TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates generally to patent data mining and more particularly, to an integrated patent data mining involving searching for relevant references.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Intellectual property is a confidential topic for many firms. With growth of Intellectual Property worldwide, many companies are now taking Intellectual Property more seriously than ever. Patents, forms the larger chunk in technological companies, as a part of the Intellectual Property. With more and more focus being given to new innovations and more capital being allocated to Research and Development, companies are now focused on more patenting regimes.

[0003] Patents being a costly affair and being highly confidential matters need to be applied to respective Patent Offices of various countries. However, before investing into patents, many companies want to be sure about the viability of patentability of their innovations. Also, some of the companies do various whitespace analysis, Freedom to operate studies, and Landscape studies to explore the field being researched. As Intellectual Property is a special and niche field, companies require specialists for such studies. Various companies outsource these studies to specialist Intellectual Property firms who specialize in such studies. The specialists firms have people who are trained search professionals. Since, there are multiple patent databases on which such studies may be conducted, these experts need trainings that need to be delivered on regular basis. However, due to the differences in search syntax of these databases, it is difficult for one expert to be a master of all the search databases.

[0004] Hence, there is a need for an improved method and system for patent data mining and searching. SUMMARY

[0005] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to system and method for patent data mining as further described in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0006] In an embodiment of the invention there is provided a patent data mining system. The system includes a user device, wherein the user device further comprises a display configured to present to a user, a user interface when initiated by the user, the user device further comprises a plurality of input modules, connected to the display, configured to input user inputs and further comprising a processor, communicably connected to the display to receive user input. The system further includes a server, communicably connected to the user device through a network. The server is further configured to perform multiple steps for patent data mining. The steps include receiving user input, from the user device. Further the steps include extracting, from the received user inputs, key phrases that are to be utilized for the search. The key phrases are extracted through artificial and machine intelligence algorithms. Further, the extracted key phrases are converted into at least one single executable search query that is utilized for searching multiple heterogeneous search databases simultaneously. The steps further include providing the search results to be displayed to the user device on the user interface.

[0007] In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a method for patent data mining. The method comprises receiving user input, from the user device. The user device comprises a display configured to present to a user, a user interface when initiated by the user, the user device further comprises a plurality of input modules, connected to the display, configured to input user inputs and further comprising a processor, communicably connected to the display to receive user input. Further the steps include extracting, from the received user inputs, key phrases that are to be utilized for the search. The key phrases are extracted through artificial and machine intelligence algorithms. Further, the extracted key phrases are converted into at least one single executable search query that is utilized for searching multiple heterogeneous search databases simultaneously. The steps further include providing the search results to be displayed to the user device on the user interface. [0008] In yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a non -transitory computer readable storage medium performing patent data mining, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to extract, from the received user inputs, key phrases that are to be utilized for the search. The key phrases are extracted through artificial and machine intelligence algorithms. Further, the extracted key phrases are converted into at least one single executable search query that is utilized for searching multiple heterogeneous search databases simultaneously. The steps further include providing the search results to be displayed to the user device on the user interface.

[0009] Other and further aspects and features of the disclosure will be evident from reading the following detailed description of the embodiments, which are intended to illustrate, not limit, the present disclosure

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The illustrated embodiments of the subject matter will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. The following description is intended only by way of example, and simply illustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems, and processes that are consistent with the subject matter as claimed herein.

[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates block diagram of a system for patent data mining, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates block diagram of a user device and its components, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 3 illustrates block diagram of a server and its components, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart illustrating method of using patent data mining service on a user device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart illustrating authentication of a user on a server, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [0016] FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart illustrating method for patent data mining at server, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system, in accordance with an aspect of the embodiments;

DESCRIPTION

[0018] A few inventive aspects of the disclosed embodiments are explained in detail below with reference to the various figures. Embodiments are described to illustrate the disclosed subject matter, not to limit its scope, which is defined by the claims. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize a number of equivalent variations of the various features provided in the description that follows.

[0019] Reference throughout the specification to "various embodiments," "some embodiments," "one embodiment," or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in various embodiments," "in some embodiments," "in one embodiment," or "in an embodiment" in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0020] Now referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a system 100 for patent data mining and more particularly for patent searching. The system 100 includes a user device 102, a network 104, a server 106 and a database 108.

[0021] In an implementation, the user device 102 may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer or any other handheld user device. The user device 102 may include a processor, not shown in the figure, to process the information. The user device 102 may also include a plurality of input devices like touch pad, key board, mouse, wireless stylus, etc. to be described later. The input devices help a user of a device to provide an input to the user device 102. Further, the user device 102, may also include a plurality of output devices like display, printer, etc. not shown in the figure. [0022] In another implementation server 106 is a remotely placed server. The server 104 receives information from the user device 102 through the network 104. The server 104 may be implemented using web-based techniques. The network 104 may be a wireless or a wired network. Wired network may vary from Local Area network (LAN), Wide Area network (WAN), or Metropolitan Area Network (MAN). Wireless network may vary from Wi-Fi, mobile networks like 4G, 3G, 2G, CDMA, etc.

[0023] In yet another implementation, the database 108 may be a memory database. The database 108 may include instructions that may be fetched by the server 106 to perform its functions. Also, the database 108 may be utilized to store various information like authentication details etc. The database 108 may also keep a log of login times of the users in order to keep a record of data access.

[0024] By way of an example, the user device 102 may collect information through a user interface. The user interface may be initiated by a user by activating a server application 300. The server application 300 may be installed on a server 106 as a stand-alone software application and may be accessed by the user using the user device 102 through a web application by using a dedicated Unique Resource Locator (URL) on a browser. The user interface may require the user to firstly input login credentials to identify and provide correct access to the user.

[0025] The user, after successful authentication, is presented with a search interface. The search interface may have multiple fields. Multiple fields may include search input field, classification field, date restriction field, jurisdiction restriction field, search databases to be included etc. the search input field within the search interface may have multiple query input options. Multiple input options may include a patent number input, wherein the user may simply input a patent number as an input for the search. Further, the input options may include natural language text input. The user may use this option to search by inputting natural language text. No specific operators, Boolean formulae are required for searching when a user uses this option. Another option that may be available for searching is interactive queries. In this option, user is provided with various interactive queries. For e.g. the user may input a question "show last five years' patents", the system 100 may interact again to ask, "any specific assignee?", etc. after the user input has been received, the input data is transmitted to the server 106 through the network 104.

[0026] The server application 300 (to be described later), after receiving the input data, extracts key phrases or key words using artificial and machine intelligence algorithms. The key phrases or key words may include important aspects of the input data, if the input data is a patent number, key phrases or key words may be extracted from the claims section, summary sections etc. The server application 300 then converts the key phrases or the key words into a single executable search query. The single search executable query may be generated using artificial and machine intelligence algorithms. The single search query is generated in a manner that it may be executed on any database of any search syntax. Further, the search query is then run by the server 106 on multiple databases. The multiple databases may include patent databases, non-patent databases, design databases etc. The results of the search are then accumulated and collated by the server 106 and transmitted to the user device 102 and also stored in the database 108 correlating the same with the single search query generated.

[0027] Now referring to FIG 2, block diagram of the user device 102 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The block diagram displays several operational layers within the user device 102. The user device 102 contains a base hardware layer 206, a covering operating software layer (OS) layer 204 and a top application layer 202.

[0028] The application layer 202 is responsible for installing various software applications on the user device 102. The software applications are installed within the application layer 202. The OS layer 204, is responsible for coordinating between the hardware components of the user device 102 and applications installed within the application layer 202 hence, the OS layer is a middleware that helps in coordinating between the hardware and the applications. In another implementation, the browser through which the server application is installed within this layer.

[0029] The hardware layer 206 ay include various hardware components of the user device 102 like Input interface 208, display 210, memory 212, processor 214, user communication module 216, etc. The hardware layer 206 interacts with the OS layer 204 to ensure proper communication between the hardware layer 206 and the applications installed within application layer 202. For e.g. the user input may be taken from an input device connected to the input interface 208. This user input is then forwarded to the application layer 202 interacting with the hardware layer 206.

[0030] The input interface 208 is responsible for connecting input devices to the user device 102. The input devices may be a touch screen, a key board, a stylus, a mouse etc. Display 210 is connected to the input interface 208. The display 210 functions as an output device and displays user inputs. The memory 212 is responsible to store various data. Processor 214, provides processing capabilities to the server application 300. The server application 300 when initiated by the user, contacts the processor 214, to present a user interface on the display 210 of the user device 102. Through the user interface presented, the user is able to enter his input using the input device that interacts with the input interface 208 and displays the output on the display 210. The user device communication module 216, connected to the processor 214, transmits when the user input has been completely registered by the processor. The user device communication module 216 may be initiated when the user, after entering his input, hits a "submit" or "search" button present on user interface, the user device communication module 216 may be a transceiver chip or a radio chip adapted to perform transmit and receive functions.

[0031] Now referring to FIG. 3, block diagram of the server application 300 on the server 106 and its various modules is illustrated, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The modules include a communication module 302, authentication module 310, search data module 304, parser module 312, query generator module 306, search interface 314, Results accumulation module 308 and graphical analysis module. The server 106 is further connected to heterogeneous databases like multiple inbuilt databases 318, and external databases 324. Details of databases will be discussed later in description.

[0032] The communication module 302, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, may utilize a transceiver that is in communicably connected to the network 104. The communication module 302 sends and receives data.

[0033] The authentication module 310 is responsible for authenticating the user trying to access the server application 300. The authentication module 310 receives authentication details from the user device 102 and verifies the details by cross checking with the database 108. [0034] The search data module 304, connected to the communication module 302 is responsible for checking the input data from the user device 102. The search data module 304 is responsible for checking if there is any discrepancy in the input, for example is the patent number in correct format or not? Also, the search data module 304 is also responsible for determining, in case of interactive queries mode selected by user, next set of queries to ask to the user to collect complete data.

[0035] The parser module 312, communicably connected to the search data module 304 is responsible for data extraction. The parser module 312, parses user's queries, forwarded by the search data module in an acceptable format, to identify key phrases or key words. The parser module 312 uses artificial and machine intelligence algorithms to parse user input data and extract key phrases or key words from the same.

[0036] Query generator module 306, connected to the parser module 312, again uses similar artificial and machine intelligence algorithms to convert the key phrases or the key words to a single executable search query. The single search query is so formatted as to perfectly apply and run on multiple heterogeneous databases.

[0037] The search interface 314, receives the single search query from the query generator module 306. The search interface is a single search window through which this single search query may be run on various databases. The search interface 314 may, in an embodiment of the invention, further format this single search query differently for different databases to suit their syntax. Hence, the multiple databases are searched simultaneously through one single window. Multiple databases may include inbuilt databases 318 and external databases 324. The inbuilt databases 318 may be the databases directly within the system 100. The inbuilt databases 318 may further include patent databases 320 and design databases 322. Also, the external databases 324 may further include web archives databases 326, journals and articles databases 328, and news and blogs database 330. The searching is simultaneously carried out within inbuilt databases 318 and external databases 324.

[0038] Results accumulation module 308, receives search results of the search query executed and collates the information into a presentable format and sends the search results information, through the communication module 302, to the user device 102. [0039] Further, the graphical analysis module 316, provides the user a functionality to perform various graphical analysis using multiple graphical tools. The graphical analysis module 316 may provide multiple graphs to analyze the extracted information. Graphs may be pie charts, bar graphs, line charts, box charts, etc. Graphical analysis module 316 may be utilized by the client user to analyze the data extracted.

[0040] Now referring to FIG. 4, a flow chart of a method 400 of using patent data mining service on the user device 102 is illustrated, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method starts at step 402 wherein the user invokes the server application. Details of the server application has been explained earlier in conjunction with FIG. 1. At step 404, the user interface presented by the server application, upon initiation, prompts the user for authentication details. The authentication details may be a combination of a user ID and password or a fingerprint scan, a biometric scan, a voice scan, or a retina scan etc. further, at step 406 the authentication details are collected by the user interface, at step 408, the authentication details are transmitted to the server application 300 for verification. At step 410, on a successful verification of the authentication details, the server application 300 provides access to the user to the search service details of which have been described earlier in description. At step 412, the user interface collects user's input for searching. User's input may be text, patent number or interactive queries. These details are then transmitted over to the server 106, through the network 104. Further, at step 416, the user device 102 receives search results collated and accumulated by the server application 300. The received results are then displayed, by the user device 102, on its user interface at step 418.

[0041] Now referring to FIG. 5, a flow chart illustrating a method 500 for authentication of the user by the server application 300 installed on the server 106, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 500 starts at step 502, wherein the server 106 receives the authentication details from the user device 102. The authentication details, at step 504, are cross checked and verified with the details stored in the database 108. At 506, it is determined, whether the credentials received are authenticated or not. if the credentials are not authenticated, then the method 500 moves to step 502. However, in case the received credentials are authenticated, then the user is provided complete access to the search application. [0042] Now referring to FIG. 6, a flow chart illustrating a method 600 performed by the server application installed on the server 106 for patent data mining, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Once the user is authenticated, he may enter his search input details in one of the formats available as options to him. The search details are entered to the user interface presented on the user device 102. These search details are then, at step 602, received by the server 602 and checked for further processing. Further processing may include, raising additional queries to the user in case search details is in form of interactive queries. Also, further processing may include checking of the patent number format or spelling checks etc. After this, at step 604, the server application 300 extracts key words or phrases using artificial and machine intelligence algorithms. Further, there may be formulation of contextually similar key phrases or words formulated. Further, at step 606, the extracted key words and phrases are converted into single executable query. This single executable query is formatted to be run on multiple heterogeneous databases simultaneously. In an embodiment, the search interface 314 provides a single window for searching on multiple heterogeneous databases. The search interface 314 may format the single executable query into multiple formats for multiple databases. The multiple format search queries are run simultaneously on multiple databases at step 608. Further, at step 610, the search results are accumulated and collated by the server application 300 and converted into a presentable format. At step 612, these search results are then transmitted to the user device 102, wherein the user device 102 displays the search results on the display 210.

[0043] Now referring to FIG. 7, illustrating a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 702 for implementing various embodiments is disclosed. Computer system 702 may comprise a central processing unit ("CPU" or "processor") 704. Processor 704 may comprise at least one data processor for executing program components for executing user- or system- generated requests. A user may include a person, a person using a device such as such as those included in this disclosure, or such a device itself. Processor 704 may include specialized processing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, etc. Processor 704 may include a microprocessor, such as AMD Athlon, Duron or Opteron, ARM's application, embedded or secure processors, IBM PowerPC, Intel's Core, Itanium, Xeon, Celeron or other line of processors, etc. Processor 704 may be implemented using mainframe, distributed processor, multi-core, parallel, grid, or other architectures. Some embodiments may utilize embedded technologies like application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc.

[0044] Processor 704 may be disposed in communication with one or more input/output (I/O) devices via an I/O interface 706. I/O interface 706 may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation, audio, analog, digital, monoaural, RCA, stereo, IEEE- 1394, serial bus, universal serial bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital visual interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), RF antennas, S-Video, VGA, IEEE 802.n /b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., code-division multiple access (CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA+), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like), etc.

[0045] Using I/O interface 706, computer system 702 may communicate with one or more I/O devices. For example, an input device 708 may be an antenna, keyboard, mouse, joystick, (infrared) remote control, camera, card reader, fax machine, dongle, biometric reader, microphone, touch screen, touchpad, trackball, sensor (e.g., accelerometer, light sensor, GPS, gyroscope, proximity sensor, or the like), stylus, scanner, storage device, transceiver, video device/source, visors, etc. An output device 710 may be a printer, fax machine, video display (e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diode (LED), plasma, or the like), audio speaker, etc. In some embodiments, a transceiver 712 may be disposed in connection with processor 704. Transceiver 712 may facilitate various types of wireless transmission or reception. For example, transceiver 712 may include an antenna operatively connected to a transceiver chip (e.g., Texas Instruments WiLink WL1283, Broadcom BCM4760IUB8, Infineon Technologies X-Gold 618-PMB9800, or the like), providing IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, FM, global positioning system (GPS), 2G/3G HSDPA/HSUPA communications, etc.

[0046] In some embodiments, processor 704 may be disposed in communication with a communication network 714 via a network interface 716. Network interface 716 may communicate with communication network 714. Network interface 716 may employ connection protocols including, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T), transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), token ring, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, etc. Communication network 714 may include, without limitation, a direct interconnection, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), wireless network (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), the Internet, etc. Using network interface 716 and communication network 714, computer system 702 may communicate with devices 718, 720, and 722. These devices may include, without limitation, personal computer(s), server(s), fax machines, printers, scanners, various mobile devices such as cellular telephones, smartphones (e.g., Apple iPhone, Blackberry, Android-based phones, etc.), tablet computers, eBook readers (Amazon Kindle, Nook, etc.), laptop computers, notebooks, or the like. In some embodiments, the computer system 602 may itself embody one or more of these devices.

[0047] In some embodiments, processor 704 may be disposed in communication with one or more memory devices (e.g., a RAM 726, a ROM 728, etc.) via a storage interface 724. Storage interface 724 may connect to memory devices 730 including, without limitation, memory drives, removable disc drives, etc., employing connection protocols such as serial advanced technology attachment (SATA), integrated drive electronics (IDE), IEEE- 1394, universal serial bus (USB), fiber channel, small computer systems interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include a drum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive, redundant array of independent discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices, solid-state drives, etc.

[0048] Memory devices 730 may store a collection of program or database components, including, without limitation, an operating system 732, a user interface application 734, a web browser 736, a mail server 738, a mail client 740, a user/application data 742 (e.g., any data variables or data records discussed in this disclosure), etc. Operating system 732 may facilitate resource management and operation of computer system 702. Examples of operating system 732 include, without limitation, Apple Macintosh OS X, Unix, Unix-like system distributions (e.g., Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc.), Linux distributions (e.g., Red Hat, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc.), IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista/7/8, etc.), Apple iOS, Google Android, Blackberry OS, or the like. User interface 734 may facilitate display, execution, interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components through textual or graphical facilities. For example, user interfaces may provide computer interaction interface elements on a display system operatively connected to computer system 702, such as cursors, icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, widgets, etc. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, without limitation, Apple Macintosh operating systems' Aqua, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), Unix X-Windows, web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, Java, Javascript, AJAX, HTML, Adobe Flash, etc.), or the like.

[0049] In some embodiments, computer system 702 may implement web browser 736 stored program component. Web browser 736 may be a hypertext viewing application, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, etc. Secure web browsing may be provided using HTTPS (secure hypertext transport protocol), secure sockets layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), etc. Web browsers may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML, Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Java, application programming interfaces (APIs), etc. In some embodiments, computer system 702 may implement mail server 738 stored program component. Mail server 738 may be an Internet mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or the like. Mail server 738 may utilize facilities such as ASP, ActiveX, ANSI C++/C#, Microsoft .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, Python, WebObjects, etc. Mail server 738 may utilize communication protocols such as internet message access protocol (IMAP), messaging application programming interface (MAPI), Microsoft Exchange, post office protocol (POP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), or the like. In some embodiments, computer system 702 may implement mail client 740 stored program component. Mail client 740 may be a mail viewing application, such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, etc.

[0050] In some embodiments, computer system 702 may store user/application data 742, such as the data, variables, records, etc. as described in this disclosure. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant, relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle or Sybase. Alternatively, such databases may be implemented using standardized data structures, such as an array, hash, linked list, struct, structured text file (e.g., XML), table, or as object-oriented databases (e.g., using ObjectStore, Poet, Zope, etc.). Such databases may be consolidated or distributed, sometimes among the various computer systems discussed above in this disclosure. It is to be understood that the structure and operation of the any computer or database component may be combined, consolidated, or distributed in any working combination. [0051] The order in which the method is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method or alternate methods. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof. However, for ease of explanation, in the embodiments described below, the method may be considered to be implemented in the above described system and/or the apparatus and/or any electronic device (not shown).

[0052] The above description does not provide specific details of manufacture or design of the various components. Those of skill in the art are familiar with such details, and unless departures from those techniques are set out, techniques, known, related art or later developed designs and materials should be employed. Those in the art are capable of choosing suitable manufacturing and design details.

[0053] Note that throughout the following discussion, numerous references may be made regarding servers, services, engines, modules, interfaces, portals, platforms, or other systems formed from computing devices. It should be appreciated that the use of such terms is deemed to represent one or more computing devices having at least one processor configured to or programmed to execute software instructions stored on a computer readable tangible, non- transitory medium or also referred to as a processor-readable medium. For example, a server can include one or more computers operating as a web server, database server, or other type of computer server in a manner to fulfill described roles, responsibilities, or functions. Within the context of this document, the disclosed devices or systems are also deemed to comprise computing devices having a processor and a non-transitory memory storing instructions executable by the processor that cause the device to control, manage, or otherwise manipulate the features of the devices or systems.

[0054] Some portions of the detailed description herein are presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits performed by conventional computer components, including a central processing unit (CPU), memory storage devices for the CPU, and connected display devices. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is generally perceived as a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

[0055] It should be understood, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the discussion herein, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "generating," or "monitoring," or "displaying," or "tracking," or "identifying," "or receiving," or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

[0056] The methods illustrated throughout the specification, may be implemented in a computer program product that may be executed on a computer. The computer program product may comprise a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which a control program is recorded, such as a disk, hard drive, or the like. Common forms of non- transitory computer-readable media include, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic storage medium, CD-ROM, DVD, or any other optical medium, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, or other memory chip or cartridge, or any other tangible medium from which a computer can read and use.

[0057] Alternatively, the method may be implemented in transitory media, such as a transmittable carrier wave in which the control program is embodied as a data signal using transmission media, such as acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared data communications, and the like. [0058] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. It will be appreciated that several of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into other systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may subsequently be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as encompassed by the following claims.

[0059] The claims, as originally presented and as they may be amended, encompass variations, alternatives, modifications, improvements, equivalents, and substantial equivalents of the embodiments and teachings disclosed herein, including those that are presently unforeseen or unappreciated, and that, for example, may arise from applicants/patentees and others.

[0060] It will be appreciated that variants of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined into many other different systems or applications. Various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.