Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
Some of the words that appear in the text are explained below:
the term "and/or" in the embodiments of the present invention describes an association relationship of associated objects, and indicates that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may indicate: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.
The application scenario described in the embodiment of the present invention is for more clearly illustrating the technical solution of the embodiment of the present invention, and does not form a limitation on the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention, and it can be known by a person skilled in the art that with the occurrence of a new application scenario, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present invention is also applicable to similar technical problems. In the description of the present invention, the term "plurality" means two or more unless otherwise specified.
Conventional outdoor spot light antennas are widely used as communication signal coverage means, and are generally installed on a building opposite to a roof to cover the building. For the spotlight antenna, the downtilt angle and the RF (Radio Frequency) link loss of each port are very important monitoring indexes. As is known, the traditional antenna is a passive device, and cannot realize any monitoring, so that the maintenance work of an operator is passive, the manual inspection cost is high, and the requirement of the operator supervision under a new situation cannot be completely met. With the development of the internet of things and the informatization technology, an outdoor intelligent indoor antenna is produced at the same time, but at present, for a spotlight antenna system applied to monitoring and management of an indoor distribution system, a method for simply, conveniently and feasibly monitoring some operation condition parameters of a spotlight antenna font is not available, so that operation and maintenance personnel cannot timely know the operation condition of the spotlight antenna system, and further cannot timely and correctly manage and maintain the spotlight antenna system.
The embodiment of the application provides a monitoring management method and equipment applied to a room-division spotlight antenna, which are used for solving the problems in the scene;
the indoor distribution spotlight antenna is a spotlight antenna applied to an indoor distribution system;
the indoor distribution system pointer is a successful scheme for improving the mobile communication environment in the building for indoor user groups, and the indoor antenna distribution system is used for uniformly distributing signals of the mobile base station to each indoor corner, so that the indoor area is ensured to have ideal signal coverage.
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.
With respect to the above scenario, the following describes an embodiment of the present invention in further detail with reference to the drawings of the specification.
The first embodiment is as follows:
as shown in fig. 1A, the present embodiment provides a monitoring management method applied to an antenna of a room distribution spotlight, and the method is applicable to an antenna end of the room distribution spotlight, and specifically includes the following steps:
step 101, acquiring monitoring parameters of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna when a detection period is reached, wherein the monitoring parameters comprise a downward inclination angle of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna and battery power;
102, forming a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet by the monitoring parameters according to a preset rule;
and 103, multiplexing each antenna port of the indoor split spotlight antenna according to a broadcasting period in a time-sharing manner, and broadcasting the Bluetooth protocol broadcasting packet through Bluetooth connection.
According to the method, the downtilt angle, the battery power and other monitoring parameters of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna are monitored and periodically broadcast to the indoor sub-system equipment where the indoor sub-spotlight antenna is located, so that the equipment can timely acquire the current state of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna, and timely maintenance can be conducted on the indoor sub-spotlight antenna at a later stage.
Optionally, in an implementation, the downtilt angle of the room spotlight antenna can be acquired through a three-axis acceleration sensor MEMS, but is not limited to the acquisition;
the method comprises the steps of obtaining components of the gravity acceleration of the indoor split spotlight antenna on three axes through a three-axis acceleration sensor MEMS, and calculating the components on the three axes by utilizing a preset trigonometric function to obtain the downward inclination angle of the indoor split spotlight antenna.
The predetermined trigonometric function may include, but is not limited to
According to weightAnd calibrating the downward inclination angle of the indoor split spotlight antenna by utilizing the trigonometric function according to the components Ax, Ay and Az of the force acceleration on the three axes, and calculating the inclination angle of the indoor split spotlight antenna.
In implementation, the indoor partial reflector antenna may be powered by a battery or a feeder, but not limited to, the battery power of the indoor partial reflector antenna may be obtained by an analog-to-digital conversion device connected to the battery in the indoor partial reflector antenna, but not limited to, a preset battery power expression formula may be used to calculate the percentage of the battery power, the preset battery power expression formula is not limited too much, and the formula depends on the type of the battery of the indoor partial reflector antenna, and a person skilled in the art may select the battery power expression formula according to actual needs.
In the step 102, when the monitoring parameters are formed into a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet according to a preset rule, the monitoring parameters may further include, but are not limited to, any one or more of the following:
the method comprises the following steps of (1) identifying a manufacturer of an indoor spotlight antenna, transmitting power of a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet and a currently used antenna port number;
generally, the control System of the indoor partial reflector lamp antenna adopts a solution of a bluetooth embedded chip SOC (System-on-a-chip), is deeply integrated with the indoor partial reflector lamp antenna body, and is designed in an integrated manner, so that the content is selectively framed into a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet so as to broadcast the content to the equipment in the indoor partial System where the indoor partial reflector lamp antenna is located;
in this embodiment, the packet format of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is specified by the manufacturer of the room distribution spotlight antenna, and may include, but is not limited to, the manner shown in fig. 1B, where the total length of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is constrained by the definition of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet protocol, and the data packet is encapsulated in the bluetooth protocol broadcast data by the manufacturer-specific data AD type; in fig. 1B, the length of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is 8 bytes in total;
in fig. 1B, the length is the length of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, and the content occupies 1 byte; the manufacturer specific data identification (0xFF) may be understood as a product class number of the room distribution lamp antenna; the manufacturer identification is the manufacturer identification of the indoor distributed spotlight antenna, and the manufacturer identification needs to apply to a Bluetooth organization; the current physical port number is the currently used antenna port number;
in fig. 1B, the transmission power is the transmission power of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, the transmission power is the power transmitted by the bluetooth of the antenna port, and is equal to the transmission power of the bluetooth chip minus the overall loss value corresponding to the antenna port, and the overall loss value can be directly measured and stored in the storage system of the corresponding control system when the room-division spotlight antenna leaves the factory. The downward inclination angle is the downward inclination angle of the room spotlight antenna; the battery electric quantity is the battery electric quantity of the indoor split spotlight antenna.
As an alternative implementation, in order to save power consumption of the antenna end of the room distribution lamp and reduce the broadcast period of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet as much as possible, the real-time performance of the broadcast period of the second level can be fully satisfied.
In step 102, as an optional implementation manner, after the indoor splitter lamp antenna broadcasts the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet through a bluetooth connection, when a management device actively connects to the lamp antenna through a bluetooth, or receives an extended data packet request message sent by the management device, based on a bluetooth protocol framework of the bluetooth connection, a data extended packet that may carry any one or more of the following fixed monitoring data is sent to the management device: the indoor split spotlight antenna model, the indoor split spotlight antenna serial number, the software version used by the indoor split spotlight antenna, the currently used broadcast period and the currently used detection period.
Namely, the fixed monitoring data and the like can be read by management equipment for managing the room spotlight antenna through Bluetooth connection at regular intervals; or, if the bluetooth 5.0 protocol is adopted to broadcast the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, the fixed monitoring data may be reported to the monitoring management device in the form of a data extension packet.
In step 103, the antenna ports of the room-division lamp antenna are time-division multiplexed according to a broadcasting cycle, and the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is broadcasted through the bluetooth connection.
The scheme provided by the application is based on Low-power consumption Bluetooth technology BLE (Bluetooth Low energy) to realize the detection of the link loss of each port, common room distribution spotlight antennas are multi-port antennas, and each port can be switched in a time-sharing manner through a Radio Frequency (RF) switch;
the RF signal based on the BLE Bluetooth technology is fed into an antenna port feeder line of an indoor sub-spotlight antenna in a direct coupling mode so as to enter an indoor sub-system, the requirements of indexes such as antenna intermodulation and the like are considered, and a 2.4G filter with good intermodulation indexes needs to be connected in series with each antenna port signal coupling port; on the other hand, from the radio frequency perspective, the method can ensure the normal receiving and transmitting performance of the Bluetooth and keep good isolation with the mobile communication signals covered normally.
Fig. 1C is a schematic block diagram of a control system of a three-port room distribution spotlight antenna, which belongs to an integrated design with the room distribution spotlight antenna, and mainly comprises a microstrip directional coupler, a 2.4G filter, a radio frequency switch, an acceleration sensor, an SOC, a power supply unit and the like.
The indoor sub-spotlight antenna is used as equipment of an operator level and has safety requirements, in order to ensure the safety of a related system of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna, a safe connection password input mechanism is adopted in the scheme to ensure the safety of the related system of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna, and the Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is prevented from being intercepted in broadcast or attacked by a man in the middle; meanwhile, the monitoring management equipment of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna is convenient to manage and manage, and the indoor sub-spotlight antenna end needs to support a user to acquire the permission of modifying the data in the Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet through a password.
In step 103, as an optional implementation manner, the bluetooth between the room distribution lamp antenna and the room distribution management device receiving the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is a unidirectional non-connection broadcast communication only allowing the room distribution lamp antenna to send data to any device, or a point-to-point bidirectional connection communication allowing an authorized device to connect the room distribution lamp antenna through the bluetooth, and the room distribution management device is a management device in a room distribution system to which the room distribution lamp antenna belongs.
When the Bluetooth connection is bidirectional communication connection, the method further comprises the steps that after the equipment allowing authorization is received through the bidirectional communication connection, the indoor distributed spotlight antenna is configured and updated based on the modified configuration data fed back by the management equipment;
the modified configuration data may include one or more of the following: the number of the currently used antenna port, the broadcast period of the Bluetooth broadcast packet, the downtilt angle and the detection period of the battery power, and the reflector lamp antenna firmware is updated.
In an implementation, in consideration of the requirement of the management device for managing the room distribution lamp antenna, the bluetooth may be periodically set to be in bidirectional communication connection, so that the management device can periodically manage the room distribution lamp antenna.
In implementation, the management device can be authorized, allowed to connect with bluetooth, and the configuration data can be modified in the form of, but not limited to, a password connected by the user. The device becomes the authorized device by inputting the preset user connection password; the authorization-permitting device may be, but is not limited to, a monitoring management device for the room-division spotlight antenna.
As shown in fig. 1D, based on the same inventive concept, the present embodiment further provides a monitoring management method applied to an antenna of a room distribution spotlight, the monitoring management method being suitable for managing the antenna management device of the room distribution spotlight, and the monitoring management method specifically includes the following steps:
104, receiving a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet carrying monitoring parameters and broadcasted by the indoor sub-spotlight antenna through Bluetooth connection, wherein the monitoring parameters comprise a downward inclination angle of the indoor sub-spotlight antenna and battery electric quantity;
and 105, correspondingly managing the room split spotlight antenna according to the monitoring parameters.
In the step 104, as an optional implementation manner, the monitoring parameter further includes a transmission power of a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, a radio frequency link loss value of an antenna port of the room distribution spotlight antenna is determined according to the transmission power and a reception power of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, and the room distribution spotlight antenna is correspondingly managed according to the radio frequency link loss value.
In step 104, as an optional implementation manner, the method further includes sending request information of the extension data packet to the room distribution lamp antenna through the bluetooth connection at an interval of a second preset time period;
receiving an extended data packet sent by the room spotlight antenna based on the Bluetooth protocol framework connected by the Bluetooth; the extension packet carries one or more of the following fixed monitoring data:
the indoor split spotlight antenna model, the indoor split spotlight antenna serial number, the software version used by the indoor split spotlight antenna, the currently used broadcast period and the currently used detection period. When the Bluetooth is unidirectional non-connection broadcast communication which only allows the indoor sub-spotlight antenna to send data to any equipment, the management equipment reads a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet broadcasted by the indoor sub-spotlight antenna;
when the Bluetooth connection is a bidirectional communication connection, the management equipment is connected according to a user connection password, is connected with the indoor spotlight antenna through the Bluetooth and manages the indoor spotlight antenna correspondingly.
The management device can inquire and/or modify one or more of the following configuration data of the room spotlight antenna based on the Bluetooth protocol data packet: the number of the currently used antenna port, the broadcast period of the Bluetooth broadcast packet, the downtilt angle and the detection period of the battery power, and the reflector lamp antenna firmware is updated.
In the implementation, the management device feeds back the modified configuration data to the indoor spotlight antenna through the bluetooth connection.
As an optional implementation, when the bluetooth connection is a periodic bidirectional communication connection, the management device may periodically acquire the fixed monitoring data and periodically manage the room-division lamp antenna.
In the method, the monitoring management equipment timely performs corresponding management and maintenance on the room distribution spotlight antenna through the downtilt angle, the battery power and other monitoring parameters sent by the room distribution spotlight antenna, the operation and maintenance cost is low, and the management and maintenance effect on the room distribution spotlight antenna is good.
As shown in fig. 1E, this embodiment further provides a specific implementation step of a monitoring management method applied to an indoor spotlight antenna, which combines an indoor spotlight antenna end and a monitoring management device end, and includes:
step 1), when the antenna end of the indoor distributed reflector lamp reaches a detection period, acquiring monitoring parameters of the indoor distributed reflector lamp antenna, wherein the downtilt angle of the monitoring parameters and the battery power quantity are obtained;
step 2) the antenna end of the room distribution spotlight forms a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet by monitoring parameters according to a preset rule;
step 3) the indoor distribution spotlight antenna time-division multiplexes each antenna port of the indoor distribution spotlight antenna according to the broadcasting period, and broadcasts the Bluetooth protocol broadcasting packet;
step 4), the monitoring management equipment receives a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet;
step 5) the management equipment judges whether the Bluetooth connection is bidirectional communication connection, if so, the step 6) is carried out, and if not, the step 1) is carried out;
step 6), the management equipment end is connected with the indoor spotlight antenna end through Bluetooth connection according to the user connection password;
step 7), the management equipment inquires and/or modifies the configuration data according to the content of the Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet;
step 8) feeding the modified configuration data back to the indoor spotlight antenna through Bluetooth connection;
and 9) receiving the modified configuration data by the room distribution spotlight antenna, and updating the configuration based on the modified configuration data.
As shown in fig. 1F, an information interaction diagram of the room spotlight antenna and the management device in the above process is given.
Example two:
referring to fig. 2A, based on the same inventive concept, a monitoring management first device applied to a room-division spotlight antenna comprises a processor 201 and a memory 202, wherein the processor is configured to:
acquiring monitoring parameters of the indoor split spotlight antenna when a detection period is reached, wherein the monitoring parameters comprise a downward inclination angle of the indoor split spotlight antenna and battery power;
forming a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet by the monitoring parameters according to a preset rule;
and multiplexing each antenna port of the indoor split spotlight antenna according to a broadcasting period in a time-sharing manner, and broadcasting the Bluetooth protocol broadcasting packet through Bluetooth connection.
The processor is specifically used for acquiring the downward inclination angle of the room division spotlight antenna through the three-axis acceleration sensor MEMS; and acquiring the battery power of the indoor split spotlight antenna through an analog-digital conversion device connected with the battery in the indoor split spotlight antenna.
The processor is specifically used for acquiring components of the gravity acceleration of the indoor split spotlight antenna on three axes through the three-axis acceleration sensor MEMS, and calculating the downward inclination angle of the indoor split spotlight antenna by utilizing a preset trigonometric function on the components on the three axes.
The processor is specifically configured to, after the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is broadcasted through the bluetooth connection, send the following data extension packet carrying any one or any multiple pieces of fixed monitoring data to the management device based on the bluetooth protocol framework connected by the bluetooth when the management device actively connects to the indoor spotlight antenna through the bluetooth or receives extension data packet request information sent by the management device:
the indoor split spotlight antenna model, the indoor split spotlight antenna serial number, the software version used by the indoor split spotlight antenna, the currently used broadcast period and the currently used detection period.
The bluetooth between the indoor sub spotlight antenna and the indoor sub management device for receiving the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is unidirectional non-connection broadcast communication only allowing the indoor sub spotlight antenna to send data to any device, or point-to-point bidirectional connection communication allowing an authorized device to connect the indoor sub spotlight antenna through the bluetooth, and the indoor sub management device is a management device in an indoor sub system to which the indoor sub spotlight antenna belongs.
The processor is further configured to, when the bluetooth connection is a bidirectional connection communication, receive, through the bidirectional connection communication, after an authorized device receives a bluetooth protocol data packet, perform configuration update on the room distribution spotlight antenna based on modified configuration data fed back by the management device;
the modified configuration data may include one or more of the following:
the number of the currently used antenna port, the broadcast period of the Bluetooth broadcast packet, the downtilt angle and the detection period of the battery power, and the reflector lamp antenna firmware is updated.
As shown in fig. 2B, the monitoring management second device applied to the room-division spotlight antenna based on the same inventive concept comprises a processor 203 and a memory 204, wherein the processor is configured to:
receiving a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet carrying monitoring parameters broadcasted by the indoor partial spotlight antenna through Bluetooth connection, wherein the monitoring parameters comprise a downward inclination angle and battery electric quantity of the indoor partial spotlight antenna;
and correspondingly managing the room split spotlight antenna according to the monitoring parameters.
The monitoring parameters further include transmission power of a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, and the processor is specifically configured to determine a radio frequency link loss value of an antenna port of the room division spotlight antenna according to the transmission power and reception power of the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet; and correspondingly managing the room split spotlight antenna according to the radio frequency link loss value.
The processor is further used for sending extended data packet request information to the indoor spotlight antenna through Bluetooth connection at intervals of a second preset time period;
receiving an extended data packet sent by the room spotlight antenna based on the Bluetooth protocol framework connected by the Bluetooth; the extension packet carries one or more of the following fixed monitoring data: the indoor split spotlight antenna model, the indoor split spotlight antenna serial number, the software version used by the indoor split spotlight antenna, the currently used broadcast period and the currently used detection period.
When the bluetooth connection is a bidirectional communication connection, the processor is specifically configured to query and/or modify one or more of the following configuration data of the room distribution lamp antenna based on a bluetooth protocol data packet: the number of the currently used antenna port, the broadcast period of the Bluetooth broadcast packet, the downtilt angle and the detection period of the battery power, and the reflector lamp antenna firmware is updated.
The processor is further used for feeding back the modified configuration data to the indoor spotlight antenna through the Bluetooth connection.
Example three:
as shown in fig. 3A, based on the same inventive concept, the present embodiment provides a first apparatus for monitoring and managing an antenna of a room-division lamp, the apparatus including:
the period detection unit 301 is configured to obtain monitoring parameters of the indoor spotlight antenna when a detection period is reached, where the monitoring parameters include a downtilt angle of the indoor spotlight antenna and battery power;
a framing bluetooth protocol broadcast packet unit 302, configured to compose a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet according to the monitoring parameters according to a preset rule;
and a broadcasting unit 303, configured to multiplex antenna ports of the room-division spotlight antenna in a time-division manner according to a broadcasting cycle, and broadcast the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet through bluetooth connection.
The period detection unit is used for acquiring a downward inclination angle of the room division spotlight antenna through a three-axis acceleration sensor MEMS; and acquiring the battery power of the indoor split spotlight antenna through an analog-digital conversion device connected with the battery in the indoor split spotlight antenna.
The period detection unit is used for acquiring the components of the gravity acceleration of the indoor split spotlight antenna on three axes through the three-axis acceleration sensor MEMS, and calculating the components on the three axes by using a preset trigonometric function to obtain the downward inclination angle of the indoor split spotlight antenna.
The broadcast unit is configured to, after broadcasting the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet through bluetooth connection, send the following data extension packet carrying any one or any multiple pieces of fixed monitoring data to the management device based on a bluetooth protocol framework connected by the bluetooth when the management device actively connects to the indoor spotlight antenna through the bluetooth or receives extension data packet request information sent by the management device:
the indoor split spotlight antenna model, the indoor split spotlight antenna serial number, the software version used by the indoor split spotlight antenna, the currently used broadcast period and the currently used detection period.
The bluetooth between the indoor sub spotlight antenna and the indoor sub management device for receiving the bluetooth protocol broadcast packet is unidirectional non-connection broadcast communication only allowing the indoor sub spotlight antenna to send data to any device, or point-to-point bidirectional connection communication allowing an authorized device to connect the indoor sub spotlight antenna through the bluetooth, and the indoor sub management device is a management device in an indoor sub system to which the indoor sub spotlight antenna belongs.
The broadcasting unit is further configured to, when the bluetooth connection is a bidirectional connection communication, receive, through the bidirectional connection communication, after an authorized device receives a bluetooth protocol data packet, perform configuration update on the room distribution spotlight antenna based on modified configuration data fed back by the management device;
the modified configuration data may include one or more of the following:
the number of the currently used antenna port, the broadcast period of the Bluetooth broadcast packet, the downtilt angle and the detection period of the battery power, and the reflector lamp antenna firmware is updated.
As shown in fig. 3B, based on the same inventive concept, the present embodiment provides a second apparatus for monitoring and managing an antenna of a room-division lamp, the apparatus including:
a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet receiving unit 304, configured to receive a bluetooth protocol broadcast packet carrying monitoring parameters broadcasted by the indoor spotlight antenna through bluetooth connection, where the monitoring parameters include a downtilt angle and battery power of the indoor spotlight antenna;
and a control management unit 305, configured to perform corresponding management on the room-division spotlight antenna according to the monitoring parameter.
The monitoring parameters also comprise the transmitting power of a Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet, and the control management unit is used for determining the radio frequency link loss value of the antenna port of the room-division spotlight antenna according to the transmitting power and the receiving power for receiving the Bluetooth protocol broadcast packet; and correspondingly managing the room split spotlight antenna according to the radio frequency link loss value.
The control management unit is also used for sending extended data packet request information to the indoor sub-spotlight antenna through Bluetooth connection at intervals of a second preset time period;
receiving an extended data packet sent by the room spotlight antenna based on the Bluetooth protocol framework connected by the Bluetooth; the extension packet carries one or more of the following fixed monitoring data: the indoor split spotlight antenna model, the indoor split spotlight antenna serial number, the software version used by the indoor split spotlight antenna, the currently used broadcast period and the currently used detection period.
When the bluetooth connection is a bidirectional communication connection, the control management unit is specifically configured to query and/or modify one or more of the following configuration data of the room distribution lamp antenna based on a bluetooth protocol data packet: the number of the currently used antenna port, the broadcast period of the Bluetooth broadcast packet, the downtilt angle and the detection period of the battery power, and the reflector lamp antenna firmware is updated.
The control management unit is also used for feeding back the modified configuration data to the indoor split spotlight antenna through the Bluetooth connection.
Example four:
an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer-readable non-volatile storage medium, which includes a program code, and when the program code runs on a computing terminal, the program code is configured to enable the computing terminal to execute the steps of the method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The present application is described above with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (systems) and/or computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that one block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, and/or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks.
Accordingly, the subject application may also be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.). Furthermore, 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 code embodied in the medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system. In the context of this application, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.