Patent ID: 12225608

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In order to make the objects, solutions and advantages of embodiments of the present application clearer, the embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail in combination with the attached drawings below. Apparently, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of them.

Some terms appearing in the text are explained below.

(1) The term “a plurality of” in the embodiments of the present application means two or more, and other quantifiers are similar to it.

(2) “And/or” describes the association relationship of associated objects, which means that there can be three kinds of relationships, for example, A and/or B can mean that there are three kinds of situations: A alone, A and B at the same time, and B alone. The character “/” generally indicates that associated objects in front of and behind it are in an “or” relationship.

(3) In the embodiments of the present application, a “dual-connection architecture” refers to that a system has one MN and one to many SNs, and the MN and the SNs are both base station nodes supporting LET/e-LTE/NR.

(4) In the embodiments of the present application, an “evolved node B (e-NodeB)” integrates part of functions of an RNC, reduces the level of protocols during communication and is in charge of all functions related to an air interface.

(5) In the embodiments of the present application, an “X2 interface” is an interface between the e-NodeBs and supports direct transmission of data and signaling, the X2 is divided into two interfaces, one is an X2-C interface for a control plane, and the other is an X2-U interface for a user plane.

(6) In the embodiments of the present application, “radio resource control (RRC)” is configured to process the third layer of information of a control plane between a terminal and an eNodeB.

At present, in order to support higher data throughout, the dual-connection architecture is generally adopted in a long term evolution (LTE) system and a 5G system. The embodiments of the present application are introduced with the 5G system, for example, as shown inFIG.1, UE is connected to an MN and an SN at the same time at an air interface, and the MN and the SN are connected through an Xn-C interface or an X2-C interface.

In the 5G system, a core network manages user planes based on the granularity of a PDU session, one PDU session may have a plurality of flows which bear different businesses, and encryption and completeness protection of the user planes are introduced when the MN transfers part or all of the flows under the PDU session to the SN. Therefore, when the MN transfers part of the flows under the PDU session to the SN and when security indication may be preferable, the SN and the MN need to use the same security result, otherwise, the SN refuses to accept the flows transferred by the MN; alternatively, when the MN transfers all of the flows under the PDU session to the SN and when the security indication may be preferable, the SN may adopt an encryption and completeness protection operation which is the same as or different from the MN, and the SN may also accept the flows transferred by the MN under the scenario of failure to adopt the encryption and completeness protection operation which is the same as the MN.

While in the related art, when an MN transfers part or all of flows under a PDU session to an SN, the SN cannot determine whether the MN transfers part or all of the flows under the PDU session from an SN side. The SN can only determine whether to use the same security result as the MN according to a transfer instruction sent by the MN, so that when the SN determines to use the security result different from the MN, the SN refuses to accept the flows transferred by the MN no matter the MN transfers part or all of the flows under the PDU session. Therefore, the case that the SN accepts the flows transferred by the MN when the MN transfers all of the flows under the PDU session cannot be implemented in the related art, which easily reduces the communication performance of a terminal in a communication process.

In view of this, as shown inFIG.2, the embodiments of the present application provide a system for modification in a dual-connection mode, and the system includes:

an MN200configured to determine an SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred; and send to the SN a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a PDU session to which the at least one flow belongs, and the transfer instruction is used for the SN to determine whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN, so that the SN determines, according to the transfer instruction, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN, and the indication information of the PDU session includes information for indicating that the at least one flow includes part or all of flows under a PDU session; and

an SN201configured to receive the transfer instruction carrying the indication information of the PDU session to which at least one flow belongs sent by the MN; and determine, according to the transfer instruction, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN.

In the above method, when the MN sends the transfer instruction to the SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred, the indication information configured to indicate whether the at least one flow transferred by the MN includes part or all of the flows under the PDU session is carried in the transfer instruction, so that after receiving the transfer instruction, the SN may determine whether the MN transfers part or all of the flows under the PDU session from the indication information of the PDU session in the transfer instruction to determine whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to the transfer instruction, and when the MN transfers all of the flows under the PDU session, the SN may also successfully accept the flows transferred by the MN, and effectively improving communication performance of a terminal in a communication process.

Further, the transfer instruction further contains security indication configured for the MN, so that after receiving the transfer instruction sent by the MN, the SN compares the security indication information configured for the MN contained in the transfer instruction with security indication configured for the SN.

Further, in the embodiments of the present application, there may be a plurality of methods to make the indication information of the PDU session contain the information for indicating that the at least one flow transferred by the MN includes part or all of the flows under the PDU session, for example, as shown in Table1, the MN places the indication information of the PDU session in a PDU session to be set up list in the transfer instruction. That is, a new split indicator IE is added into >>PDU Session resource set up info—SN terminated IE in the PDU session to be set up list, and when the IE is set as SPLIT, it represents that the MN sends part of the flows under the PDU session to the SN, and when the IE is set as non-SPLIT, it represents that the MN sends all of the flows under the PDU session to the SN.

TABLE 1Newly-added PDU session indication information schematic table.IE type andSemanticAllocationGroup nameBusinessRangecitationdescriptionCriticalcriticalQoS flow list to1—be set up>QoS flow to1 . . .—be set up<largestnoofQoSflow>>>flowM9.2.3.10—identification>>flow-levelM9.2.3.5For a GBR—QoS parameterQoS flow, theIE containsGBR QoSflowinformationreceived byNG-C>>providedOGBR QoSThe IE—bit rateflowcontainsguaranteeinginformationGBR QoSQoS flow9.2.3.6flowinformationinformationprovided by anode mForwarding andO9.2.1.17—unloading datainformationfrom a sourceNG-RAN nodeSecurityO9.2.3.52—indicationSecurity resultO9.2.3.67YESRejectSeparationOEnumerationTo indicateindication(split,whether anon-split,PDU session. . .)is split

Further, there are many methods for the MN to determine the SN for flow transfer in the embodiments of the present application, which are specifically not limited to the following.

Determining method 1: the MN determines an SN needing to be added as the SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred.

Further, when the MN determines the SN needing to be added as the SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred, the transfer instruction may be carried in a node adding setup request sent to the SN.

Accordingly, when the MN transfers flows under a PDU session to the newly added SN, if the security indication notified in the transfer instruction may be preferable, the SN further needs to continue judging whether the at least one flow transferred by the MN may be received. When the security indication notified in the transfer instruction may be preferable, a flow that the MN transfers flows to the SN may be as shown inFIG.3.

Step300: the MN sends to the SN the node adding setup request carrying the transfer instruction.

The transfer instruction includes the indication information of the PDU session to which the transferred flow belongs, and the indication information of the PDU session includes information for indicating the at least one flow transferred by the MN transfers includes part or all of the flows under the PDU session.

Step301: the SN receives the node adding setup request.

Step302: the SN determines whether its configuration is same as the MN according to the transfer instruction, if yes, step303is executed, and if not, step304is executed.

Step303: the SN receives the at least one flow transferred by the MN.

Step304: the SN determines whether the at least one flow includes all of the flows under the PDU session according to the transfer information carried in the node adding setup request, if yes, step305is executed, and if not, step306is executed.

Step305: the SN determines to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN and notifies a terminal to change configuration of the PDU session to be not-performed.

Step306: the SN refuses to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN.

It needs to be noted that the order of the steps of the flow that the MN transfers the at least one flow to the newly added SN as shown inFIG.3of the present application is not limited, and any flow applicable to the present application belongs to the protection scope of the present application. For example, in the embodiments of the present application, the SN may determine whether the MN transfers all of the flows under the PDU session first according to the transfer information and then determine whether its configuration is the same as the MN according to the transfer information.

Determining method 2: the MN determines an SN needing to be modified as the SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred.

Accordingly, when the MN transfers the at least one flow under the PDU session to the SN needing to be modified, if the security indication notified in the transfer instruction may be preferable, the SN further needs to continue judging whether the at least one flow transferred by the MN may be received. When the security indication notified in the transfer instruction may be preferable, a flow that the MN transfers at least one flow to the SN may be as shown inFIG.4.

Step400: the MN determines the SN needing to be modified.

Step401: the MN sends to the SN a modifying request carrying the transfer instruction.

The transfer instruction contains the indication information of the PDU session to which the transferred at least one flow belongs, and the indication information of the PDU session contains the information for indicating whether the at least one flow transferred by the MN transfers includes part or all of the at least one flow under the PDU session.

Step402: the SN receives the modifying request.

Step403: the SN determines whether its configuration is the same as the MN according to the transfer instruction, if yes, step404is executed, and if not, step405is executed.

Step404: the SN receives the at least one flow transferred by the MN

Step405: the SN determines whether the at least one flow includes all of the flows under the PDU session according to the transfer information carried in the node adding setup request, if yes, step406is executed, and if not, step407is executed.

Step406: the SN determines to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN and notifies a terminal to change configuration of the PDU session to be not-performed.

Step407: the SN refuses to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN.

It needs to be noted that the order of the steps of the flow that the MN transfers the at least one flow to the determined SN needing to be modified as shown inFIG.4of the present application is not limited, and any flow applicable to the present application belongs to the protection scope of the present application. For example, in the embodiments of the present application, the SN may determine whether the at least one flow transferred by the MN transfers include all of the flows under the PDU session first according to the transfer information and then determine whether its configuration is the same as the MN according to the transfer information.

As shown inFIG.5, the embodiments of the present application provide an MN device for modification in a dual-connection mode. The device includes a processor500, a memory501and a transceiver502.

The processor500is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the memory501may store data used when the processor500executes operations. The transceiver502is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor500.

The bus architecture may include interconnected any quantity of buses and any quantity of bridges, which are specifically linked together through various circuits of one or more processors represented by the processor500and various circuits of memories represented by the memory501. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore are not further described herein. A bus interface provides an interface. The processor500is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory501may store data used when the processor500executes operations.

A flow disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to the processor500or implemented by the processor500. During an implementation process, all steps of a signal processing flow may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware or an instruction in the form of software in the processor500. The processor500may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic devices, a discrete gate or a transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiment of the present application may be directly embodied to be executed and completed by a hardware processor, or may be executed and completed through a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, and a register. The storage medium is located in the memory501, and the processor500reads information in the memory501, and completes the steps of the signal processing flow in combination with its hardware.

Specifically, the processor500is configured to read a program in the memory501and execute:

determining an SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred; and sending to the SN a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a PDU session to which the at least one flow belongs, so that the SN determines, according to the transfer instruction received by the SN, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by an MN;

the indication information of the PDU session includes information for indicating that the at least one flow includes part or all of flows under the PDU session.

In one embodiment, the processor500is specifically configured to:

determine an SN needing to be added as the SN; or

determine an SN needing to be modified as the SN.

In one embodiment, the processor500is specifically configured to:

carry a transfer instruction containing indication information of a PDU session in a node adding request sent to the SN needing to be added; or

carry the transfer instruction containing the indication information of the PDU session in a node modifying request sent to the SN needing to be modified.

In one embodiment, the processor500is further configured to:

place the indication information of the PDU session in a PDU session to be set up list in the transfer instruction.

As shown inFIG.6, the present application provides an MN device for modification in a dual-connection mode, and the device includes:

a determining device600configured to determine an SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred; and

a processing device601configured to send to the SN a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a PDU session to which the at least one flow belongs, so that the SN determines, according to the transfer instruction received by the SN, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by an MN.

The indication information of the PDU session includes information for indicating the at least one flow includes part or all of flows under the PDU session.

In one embodiment, the determining device600is further configured to:

determine an SN needing to be added as the SN; or

determine an SN needing to be modified as the SN.

In one embodiment, the processing device601is further configured to:

carry a transfer instruction containing indication information of a PDU session in a node adding request sent to the SN needing to be added; or

carry the transfer instruction containing the indication information of the PDU session in a node modifying request sent to the SN needing to be modified.

In one embodiment, the processing device601is further configured to:

place the indication information of the PDU session in a PDU session to be set up list in the transfer instruction.

Based on the same application concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a method for modification in a dual-connection mode at an MN side. Since the method corresponds to the MN side device for modification in the dual-connection mode introduced in the embodiments of the present application, and a principle for solving problems of the method is similar to that of the MN side device, implementation of this method may be referred to implementation of the MN side device in the embodiment of the present application, and repetition is no longer repeated here.

As shown inFIG.7, the embodiments of the present application further provide a method for modification in a dual-connection mode, and the methods includes:

step700, an MN determines an SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred; and

step701, the MN sends to the SN a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a

PDU session to which the at least one flow belongs, so that the SN determines, according to the transfer instruction received by the SN, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN; the indication information of the PDU session includes information for indicating that the at least one flow includes part or all of flows under a PDU session.

In one embodiment, the determining, by the MN, the SN to which at least one flow is to be transferred, includes:

the MN determines an SN needing to be added as the SN; or

the MN determines an SN needing to be modified as the SN.

In one embodiment, the sending, by the MN, to the SN the transfer instruction carrying the indication information of the PDU session, includes:

the MN carries the transfer instruction containing the indication information of the PDU session in a node adding request sent to the SN needing to be added; or

the MN carries the transfer instruction containing the indication information of the PDU session in a node modifying request sent to the SN needing to be modified.

In one embodiment, before to sending, by the MN, to the SN the transfer instruction carrying flow information, the method further includes:

the MN places the indication information of the PDU session in a PDU session to be set up list in the transfer instruction.

As shown inFIG.8, the embodiments of the present application provide an SN device for modification in a dual-connection mode. The device includes a processor800, a memory801and a transceiver802.

The processor800is responsible for managing a bus architecture and general processing, and the memory801may store data used when the processor800executes operations. The transceiver802is configured to receive and send data under the control of the processor800.

The bus architecture may include interconnected any quantity of buses and any quantity of bridges, which are specifically linked together through various circuits of one or more processors represented by the processor800and various circuits of memories represented by the memory801. The bus architecture may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art, and therefore are not further described herein. A bus interface provides an interface. The processor800is responsible for managing the bus architecture and general processing, and the memory801may store data used when the processor800executes operations.

A process disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be applied to the processor800or implemented by the processor800. During an implementation process, all steps of a signal processing flow may be completed by an integrated logic circuit of hardware or an instruction in the form of software in the processor800. The processor800may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic devices, a discrete gate or a transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute methods, steps and logic block diagrams disclosed in the embodiments of the present application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method disclosed in conjunction with the embodiment of the present application may be directly embodied to be executed and completed by a hardware processor, or may be executed and completed through a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor. The software module may be located in a mature storage medium in the art, such as a random access memory, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a programmable read-only memory, an electrically erasable programmable memory, and a register. The storage medium is located in the memory801, and the processor800reads information in the memory801, and completes the steps of the signal processing flow in combination with its hardware.

Specifically, the processor800is configured to read a program in the memory801and execute:

receiving a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a PDU session to which a flow belongs sent by an MN; and determining whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the processor800is further configured to:

determine to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if it is determined that the at least one flow includes all of flows under a PDU session according to the transfer instruction; or determine whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to configuration of an SN and configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction if it is determined that the at least one flow includes part of the flows under the PDU session according to the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the processor800is further configured to:

notify a terminal to change configuration of the PDU session to be not-performed if it is determined that the configuration of the SN is different from the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the processor800is further configured to:

determine not to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if it is determined that the configuration of the SN is different from the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction; or

determine to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if it is determined that the configuration of the SN is same as the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the configuration is configured to represent security indication information and security result information of the PDU session.

As shown inFIG.9, the present application provides an SN device for modification in a dual-connection mode, and the device includes:

a receiving device900configured to receive a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a PDU session to which at least one flow belongs sent by an MN; and

a processing device901configured to determine whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the processing device901is configured to:

determine to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if it is determined that the at least one flow includes all of flows under a PDU session according to the transfer instruction; or determine whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to configuration of an SN and configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction if it is determined that the at least one flow includes part of the flows under the PDU session according to the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the processing device901is further configured to:

notify a terminal to change configuration of the PDU session to be not-performed if it is determined that the configuration of the SN is different from the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the processing device901is configured to:

determine not to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if it is determined that the configuration of the SN is different from the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction; or

determine to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if it is determined that the configuration of the SN is the same as the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the configuration is configured to represent security indication information and security result information of the PDU session.

Based on the same application concept, the embodiments of the present application further provide a method for modification in a dual-connection mode at an SN side. Since the method corresponds to the SN side device for modification in the dual-connection mode introduced in the embodiments of the present application, and a principle for solving problems of the method is similar to that of the SN side device, implementation of this method may be referred to implementation of the SN side device in the embodiments of the present application, and repetition is no longer repeated here.

As shown inFIG.10, the embodiments of the present application further provide a method for modification in a dual-connection mode, and the methods includes:

step1000, an SN receives a transfer instruction carrying indication information of a PDU session to which at least one flow belongs sent by an MN; and

step1001, the SN determines whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the determining, by the SN, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to the transfer instruction, includes:

the SN determines to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if the SN determines that the at least one flow includes all of flows under a PDU session according to the transfer instruction; or

the SN determines whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to configuration of the SN and configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction if the SN determines that the at least one flow includes part of the flows under the PDU session according to the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, after determining, by the SN, to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if the SN determines that the at least one flow includes all of the flows under the PDU session according to the received transfer instruction, the method further includes:

a terminal is notified to change configuration of the PDU session to be not-performed if the SN determines that the configuration of the SN is different from the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the determining, by the SN, whether to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN according to the configuration of the SN and the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction, includes:

the SN determines not to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if the SN determines that the configuration of the SN is different from the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction; or

the SN determines to receive the at least one flow transferred by the MN if the SN determines that the configuration of the SN is the same as the configuration of the MN notified in the transfer instruction.

In one embodiment, the configuration is configured to represent security indication information and security result information of the PDU session.

In some possible implementations, various aspects of the method for modification in the dual-connection mode provided by the embodiments of the present application can also be implemented in the form of a program product, which includes a program code. When the program code runs on a computer, the program code is used to cause the computer to perform the steps in the method for modification in the dual-connection mode according to various exemplary implementations of the present application described in this specification.

The program product may adopt any combination of one or more readable media. The readable media may be readable signal media or readable storage media. The readable storage media may be, for example, but are not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the above. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of the readable storage media include: electrical connection with one or more wires, a portable disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any suitable combination of the above.

The program product for modification in a dual-connection mode according to the implementations of the present application can adopt a portable compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) and include program codes and can run on a server device. However, the program product of the present application is not limited to this. In this document, the readable storage media may be any tangible medium containing or storing a program, and the program may be used by or in combination with information transmission apparatuses or devices.

The readable signal media may include a data signal propagated in a baseband or as part of a carrier wave, in which a readable program code is carried. This transmitted data signal may take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination of the above. The readable signal media may also be any readable medium other than a readable storage medium that may send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in combination with a periodic network action system, apparatus, or device.

The program code contained on the readable media can be transmitted by any suitable medium, including but not limited to wireless, wired, optical cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the above.

The program code for performing the operations of the present application may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as Java, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages such as “C” language or similar programming languages. The program code can be executed completely on a user computing device, partially on the user device, as a separate software package, partially on the user computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or completely on the remote computing device or server. In the case where the remote computing device is involved, the remote computing device may be connected to the user computing device through any kind of network, including a LAN (local area network) or WAN (wide area network), or may be connected to an external computing device.

The embodiments of the present application further provide a computing device readable storage medium for the method for modification in the dual-connection mode at the MN side, that is, the content will not be lost after power failure. The storage medium stores a software program, including a program code. When the program code runs on the computing device, the software program can realize the solution of any device for modification in the dual-connection mode at the MN side in the embodiments of the present application when it is read and executed by one or more processors.

The embodiments of the present application further provide a computing device readable storage medium for the method for modification in the dual-connection mode at the SN side, that is, the content will not be lost after power failure. The storage medium stores a software program, including a program code. When the program code runs on the computing device, the software program can realize the solution of any device for modification in the dual-connection mode at the SN side in the embodiments of the present application when it is read and executed by one or more processors.

In the above embodiments provided by the present application, in order to realize the functions in the method provided by the above embodiments of the present application, a data transmission device may include a hardware structure and/or a software device to realize the above functions in the form of the hardware structure, the software device, or a hardware structure plus a software device. Whether one of the above functions is performed in the form of the hardware structure, the software device or the hardware structure plus the software device depends on the specific application and design constraints of the solution.

The present application is described above with reference to block diagrams and/or flow diagrams of methods, apparatuses (systems) and/or computer program products according to the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flow diagrams and a combination of blocks of the block diagrams and/or the flow diagrams can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided for a processor of a general-purpose computer and a special-purpose computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatuses to produce a machine, so that instructions executed by the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatuses create a method for implementing a function/action specified in blocks of the block diagrams and/or flow diagrams.

Correspondingly, the present application may be further implemented through hardware and/or software (including firmware, resident software, microcodes, etc.). Further, the present application may take the form of a computer program product on a computer usable or computer readable storage medium having computer usable or computer readable program codes implemented in the medium for use by or in combination with an instruction execution system. In the context of the present application, a computer usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that may contain, store, communicate, transmit, or convey a program for use by, or in combination with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.