Patent Publication Number: US-2021173691-A1

Title: Collaborative Hosted Virtual Systems And Methods

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/906,706, filed on Jun. 19, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/823,791, filed on Nov. 28, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     This present disclosure generally relates to collaborative, hosted virtual devices, and more particularly to systems and methods for providing collaborative, hosted virtual devices. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     Debugging is a process of finding and correcting errors in a computer program to make the program behave as expected. With application development, certain errors may occur when improper calls are made to the hosting system (e.g., operating system or web browser). Such errors may be difficult for an application developer to detect. While support teams of the hosting system may be more easily able to detect these errors, application developers are often hesitant to share source code with the support teams. In traditional computing systems (e.g., desktop computers), support teams utilize web tracking to record HTTP activity and detect errors. However, implementing web tracking in mobile environments is more difficult, and mobile HTTP activity is often unobservable. Further, it may not be possible to verify client configurations and setups for mobile environments, and source code of applications executing on a mobile device is frequently private. Therefore, it is often difficult to provide support to mobile application developers. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for improved tools to assist in application development and in detecting errors in the code. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, there is provided a method including: receiving, by a computing device, a request from a user device for access to a hosted virtual machine; dedicating, by the computing device, a port to forward a cast of a particular hosted virtual machine instance to the user device; establishing a connection between the user device and the particular hosted virtual machine instance through the dedicated port; receiving, by the computing device and from the user device, instructions to execute an application on the particular hosted virtual machine instance; logging external calls made by the particular hosted virtual machine instance; and transmitting, by the computer device, the log of external calls to be stored on a server, the logs being synced by the server with the user device in substantially real time. 
     The dedicated port may be simultaneously accessible by a plurality of user devices. 
     The method may further include: receiving, by the computing device, the compiled application from the user device; and initiating installation of the application within the particular hosted virtual machine instance. 
     The method may further include: wrapping, by the computing device, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) data from the particular hosted virtual machine instance in web sockets; and transmitting, by the computing device and to the user device, the wrapped TCP data. 
     The method may further include: translating, by the computing device, the instructions from the computing device to TCP data; and sending the translated instructions to the particular hosted virtual machine instance. 
     Establishing the connection may include: connecting, by the computing device, to the user device through a reverse proxy, and connecting, by the computing device, to the particular hosted virtual machine instance through a secured tunnel. 
     The request from the user device may be received from a provisioning gateway, and the method may further include transmitting connection information to the provisioning gateway. 
     The particular hosted virtual machine instance may include a network proxy configured to detect ail calls made by the particular hosted virtual machine instance and control the detected calls to be stored on the server. 
     The method may further include: upon receiving a first request from the user device for access to the hosted virtual machine, establishing a connection between the user device and a fresh instantiation of the hosted virtual machine as the particular hosted virtual machine instance, and upon receiving a second request from the user device for access to the hosted virtual machine, establishing a connection between the user device and the particular hosted virtual machine instance, the particular hosted virtual machine instance being persisted since receiving the first request. 
     The method may further include: receiving, by the computing device, a request from an external device for access to the particular hosted virtual machine instance; and establishing, by the computing device and with the external device, a connection between the external device and the particular hosted virtual machine instance through the dedicated port. 
     Establishing the connection between the user device and the particular hosted virtual machine instance may include connecting, by the computing device, to the user device through a first reverse proxy port. Establishing the connection between the external device and the particular hosted virtual machine instance may include connecting, by the computing device, to the user device through a second reverse proxy port. The first and second reverse proxy ports may be mapped to a same connection with the particular hosted virtual machine instance. 
     According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, there is provided a method including: transmitting, by a computing device and to a provisioning gateway, a request for access to a hosted virtual machine; receiving, by the computing device, connection information to a first server; connecting to the first server based on the connection information; receiving, by the computing device and from the first server, a cast of a particular hosted virtual machine; transmitting, by the computing device and through the first server to the particular hosted virtual machine, instance, instructions to execute an application on the particular hosted virtual machine instance; establishing, by the computing device, a connection with a second server; and receiving, by the computer device and from the second server, and in substantially real time, a log of external calls made by the particular hosted virtual machine instance in response to executing the application. 
     The method may further include transmitting by the computing device and through the first server, a compiled application to the particular hosted virtual machine instance. The instructions may include instructions to install and execute the compiled application on the particular hosted virtual machine instance. 
     The method may further include: rendering, by the computing device, the cast of the particular hosted virtual machine instance; and outputting for display the rendered east and the log of external calls. 
     The rendered cast acid log of external calls may be displayed on a same application screen. 
     The application may be a web application executed in a web browser. 
     The method may further include transmitting, in association with the request for access to a hosted virtual machine, a user identifier corresponding to a user of the computing device. The particular hosted virtual machine instance is assigned to the user identifier. 
     The method may further include transmitting, in association with the request for access to a hosted virtual machine, an instance identifier corresponding to the particular hosted virtual machine instance. 
     According to certain aspects of the preset disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, control the processor to: output for transmission, to a provisioning gateway, a request for access to a hosted virtual machine; receive, from the provisioning gateway, connection information to a first server; connect to the first server based on the connection information; receive, from the first server over the dedicated port, a cast of a particular hosted virtual machine instance; output for transmission, to the particular hosted virtual machine instance and through the first server, instructions to execute an application on the particular hosted virtual machine instance; establish, a connection with a second server; and receive, from the second server and in substantially real time, a log of external calls made by the particular hosted virtual machine instance in response to executing the application. 
     The instructions may further control the processor to: render the cast of the particular hosted virtual machine instance; and output for display the rendered cast together with the log of external calls. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       Reference will now be made to the accompanying figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an example environment for implementing certain aspects def the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates example screens of an application executed on the user device. 
         FIG. 3  is a timing diagram of an implementation of certain elements of the present disclosure according to an example embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  a block diagram of an example computer system capable at implementing certain aspects of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The present disclosure can be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the examples included herein. It is to be understood that embodiments are not limited to those described within this disclosure. Numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art and remain within the scope of the disclosure. It is also to be understood that the specific terminology used herein is for describing specific embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. Some embodiments of the disclosed technology will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosed technology may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth therein. 
     To address these issues, certain aspects of the disclosure provide cloud-based virtual machines with built-in tools for tracking traffic. The virtual machines may be accessed collaboratively, in real-time, and the traffic generated therein can be observed using the built-in tools. In some embodiments, a server dedicates a port for casting an instance of a hosted virtual machine, and translates data exchanged between the instance and an accessing web application executing on a user device. The built-in tools track traffic venerated by the instance and upload the tracked traffic, in real-time, to a server. The user device accesses this information from the server. The hosted virtual machine may be accessed collaboratively, such that a third-party (e.g., support staff) may view the virtual machine in real time, and review the traffic generated by the instance of the virtual machine. 
     Referring now to the figures,  FIG. 1  illustrates an example environment for implementing certain aspects of the present disclosure. The environment  100  includes a user device  110 , a provisioning gateway  130 , a middleware server  150 , a virtual instance host  170 , and a traffic database  190 . The user device  110  is configured to request access to a virtual instance from the provisioning gateway  130 . The provisioning gateway  130  facilitates a connection between the middleware server  150  by requesting a virtual instance. 
     The middleware server  150  provides the user device  110  a cast of the virtual instance from the virtual instance host  170  and provide input from the user device  110  to the virtual instance host  170 . In some cases, the middleware server may create a tunnel (e.g., secure shell (SSH) tunnel) with the virtual instance host  170  and convert between transmission control protocol (TCP) layer protocols received from the virtual instance host  170  and WebSockets sent to the user device  110 . The virtual instance host  170  hosts instances of the virtual machine. In some cases, the virtual instance host  170  may create virtual machine instances or instance groups using a template. The virtual machine instances include traffic tracking tools that monitor traffic (e.g., HTML traffic) generated by the virtual machine instance. The tools upload the tracked traffic to the traffic database  190 . 
     The traffic database  190  shares the traffic with the user device  110 . The user device  110  may combine the traffic information received from the traffic database  190  with the cast of the virtual machine received from the middleware server  150 . In some implementations, the traffic database  190  is a real-time database, configured to synchronize, in real time or near real time, the traffic with the user device  110 . In some embodiments, the traffic database  190  further includes one or more of the following: configuration information on particular virtual machine instances; user information associated with particular virtual machine instances, including permissions or leases; and mapping information for the middleware server  150  (e.g., connection information for particular user devices  110  or user accounts). In some cases, the data may be stored in the traffic database  190  using a hierarchical database model. In some implementations, the traffic database  190  may be a non-SQL database. 
     As will be understood by one of ordinary skill, in some embodiments functionality of the provisioning gateway  130 , middleware server  150 , virtual instance host  170 , and traffic database  190  may be implemented on a single physical device or implemented across one or more devices. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates example screens of an application executed on the user device  110 . An initiation screen  210  includes an option to select virtual device and operating system configurations. In some embodiments, the virtual device is a virtual mobile device (e.g., an Android device). When a device configuration is selected and “Start Cloud Instance” is selected, the application controls a request access to a virtual instance be sent from the user device  110  to the provisioning gateway  130 , as described above. An execution screen  220  illustrates an example application screen when accessing a virtual instance. The virtual instance may be cast on a portion of the application screen and interacted with through the screen. On a separate portion of the application screen, tracked traffic information received from the traffic database  190  may be organized and displayed. As a user of the user device  110  interacts with the virtual instance, the traffic may be automatically updated to reflect the interaction. The application may be a web application accessed via a web browser. 
       FIG. 3  is a timing diagram of an example implementation of the present disclosure. A user device  110  transmits  305  a request for a virtual machine instance to the provisioning gateway  130 . As a non-limiting example, the request may be transmitted  305  in response to receiving an indication from a user to launch a virtual machine instance. In some cases, the request may be sent automatically by the user device  110  in response to launching an application (e.g., a web application). 
     The provisioning gateway requests  310  the middleware server  150  to provide connection information. The middleware server  150  establishes  315  a connection with a virtual machine instance executing on the virtual instance host  170 . As a non-limiting example, the middleware server  150  establishes  315  an SSH tunnel connection with a virtual machine instance, and establish a forward port to cast the virtual machine instance. The middleware server  150  provides  320 , to the provisioning gateway  130 , the connection information for the forward port. In some embodiments, the middleware server  150  may utilize a reverse proxy, and the connection information may be connection information to a forward port of the reverse proxy. The provisioning gateway  130  provides  325  the connection information to the user device  110 , and the user device  110  establishes  330  a connection with the middleware server  150  using the connection information. 
     The virtual instance host  170  sends  335  a cast of the virtual machine instance to the middleware server  150  over the connection. As a non-limiting example, the virtual host  170  sends  335  cast data in a TCP layer protocol. The middleware server  150  converts  340  the cast data to a web protocol and sends  345  the converted cast data to the user device  345 . As a non-limiting example, the middleware server  150  may format the cast data into sockets (e.g., wrap the cast data within WebSockets) and send  345  the sockets to the user device  110 . 
     The user device  110  displays  350  the cast of the virtual machine instance and receives user input for the virtual machine instance. For example, the user device  110  may display  350  a rendering of a GUI of the virtual machine instance and receive user input instructing the instance to execute an application. In some cases, the instructions may include installing an application on the virtual machine. The application may be compiled on the user device  110 , and executable files may be delivered to the virtual machine from the user device  110  through the middleware server  150 . The user device  110  transmits  355  instructions corresponding to the user input to the middleware server  150 . The middleware server  150  converts  360  the instructions to be understandable by the virtual machine instance, for example, converting the instructions from WebSockets to a TCP layer protocol. The middleware server  150  sends  365  the converted instructions to the virtual instance host  170 . 
     The virtual instance host  170  executes  370  the instructions within the virtual machine instance and captures  375  traffic generated by executing the instructions. The virtual instance host  170  uploads  380  the captured traffic to the traffic database  190 . As a non-limiting example, the virtual machine instance may run a native network layer proxy that intercepts all calls made by the virtual machine instance and uploads the intercepted calls to the traffic database  190 . The traffic database  190  may store the uploaded traffic data correlated with an identification of the particular virtual machine instance. The traffic database  190  may then transmit  385  the stored traffic generated by the virtual machine instance to the user device  110 , which displays  390  the traffic information with the cast of the virtual machine instance. 
     In some embodiments, the traffic data provided to the user device  110  may be raw data. In some embodiments, the network proxy may detect patterns in the traffic data and format the data accordingly. In some embodiments, the network proxy may upload the raw data to the traffic database  190 , and the traffic database may format the data based on rules and patterns. 
     In some embodiments, a fresh instantiation of the virtual machine (e.g., created from a template without modifications by a user device  110 ) may be accessed each time user device  110  requests an instance of the virtual machine. In some cases, the virtual instance host  170  may maintain a pool of virtual machine instances that may be assigned. In some implementations, a particular virtual machine instance may be associated with a particular user device  110  or user account. For example, the user device  110  may submit a user identifier or device identifier to the provisioning gateway  130  together with the request for an instance of the virtual machine. A particular virtual machine instance may be tied to the user or device identifier, each time the user or user device  110  requests an instance from the provisioning gateway  130 , the user accesses a same virtual machine. In some embodiments, the correlation may be stored in the traffic database  190 . In some implementations, a user account may be required to access a virtual machine instance, and the virtual machine instance may be tied to the user account. 
     In some cases, upon a first request for a virtual machine instance, a fresh instantiation of the virtual machine may be assigned to the user or user device  110  for a certain time period (e.g., a lease term). For example, a particular instance of a virtual machine may be assigned to a particular user or user device  110  for two weeks after accessing the virtual machine. The lease term may be renewable by re-accessing the particular virtual machine instance. In some cases, once the lease term expires, the particular virtual machine instance will be deleted, and a new instantiation may be created. 
     In some cases, a plurality of virtual machine instances may be assigned to a same user device  110  or user account. The application executing on the user device  110  may include a user interface for selecting a particular virtual machine instance, and may control the user device  110  to request access to the selected instance from the provisioning gateway  130 . 
     According to some embodiments, a particular virtual machine instance may be accessed simultaneously by a plurality of user devices  110 . For example, a developer may upload an application onto a particular virtual machine instance, and allow a support team to view the virtual machine and review the traffic data. In some embodiments, each virtual machine instance may be uniquely identifiable. The traffic database  190  may store the traffic data linked with an identifier of the respective virtual machine instance. The support team may access a cast of the particular virtual machine instance from the middleware server  150  and the stored traffic data from the traffic database  190  while the developer is accessing the particular virtual machine interest. In some implementations, the same connections between the middleware server  150  and the virtual instance host  170  may be used by both the user device  110  and the support team. 
     In some implementations, the application executing on the user device  110  may include a user interface element for sharing a particular virtual machine instance with a third party. For example, the application may include a text field to input an e-mail address of a third party, and the application may output instructions to provide access to the instance to the holder of the e-mail address. For example, the middleware server  150  may provide a first connection between the user device  110  and the reverse proxy, and a second connection between the third party&#39;s user device  110  and the review proxy, both connections being mapped to the particular instance of the virtual machine. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example computing device architecture than can implement one or more of the user device  110 , provisioning gateway  130 , middleware server  150 , virtual instance host  170 , and traffic database  190 . In some embodiments, the user device  110 , provisioning gateway  130 , middleware server  150 , virtual instance host  170 , and traffic database  190  may have fewer, alternative, or additional components as that illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     The computing device architecture  400  of  FIG. 4  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  402 , where computer instructions are processed, and a display interface  404  that acts as a communication interface and provides functions for rendering video, graphics, images, and texts on the display. In certain example implementations of the disclosed technology, the display interface  404  may be directly connected to a local display, such as a touch-screen display associated with a mobile computing device. In another example implementation, the display interface  404  may be configured for providing data, images, and other information for an external/remote display  450  that is not necessarily physically connected to the mobile computing device. For example, a desktop monitor may be used for mirroring graphics and other information that is presented on a mobile computing device. In certain example implementations, the display interface  404  may wirelessly communicate, for example, via a Wi-Fi channel or other available network connection interface  412  to the external/remote display  450 . 
     In an example implementation, the network connection interface  412  may be configured as a communication interface and may provide functions for digital virtual assistant using voice, rendering video, graphics, images, text, other information, or any combination thereof on the display. In one example, a communication interface may include a microphone, camera, serial port, a parallel port, a general-purpose input and output (GPIO) port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB), a micro-USB port, a high definition multimedia (HDMI) port, a video port, an audio port, a Bluetooth port, a near-field communication (NFC) port, another like communication interface, or any combination thereof. In one example, the display interface  404  may be operatively coupled to a local display, such as a touch-screen display associated with a mobile device or voice enabled device. In another example, the display interface  404  may be configured to provide video, graphics, images, text, other information, or any combination thereof for an external/remote display  450  that is not necessarily connected to the mobile computing device. In one example, a desktop monitor may be used for mirroring or extending graphical information that may be presented on a mobile device. In another example, the display interface  404  may wirelessly communicate, for example, via the network connection interface  412  such as a Wi-Fi transceiver to the external/remote display  450 . 
     The computing device architecture  400  may include a keyboard interface  406  that provides a communication interface to a keyboard. In one example implementation, the computing device architecture  400  may include a presence sensitive input interface  408  for connecting to a presence sensitive display  407 . According to certain example implementations of the disclosed technology, the presence sensitive input interface  408  may provide a communication interface to various devices such as a pointing device, a touch screen, a depth camera, microphone, etc. which may or may not be associated with a display. 
     The computing device architecture  400  may be configured to use an input device via one or more of input/output interfaces (for example, the keyboard interface  406 , the display interface  404 , the presence sensitive input interface  408 , network connection interface  412 , camera interface  414 , sound interface  416 , etc.) to allow a user to capture information into the computing device architecture  400 . The input device may include a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a track pad, a touch-verified track pad, a presence-sensitive track pad, a presence-sensitive display, a scroll wheel, a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, a microphone, a sensor, a smartcard, and the like. Additionally, the input device may be integrated with the computing device architecture  400  or may be a separate device. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor. 
     Example implementations of the computing device architecture  400  may include an antenna interface  410  that provides a communication interface to an antenna; a network connection interface  412  that provides a communication interface to a network. As mentioned above, the display interface  404  may be in communication with the network connection interface  412 , for example, to provide information for display on a remote display that is not directly connected or attached to the system. In certain implementations, camera interface  414  acts as a communication interface and provides functions for capturing digital images from a camera. In certain implementations, a sound interface  416  is provided as a communication interface for converting sound into electrical signals using a microphone and for converting electrical signals into sound using a speaker. In certain implementations, a sound interface  416  is utilized to capture voice inputs for consumption by of other components connected to the BUS  434 . According to example implementations, a random-access memory (RAM)  418  is provided, where computer instructions and data may be stored in a volatile memory device for processing by the CPU  402 . 
     According to an example implementation, the computing device architecture  400  includes a read-only memory (ROM)  420  where invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard are stored in a non-volatile memory device. According to an example implementation, the computing device architecture  400  includes a storage medium  422  or other suitable type of memory (e.g. such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives), where the files include an operating system  424 , application programs  426  (including, for example, a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, and or other applications, as necessary) and data files  428  are stored. According to an example implementation, the computing device architecture  400  includes a power source  430  that provides art appropriate alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) to power components. 
     According to an example implementation, the computing device architecture  400  includes a telephony subsystem  432  that allows the computing device to transmit and receive sound over a telephone network. The constituent devices and the CPU  402  communicate with each other over a bus  434 . 
     According to an example implementation, the CPU  402  has appropriate structure to be a computer processor. In one arrangement, the CPU  402  may include more than one processing unit. The RAM  418  interfaces with the computer BUS  434  to provide quick RAM storage to the CPU  402  during the execution of software programs such as the operating system application programs, and device drivers. More specifically, the CPU  402  loads computer-executable process steps from the storage medium  422  or other media into a field of the RAM  418  to execute software programs. Data may be stored in the RAM  418 , where the data may be accessed by the computer CPU  402  during execution. 
     The storage medium  422  itself may include a number of physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, a High-Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, an internal hard disk drive, a Blu-Ray optical disc drive, or a Holographic Digital Data Storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, an external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM) synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), or an external micro-DIMM SDRAM. Such computer readable storage media allow a computing device to access computer-executable process steps, application programs and the like, stored on removable and non-removable memory media, to off-load data from the device or to upload data onto the device. A computer program product, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium  422 , which may include a machine-readable storage medium. 
     According to one example implementation, the term computing device, as used herein, may be a CPU, or conceptualized as a CPU (for example, the CPU  402  of  FIG. 4 ). In this example implementation, the computing device (CPU) may be coupled, connected, and/or in communication with one or more peripheral devices, such as display. In another example implementation, the term computing device, as used herein, may refer to a mobile computing device such as a smart phone, tablet computer, or smart watch. In this example implementation, the computing device may output content to its local display and/or speaker(s). In another example implementation, the computing device may output content to an external display device (e.g., over Wi-Fi) such as a TV or an external computing system. 
     In example implementations of the disclosed technology, a computing device may include any number of hardware and/or software applications that are executed to facilitate any of the operations. In example it one or more I/O interfaces may facilitate communication between the computing device and one or more input/output devices. For example, a universal serial bus port, a serial port, a disk drive, a CD-ROM drive, and/or one or more user interface devices, such as a display, keyboard, keypad, mouse, control panel, touch screen display, microphone, etc., may facilitate user interaction with the computing device. The one or more I/O interfaces may be used to receive or collect data and/or user instructions from a wide variety of input devices. Received data may be processed by one or more computer processors as desired in various implementations of the disclosed technology and/or stored in one or more memory devices. 
     One or more network interfaces may facilitate connection of the computing device inputs and outputs to one or more suitable networks and/or connections; for example, the connections that facilitate communication with any number of sensors associated with the system. The one or more network interfaces may further facilitate connection to one or more suitable networks; for example, a local area network, a wide area network, the Internet, a cellular network, a radio frequency network, a Bluetooth enabled network, a Wi-Fi enabled network, a satellite-based network any wired network, any wireless network, etc., for communication with external devices and/or systems. 
     In the present description, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is to be understood that embodiments of the disclosed technology may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description. References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “example embodiment,” “some embodiments,” “certain embodiments,” “various embodiments,” etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) of the disclosed technology so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every embodiment necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in one embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may. 
     Unless otherwise noted, the terms used herein are to be understood according to conventional usage by those of ordinary skill in the relevant art. In addition to any definitions of terms provided below, it is to be understood that as used in the specification and in the claims, “a” or “an” can mean one or more, depending upon the context in which it is used. Throughout the specification and the claims, the following terms take at least the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or.” Further, the terms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean one or more unless specified otherwise or dear from the context to be directed to a singular form. 
     Unless otherwise specified, the use of the ordinal adjectives “first,” “second,” “third,” etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner. 
     Also, in describing example embodiments, certain terminology is used for the sake of clarity, it is intended that each term contemplates its broadest meaning as understood by those skilled in the art and includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar purpose. 
     While certain embodiments of the disclosed technology have been described, it is to be understood that the disclosed technology is not to be limited to the disclosed example embodiments, but covers various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.