Patent Document

BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The present disclosure is generally directed to computer-implemented risk analysis, and more specifically to computer-implemented optimization of financial risk mitigation.  
         [0002]     Banks and other types of financial institutions must deal with many exposure issues, such as complicated loan issues. Often exposures are secured by different forms of security, which can be considered a type of financial risk mitigation. Regulations often require that financial institutions have capital on hand to account for any unsecured portion and secured portions of exposures, where the capital charge for a secured portion is based on the riskiness of the mitigation, as well as any discounts that may be applied to the mitigation when the mitigation is used to secure the exposure. Moreover, these same regulations can require that financial institutions have capital on hand to account for a portion of the financial risk mitigations, based on the riskiness of the mitigation, as well as any discounts that may be applied to the mitigations. One example of such a regulation is Basel II. While it may specify risk weightings for mitigations and unsecured exposures according to their respective financial qualities, Basel II does not specify any effective mechanism for addressing complicated mitigation and exposure issues.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0003]     Financial risk mitigation approaches can use tools to relieve losses due to default events. Published financial regulations outline financial risk mitigations that financial institutions may use in the regulatory capital charge calculations, for example. A financial institution&#39;s opportunity cost can be directly related to how much regulatory capital it must set aside for each loan it provides. If a bank properly allocates its financial risk mitigations to cover its exposures according to the contractual exposure-mitigation relationships, it can set aside lower regulatory capital for compliance with regulation. This disclosure describes how financial risk management can apply network optimization systems and methods to analyze exposure coverage.  
         [0004]     As an example of a system and method to analyze exposure coverage, financial risk mitigation optimization models can be generated based upon exposure data, mitigation data, and data about relationship(s) between the exposures and mitigations. The financial risk mitigation optimization model is then used to determine a proper allocation of mitigations with respect to exposures. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]      FIGS. 1-3  are block diagrams depicting examples of financial risk mitigation optimization systems;  
         [0006]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of a computer system having access to data for use in financial risk mitigation;  
         [0007]      FIGS. 5 and 6  are flowcharts depicting example operational scenarios of financial risk mitigation optimizations;  
         [0008]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram which depicts an example of financial exposures and mitigations along with relationships between the exposures and the mitigations. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0009]      FIG. 1  depicts a computer-implemented financial risk optimization system  100 . The financial risk mitigation system  100  can include a model  105  that optimizes general supply and demand networks in order to determine an allocation of financial risk mitigations to exposures. The model  105  can accomplish this based upon such inputs as financial risk mitigation data  110 , exposure data  115 , and relationship data  120 .  
         [0010]     The mitigation data  110  can represent any number of financial risk mitigations, including, but not limited to, collateral, insurance, credit derivatives, guarantees, netting agreements, and other types of credit risk mitigations.  
         [0011]     The exposure data  115  can represent loans made by a financial institution. However, it should be understood that there are many other types of financial exposures that can be addressed. For example, a guarantee can be an exposure for a guarantor.  
         [0012]     The relationship data  120  includes information about one or more “one-to-many” relationships  125  between an exposure and a financial risk mitigation. It should be understood that the “one-to-many” relationship  125  can also include a “many-to-many” relationship. As an illustration, when an exposure is carried by a financial institution, the exposure is often secured by a mitigation. In some instances an exposure can be secured by several mitigations. In other instances, a single mitigation can secure several exposures. In the example of a loan with collateral, the security is provided by an agreement between the lender and the borrower that gives the lender rights in the collateral upon default on the loan by the borrower. Thus, the exposure is related to the mitigation by an agreement. It should be understood that not all mitigations may be connected to all exposures. As another illustration, if an exposure is related to a first mitigation and a second mitigation, there are two ways to apply the mitigations to the exposure. One way to apply the mitigations to the exposure is to apply the first exposure first, and the second exposure second. Another way to apply the mitigations to the exposure is to apply the second mitigation first, and the first mitigation second. Moreover, it should be noted that depending on the sequence in which the mitigations are applied to the exposures, different results can be obtained because of the cost and risk weights that can be associated with applying a mitigation to an exposure. The model  105  can be constructed to address the sequencing issue associated with a “one-to-many” type situation in an optimum manner, so as to reduce regulatory capital, thereby decreasing the opportunity cost experienced by a user of the system.  
         [0013]     The mitigation data  110 , the exposure data  115 , and the relationship data  120  are used to create a generalized network model represented by the data. The network model can be solved using linear programming algorithms. Linear programming algorithms include, for example, a simplex algorithm, and an interior point algorithm, among others. It should be recognized however, that these two algorithms may be combined in some instances, and can also include extensions for network optimization. It should therefore also be understood that this disclosure is not intended to be limited to any particular linear programming algorithm. Any algorithm that solves a generalized network model can be used in conjunction with this disclosure.  
         [0014]     In this example, after operation of the linear programming algorithm, the model  105  produces an allocation  130  of mitigations to exposures. The allocation  130  is the solution to the generalized network model as computed by linear programming algorithm(s) used by the model  105 . The allocation  130  can provide a user, such as for example a financial institution, with a record of what level of assets should be set aside to account for the unmitigated exposures and the financial risk mitigations. It should be understood that international banking standards and regulations in some instances can require regulatory capital to account for the inherent riskiness of financial risk mitigations themselves, as well as unsecured exposures based on the riskiness of the unsecured exposure.  
         [0015]     In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , the model  105  can analyze the mitigation data  110 , the exposure data  115  and the relationship data  120  in order to provide a proper riskiness measure and/or discount(s) to the exposures and mitigations, as well as providing the cost and/or discount associated with a relationship between a mitigation and an exposure. As an illustration the model  105  can accept the exposure-mitigation data  110 ,  115 ,  120  and provide an allocation of the data based on calculated riskiness measures derived according to the types of mitigations and exposures, as well as discounts and costs associated with the relationships between the mitigations and exposures.  
         [0016]      FIG. 2  shows another example of a financial risk optimization system  200 . The model  205  accepts mitigation data  210 , exposure data  215  and relationship data  220 , which can be retrieved from a database. The model  205  produces an allocation  230  of the mitigation data  210  to the exposure data  215 . The allocation  230  represent an optimized allocation  235  based on the results of a linear programming algorithm used by the model  205 .  
         [0017]     It should be noted that the mitigation data  210  in this example includes mitigation riskiness measures  240  as well as mitigation values  245  associated with the mitigations described by the mitigation data  210 . A mitigation value  245  may generally describe the portion of an exposure value associated with the exposure that is covered by the mitigation, while a mitigation riskiness measure  240  describes the risk associated with a particular mitigation. Exposure data can also include exposure riskiness measures  250  as well as exposure values  255  associated with the exposures described by the exposure data  215 . An exposure value  255  can generally describe the size of the exposure, while an exposure riskiness measure  250  describes the risk associated with the exposure.  
         [0018]     Relationship data  220  can include or induce a cost factor  260  and a discount factor  265  associated with the relationships between mitigations and exposures. A cost factor  260  may generally describe the cost of applying a mitigation to an exposure, and can be a function of the riskiness measures of the mitigations and exposures. A discount factor  265  can include situations where the exposure and mitigation are in different currencies, or constitute a maturity mismatch between related exposures and mitigations, or any over-collateralization that may be implicated by regulation(s).  
         [0019]     As an illustration of the different types of data that can be used, consider the example where a building secures a loan. In such an example, the building is the mitigation, while the loan is the exposure. The balance of the loan could be $1,000,000, while the appraised price of the building could be $800,000. Thus, the exposure value associated with the exposure in this example is $1,000,000, and the mitigation value associated with the mitigation in this example is $800,000. Thus, the unsecured portion of the loan is $200,000. According to banking regulations, a financial institution should carry regulatory capital of $200,000 adjusted by some risk weight associated with the exposure, as well as $800,000 adjusted by some risk weight associated with the mitigation. The risk-weighted assets associated with the mitigation may further be adjusted by the cost factor and/or discount factor as described above.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  depicts a further example of a financial risk optimization system  300 . The financial risk optimization model  305  receives mitigation data  310 , exposure data  315 , and relationship data  320 . The data  310 ,  315 ,  320  in this example have been determined based on agreements entered into by a financial institution. The relationship data is characterized by having one or more “one-to-many” relationships between exposures and mitigations described by the exposure data  315  and mitigation data  310  respectively. A generalized network is created based upon the input data.  
         [0021]     Further, the mitigation riskiness measure  340  can include, for example, data regarding a probability of default  370  and a loss given default  375 , among others, to identify the mitigation riskiness measure of a mitigation. Similarly, the exposure riskiness measure  350  can also include data regarding a probability of default  380  and a loss given default  375  to identify the exposure riskiness measure of an exposure. The financial risk optimization model  305  can compute an allocation  330  using the data provided.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram of a computing device  400  that can execute a financial risk optimization model of the present disclosure. The computing device  400  includes a processor  410  which is configured to execute instructions stored in memory, such as a random access memory (RAM)  420 . The instructions can be transferred to the RAM  420  from the non-volatile memory  430  in preparation for execution. It should be understood that the non-volatile memory  430  can further contain other non-instruction data. The processor can communicate with a user, or other program via any supported input/output interfaces. Examples of such I/O interfaces can include a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse, and a communication interface to communicate with other computers, among many others. An operating system (O/S) executing on the processor can help to facilitate operation of the computer and execution of any applications residing on the computer system  400 . It should be recognized that each of these components of the computing system are readily available in myriad different combinations, and this disclosure is intended to apply equally to all current and future computing systems.  
         [0023]     The computing system  400  further includes a connection to exposure, mitigation and relationship data stored on a data store  460 . Myriad suitable data stores are commercially available from a variety of vendors. It should be noted that the data store  460  can be co-located with the computing system  400  or remotely located from the computing system  400 . The data store  460  can include mitigation and exposure information about the agreements entered into on behalf of the financial institution. This information includes relationship information that links the mitigation data to the exposure data.  
         [0024]     The computing system  400  also includes a network optimizer  470 . The network optimizer can include one or more linear programming algorithms, configured to find optimal solutions to network problems. One such network optimizer  470  is SAS/OR™  9 , commercially available from SAS Institute of Cary, N.C. The SAS/OR™ 9 package can use both a simplex and/or an interior point algorithm to solve the network problems in an effort to achieve optimal allocation of mitigations to exposures. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the SAS/OR™ 9 software package. Instead the disclosure is intended to include all software packages that are operable to take a generalized network and solve for an optimal solution. It should also be understood that different linear programming instructions can produce different optimal results. For example, an optimal solution could be a solution produced by a particular algorithm, an extension to an algorithm, or combinations of algorithms and/or extensions to the algorithm(s).  
         [0025]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart depicting an operational scenario  500  for financial risk mitigation optimization. The operational scenario begins by receiving mitigation, exposure and relationship data  510  at step  505 . The data  510  is then examined to determine whether it contains a “one-to-many” relationship, as shown by decision block  515 . If the data does not include a “one-to-many” relationship, there can be only one way in this example to apply the mitigation(s) to the exposure(s), and the operational scenario performs post processing at terminal block  520 .  
         [0026]     However, if there are one or more one-to-many relationships between the mitigations and the exposures as determined by decision block  515 , the operational scenario continues by generating a financial risk mitigation optimization model  530  at process block  525 . The financial risk optimization model  530  can then be used to generate many different types of results, represented by post processing block  520 , such as, for example, results to help a user determine an amount of regulatory capital the user should have in order to comply with industry regulations.  
         [0027]     It should be understood that similar to the other processing flows described herein, the steps and the order of the steps in the flowchart described herein may be altered, modified and/or augmented and still achieve the desired outcome. For example,  FIG. 6  depicts another operational scenario  600  for financial risk mitigation optimization.  
         [0028]     With reference to  FIG. 6 , the system receives mitigation, exposure and relationship data  601  from a data store at block  605 . The data  601  is then examined to determine whether it contains a one-to-many relationship, as shown by decision block  610 . If the data does not include a “one-to-many” relationship, there can be only one way in this example to apply the mitigation(s) to the exposure(s). A risk-weighted assets analysis is then performed at process block  615 . After performing the risk-weighted assets analysis, the process outputs the risk-weighted assets analysis and ends at terminal block  620 .  
         [0029]     With reference back to decision block  610 , if there is a one-to-many relationship between exposure(s) and mitigation(s), the system can calculate riskiness measures for the exposure(s) and mitigation(s) at process block  625 . The value of the exposure(s) and mitigation(s) is computed at process block  630 . The relationships between the exposure(s) and mitigation(s) are established at process block  635 . At process block  640 , any discount factors for the exposures and mitigations are calculated. The system can then construct a generalized network model at process block  645 . The generalized network model is then used as input into the financial risk mitigation allocation optimization process block  650 . The financial risk mitigation allocation optimization process block produces a financial risk mitigation model optimization model  651 . At process block  615 , the system uses the financial risk mitigation optimization model to perform a risk-weighted asset analysis of the model. The system then outputs the result of the risk-weighted assets analysis.  
         [0030]     As described above, financial exposures can be offset by financial risk mitigations such as, for example, collateral, guarantees, netting, credit derivatives, and insurance, among others.  
         [0031]     One example of such a regulation is the “International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards”, known as Basel II (2004), which states that, for example: financial exposures are to be risk weighted according to their financial qualities; if an eligible financial risk mitigation is present with an exposure, then the risk weight of the financial risk mitigation can be used as the risk weight of the portion of the exposure that is covered by the financial risk mitigation; the applicable value of the financial risk mitigation can be adjusted according to the nature of the mitigation. Thus, a financial risk system as disclosed herein that calculates the regulatory capital requirement can handle the above requirement for a large number of exposures and financial risk mitigations.  
         [0032]     Regulatory capital, can be summarized as the computation of the aggregated risk weighted assets:  
               RWA   =       ∑     i   =   1     n     ⁢           ⁢       EAR   i     ⁢     RW   i           ,           (   1   )             
 
 where RWA stands for risk-weighted-assets, EAR stands for exposure-at-risk and RW is the risk eight. The total number of exposures is n. When financial risk mitigations are present with an xposure, the exposure can be decomposed into an unsecured portion and several secured portions that take the adjusted value of the financial risk mitigation. The secured portions take the risk weights that are correspondent to the mitigations. The unsecured portion takes the risk weight of the exposure itself. The risk weight asset in equation (1) can now be written as  
             RWA   =       ∑     i   =   1     n     ⁢           ⁢     (       (       ∑       j   i     =   1       m   i       ⁢           ⁢     SEC       j   i     ⁢     RW     j   i             )     +       USEC   i     ⁢     RW   i         )               (   2   )             
 
 where SEC is the secured portion and USEC is the unsecured portion. Exposures in some instances can be secured by several financial risk mitigations. Similarly, mitigations in some instances can secure several exposures. 
 
         [0033]     Without considering adjustments to the value of the financial risk mitigations, the equation (2) can formulate a minimum cost network flow problem.  
         [0034]     To adjust for the potential changes in the material value of the financial risk mitigations, additional adjustments can be made based upon the nature of the mitigations. For example, Basel 11 (2004) implicates haircut discounts to financial collaterals and nettings. In addition, if the exposure and financial risk mitigations are in different currencies, further haircut discounts can be made to account for the fluctuation of the foreign exchange rate dynamics. Since the discount may depend on both the exposures and the financial risk mitigations, it is are dependent.  
         [0035]     Using the generalized network model, discounts can also be added to the arc to represent the attrition in the goods. In the above example the discounts are represented by multipliers M j     i   . Let CV j     i    be the value of the financial risk mitigation that secures the exposure i. The secured portion SEC j     i    in equation (2) can be written as the multiplication of the value of the financial risk mitigation that secures the exposure and the appropriate multiplier for this pair of exposure and mitigation. Equation (3) reflects the risk weighted function in this case.  
             RWA   =       ∑     i   =   1     n     ⁢           ⁢     (       (       ∑       j   i     =   1       m   i       ⁢           ⁢       CV     j   i       ⁢     M     j   i       ⁢     RW     j   i           )     +       USEC   i     ⁢     RW   i         )               (   3   )             
 
 The minimum cost generalized network minimizes the equation (3) given the exposure-mitigation relation constraints. The generalized network can be represented in a network framework by adding transition nodes as well. Transition nodes can operate as another layer of nodes between the exposure and mitigations and can handle, for example, the discounting function, as an alternative to using the directed arc to handle the discounting function. A generalized network is then solved by a model having access to a linear programming algorithm in order to optimize the financial risk mitigation situation. 
 
         [0036]      FIG. 7  provides a visualization depiction of an example generalized network model problem that can be solved using financial risk mitigation optimization techniques disclosed herein. In this example, a node is an entity in the network and could be suppliers, demanders or transition; an arc is the path from one entity to another; a directed network is a network that has only directed arcs; and arc cost is the cost associated with an arc when goods are moved from one end of the arc to the other.  
         [0037]     The generalized network model can be automatically constructed by a computer program that has access to the mitigation, exposure and relationship data. The data could be accessed from any number of data stores, such as data structures, database tables, data files, etc. Data about the mitigations can be used to generate supply nodes, while data about the exposures can be used to generate to demand nodes. Data about the relationships between the exposures and mitigations can be used to generate directed arcs, and the cost of applying a mitigation to an exposure can be assigned to an arc&#39;s cost.  
         [0038]     In  FIG. 7  there are three exposures E 1   705 , E 2   710 , and E 3   715  and four financial risk mitigations C 1   720 , C 2   725 , C 3   730 , and C 4   735 . The node NC  740  supplies the unsecured portions of the exposures in the diagram so as to balance the network. The financial risk mitigations act as supply nodes and exposures as demand nodes. The flow costs are the risk weights associated with the mitigations. The arcs indicate possible links between financial risk mitigations and exposures based upon the financial institution&#39;s agreements. In the case of the example in  FIG. 7 , exposure E 1   705  is secured by C 1   720  and C 2   725 , E 2   710  is secured by C 3   730 , and E 3   715  is secured by C 3   730  and C 4   735 . Amounts flowing out of the NC node take the risk weight of the correspondent exposure. The first number on each arc (exposure-mitigation relation) indicates the cost (risk weight) associated with the arc. (In addition to the nodes shown in the graph, a “sink” node acting as a dummy exposure could be used in some situations, such that it is connected with all the supply nodes in order to drain any extra supply away from the arcs so that the flows on the arcs are balanced.)  
         [0039]     Additional data for this example is as follows: 
        1. E 1   705  has an exposure at default (EAD) of $100 and is risk weighted 200%. E 2   710  has an EAD of $110 and is risk weighted 300%. E 3   715  has an EAD of $200 and is risk weighted 250%.     2. C 1   720  and C 3   730  are financial collaterals, C 2   725  is a guarantee, and C 4   735  is a receivable collateral. C 1   720  is worth $70. C 2   725  is worth $60 and is risk weighted 50%. C 3   730  is worth $100. C 4   735  is worth $150 and is risk weighted 75%.     3. The directed arc in  FIG. 7  represents the possible coverage between the financial risk mitigations and exposures. These are usually specified by the business contracts and can be altered. 
 
 Financial collaterals can be subject to haircut adjustments (based on collateral itself and also currency mismatch adjustment if necessary). For this problem, the haircut adjustments can be ssumed to be multipliers (E 1 , C 1 )=0.7, (E 2 , C 3 )=0.8, (E 3 , C 3 )=0.7. The guarantee has no adjustment, so the multiplier on (E 1 , C 2 )=1. The receivable is subject to an over-collateralization adjustment, which results in the multiplier (E 3 , C 4 )=0.8. 
       
 
         [0043]     Regulations indicate that the risk weighted asset should be calculated in accordance with equation (3). In addition the bank also needs to report the risk weight for the secured and unsecured portion of each exposure. In the example of  FIG. 7 , there are quite a few ways that the bank could apply the financial risk mitigations to the exposures. 
        1. For E 1 , there are two possible ways to apply the mitigations: 
            a. Apply C 1  first and C 2  second: 
                The secured portion by C 1  is $49 with 0% risk weight and the secured portion by C 2  is $51 with 50% risk weight. The RWA for E 1  is 51*50%+49*0%=25.5.    
                b. Apply C 2  first and C 1  second: 
                The secured portion by C 2  is $60 with risk weight 50% and the secured portion by C 1  is $40 with 0% risk weight. The RWA for E 1  is 60*50%+40*0%=30.    
               
            2. E 2  and E 3  share C 3  but E 4  has sole claim to C 4 . There are two ways to apply the mitigations:     a. E 2  is secured by C 3  and E 3  secured by C 4 : 
            The secured portion of E 2  by C 3  is $80 with 0% risk weight, and unsecured portion is $30 with 300% risk weight. The RWA for E 2  is 80*0%+30*300%=90. 
                The secured portion of E 3  by C 4  is $120 with 75% risk weight and unsecured portion is $80 with 250% risk weight. The RWA for E 3  is 120*75%+80*250%=290.     The total RWA for E 2  and E 3  in this case is  380 .    
               
            b. E 3  is secured by C 3  and C 4 . E 2  is completely unsecured. 
            The secured portion of E 3  by C 3  is $70 with risk weight 0% and the secured portion of E 3  by C 4  is $120 with risk weight 75%. The unsecured portion is $10 with risk weight 250%. The RWA for E 3  is 70*0%+120*75%+10*250%=185. The RWA for E 2  is 110*300%= 330 . The total RWA for E 2  and E 3  is  515 . 
 
 Overall there are four possible ways to allocate the financial risk mitigation in this small example (1(a)-2(a); 1(a)-2(b); 1(b)-2(a); 1(b)-2(b)). A model is constructed and determines that the optimal solution to this example is the 1(a)-2(a) combination, where the total RWA is 405.5 (25.5+380=405). The worst case is the 1(b)-2(b) combination where the total RWA is 545 (30+515=545). Using this disclosure a financial institution can find a best case scenario for a large portfolio of exposures and mitigations. For example, a financial institution&#39;s portfolio could include on the order of millions of exposures and mitigations, which can implicate a vast number of possible solutions. 
   
               
 
         [0056]     While examples have been used to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, the patentable scope of the invention is defined by claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. For example, financial institutions may have millions of exposures and financial risk mitigations, each worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus, the differences in the RWA due to mitigation allocations can be drastic. A financial risk optimization model can be configured as disclosed herein to efficiently solve this problem and can report the secured and unsecured portion directly from the optimization result.  
         [0057]     A financial risk mitigation optimization solution could also be configured to include: efficient solution for large number of exposures and financial risk mitigations that are typical to most banks; execution of relations according to the contractual rules; optimal allocation of mitigations; generalized results that separate the portions of the exposure that are covered by different financial risk mitigations as indicated by the some regulations; calculations of the capital requirements and optimal allocations through the generalized minimum cost network are conveniently implemented by existing linear programming network optimization models; the solution to the optimization can help financial institutions determine priority between the exposures and financial risk mitigations thereby lowering the financial institution&#39;s regulatory capital.  
         [0058]     It is further noted that the systems and methods may be implemented on various types of computer architectures, such as for example on a single general purpose computer or workstation, or on a networked system, or in a client-server configuration, or in an application service provider configuration.  
         [0059]     It is further noted that the systems and methods may include data signals conveyed via networks (e.g., local area network, wide area network, internet, etc.), fiber optic medium, carrier waves, wireless networks, etc. for communication with one or more data processing devices. The data signals can carry any or all of the data disclosed herein that is provided to or from a device.  
         [0060]     Additionally, the methods and systems described herein may be implemented one many different types of processing devices by program code comprising program instructions that are executable by the device processing subsystem. The software program instructions may include source code, object code, machine code, or any other stored data that is operable to cause a processing system to perform methods described herein. Other implementations may also be used, however, such as firmware or even appropriately designed hardware configured to carry out the methods and systems described herein.  
         [0061]     The systems&#39; and methods&#39; data (e.g., associations, mappings, etc.) may be stored and implemented in one or more different types of computer-implemented ways, such as different types of storage devices and programming constructs (e.g., data stores, RAM, ROM, Flash memory, flat files, databases, programming data structures, programming variables, IF-THEN (or similar type) statement constructs, etc.). It is noted that data structures describe formats for use in organizing and storing data in databases, programs, memory, or other computer-readable media for use by a computer program.  
         [0062]     The systems and methods may be provided on many different types of computer-readable media including computer storage mechanisms (e.g., CD-ROM, diskette, RAM, flash memory, computer&#39;s hard drive, etc.) that contain instructions for use in execution by a processor to perform the methods&#39; operations and implement the systems described herein.  
         [0063]     The computer components, software modules, functions, data stores and data structures described herein may be connected directly or indirectly to each other in order to allow the flow of data needed for their operations. It is also noted that a module or processor includes but is not limited to a unit of code that performs a software operation, and can be implemented for example as a subroutine unit of code, or as a software function unit of code, or as an object (as in an object-oriented paradigm), or as an applet, or in a computer script language, or as another type of computer code. The software components and/or functionality may be located on a single computer or distributed across multiple computers depending upon the situation at hand.  
         [0064]     It should be understood that as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Finally, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meanings of “and” and “or” include both the conjunctive and disjunctive and may be used interchangeably unless the context clearly dictates otherwise; the phrase “exclusive or” may be used to indicate situation where only the disjunctive meaning may apply.

Technology Category: g