determining whether to deactivate a display of a smart display device based on a vision-based mechanism. A smart display device may include a light capture device, such as a camera, that can capture one or more images of the surroundings of the smart display device. For example, the camera may capture a video that includes a sequence of images of the environment in front of the smart display device. The light capture device provides the images to a display controller of the smart display device. 
     The display controller identifies one or more characteristics in the images received from the light capture device. Examples of characteristics that may be identified by the display controller include, but are not limited to, movement of objects within the images, the detection of a person (e.g., user) within the images, the distance of the person from the smart display device and the direction of the gaze of the person relative to the smart display device. The identified characteristics are provided to an algorithmic control module of the display controller for analysis. The algorithmic control module may include a machine learning model. The identified characteristics provided to the algorithmic control module may be provided as inputs into the machine learning model. The machine learning model may then utilize the identified characteristics to determine whether the display of the smart display device is to be deactivated. 
     Accordingly, by using identified characteristics of images captured by the light capture device in a machine learning model, the display controller of the smart display device may intelligently determine when to deactivate the display of the smart display device, reducing the power consumption of the smart display device. Furthermore, by intelligently determining when to deactivate the display of the smart display device, a user may no longer be required to provide a voice command or physical input to deactivate the display, improving the user experience of the smart display device. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a display controller of a smart display device  100  according to one embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 1 , smart display device  100  includes, but is not limited to, display controller  110  operatively coupled to a light capture device  105  and a display  150 . Display controller  110  may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, at least some of the components of display controller  110  may be loaded into a memory (e.g., random access memory or RAM such as dynamic RAM or DRAM) and executed by processing logic of one or more processors (e.g., microprocessors such as central processing units or CPUs, or general-purpose processing units or GPUs) of smart display device  100  (not shown). Display  150  may be any type of display, such as a touch screen display, that is configured to receive signals from display controller  110  to activate and deactivate. 
     The light capture device  105  may be configured to capture incoming light as images and transmit signals corresponding to the captured light to the display controller  110 . In embodiments, light capture device  105  may be a camera operatively coupled to the display controller  110 . In embodiments, light capture device  105  may be a single camera. In some embodiments, light capture device  105  may be multiple cameras. 
     The display controller  110  may include a movement detection module  115 . The movement detection module  115  may be configured to identify movement of objects in proximity of the smart display device  100 . In embodiments, the movement detection module  115  may identify the movement of objects in images captured by light capture device  105 . For example, the movement detection module  115  may identify an object within an image and compare sequential images to determine if the object has moved. In an embodiment, the movement detection module  115  may determine if the object has moved by calculating a pixel difference between two images. In embodiments, the movement detection module  115  may determine if the object has moved by tracking a contour of an object within images. In some embodiments, the movement detection module  115  may be operatively coupled to a sensor, such as a motion sensor, and determine whether an object has moved based on signals received from the sensor. 
     The display controller  110  may include a person detection module  120 . The person detection module  120  may be configured to determine whether a person is present in an image. In embodiments, the person detection module  120  may output a contour box of a person within the image along with a confidence level that the contour box corresponds to a person in the image. 
     The display controller  110  may further include a depth calculation module  125 . The depth calculation module  125  may be configured to determine the depth of an object in an image. The depth of the object may correspond to the distance between the object and the light capture device  105  of the smart display device  100 . In some embodiments, the depth calculation module  125  may utilize multiple cameras to determine the depth of one or more objects within an image. For example, a first image captured by a first camera may be compared to a second image captured by a second camera at the same time to determine the depth of the object within the image. In embodiments including a single camera, the depth calculation module  125  may approximate an objects distance to the camera by determining a portion of the image occupied by the object. For example, if a person&#39;s face occupies 80% of an image, then the depth calculation module  125  may approximate that the person is in close proximity to the camera, given that the camera is not zoomed in. 
     The display controller  110  may include a gaze detection module  130 . The gaze detection module  130  may be configured to detect whether a person in an image is looking at the light capture device  105  or the smart display device  100 . In embodiments, the gaze detection module  130  may utilize one or more algorithms to detect the position of a person&#39;s eyes within an image. The gaze detection module  130  may then determine whether the person&#39;s eyes are looking in a direction towards the light capture device  105  or the smart display device  100 . 
     In embodiments, the movement detection module  115 , the person detection module  120 , the depth calculation module  125  and/or the gaze detection module  130  can operate in parallel. In some embodiments, the movement detection module  115 , the person detection module  120 , the depth calculation module  125  and/or the gaze detection module  130  can operate in series. For example, the person detection module  120  may provide data to the depth calculation module  125  and the depth calculation module may provide data to the gaze detection module  130 . 
     The display controller  110  may include a screen status module  140 . The screen status module  140  may be configured to provide an output that indicates whether the display  150  is activated (e.g., turned on) or deactivated (e.g., turned off). The display controller  110  may further include an off time smoothing module  145 . The off time smoothing module  145  may be configured to determine how frequently display  150  is activated and/or deactivated. 
     The display controller  110  may further include an algorithmic control module  135 . The algorithmic control module  135  may receive data from movement detection module  115 , person detection module  120 , depth calculation module  125 , gaze detection module  130 , screen status module  140  and/or off time smoothing module  145 . The algorithmic control module  135  may be configured to determine whether to activate or deactivate the display  150  of the smart display device  100  based on the received data. In embodiments, the algorithmic control module  135  may utilize a machine learning model to determine whether to activate or deactivate the display  150  and determine a confidence score. In an embodiment, the machine learning model may be received from a remote server, as will be discussed in further detail at  FIG. 2 . Examples of machine learning models that may be utilized by the algorithmic control module  135  include, but are not limited to, linear models, non-linear models, shallow models and deep models. Upon the algorithmic control module  135  determining that the display  150  is to be activated/deactivated, the display controller  110  may deactivate the display  150  based on the determination by transmitting a signal to the display  150 . 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a network configuration  200  according to one embodiment. Referring to  FIG. 2 , network configuration  200  includes a smart display device  210  communicatively coupled to a server  220  over a network  240 . Smart display device  210  may correspond to smart display device  100 , as previously described at  FIG. 1 . Server  220  can be any server and may include one or more processing devices (not shown). Server  220  may be operatively coupled to a data store  230 . The data store  230  may be a persistent storage that is capable of storing data. A persistent storage may be a local storage unit or a remote storage unit. Persistent storage may be a magnetic storage unit, optical storage unit, solid state storage unit, electronic storage units (main memory), or similar storage unit. Persistent storage may also be a monolithic/single device or a distributed set of devices. In embodiments, server  220  and data store  230  may be components of a cloud-based platform. 
     Network  240  may be a public network (e.g., the internet), a private network (e.g., a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN)), or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, network  240  may include a wired or a wireless infrastructure, which may be provided by one or more wireless communications systems, such as a wireless fidelity (WiFi) hotspot connected with the network  240  and/or a wireless carrier system that can be implemented using various data processing equipment, communication towers (e.g. cell towers), etc. 
     Processing logic of the processing device of server  220  may be configured to train a machine learning model that is to be utilized by an algorithmic control module (e.g., algorithmic control module  135  of  FIG. 1 ) of smart display device  210 . Sample data not associated with the smart display device, such as previously acquired data from one or more different smart display devices, may be used as training sets for the machine learning model. The processing logic of server  220  may execute the machine learning model using the sample data and the outputs of the machine learning model may be analyzed to determine whether the machine learning model is functioning properly. After the machine learning model is trained by the processing logic, the machine learning model may be provided to the smart display device  210  via the network  240 . 
     In some embodiments, upon receipt of the machine learning model, the algorithmic control module of smart display device  210  may utilize the machine learning model and characteristics associated with images captured by a light capture device to determine whether or not to activate/deactivate a display of the smart display device. It should be noted that, in embodiments, the determination is performed by processing logic of the smart display device  210  without providing the characteristics associated with the images to server  220  via the network  240  to protect the privacy of users of smart display device  210 . 
       FIG. 3  is an illustration  300  of an example of characteristics provided to an algorithmic control module to determine whether to deactivate a display of a smart display device in accordance with embodiments. As previously described, characteristics associated with one or more images received from a light capture device may be identified and provided to an algorithmic control module  135 . The algorithmic control module  135  may use the received characteristics as inputs to a machine learning model which may determine whether to deactivate display  150  of a smart display device. Each of the characteristics may influence the determination of the machine learning model on whether or not to deactivate display  150 . 
     At block  305 , a display controller may identify movement of objects in images, as previously described. The algorithmic control module  135  may utilize the movement of objects in images to determine whether or not to deactivate display  150 . For example, if the movement of objects in the images is below a threshold amount, indicating minimal activity around the smart display device, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate display  150  may increase. In embodiments, the algorithmic control module  135  may identify period of time during the day in which there is minimal activity around the smart display device. For example, the algorithmic control module  135  may determine that between 8 AM-5 PM on Monday through Friday there is minimal activity around the smart display device. Accordingly, during the identified period of time, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate display  150  may increase. 
     At block  310 , the display controller may identify a person in the images. The algorithmic control module  135  may utilize the presence of a person in images to determine whether or not to deactivate display  150 . For example, if an object in the image is a person, indicating that the person may be using the smart display device, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate display  150  may decrease. However, if the object in the image is a cat, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate display  150  may increase. In embodiments, the algorithmic control module  135  may utilize movement data to verify that a person is in the images. For example, if a person identified in images has a static location (e.g., is not moving) for a period of time, the algorithmic control module  135  may determine that the person identified in the image is a photograph of a person. Accordingly, if the algorithmic control module  135  determines that a person identified in the image is not actually a person, then the algorithmic control module  135  may disregard the identified person when determining whether or not to deactivate the display  150 . 
     At block  315 , the display controller may identify the depth of the person in the images. The algorithmic control module  135  may utilize the depth of a person in images to determine whether or not to deactivate display  150 . In embodiments, if the distance from a person in the image to the smart display device is below a threshold distance, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate the display  150  may decrease. For example, if a person is within a 5 foot threshold distance from the smart display device, indicating the person is likely using the smart display device, then the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate the display may decrease. In some embodiments, if the distance from a person in the image to the smart display device exceeds a threshold distance, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate the display  150  may increase. For example, if the distance of a person to the smart display device is greater than a 20 foot threshold, the person likely could not see the information on the display of the smart display device and/or is likely not using the display of the smart display device. Accordingly, the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate the display  150  may increase. 
     At block  320 , the display controller may identify the gaze direction of the person in the images. The algorithmic control module  135  may utilize the gaze direction of a person in images to determine whether or not to deactivate display  150 . For example, if the gaze direction of a person in the images is in a direction towards the smart display device, indicating the person is likely using the display  150  of the smart display device, then the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate the display  150  may decrease. However, if the gaze direction of a person in the images is not in a direction towards the smart display device, indicating the person is not likely using the display  150  of the smart display device, then the probability that the algorithmic control module  135  determines to deactivate the display  150  may increase. 
     It should be noted that although illustration  300  includes identified characteristics at blocks  305 ,  310 ,  315  and  320  being utilized to determine whether or not to deactivate display  150 , in embodiments more or less characteristics may be utilized to determine whether or not to deactivate display  150 . 
       FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating a process  400  of display off time smoothing according to one embodiment. Process  400  may be performed by processing logic which may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, one or more operations of process  400  may be performed by the off time smoothing module  145  of display controller  110  of  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , in operation  401 , processing logic determines to deactivate a display of a smart display device based on identified characteristics of received images, as previously described. In operation  402 , processing logic deactivates the display of the smart display device. 
     In operation  403 , the processing logic determines if the display has been activated within a threshold amount of time of the deactivation of the display at operation  402 . For example, the processing logic may determine if the display has been activated by a user within a five minute threshold amount of time since the deactivation of the display at operation  402 . A user activating the display within the threshold amount of time may indicate that the processing logic determined to deactivate the display at an inappropriate time. Accordingly, to prevent deactivation of the display at an inappropriate time, at operation  404 , if the display has been activated within the threshold amount of time, the processing logic determines to not subsequently deactivate the display. In embodiments, the processing logic may determine to not subsequently deactivate the display for a period of time. For example, the processing logic may determine to not subsequently deactivate the display for one hour. 
     If the display has not been activated within a threshold amount of time, at operation  405  the processing logic determines to subsequently deactivate the display. In some embodiments, data associated with the determinations as previously described in process  400  may be provided to the algorithmic control module  135 . The data may be utilized by a machine learning model to determine whether or not to deactivate the display of the smart display device, as previously described. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating a process  500  of determining to deactivate a display of a smart display device based on characteristics of an image according to one embodiment. Process  500  may be performed by processing logic which may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, process  500  may be performed by display controller  110  of  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIG. 5 , in operation  501 , processing logic receives an image from a light capture device. In operation  502 , processing logic identifies characteristics of the image received from the light capture device. In operation  503 , processing logic determines whether to deactivate a display of the smart display device based on the characteristics of the image. In response to determining to deactivate the display of the smart display device based on the characteristics of the image, in operation  504 , processing logic deactivates the display of the smart display device. 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a data processing system which may be used with one embodiment of the invention. For example, system  1500  may represent any of data processing systems described above performing any of the processes or methods described above, such as, for example, a client device or a server described above, such as, for example, smart display device  100  of  FIG. 1  as described above. 
     System  1500  can include many different components. These components can be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules adapted to a circuit board such as a motherboard or add-in card of the computer system, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of the computer system. 
     Note also that system  1500  is intended to show a high level view of many components of the computer system. However, it is to be understood that additional components may be present in certain implementations and furthermore, different arrangement of the components shown may occur in other implementations. System  1500  may represent a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, a server, a mobile phone, a media player, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a Smartwatch, a personal communicator, a gaming device, a network router or hub, a wireless access point (AP) or repeater, a set-top box, or a combination thereof. Further, while only a single machine or system is illustrated, the term “machine” or “system” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines or systems that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
     In one embodiment, system  1500  includes processor  1501 , memory  1503 , and devices  1505 - 1508  via a bus or an interconnect  1510 . Processor  1501  may represent a single processor or multiple processors with a single processor core or multiple processor cores included therein. Processor  1501  may represent one or more general-purpose processors such as a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), or the like. More particularly, processor  1501  may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or processor implementing other instruction sets, or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor  1501  may also be one or more special-purpose processors such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a cellular or baseband processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a network processor, a graphics processor, a network processor, a communications processor, a cryptographic processor, a co-processor, an embedded processor, or any other type of logic capable of processing instructions. 
     Processor  1501 , which may be a low power multi-core processor socket such as an ultra-low voltage processor, may act as a main processing unit and central hub for communication with the various components of the system. Such processor can be implemented as a system on chip (SoC). Processor  1501  is configured to execute instructions for performing the operations and steps discussed herein. System  1500  may further include a graphics interface that communicates with optional graphics subsystem  1504 , which may include a display controller, a graphics processor, and/or a display device. 
     Processor  1501  may communicate with memory  1503 , which in one embodiment can be implemented via multiple memory devices to provide for a given amount of system memory. Memory  1503  may include one or more volatile storage (or memory) devices such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), or other types of storage devices. Memory  1503  may store information including sequences of instructions that are executed by processor  1501 , or any other device. For example, executable code and/or data of a variety of operating systems, device drivers, firmware (e.g., input output basic system or BIOS), and/or applications can be loaded in memory  1503  and executed by processor  1501 . An operating system can be any kind of operating systems, such as, for example, Windows® operating system from Microsoft®, Mac OS®/iOS® from Apple, Android® from Google®, Linux®, Unix®, or other real-time or embedded operating systems such as VxWorks. 
     System  1500  may further include IO devices such as devices  1505 - 1508 , including network interface device(s)  1505 , optional input device(s)  1506 , and other optional IO device(s)  1507 . Network interface device  1505  may include a wireless transceiver and/or a network interface card (NIC). The wireless transceiver may be a WiFi transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a WiMax transceiver, a wireless cellular telephony transceiver, a satellite transceiver (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) transceiver), or other radio frequency (RF) transceivers, or a combination thereof. The NIC may be an Ethernet card. 
     Input device(s)  1506  may include a mouse, a touch pad, a touch sensitive screen (which may be integrated with display device  1504 ), a pointer device such as a stylus, and/or a keyboard (e.g., physical keyboard or a virtual keyboard displayed as part of a touch sensitive screen). For example, input device  1506  may include a touch screen controller coupled to a touch screen. The touch screen and touch screen controller can, for example, detect contact and movement or break thereof using any of a plurality of touch sensitivity technologies, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with the touch screen. 
     IO devices  1507  may include an audio device. An audio device may include a speaker and/or a microphone to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition, voice replication, digital recording, and/or telephony functions. Other IO devices  1507  may further include universal serial bus (USB) port(s), parallel port(s), serial port(s), a printer, a network interface, a bus bridge (e.g., a PCI-PCI bridge), sensor(s) (e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, a magnetometer, a light sensor, compass, a proximity sensor, etc.), or a combination thereof. Devices  1507  may further include an imaging processing subsystem (e.g., a camera), which may include an optical sensor, such as a charged coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor, utilized to facilitate camera functions, such as recording photographs and video clips. Certain sensors may be coupled to interconnect  1510  via a sensor hub (not shown), while other devices such as a keyboard or thermal sensor may be controlled by an embedded controller (not shown), dependent upon the specific configuration or design of system  1500 . 
     To provide for persistent storage of information such as data, applications, one or more operating systems and so forth, a mass storage (not shown) may also couple to processor  1501 . In various embodiments, to enable a thinner and lighter system design as well as to improve system responsiveness, this mass storage may be implemented via a solid state device (SSD). However in other embodiments, the mass storage may primarily be implemented using a hard disk drive (HDD) with a smaller amount of SSD storage to act as a SSD cache to enable non-volatile storage of context state and other such information during power down events so that a fast power up can occur on re-initiation of system activities. Also a flash device may be coupled to processor  1501 , e.g., via a serial peripheral interface (SPI). This flash device may provide for non-volatile storage of system software, including a basic input/output software (BIOS) as well as other firmware of the system. 
     Storage device  1508  may include computer-accessible storage medium  1509  (also known as a machine-readable storage medium or a computer-readable medium) on which is stored one or more sets of instructions or software (e.g., module, unit, and/or logic  1528 ) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Processing module/unit/logic  1528  may represent any of the components described above, such as, for example, display controller  110  as described above. Processing module/unit/logic  1528  may also reside, completely or at least partially, within memory  1503  and/or within processor  1501  during execution thereof by data processing system  1500 , memory  1503  and processor  1501  also constituting machine-accessible storage media. Processing module/unit/logic  1528  may further be transmitted or received over a network via network interface device  1505 . 
     Computer-readable storage medium  1509  may also be used to store the some software functionalities described above persistently. While computer-readable storage medium  1509  is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The terms “computer-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “computer-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, or any other non-transitory machine-readable medium. 
     Processing module/unit/logic  1528 , components and other features described herein can be implemented as discrete hardware components or integrated in the functionality of hardware components such as ASICS, FPGAs, DSPs or similar devices. In addition, processing module/unit/logic  1528  can be implemented as firmware or functional circuitry within hardware devices. Further, processing module/unit/logic  1528  can be implemented in any combination hardware devices and software components. 
     Note that while system  1500  is illustrated with various components of a data processing system, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components; as such details are not germane to embodiments of the present invention. It will also be appreciated that network computers, handheld computers, mobile phones, servers, and/or other data processing systems which have fewer components or perhaps more components may also be used with embodiments of the invention. 
     Some portions of the preceding detailed descriptions have been presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the ways used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. 
     It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as those set forth in the claims below, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system&#39;s registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. 
     The techniques shown in the figures can be implemented using code and data stored and executed on one or more electronic devices. Such electronic devices store and communicate (internally and/or with other electronic devices over a network) code and data using computer-readable media, such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., magnetic disks; optical disks; random access memory; read only memory; flash memory devices; phase-change memory) and transitory computer-readable transmission media (e.g., electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals—such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals). 
     The processes or methods depicted in the preceding figures may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g. circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), firmware, software (e.g., embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium), or a combination of both. Although the processes or methods are described above in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in a different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially. 
     In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.