Patent Publication Number: US-2016224915-A1

Title: Alt asm

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a national phase application of international application no. PCT/IN2014/000409 filed on 20 Jun. 2014 which claims priority from, IN Application Number 3163/CHE/2013, filed on 15 Jul. 2013, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The embodiments herein relate to application support management and, more particularly, to improving throughput of the application support management. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In any organization, stringent management policies are required to ensure proper resource management, work allocation, client management, service delivery and so on which help improve throughput of the organization in terms of cost reduction, improved quality, improved agility, simplified business, improved customer satisfaction and so on. Resource management refers to effectively managing employees so as to meet incoming requirements/demands. 
     One existing system for efficient organizational management to improve throughput of the organization is LEAN principles. In the LEAN production practice, expenditure of resources other than for creation of value for customer is considered as wastage of resources and the mechanism provides means for eliminating resource wastage. In addition to eliminating wastage, the LEAN principles also focuses on amplifying learning, fast delivery of products and services, empowering team, building integrity and so on. 
     LEAN practice focuses on preserving value with less work. LEAN practice defines “value” as any action or process that a customer would be willing to pay for. However, issue with the current LEAN practices is that current LEAN principles as such provides less efficiency with changes in organizational structures, requirements and so on. 
     Hence, there is a need for a system which can transform the LEAN production practice to be suitable for the changing organizational structures and to improve efficiency of the system. 
     SUMMARY 
     In view of the foregoing, an embodiment herein provides system for improving throughput of an application support management process using LEAN principles in an organization, the system configured for performing right sizing of the process using a right sizing module, wherein rightsizing further comprises of performing at least one of a demand versus capacity analysis, time motion analysis and dynamic shift planning; standardizing the process and identifying changes required, using a standardization module, wherein the standardization further comprises performing at least one of a process identification, decision making, providing a dispatcher role and an error correction; executing the identified changes on the process using means provided by at least one of a plurality automation tools; executing performance management using a performance management module, wherein the performance management further comprises performing at least one of a variability analysis and a performance enhancement; executing proactive and predictive delivery of services in the organization based on the standardized process using a proactive and predictive delivery module, wherein the proactive and predictive delivery further comprises performing analysis of the process for issues, prediction of upcoming requirements and proactive management of the requirements using the process; and optimizing the process using a transformation module. 
     Embodiments further disclose a method for improving throughput of an application support management process using LEAN principles in an organization, the method comprises performing right sizing of the process, wherein rightsizing further comprises of performing at least one of a demand versus capacity analysis, time motion analysis and dynamic shift planning; standardizing the process and identifying changes required, wherein the standardization further comprises performing at least one of a process identification, decision making, providing a dispatcher role and an error correction; executing the identified changes on the process; executing performance management, wherein the performance management further comprises performing at least one of a variability analysis and a performance enhancement; executing proactive and predictive delivery of services in the organization based on the standardized process, wherein the proactive and predictive delivery further comprises performing analysis of the process for issues, prediction of upcoming requirements and proactive management of the requirements using the process; and optimizing the process. 
     These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of the application support &amp; maintenance system, as disclosed in the embodiments herein; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the right sizing module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the standardization module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the performance management module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the proactive and predictive delivery module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the transformation module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein; and 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a flow diagram that shows various phases involved in the process of providing application support using the application support &amp; maintenance system, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein. 
     The embodiments herein disclose a process of improving throughput of organization by using a LEAN principle based Application support and maintenance system. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to  FIGS. 1 through 7 , where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of the application support &amp; maintenance system, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The application support &amp; maintenance system further comprises a right sizing module  101 , a standardization module  102 , automation tools  103 , performance management module  104 , predictive delivery module  105  and a transformation module  106 . Inputs to the application support &amp; maintenance system  100  are tickets and fixed set of tasks. For example, tickets of service requests, incidents and problem requests and so on may be provided as input to the system. 
     The input tickets are fetched by the right sizing module  101 . The right sizing module  101  initially performs a Demand Vs Capacity analysis during which the system analyzes whether enough resources are available to manage an incoming demand. For example, in an organization demand Vs capacity analysis refers to a process in which the system may check whether the organization has enough man power to manage incoming demands i.e. projects. By doing the demand Vs capacity analysis, resource requirements may be identified. In a preferred embodiment, data such as number of resources available, demand that can be managed by each resource and so on may have to be pre-configured with the right sizing module  101 . 
     Further, the right sizing module  101  performs a time and motion analysis during which the system checks whether there is a right allocation of time by comparing working hours with a demand incoming time. For example, assume that the office hour starts at 9 AM and ends at 6 PM IST. Assume that an employee or a team works for UK clients. In this case, the UK clients come online at around 2 PM IST. That means the team may get project only by noon and half of their working time is not utilized properly. These data may be assessed using the time and motion analysis. 
     Further, based on the data analyzed during the demand Vs capacity analysis and the time and motion analysis, the right sizing module  101  performs a dynamic shift planning and designs a Just In Time (JIT) model during which efficient work and time allotment is planned for each team/employee according to the demands of the organization and incoming work flow. For example, if there are 2 teams namely A and B in the company and if team A&#39;s work load is more on a particular day, the JIT model may be designed in such a way that more resources are provided to team A by using resources in team B. This brings in flexibility to the organization in terms of work deployment and resource utilization; thereby increasing throughput and efficiency of the organization. 
     The standardization module  102  fetches selected data from output of the right sizing module  101  and other required data directly from the user as inputs for performing standardization of the process. The standardization module  102 , by processing the input data, identifies the set of processes required to perform an incident management process, a problem management process, a chain management process and so on and generates a value stream map separately for each of these processes indicating how these processes are being carried out by a resource. This analysis is referred/termed to as a day in a life of an engineer. From a resource (say an engineer) perspective “day in a life of an engineer ” may refer to a number of steps being carried out by that resource so as to achieve a specific task. This analysis may take into account time taken by that resource to carry out each step separately; say for incident management process how much time the resource takes for incident login, checking against non error database, to respond to the customer with solution, resolving issue, updating knowledge database and so on. This may help the system to analyze efficiency of the process being implemented in the organization. 
     Based on the analysis performed by the standardization module  102 , decision (s) may be made as to how the roles and responsibilities may be allocated among available resources. For example, assume one employee (resource) is working on multiple processes such as problem management, incident management and so on. This may overload the employee and ultimately reduce efficiency. If each of these processes is assigned to different resources, each resource may get more time to complete the task; thereby improving quality of the work and efficiency of the overall process. This may be done in such a way that the process is aligned towards the business needs. 
     Another strategy implemented as a part of the standardization process is of a dispatcher role. The dispatcher may act as a single process of queue management which considers knowledge and availability of resources so as to allocate processes. For example, assume that there are 3 resources in the organization namely A, B and C. When a ticket corresponding to a new process is received, the dispatcher checks which resources are available at that moment. If resources B &amp; Care available, the dispatcher; based on preconfigured roles and responsibilities of the resources, decides whom the ticket has to be assigned. This may further ensure that each of the incoming tickets is assigned to right resources and that none of the tickets go unattended. The dispatcher role may be implemented as a part of business unit of customers. 
     Another component that may be implemented as a part of the customer business unit/target operating module may be a L1.5 layer which is used to resolve tickets using a non error database. In this process, when a ticket is received, the L1.5 layer checks pattern of the ticket and checks for same pattern in the non error database and when a match is found, the ticket is resolved considering the match. In an embodiment, incoming tickets are segregated based on complexity levels and lesser complexity type tickets are assigned to the L1.5 layer. The complexity of a ticket may be measured/determined on an engagement level. In a preferred embodiment, data regarding standard operating procedures maintained in an associated database also is considered while deciding execution strategies for a ticket. Further, based on number of resources allocated to complete a specific process and amount of time taken to complete the process, cost incurred and efficiency may also be measured. Based on all these parameters, each task may be standardized to improve efficiency of the process. In another preferred embodiment, the analysis carried out by the right sizing module  101  and the standardization module  102  helps to identify value added and non-value added services/processes from the customer&#39;s perspective. Further, the customer may be provided with information on certain services that are value added, essential but non-value added and so on. Further, steps may be taken so as to ensure that need for repetition of non-value added services are eliminated. For example, assume that 2 new tickets from same customer correspond to similar activities which require processing of same non value added services. In this case, this issue may be communicated with the customer and reports for these two tickets may be clubbed in such a way that processing of similar non-value added services are done only once. In an embodiment, the requirements are customer specific. This may further help to reduce cost incurred and efforts required. 
     Further, based on this analysis, decision may be made on whether certain processes/activities may be relocated to any other layer. For example, consider the banking process in which the customer had to walk into the bank for any banking related services a few years back. Now, most of the banking services are moved to a different service layer so that the customer can access services using web or mobile services. 
     The automation tools set  103  possesses set of tools that are required to change the process as decided during the standardization process. The tools may refer to automation tools which may be used to automate certain processes. 
     The performance management module  104  focuses on development of skills of individuals/resources. A variability analysis is performed during which performance level of each resource is measured and compared to see who is more efficient. The efficiency from this perspective may vary depending on parameters such as complexity of work/process being handled by each resource and so on. This analysis may take into account types of processes/tickets being handled, skill set required to handle each process and so on. Based on analysis, a benchmark is set in terms of performance and skills of other resources are compared with the set standard to identify and measure a skill gap. Further, measures are taken to reduce the skill gap and to improve skills of individual resources and thereby improve efficiency. One means to reduce skill gap could be identifying cross skilled resources and utilizing them effectively. A suitable tracking mechanism is used to track and employ necessary means for continuous skill updation of resources. A huddle process may be employed to assess over a time period, what is efficiency of a resource, how performance gap may be filled, what is support required to resolve pending tickets which also involves a periodic goal setting and improvement tracking means. 
     The proactive and predictive delivery module  105  considers various parameters such as running tickets, repeated tickets, and resolved tickets and so on and identifies whether there are any issues associated with the system that is affecting overall performance of the system. For example, there may be certain issues that are continuously occurring, certain issues that comes once in a while (rarities) and so on. Upon identifying such issues, the proactive and predictive delivery module  105  proactively checks whether these issues may be eliminated. This in turn may increase stability of the system. The system predicts and proactively takes necessary steps to manage any upcoming requirements. The proactive management helps to design the system with proper skill index required to manage any number of incoming tickets. So as to improve efficiency of the proactive management, the proactive and predictive delivery module  105  performs a what-if analysis to identify what happens to other processes if one process goes down, how this affects performance of the system as a whole and so on. Upon identifying these issues, resources who are in charge of other processes may be notified and informed that their processes may not work as these processes are interdependent. 
     The transformation module  106  provides means to optimize the business process by removing/eliminating any sort of functional redundancies in the process. This may consider parameters such as application portfolio, overlapping processes, different installations that may be virtualized, applications having similar functionality that may be combined and so on. The transformation may vary from one customer to other depending on their requirements and functional landscapes. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the right sizing module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The input tickets are fetched by the right sizing module  101 . The right sizing module  101  further comprises a demand vs. capacity analysis module  201 , a time-motion analysis module  202 , and a Just In Time (JIT) dynamic shift planning module  203 . The demand vs. capacity analysis module  201  in the right sizing module  101  initially performs a Demand Vs Capacity analysis during which the system analyzes whether enough resources are available to manage an incoming demand. For example, in an organization demand Vs capacity analysis refers to a process in which the system may check whether the organization has enough man power to manage incoming demands i.e. projects. By doing the demand Vs capacity analysis, resource requirements may be identified. In a preferred embodiment, data such as number of resources available, demand that can be managed by each resource and so on may have to be pre-configured with the right sizing module  101 . 
     Further, the time-motion analysis module  202  in the right sizing module  101  performs a time and motion analysis during which the system checks whether there is a right allocation of time. For example, assume that the office hour starts at 9 AM and ends at 6 PM IST. Assume that an employee or a team works for UK clients. In this case, the UK clients come online at around 2 PM IST. That means the team may get project only by noon and half of their working time is not utilized properly. These data may be assessed using the time and motion analysis. 
     Further, based on the data analyzed during the demand Vs capacity analysis and the time and motion analysis, the JIT dynamic shift planning module  203  in the right sizing module  101  performs a dynamic shift planning and designs a Just In Time (JIT) model during which efficient work and time allotment is planned for each team/employee according to the demands of the organization and incoming work flow. For example, if there are 2 teams namely A and B in the company and if team A&#39;s work load is more on a particular day, the JIT model may be designed in such a way that more resources are provided to team A by using resources in team B. This brings in flexibility to the organization in terms of work deployment and resource utilization; thereby increasing throughput and efficiency of the organization. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the standardization module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The standardization module  102  fetches selected data from output of the right sizing module  101  and other required data directly from the user as inputs for performing standardization of the process. The standardization module  102  further comprises a process streamlining module  301 , a role based module  302 , and a service line based target operating model module  303 . The process streamlining module  301  in the standardization module  102 , processes the input data, identifies the set of processes required to perform an incident management process, a problem management process, a chain management process and so on and generates a value stream map separately for each of these processes indicating how these processes are being carried out by a resource. This analysis is referred/termed to as a day in a life of an engineer. From a resource (say an engineer) perspective “day in a life of an engineer” may refer to a number of steps being carried out by that resource so as to achieve a specific task. This analysis may take into account time taken by that resource to carry out each step separately; say for incident management process how much time the resource takes for incident login, checking against non error database, to respond to the customer with solution, resolving issue, updating knowledge database and so on. This may help the system to analyze efficiency of the process being implemented in the organization. 
     Based on the analysis performed by the process streamlining module  301 , the role based module  302  makes decision (s) as to how the roles and responsibilities may be allocated among available resources. For example, assume one employee (resource) is working on multiple processes such as problem management, incident management and so on. This may overload the employee and ultimately reduce efficiency. If each of these processes is assigned to different resources, each resource may get more time to complete the task; thereby improving quality of the work and efficiency of the overall process. This may be done in such a way that the process is aligned towards the business needs. 
     Another strategy implemented as a part of the standardization process is of a dispatcher role. The service line based target operating model module  303  may act as a single process of queue management which considers knowledge and availability of resources so as to allocate processes. For example, assume that there are 3 resources in the organization namely A, B and C. When a ticket corresponding to a new process is received, the service line based target operating model module  303  checks which resources are available at that moment. If resources B &amp; Care available, the service line based target operating model module  303 ; based on preconfigured roles and responsibilities of the resources, decides whom the ticket has to be assigned. This may further ensure that each of the incoming tickets is assigned to right resources and that none of the tickets go unattended. The dispatcher role may be implemented as a part of business unit of customers. 
     Further, as a part of the dispatcher role, a L1.5 layer also may be implemented in the customer business unit/target operating module and is used to resolve tickets using a non error database. In this process, when a ticket is received, the L1.5 layer checks pattern of the ticket and checks for same pattern in the non error database and when a match is found, the ticket is resolved considering resolving strategies associated with the match found corresponding to each incoming ticket. In an embodiment, incoming tickets are segregated based on complexity levels and lesser complexity type tickets are assigned to the L1.5 layer. The complexity of a ticket may be measured/determined on an engagement level. In a preferred embodiment, data regarding standard operating procedures maintained in an associated database also is considered while deciding execution strategies for a ticket. Further, based on number of resources allocated to complete a specific process and amount of time taken to complete the process, cost incurred and efficiency may also be measured. Based on all these parameters, each task may be standardized to improve efficiency of the process. In another preferred embodiment, the analysis carried out by the right sizing module  101  and the standardization module  102  helps to identify value added and non-value added services/processes from the customer&#39;s perspective. Further, the customer may be provided with information on certain services that are value added, essential but non-value added and so on. Further, steps may be taken so as to ensure that need for repetition of non-value added services are eliminated. For example, assume that 2 new tickets from same customer correspond to similar activities which require processing of same non value added services. In this case, this issue may be communicated with the customer and reports for these two tickets may be clubbed in such a way that processing of similar non-value added services are done only once. In an embodiment, the requirements are customer specific. This may further help to reduce cost incurred and efforts required. 
     Further, based on this analysis, decision may be made on whether certain processes/activities may be relocated to any other layer. For example, consider the banking process in which the customer had to walk into the bank for any banking related services a few years back. Now, most of the banking services are moved to a different service layer so that the customer can access services using web or mobile services. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the performance management module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The performance management module  104  further comprises of a base lining and variability analysis engine  401  and a performance enhancement module  402  and it focuses on development of skills of individuals/resources. The base lining and variability analysis engine  401  performs a variability analysis during which performance level of each resource is measured and compared to see who is more efficient. The efficiency from this perspective may vary depending on parameters such as complexity of work/process being handled by each resource and so on. The base lining and variability analysis engine  401  may take into account types of processes/tickets being handled, skill set required to handle each process and so on during the variability analysis. The performance enhancement module  402 , based on analysis performed by the base lining and variability analysis engine  401 , sets a benchmark in terms of performance and skills of resources and compares performance and skills of resources with the set bench mark/standard to identify and measure a skill gap. Further, the performance enhancement module  402  takes measures to reduce the skill gap and to improve skills of individual resources and thereby improve efficiency. One means to reduce skill gap could be identifying cross skilled resources and utilizing them effectively. A suitable tracking mechanism is used to track and employ necessary means for continuous skill updation of resources. A huddle process may be employed to assess over a time period, what is efficiency of a resource, how performance gap may be filled, what is support required to resolve pending tickets which also involves a periodic goal setting and improvement tracking means. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the proactive and predictive delivery module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The proactive and predictive delivery module  105  further comprises of an issue detection module  501 , a prediction module  502 , and a proactive management module  503 . The detection module  501  considers and analyzes various parameters such as running tickets, repeated tickets, and resolved tickets and so on and identifies whether there are any issues associated with the system that is affecting overall performance of the system/process implemented. For example, there may be certain issues that are continuously occurring, certain issues that comes once in a while (rarities) and so on. Upon identifying such issues, the prediction module  502  proactively checks whether these issues may be eliminated. This in turn may increase stability of the system. The prediction module  502  further predicts and proactively takes necessary steps to manage any upcoming requirements. The proactive management module  503  helps to design the system with proper skill index required to manage any number of incoming tickets. So as to improve efficiency of the proactive management, the proactive management module  503  performs a what-if analysis to identify what happens to other processes if one process goes down, how this affects performance of the system as a whole and so on. Upon identifying these issues, resources who are in charge of other processes may be notified and informed that their processes may not work as these processes are interdependent. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a block diagram that shows various components of the transformation module, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The transformation module  106  further comprises of a service innovation module  601  and provides means to optimize the business process by removing/eliminating any sort of functional redundancies in the process. The service innovation module  601  may consider parameters such as application portfolio, overlapping processes, different installations that may be virtualized, applications having similar functionality that may be combined and so on. The transformation may vary from one customer to other depending on their requirements and functional landscapes. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a flow diagram that shows various phases involved in the process of providing application support using the application support &amp; maintenance system, as disclosed in the embodiments herein. The application support using the application support &amp; maintenance system involves three phases namely rationalization phase, optimization phase and transformation phase. 
     Inputs to the application support &amp; maintenance system  100  are tickets related to service requests, incidents, problem requests and so on along with fixed set of tasks. The rationalization phase ( 701 ) focuses on waste removal and achieving service maturity. The rationalization phase further involves two processes namely right sizing and standardization. Right sizing involves performing Demand Vs Capacity analysis and Time Vs Motion study to analyze how the available resources are managing the requirements and incoming tickets. Further the right sizing module  101  in the application support &amp; maintenance system  100  performs a Just In Time (JIT) analysis during which efficient work and time allotment is planned for each resource/team based on demands of the organization and incoming work flow. The right sizing is performed to bring flexibility in terms of work deployment and resource utilization thereby increasing throughput of the organization. 
     Further, in the standardization process, the standardization module  102  in the application support &amp; maintenance system  100  identifies a set of processes required to perform any of incident management, problem management and/or chain management processes and generates a value stream map for each process. The value stream map indicates how each resource carries out each of the processes. Further, based on the data inferred the standardization module  102  designs “a day in life of an engineer” which indicates number of steps being carried out by each resource so as to achieve a specific task. The standardization module  102  further makes decisions on how roles and responsibilities are to be allocated among available resources. A dispatcher role is also introduced which acts as a single process for queue management to allocate processes considering knowledge and availability of resources. A L1.5 layer is also designed which is used to resolve tickets using a non error database. 
     Further, considering all parameters, the standardization module  102  standardizes each task in such a way that efficiency of the process is improved. The standardization process further involves identifying and categorizing processes as value added, non value added, and essential but non value added and so on. Further, measures are taken so as to remove/eliminate use or repetition of non value added services. The standardization also involves taking decision on whether certain processes can be relocated to a different layer to improve efficiency of the process. The various strategies may be implemented using suitable means provided in the automation tool set  103 . 
     Further in the optimization phase ( 702 ), the application support &amp; maintenance system  100  focuses on improving value and in delivery of service excellence. The optimization phase involves two processes namely performance management and proactive&amp; predictive delivery. The performance management focuses on development of skills of resources. So as to analyze performance of various resources in the organization, the performance management module  104  in the application support &amp; maintenance system  100  performs a variability analysis during which skill gap of each resource is identified by comparing with specific benchmarks. The performance is analyzed by considering various parameters such as type of process/ticket being handled by each resource, skill set required to handle each task and so on. After identifying/measuring skill gap of resources, means for identifying skill gap of resources is also identified. Periodic goal setting and improvement analysis is also done in the performance management process. 
     The predictive and proactive delivery identifies possible occurrence of any issue that may affect performance of the process and checks if issues can be eliminated. This may further improve stability of the process and also helps to design the system with proper skill index to manage any number of incoming tickets at any point of time in future. 
     Further, in the transformation process ( 703 ) provides means to optimize the business process by removing/eliminating any sort of functional redundancies in the process. This may consider parameters such as application portfolio, overlapping processes, different installations that may be virtualized, applications having similar functionality that may be combined and so on. The transformation may vary from one customer to other depending on their requirements and functional landscapes. The various actions in method  700  may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in  FIG. 7  may be omitted. 
     The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The network elements shown in  FIG. 1  include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module. 
     The embodiment disclosed herein specifies a system for application support management. The mechanism allows LEAN principles based application support management, providing a system thereof. Therefore, it is understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer readable means having a message therein, such computer readable storage means contain program code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The method is implemented in a preferred embodiment through or together with a software program written in e.g. Very high speed integrated circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL) another programming language, or implemented by one or more VHDL or several software modules being executed on at least one hardware device. The hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g. any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof, e.g. one processor and two FPGAs. The device may also include means which could be e.g. hardware means like e.g. an ASIC, or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g. an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software modules located therein. Thus, the means are at least one hardware means and/or at least one software means. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented in pure hardware or partly in hardware and partly in software. The device may also include only software means. Alternatively, the invention may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g. using a plurality of CPUs. 
     The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the claims as described herein.