Detailed Description
In the process of using the small bandwidth service, in order to effectively improve the frequency spectrum utilization rate and save the resource occupation of the PDCCH, in the embodiment of the invention, when the scheduling time arrives, the base station controls the initial transmission data to be transmitted by the user by setting a data threshold and a time delay threshold (namely a cache threshold), and actively accumulates the data and carries out time delay scheduling.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the embodiment of the present invention, when the base station performs resource scheduling for a small bandwidth service, preferably, it is determined whether a current user has retransmission data to transmit, if yes, resources are allocated to the retransmission data of the current user first, and otherwise, resources are allocated to initial transmission data to be transmitted of the current user.
In this embodiment, the retransmission data is divided into uplink retransmission data and downlink retransmission data, and resource allocation under these two cases is described below.
Referring to fig. 1, in the embodiment of the present invention, a flow of a base station performing resource allocation for uplink retransmission data of a current user is as follows:
step 100: the base station preferentially allocates non-adaptive retransmission resources for uplink retransmission data of the current user, and judges whether the resource allocation is successful, if so, the step 110 is performed; otherwise, go to step 120.
Step 110: the base station finishes the resource allocation aiming at the current user and continues to perform the resource allocation for the next user.
At this time, according to the relevant protocol, since the non-adaptive retransmission resource is allocated, the base station does not need to occupy the PDCCH to transmit the corresponding uplink scheduling signaling to the current user.
Step 120: the base station continues to allocate adaptive retransmission resources for the uplink retransmission data of the current user, and judges whether the resource allocation is successful, if so, the step 130 is performed; otherwise, go to step 140.
Step 130: the base station finishes the resource allocation aiming at the current user and continues to perform the resource allocation for the next user.
At this time, according to the relevant protocol, since the adaptive retransmission resource is allocated, the base station needs to occupy the PDCCH to send the corresponding uplink scheduling signaling to the current user.
Step 140: the base station determines that the uplink retransmission data resource allocation fails, and can continue to perform resource allocation for the uplink initial transmission data of the current user.
Referring to fig. 2, in the embodiment of the present invention, a flow of resource allocation performed by a base station for downlink retransmission data of a current user is as follows:
step 200: the base station continues to allocate downlink shared resources for downlink retransmission data of the current user, and judges whether the resource allocation is successful, if so, the step 210 is performed; otherwise, go to step 220.
Step 210: the base station finishes the resource allocation aiming at the current user and continues to perform the resource allocation for the next user.
At this time, according to the relevant protocol, since the downlink shared resource is allocated, the base station needs to occupy the PDCCH to send the corresponding downlink scheduling signaling to the current user.
Step 220: the base station determines that the resource allocation of the downlink retransmission data fails, and can continue to perform resource allocation on the downlink initial transmission data of the current user.
Of course, if the base station determines that there is no retransmission data for the current user or the system has allocated dedicated resources for transmitting retransmission data, when the base station performs resource allocation for the small bandwidth service used by the current user, the base station may not perform the related operations recorded in steps 100 to 140 and steps 200 to 220, but perform resource allocation for the initial transmission data of the current user.
Referring to fig. 3A, in the embodiment of the present invention, a conceptual flow of resource allocation performed by a base station for initial transmission data of a current user is as follows:
step 300: when the scheduling time is reached and the current user is determined to have initial transmission data to be transmitted, the base station judges whether the data volume of the initial transmission data reaches a preset initial transmission data threshold value; if yes, go to step 320; otherwise, proceed to step 310.
In practical application, when the scheduling time is reached, the base station will sequentially and respectively process users with uplink data transmission requirements or downlink data transmission requirements.
Step 310: the base station further judges whether the caching time of the initial transmission data of the current user reaches a preset caching threshold value, if so, the step 320 is performed; otherwise, go to step 330.
Step 320: and the base station allocates shared resources for the initial transmission data of the current user and sends a corresponding scheduling signaling to the current user through the PDCCH.
Step 330: and the base station continuously stores the initial transmission data of the current user and waits for the next resource allocation process.
In this embodiment, for each user, the base station does not send the initial transmission data as soon as it exists, but continues to cache the initial transmission data of each user, and reallocates corresponding resources for transmission after the initial transmission data is cached to a certain data volume or cached for a certain time, so that PDCCH resources can be effectively saved, and excessive padding data in the transmission data is also avoided.
In practical application, the initial transmission data is divided into uplink initial transmission data and downlink initial transmission data, and the implementation process of the above embodiment in these two cases is described below.
Referring to fig. 3B, in the embodiment of the present invention, a detailed flow of resource allocation performed by the base station for the uplink initial transmission data of the current user is as follows:
step 3000: the base station judges whether the data volume of the uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user reaches a preset uplink initial transmission data threshold Thul_data(ii) a If so, go to step 3200, otherwise, go to step 3100.
Of course, if the base station determines that the current user does not have the uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted at the initial stage of the process, the current user may not participate in the current uplink resource scheduling, but continue to perform resource allocation for the next user.
Step 3100: the base station further judges whether the caching time of the uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user reaches a preset uplink caching threshold Thul_time(ii) a If yes, go to step 3200; otherwise, proceed to step 3300.
Step 3200: the base station allocates uplink shared resources for current user scheduling, and determines whether resource allocation is successful? If yes, go to step 3300; otherwise, go to step 3400.
Step 3300: the base station finishes the resource allocation flow aiming at the current user and continues to allocate resources for the next user.
Certainly, after the resource allocation is successful, the base station needs to occupy the PDCCH to send the current uplink scheduling signaling to the current user.
Step 3400: the base station continues to allocate resources for the next user.
Referring to fig. 3C, in the embodiment of the present invention, a detailed flow of resource allocation performed by the base station for the downlink initial transmission data of the current user is as follows:
step 30000: the base station judges whether the data volume of the downlink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user reaches a preset downlink initial transmission data threshold Thdl_data(ii) a If so, go to step 32000, otherwise, go to step 31000.
Of course, if the base station determines that the current user does not have the downlink initial transmission data to be transmitted at the initial stage of the process, the current user may not participate in the current downlink resource scheduling, but continue to perform resource allocation for the next user.
Step 31000: the base station further judges whether the caching time of the downlink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user reaches a preset downlink caching threshold Thdl_time(ii) a If yes, go to step 32000; otherwise, proceed to step 33000.
Step 32000: the base station allocates downlink shared resources for current user scheduling, and determines whether resource allocation is successful? If yes, go to step 33000; otherwise, go to step 34000.
Step 33000: the base station finishes the resource allocation flow aiming at the current user and continues to allocate resources for the next user.
Certainly, after the resource allocation is successful, the base station needs to occupy the PDCCH to send the downlink scheduling signaling of this time to the current user.
Step 34000: the base station continues to allocate resources for the next user.
In the above embodiment, the base station may adopt, but is not limited to, the following methods when determining the data amount of the uplink initial transmission data and the downlink initial transmission data:
a base station determines the sum of Buffer (Buffer) Buffer data amounts corresponding to each uplink LCG (logical channel Group) used by a current user (such as UE) according to BSR (Buffer status Report) information reported by the current user and recorded by an MAC (media access Control) layer at a base station side, wherein the Buffer data amounts correspond to RLC (Radio Link Control) layers and are used as the data amount of uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user; wherein, one uplink LCG includes at least one RB, which is specifically set according to the actual situation and is not described herein again.
And the base station uses the sum of Buffer data amounts corresponding to each downlink RB (Radio bearer) used by the current user and acquired by the MAC layer at the base station side in an RLC (Radio Link Control) layer as the data amount of the initial downlink data to be transmitted by the current user.
On the other hand, in the above embodiment, the base station may adopt, but is not limited to, the following methods when determining the buffering time of the uplink initial transmission data and the downlink initial transmission data:
if the initial transmission Data of the current user is uplink initial transmission Data, taking the longest currently cached time of Data in a buffer corresponding to each uplink LCG (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) used by the current user at a PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol) layer as the caching time of the uplink initial transmission Data of the current user;
if the initial transmission data of the current user is downlink initial transmission data, taking the longest current cached time of the data of the respective downlink RBs used by the current user in the corresponding buffer of the PDCP layer as the caching time of the downlink initial transmission data of the current user.
If the initial transmission data of the current user is uplink initial transmission data, taking the longest interval in the time intervals between the current time and the last scheduling of each uplink LCG used by the current user on the MAC layer as the cache time of the uplink initial transmission data;
and if the initial transmission data of the current user is downlink initial transmission data, taking the longest interval in the time intervals between the current time and the last scheduling of each downlink RB used by the current user on the MAC layer as the cache time of the downlink initial transmission data.
The QoS requirement of various bearing RBs of the user is considered and guaranteed, the user with the bearing reaching the delay threshold can be scheduled preferentially, and the data transmission resource is obtained.
On the other hand, considering that the LTE system supports Multiple MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple output) transmission technologies, in a multi-stream transmission mode, the method described in the above embodiment may also be adopted for the resource allocation manner of the initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user. In addition, in the multiflow mode, for a multiflow user, after determining the data amount of the initial transmission data to be transmitted, the base station needs to average the data amount (the data amount of the uplink initial transmission data or the data amount of the downlink initial transmission data) according to the maximum flow number supported by the current user in the current scheduling, and then compares the average data amount with the corresponding data threshold Thul_dataOr Thdl_dataCarrying out comparison and judgment; in the single-stream transmission mode, the base station directly combines the determined data volume (the data volume of the uplink initial transmission data or the data volume of the downlink initial transmission data) with the corresponding data threshold Thul_dataOr Thdl_dataAnd (6) carrying out comparison and judgment.
According to the technical scheme, when the initial transmission data to be transmitted on a plurality of bearers (namely a plurality of uplink LCGs and/or a plurality of downlink RBs) of the current user needs to be scheduled, the base station can determine that the data volume of the initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user is the sum of the uplink LCGs with the initial transmission data to be transmitted in all the same transmission directions or the initial transmission data volume to be transmitted in the downlink RBs, and the cache time of the initial transmission data to be transmitted by the current user is the maximum cache time of the uplink LCGs with the initial transmission data to be transmitted in all the same transmission directions or the maximum cache time of the downlink RBs. Compared with the user single-stream single-codeword transmission scheduling processing step described in the above scheme, the only difference of the user multi-stream multi-codeword transmission scheduling processing step is that how to multiplex and schedule the initial transmission and the retransmission needs to be additionally considered, and this part of the content is not the content of the patent design and is not described herein again.
Based on the above embodiment, the 4 parameters Th designed in the embodiment of the present inventionul_data、Thul_time、Thdl_dataAnd Thdl_timeCan pass through O in the using process&And M configuration, wherein the specific parameter value can be kept constant, and can be adaptively adjusted and updated according to the change of the actual system environment. The setting of the above four parameters will be described in detail below.
1)Thul_dataThe values are set as: the MCS level corresponding to the probability (e.g., 70% to 80% of the probability, not limited to the probability range) is set in a CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function) Distribution curve of the MCS (Modulation and coding scheme) level of each user determined when the uplink scheduling user finally successfully allocates resources counted and obtained within a specified time in the system, and the number of PRBs allocated to each user on average for the successful allocation of the uplink scheduling user finally resources, and the corresponding uplink TB SIZE (Transport block SIZE).
2)Thul_timeThe values are set as: the PDB (Packet Delay Budget) in the QoS (Quality of Service) attribute parameters corresponding to the uplink services with different QCI (QoS Class Identifier) types subtracts the maximum retransmission Delay T of the corresponding Servicedelay_maxThe minimum value or the average value of the obtained difference values; wherein, Tdelay_max=HARQ_RTTmax×Nharq_max,HARQ_RTTmaxThe value of the longest HARQ RTT (hybrid Automatic Repeat Request Round trip time) configured for the corresponding uplink and downlink frame structure configured for the system is shown in table 1; n is a radical ofharq_maxAnd configuring the HARQ maximum retransmission times for a certain type of service.
If the radio frame structure configuration of the system configuration changes, the parameter needs to be updated.
TABLE 1
(HARQ _ RTT under different uplink and downlink frame configurationsmaxValue)
TDD UL/DL Configuration |
HARQ_RTTmax(unit: ms) |
0 |
10 |
1 |
11 |
2 |
12 |
3 |
15 |
4 |
16 |
5 |
17 |
6 |
14 |
FDD UL/DL Configuration |
HARQ_RTTmax(unit: ms) |
|
10 |
3)Thdl_dataThe values are set as: and setting the MCS level corresponding to the probability (such as 70-80% of the probability, and is not limited to the probability range) in the CDF distribution curve of the MCS level of each user determined when the final resource allocation of the downlink scheduling user is successfully obtained by statistics in the specified time of the system, the number of PRBs allocated to each user on average and corresponding to the TB SIZE of the downlink scheduling user.
4)Thdl_timeThe values are set as: the PDB in the QoS attribute parameter corresponding to each downlink service with different QCI types is subtracted by the maximum retransmission delay T of the corresponding servicedelay_maxThe minimum value or the average value of the obtained difference values; wherein, Tdelay_max=HARQ_RTTmax×Nharq_max,HARQ_RTTmaxThe value of the longest HARQ RTT configured for the corresponding uplink and downlink frame structure configured for the system is shown in table 1; n is a radical ofharq_maxAnd configuring the HARQ maximum retransmission times for a certain type of service.
If the radio frame structure configuration configured by the system changes, the HARQ _ RTT needs to be updated according to table 1.
The four parameters may be fixed during the use process, or may be periodically updated after the initial values are set according to the above-mentioned method.
For example, preferably, the base station may periodically count the average wideband MSC level of the uplink system and the number of uplink PRBs averagely allocated to the user, and update Th according to the corresponding uplink TB SIZEul_data;
For another example, preferably, the base station may periodically count the average wideband MCS level of the downlink system and the number of downlink PRBs averagely allocated to the user, and update Th according to the corresponding downlink TB SIZEdl_data;
Also for example, preferablyThe station periodically counts the average transmission time delay of the Data of PDCP SDU (Service Data Unit) corresponding to different uplink LCG used by different users, and updates Th by subtracting the difference value of the average transmission time delay from the minimum value or average value in PDB of RB in all uplink LCG used by the current userul_time;
For another example, preferably, the base station periodically counts average transmission delays of PDCPSDU data corresponding to different downlink RBs used by the user, and updates Th by subtracting a difference between the average transmission delays and a minimum value or an average value of PDBs corresponding to all downlink RBs used by the current userdl_time。
The above embodiments are described in further detail below with a specific application scenario.
Suppose that the System adopts TDD-LTE radio frame structure configuration 0, and the scheduling time is SFN (System frame number) n subframe 0 time. Currently, users needing uplink data transmission are UE1, UE2 and UE3, and users needing downlink data transmission are UE4, UE5 and UE 6. The user uplink uses a single LCG, and the LCG comprises a single RB, and the user downlink also uses a single RB.
Simultaneous hypothesis of the parameters Thul_data、Thul_time、Thdl_data、Thdl_timeWith O&The M configuration is not fixed. Using TB SIZE 1000bits corresponding to MCS level 13 and PRB number 4 as Thul_data(ii) a PDB of uplink LCG of user is 100ms, Thul_timeEqual to 60ms (milliseconds, 100- (10 x 4)); using TB SIZE 1128bits corresponding to MCS level 14 and PRB number 4 as Thdl_data(ii) a PDB of downlink RB of user is 50ms, Thdl_timeEqual to 10ms (milliseconds, 50- (10 × 4)).
And scheduling the users needing to be scheduled and allocated with the retransmission data bearing resources according to the existing algorithm.
And scheduling the users needing to be scheduled and allocated with the initial transmission data bearing resources according to the design scheme of the embodiment.
Suppose that the uplink initial transmission data volumes currently required to be scheduled and allocated by the user UE1, the user UE2 and the user UE3 are 150bits, 7500bits and 900bits, respectively. For the UE1, for single stream transmission, judging that the data volume 150bits of the uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted is less than Thul_data1000bits, the longest time for buffering data of the uplink LCG used by the UE1 in the PDCP layer buffer is obtained, and the longest time is assumed to be 50ms and is less than Thul_time60ms, the UE is not scheduled 1 this time; for UE2, for dual stream transmission, it is determined that the data volume 7500/2=3750bits of the uplink primary transmission data to be transmitted is greater than Thul_data1000bits, allocating uplink shared resources for the UE2, and after the resource allocation is successful, occupying the PDCCH to send the current uplink scheduling signaling to the UE 2; for the UE3, for single stream transmission, the data volume 900bits of the uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted is judged to be less than Thul_data1000bits, the longest time for buffering data of the uplink LCG used by the UE3 in the PDCP layer buffer is obtained, and the longest time is assumed to be 65ms and is greater than Thul_timeAnd 60ms, allocating uplink shared resources for the UE3, and occupying the PDCCH to send the current uplink scheduling signaling to the UE3 after the resource allocation is successful.
Suppose that the downlink initial transmission data volumes currently required to be scheduled and allocated by the user UE4, the user UE5 and the user UE6 are 150bits, 7500bits and 900bits, respectively. For the UE4, for single stream transmission, judging that the data volume 150bits of the downlink initial transmission data to be transmitted is less than Thdl_data1128bits, the maximum time for buffering data of the downlink RB used by the UE4 in the PDCP layer buffer is obtained, which is assumed to be 10ms and equal to Thdl_time10ms, downlink shared resources are allocated to the UE4, and after the resources are successfully allocated, the PDCCH is occupied to send the downlink scheduling signaling of this time to the UE 4; for UE5, for dual stream transmission, it is determined that the data volume of the downlink primary transmission data to be transmitted is 7500/2=3750bits greater than Thdl_data1128bits, allocating downlink shared resources for UE5, and after the resource allocation is successful, occupying PDCCH to send this downlink scheduling signaling to UE 5; for the UE6, for single stream transmission, it is determined that the data volume 900bits of the downlink initial transmission data to be transmitted is less than Thdl_data1128bits, the longest time for buffering data of the downlink RB used by the UE6 in the PDCP layer buffer is obtained, and the longest time is assumed to be 0ms and is less than Thdl_time10ms, this timeThe UE6 is not scheduled.
For the UE1 and the UE6, starting from the scheduling time SFN n subframe 1 to the SFN n +1 subframe 0, during each scheduling subframe time, as long as the data amount of the uplink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the UE1 is greater than or equal to the threshold Thul_dataAnd the amount of the downlink initial transmission data to be transmitted by the UE6 is greater than or equal to the threshold Thdl_dataOr, the longest time that the uplink LCG corresponding to the UE1 buffers data in the PDCP layer buffer is greater than or equal to the threshold Thul_timeAnd the longest time that the downlink RB corresponding to the UE6 buffers data in the PDCP layer buffer is greater than or equal to the threshold Thdl_timeUE1 and UE6 would be scheduled.
Based on the application scenario, it is assumed that the base station updates each parameter in a self-adaptive manner.
Supposing that a period T is set, counting the uplink broadband MCS level and the downlink broadband MCS level of the system, the number of PRB resources distributed after each user is successfully scheduled and the number of users successfully scheduled in the period, wherein the number of the PRB resources and the number of the users are respectively counted in an uplink manner and a downlink manner, and the transmission delay of an uplink LCG (lower control channel) used by the user and the PDCP (packet data convergence protocol) SDU of a downlink RB are respectively counted in an uplink manner and a downlink manner;
when the periodic time is reached, respectively calculating the uplink average broadband MCS level and the downlink average broadband MCS level of the system, the average number of PRBs (physical resource blocks) allocated to each user in an uplink mode and the number of PRBs allocated to each user in a downlink mode, and the average transmission delay of PDCP SDUs of different LCGs in an uplink mode and the average transmission delay of PDCP SDUs of different RBs in a downlink mode, which are used by the users, according to data counted in the period;
respectively determining corresponding uplink TB SIZE and downlink TB SIZE according to the uplink average broadband MCS level and the downlink average broadband MCS level of the system, the uplink average number of PRBs allocated to each user and the downlink average number of PRBs allocated to each user, and respectively using the uplink average broadband MCS level and the downlink average number of PRBs allocated to each user as Thul_data(1) And Thdl_data(1);
Respectively calculating the difference value of the average transmission time delay of the PDB of the uplink LCG used by different users and the PDCP SDU corresponding to the uplink LCG for statistics, and taking the differenceThe smallest value is used as Thul_time(1) (ii) a Respectively calculating the difference value of the average transmission time delay of the PDB of the downlink RB used by different users and the PDCP SDU corresponding to the downlink RB statistics, and taking the minimum difference value as Thdl_time(1);
Assume that parameters before adaptive update are respectively Thul_data(0)、Thul_time(0)、Thdl_data(0)、Thdl_time(0) Taking a filter coefficient alpha, and calculating an updated parameter, wherein a specific formula is as follows:
Thul_data=α×Thul_data(0)+(1-α)×Thul_data(1);
Thul_time=α×Thul_time(0)+(1-α)×Thul_time(1);
Thdl_data=α×Thdl_data(0)+(1-α)×Thdl_data(1);
Thdl_time=α×Thdl_time(0)+(1-α)×Thdl_time(1)。
the filter coefficient alpha can take different values according to different parameters, and the value range is [0,1 ].
Based on the above embodiments, referring to fig. 4, in the embodiment of the present invention, the base station includes a first processing unit 40 and a second processing unit 41, wherein,
the first processing unit 40 is configured to, when the scheduling time is reached and it is determined that the current user has initial transmission data to be transmitted, determine whether a data amount of the initial transmission data reaches a preset initial transmission data threshold value, if yes, allocate a shared resource for the initial transmission data, and send a corresponding scheduling signaling to the current user through a PDCCH; otherwise, the processing is performed by the second processing unit 41;
a second processing unit 41, configured to further determine whether the buffering time of the initially transmitted data reaches a preset buffering threshold, if so, allocate a shared resource for the initially transmitted data, and send a corresponding scheduling signaling to the current user through the PDCCH; otherwise, continuing to store the initial transmission data.
The base station further comprises a setting unit 42 for setting the four parameters Thul_data、Thul_time、Thdl_data、Thdl_timeIn this embodiment, the setting unit 42 may set the four parameters to be fixed or periodically update the four parameters, and the specific updating method also refers to the related contents in the above embodiments and is not described herein again.
In summary, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the scheduling time arrives, the base station actively accumulates data and performs delay scheduling by setting a data threshold and a delay threshold (i.e., a buffer threshold) for controlling the initial transmission data to be transmitted by the user, so as to reduce occupation of the PDCCH and padding carried in the transmission data, thereby saving PDCCH resource overhead and improving spectrum efficiency of shared resources on the premise of ensuring QoS requirements of the user. On the other hand, in the process of one-time scheduling (namely, resource allocation is carried out on users with uplink or downlink data at the moment of one scheduling subframe), under the condition that available shared resources of the system are enough, when the number of users participating in scheduling is small, namely, PDCCH resources can meet the requirements of the scheduled users, data of small bandwidth services are accumulated to a certain degree by the method for scheduling, so that the number of users participating in scheduling at present can be reduced, and the occupation of the PDCCH resources is further reduced; when the number of users participating in scheduling is large, namely PDCCH resources can not meet the requirements of the scheduled users, data of the small bandwidth service is accumulated to a certain degree and then scheduled by the method, the PDCCH limitation pressure can be relieved, the limited PDCCH resources can be distributed to more proper users to be used more favorably, and the system performance is improved.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.
The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, 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, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, additional variations and modifications in those embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including preferred embodiments and all such alterations and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the embodiments of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments 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 encompass such modifications and variations.