BACKGROUND

Wearable electronic devices are known which incorporate electronics, e.g., printed circuit boards and/or other electronics, into articles that may be worn by a user. Often these articles are formed of hard or soft plastic, metallic or rubbery materials.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments of the invention are directed to a wearable electronic device. For example, some embodiments are directed to a wearable electronic device comprising a first layer, comprising non-woven polymer fiber material, comprising a thermoformed protrusion defining a cavity. The wearable electronic device may further comprise a second layer affixed to the first layer. The wearable electronic device may further comprise electronics, comprising a printed circuit board, residing at least partially between the first layer and the second layer and at least partially within the cavity.

Some embodiments of the invention are directed to a method for manufacturing a wearable electronic device. For example, some embodiments are directed to a method comprising acts of: (A) forming a protrusion defining a cavity in a first layer comprising non- woven polymer fiber material; (B) depositing electronics comprising a printed circuit board on one of the first layer or a second layer; and (C) affixing the first layer and the second layer to each other, so that at least a portion of the electronics resides at least partially between the first layer and the second layer and at least partially within the cavity.

Some embodiments of the invention are directed to an apparatus. For example, some embodiments are directed to an apparatus comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium storing instructions; and at least one computer processor, programmed via the instructions to control at least one manufacturing device in performing a manufacturing process. The manufacturing process may comprise acts of: forming a protrusion defining a cavity in a first layer comprising non-woven polymer fiber material; depositing electronics comprising a printed circuit board on one of the first layer or a second layer; and affixing the first layer and the second layer to each other, so that at least a portion of the electronics resides at least partially between the first layer and the second layer and at least partially within the cavity. Some embodiments of the invention are directed to a computer-readable medium. For example, some embodiments are directed to at least one computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon which, when executed in a system comprising a computer and at least one manufacturing device, cause the computer to control the at least one manufacturing device in performing a manufacturing process. The manufacturing process may comprise acts of: (A) forming a protrusion defining a cavity in a first layer comprising non-woven polymer fiber material; (B) depositing electronics comprising a printed circuit board on one of the first layer or a second layer; and (C) affixing the first layer and the second layer to each other, so that at least a portion of the electronics resides at least partially between the first layer and the second layer and at least partially within the cavity.

The foregoing provides a non-limiting overview of certain embodiments of the invention. Some embodiments of the invention are defined in the attached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component illustrated in the various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 A is a representative wearable electronic device, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. IB is the wearable electronic device of FIG. 1A shown in cross-section view along the A- A' plane, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a representative wearable electronic device shown on the wrist of a user, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a representative wearable electronic device on a wrist of a user, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for a representative process for manufacturing a wearable electronic device, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram for a representative process for manufacturing wearable electronic devices, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a representative system for manufacturing wearable electronic devices, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a representative computer system with which various aspects of embodiments of the invention may be implemented, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a representative press with which various aspects of embodiments of the invention may be implemented, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a representative sheet of thermoformed material, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 1 OA is a representative sheet of material used to form a wearable electronic device, in accordance with some embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 1 OB is a representative individual unit of a wearable electronic device in a state prior to formation of a finished wearable electronic device, in accordance with some

embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to one or more embodiments, wearable electronic devices and related systems and methods are provided. The devices may comprise electronics (e.g., printed circuit boards, power sources, output devices and/or other electronics, whether now known or later developed) and layered enclosures. The wearable electronic devices may be worn by a user, and include but are not limited to wristbands, broaches, necklaces, eyewear, headbands, badges, and/or any other suitable types of wearable electronic devices.

According to certain embodiments, the enclosures may be formed from extruded plastic sheets of various thicknesses, and/or from woven or non-woven polymer fiber sheets. According to certain embodiments, a process for manufacturing the wearable electronic devices may comprise a step of thermoforming the polymer sheets to create three-dimensional rigid or flexible shapes to encase electronics, including a printed circuit board (e.g., a collection of electronic circuits positioned on a non-conductive substrate) and other various electronics, which may include but are not limited to one or more power sources and one or more output devices. According to certain embodiments the printed circuit board may comprise a central processing unit and/or memory. According to certain embodiments, the printed circuit board may comprise an integrated circuit hardware decoder to receive and respond to a signal and perform logical operations in order to execute commands carried by the input signal. (Of course, the invention is not limited to employing electronics which include a printed circuit board, as any suitable electronics may be employed. As one example, a circuit board employed in one or more embodiments of the invention need not be printed, and may instead be fabricated in any suitable fashion. As another example, electronics used in one or more embodiments of the invention may not include a circuit board, whether printed or otherwise.) By employing polymer sheet materials, certain embodiments of the invention may provide for wearable electronic devices that may be more readily recyclable and less costly to produce than conventional wearable electronic devices.

According to certain embodiments, to reduce costs and increase the recyclability of wearable electronic devices, a thermoforming process may be applied to sheet materials to create shaped enclosures for housing electronics. For purposes of the present disclosure unless otherwise stated, thermoforming refers to a process where a material having a first shape is subjected to heat and pressure to obtain a new shape. In one example, in some embodiments, a thermoformed material may be material in sheet form that was heated and then placed under pressure in a press where it was formed into the shape of a mold in the press. In another example, a thermoformed material may be material in sheet form that was heated and subjected to a vacuum press where a vacuum asserted a force or pressure that caused the material to confirm to the shape of a mold. According to certain embodiments, the process of

thermoforming may be performed without vacuum assistance, further simplifying the steps of the process and making it more economical. According to certain embodiments, two heated steel plates with the cavities and pattems engraved (e.g., using a steel mold) are used to compress and heat the film. After cooling, the polymer material may be rigid enough to be used to encase electronics. Other techniques for thermoforming may also be applied, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art. According to certain embodiments, the process may be automated and coupled with attachment methods (e.g., sonic welding, gluing, heated bonding, and/or other attachment methods) to form many different shapes for many types of wearable electronic devices

(including but not limited to wristbands, broaches, necklaces, eyewear, headbands, badges, and/or any other suitable types of wearable electronic devices).

According to certain embodiments, the wearable devices formed by the disclosed processes and systems may be rigid enough and durable enough to withstand the conditions under which they will be used.

According to certain embodiments, the processes described herein may allow for the incorporation of materials that are conventionally not used in the formation of electronic wearable devices, particularly devices that incorporate electronics (e.g., a printed circuit board, a battery, and/or any other suitable electronics) larger than small RFID devices. For example, the Assignee has appreciated that, unexpectedly, certain materials, including materials such as non- woven polymer fiber materials (e.g., high density polyethylene, which is produced in one commercial embodiment by DuPont under the brand name TYVEK) could successfully be subjected to a thermoforming process to form a sufficiently rigid cavity for housing electronics in a wearable electronic device.

In FIG. 1 A a representative wearable electronic device 100, according to one or more embodiments, is shown in plan view. In FIG. IB the same wearable electronic device 100 is shown in cross section view along the Α-Α ^λ plane shown in FIG. 1 A. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1A and IB, the device 100 is a wristband, but it should be understood that the wearable device could take any of a number of other forms (e.g., broaches, necklaces, eyewear, headbands, badges, and/or any other suitable form)

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1A and IB, the device 100 has a first layer 110 (in the example shown, a top layer) and a second layer 105 (in the example shown, a substrate layer). According to some embodiments, the second layer 105 and first layer 110 may be attached using an adhesive such as glue, or through alternative techniques such as ultrasonic welding or bonding via heat. A band portion 145 of the device 100 can be wrapped around a part of the user's body (e.g., wrist) and attached at the ends.

In the example shown in FIGS. 1A and IB, the first layer 110 comprises a protrusion 115 that defines a cavity 120. Electronics 125 may reside within the cavity 120 between the second layer 105 and first layer 110. The electronics 125 comprise a printed circuit board 140 according to the embodiment shown. Also residing within the cavity 120, the electronics 125 further comprise a power source 130 (e.g., a battery) and an output device 135 (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), speaker, vibrator, and/or any other suitable output device(s)), according to the embodiment shown.

The protrusion 115 may be created via thermoforming during a manufacturing stage (e.g., through a thermoforming process discussed in further detail below). While the design of the protrusion's shape may be made in view of the electronic device 125 that will ultimately reside in the device 100, it should be appreciated that the shape of the protrusion 115 may not necessarily depend on the shape of the electronics 125 (e.g., printed circuit board and/or other components residing in the cavity 120), as any suitable shape(s) may be employed. It should also be appreciated that thermoforming may create a shape which remains suitably consistent through use, by which it is meant that the shape is maintained to a suitable extent despite force exerted on the layer by the electronics 125 and/or external sources. For example, the material of the first layer 110 at the protrusion 115 may be sufficiently rigid to maintain its shape against the force of gravity, and against forces imposed through jostling that the wearable electronic device may be expected to receive during use. It should be appreciated that a shape which is imparted through a forming process and which remains suitably consistently rigid distinguishes wearable electronic device 100 from conventional wearable devices in which, to the extent a cavity could be said to exist, it is formed merely by "sandwiching" an embedded component between first and second material layers.

The first layer 110 and/or second layer 105 may be formed from the same or different materials. For example, the first layer 110 may comprise non- woven polymer fiber material and the second layer 105 may comprise non-woven polymer fiber. The layers 105 and 110 may be formed from sheet materials capable of being deformed to form a wrist band or other wearable device. The layers 105 and 110 may be formed from sheet materials capable of undergoing a thermoforming process to form the protrusion 115. Examples of potential sheet materials include non-woven fiber polymers and extruded polymers. Examples of non-woven fiber polymers include High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Polypropylene (PP). Non-woven HDPE is sold, in one commercial embodiment, under the brand name TYVEK by DuPont. Examples of extruded polymers include polycarbonate (ABS), acrylic (PMMA), polycarbonate (PC), high impact polystyrene (HIPS), ppoly ethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), and poly vinyl chloride (PVC). PP and HDPE may also be used in an extruded form. Of course, it should be appreciated that in some embodiments, one or both of the first and second layers may comprise material which is not, wholly or in part, in sheet form.

The size of the cavity may be sufficient to at least partially contain the electronics provided with the wearable electronic device. According to certain embodiments, the base of the cavity has a footprint of at least 300 square millimeters or greater to, for example, accommodate the size of a small battery. According to certain embodiments, the cavity has a height (measured as the greatest distance between the first layer and the second layer in the cavity region) of at least 0.5 mm, 1.5 mm, or greater to, for example, accommodate the height of a small battery. According to certain embodiments, the cavity has a volume of at least 450 cubic millimeters or greater to, for example, accommodate the volume of a small battery.

In some embodiments, one or more electronics components may not reside entirely within a cavity. For example, one or more components may protrude, either partially or entirely, outside a cavity. For example, a power source and printed circuit board could be disposed on opposing sides of the first layer or second layer, and interconnected. Any of numerous configurations may be envisioned, and the invention is not limited to being implemented in any particular way.

FIG. 2 shows an electronic wearable device 200 with a protrusion 215 on the wrist 220 of a user. The device 200 is similar to the device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 A and IB. The device 200 includes an electronic device (not shown) within the cavity formed by the protrusion 215.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of a wearable electronic device 300 with the output device 335, which comprises an LED in this embodiment, emitting light through the protrusion 315.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart for a representative process 400 for manufacturing a wearable electronic device, according to one or more embodiments.

The representative process 400 includes an act 410 of feeding material that will form the first layer and/or second layer of the wearable electronic device. According to certain embodiments the material for the first and/or second layer may have a certain thickness.

According to some embodiments, the material may have a thickness between 4 and 12 mils.

According to some embodiments, the material may have a thickness of 5 mils (5 thousandths of an inch), 6.3 mils, 7.5 mils, 7.9 mils, or 10. 3 mils. Other values or ranges are also considered within the scope of the disclosure. The material may, for example, be roll fed or sheet fed in act 410. In some embodiments, the material may be one that is capable of being printed upon and may be pre-printed with text or designs that will be visible on the surface of the final wearable device. Of course, the invention is not limited to such a material. According to some embodiments, a single feed may deliver material that will serve as both the second layer and the first layer. According to alternative embodiments, separate feeds of material may be provided.

At act 420, the material for the first layer may be fed to a mold where it undergoes a thermoforming process to form the protrusion defining the cavity in the first layer of the electronic wearable device. The act of thermoforming may, for example, comprise heating and pressing the first layer in a mold, although it should be appreciated that such heating and/or pressing may not necessarily be performed in all embodiments. The temperature, pressure, and time applied to the first layer may be interrelated, and may vary according to different materials, designs and/or intended uses for the wearable electronic device. According to certain embodiments, the first layer may be heated at a temperature of at least 120 °C and less than or equal to 140 °C. According to certain embodiments, the act of pressing may comprise applying a pressure of 35 kPa to 103 kPa to the first layer. According to certain embodiments, the act of pressing is performed for at least 10 seconds and less than or equal to 4 minutes. In some embodiments, where more pressure than that which is listed above is applied, the press time may be as little as less than one second. Similarly, different temperatures than those named above may be applied, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art.

It should be appreciated that act 420 may comprise forming multiple protrusions defining multiple cavities in the first layer. It should also be appreciated that act 420 may comprise forming one or more protrusions defining one or more cavities in the second layer. It should be appreciated that, according to conventional techniques, woven or non-woven polymer fiber sheet materials were not subjected to thermoforming processes because these materials were thought to be unable to withstand thermoforming. In this respect, one well-known product manual for non-woven HDPE fiber, published by DuPont Corporation for the product TYVEK, (i.e., the "Product Handbook for DuPont TYVEK," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety) explicitly cautions that the material is dimensionally stable up to only 132 °C, and that temperatures above 79 °C should be avoided under tension. Despite these warnings, the Assignee has determined through experiment that, unexpectedly, TYVEK and other non-woven HDPE fiber materials (sometimes referred to more generally as spunbonded olefin) may be subjected to these temperatures which exceed 132 °C, and/or exceed 79 °C under tension, and thus successfully thermoformed to produce wearable electronic devices having suitable rigidity for a wide range of anticipated uses.

Returning to FIG. 4, at act 430, electronics comprising one or more components (e.g., the printed circuit board) may be deposited onto the first layer and/or second layer.. The electronics device (e.g., printed circuit board) may be placed into position either manually or through an automated process (e.g., a "pick and place" process). The electronics may be bonded to the first and/or second layer or they may sit freely.

At act 440, the first layer may be affixed to the second layer. According to some embodiments, the first layer is affixed to a second layer that is formed from a separate piece of material. According to some embodiments, the first layer may be attached to the second layer by sonic welding, heat bonding , the use of adhesives (e.g., glue) and/or by other techniques, whether now known or later developed. Of course, the invention is not limited to being implemented in this manner. In this respect, according to other embodiments, the second layer may be affixed to the first layer by folding over one or more portions of the first layer to form the second layer and then attaching the folded over portion(s) to the first layer, as discussed, for example, in relation to FIG. 10 below.

The representative process 400 shown in FIG. 4 may include acts other than those described above. For example, in one representative variation, adhesive material (e.g., tape) may be placed on one or both layers such that in the final product the ends of a wearable device may be connected to form a band (e.g., wristband, necklace, and/or any other suitable band shape). Likewise, acts for forming alternative coupling mechanisms in the wearable device, such as buttons, may be undertaken. Furthermore, the material may be cut to its final dimensions, before or after affixing the first layer to the second layer. Numerous variations on representative process 400 are possible, and one or more variations may involve one or more of the acts described above not being performed, may involve one or more acts not described above being performed, and/or may involve one or more acts described above being performed in a different order than that which is described. FIG. 5 shows a representative process flow diagram for a process 500 for manufacturing wearable electronic devices. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, two separate rolls of material 510 and 520 provide the material for the first layer and second layer, respectively. Material 510 and 520 may be the same or different types of material. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, adhesive (e.g., glue) 530 is deposited onto the material 520 forming the second layer, although it should be understood that different techniques may be used to affix the different layers, according to different embodiments. The electronics 550 (e.g., a printed circuit board) may then be deposited onto the second layer 520 at or near the glue spot, thereby affixing the electronics 550 to the second layer 520 (while in alternative embodiments, the electronics may sit freely within the device). According to some embodiments, additional adhesive 530 may be added to the second layer 520 that will aid in affixing the first layer 510 to the second layer 520 at a later stage in the process.

Meanwhile, the material 510 forming the first layer may be introduced to a press where it is subjected to thermoforming (e.g., as described above) to form a protrusion 540 defining a cavity in the first layer material 510. The first layer 510 and the second layer 520 are then affixed to each other, with the electronics 550 (e.g., printed circuit board) residing between the second layer and the first layer within the cavity. The material may then be cut to its final shape forming the final wearable electronic device 560.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a representative system 600 for manufacturing wearable electronic devices, according to one or more embodiments. In the system 600, a first station 610 comprises one or more rollers for introducing material from which the wearable devices will be formed to further processing. As discussed, different materials may be used to form the devices. According to some embodiments, non-woven polymer fiber sheet material may be used. According to some embodiments, the material may be non-woven HDPE fiber (e.g., TYVEK). According to some embodiments, designs or type may be pre-printed onto the material. The station 610 may comprise one or more rolls of material. Different rolls may contain different types of materials, for example, in embodiments where different layers of the device are made from different types of materials.

According to one or more embodiments, the material from one or more of the rollers of the first station 610 may then be directed to a second station 620 comprising a thermoforming press (e.g., the press illustrated in FIG. 8). According to certain embodiments, the thermoforming press may comprise two complimentary halves. In one half is one or more mold cavities. The shape of the mold cavity may correspond to the shape of a cavity to be defined in the wearable electronic device. In the other half of the press is a complementary plug member shaped to fit into the mold cavity. The shape of the plug member may correspond to the shape of the protrusion in the wearable electronic device. In certain embodiments, thermoforming can take place without the assistance of a vacuum. According to alternative embodiments, a vacuum press may be used in the thermoforming process.

The material may, for example, be placed onto the thermoforming press and the two halves may be pressed together with the material in between. The act of pressing imparts onto the material the shape of the protrusion and cavity defined in the wearable device.

According to one or more embodiments, at a third station 630 of the system 600, electronics (e.g., a printed circuit board) may be placed onto and, optionally, attached to the material. In some embodiments, an adhesive (e.g., glue) may be first placed onto a layer of the material. The layer may either be a previously thermoformed layer, or a separate layer (e.g., second layer) that will be joined to the thermoformed layer at a later stage. The assembly station 630 may incorporate automated systems and processes (e.g., a "pick and place" machine) for depositing the electronic device onto the layer.

According to one or more embodiments, at a fourth station 640, one or more layers of material may be attached together and/or folded to form the wearable electronic device. In some embodiments, the first layer and a separate second layer may be affixed to each other by attaching the separate layers together by sonic welding, heat bonding, with adhesive (e.g., glue), or by some other method of attachment as would be known to a person of ordinary skill in the art, thereby forming a compartment for the electronics (e.g., printed circuit board). In other embodiments, a second layer may be formed (and the first and second layers affixed to each other) by folding portions of the first layer, thereby forming a cavity for the electronics (e.g., printed circuit board).

According to one or more embodiments, at a fifth station 650, wearable electronic devices may be cut into individual units. The station 650 may comprise, for example, a hot knife cutting unit or other separation devices. The wearable electronic devices may be packaged at an additional station 660. The different processes at the different stations of the manufacturing system 600 may be performed manually, in an automated fashion, and/or in a semi-automated fashion. According to some embodiments, a controller 670 may aid in performing an automated or semi-automated process for forming the individual wearable electronic devices. In FIG. 6, the controller 670 produces output signals 680a-f to various components (e.g., a "pick and place" machine) to control the operation of these components. Alternatively or additionally, according to some embodiments, the controller 670 may receive input signals 690 from sensors associated with various components. In FIG. 6, input signals from the various components shown are labeled 690a-f. In some embodiments, output signals 680a-f may be generated in response to such input signals 690a-f.

It should be appreciated that the controller 670 shown in FIG. 6 may comprise any suitable component or collection of components to perform one or more of the functions described above, and/or other functions. The controller 670 may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, software code may be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple computers. Controller 670 may be implemented in any of numerous ways, such as with dedicated hardware, or with general purpose hardware (e.g., one or more processors) that is programmed using microcode or software to perform the functions described above, and/or other functions. A detailed description of representative computing systems which may be used to implement controller 670 is provided below in relation to FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a thermoforming press 800 which may be employed in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the press 800 comprises two halves 810 and 820. In the first half 810 one or more mold cavities 830 are formed. Each of the cavities 830 has a complimentary plug member 840 in the second half 820 of the press 800. In operation, a piece of material may be placed in the press 800, and the two halves 810 and 820 may be pressed together around the material, imparting a shape in the material corresponding to the shape of the cavity 830 and plug member 840. The press 800 may thereby form the protrusion that defines the cavity in the finished device where the electronic device may be deposited. Of course, a thermoforming press need not comprise two halves, and may take any suitable configuration, as embodiments of the invention are not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, a thermoforming press may include multiple, different designs for the mold cavities 830 and plugs 840 (as shown in the embodiment in FIG. 8). In other embodiments, the press may have a uniform set of designs.

FIG. 9 illustrates a sheet of material subsequent to operation of the thermoforming press shown in FIG. 8. The sheet of material may be used to form one or more layers of a wearable electronic device. Through the thermoforming process, protrusions 915 may formed on a sheet of material 910 comprising non-woven HDPE, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 9. Each of the protrusions 915 may be used to form a cavity that houses an electronic device in a finished wearable.

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate a wearable electronic device formed according to an alternative embodiment. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 10A a sheet of material 1000 (e.g., TYVEK brand non-woven HDPE) comprises the material that will serve both as a first layer 1010 and a second layer 1005 in a finished wearable electronic device. The sheet 1000 is shown in FIG. 1 OA in a state after undergoing a thermoforming process to provide protrusions 1015, but prior to separation into individual units. Waste material 1018 may be removed during the separation of individual units and either disposed of or recycled. FIG. 10B shows an individual unit 1001 of a wearable electronic device in a state prior to formation of the finished wearable. The second layer 1005 of the wearable electronic device may be formed by folding the panels 1005 under the protrusion 1015 to form a cavity in which the electronic device (e.g., printed circuit board) is deposited.

It should be appreciated from the foregoing that some aspects of the invention may be implemented via a computing system. As one example, controller 670 (FIG. 6) may be implemented, wholly or in part, via a computing system. As another example, electronics 125 (FIGS. 1A-1B) may comprise one or more components of a computing system, such as a processor, memory, input device(s) and/or output device(s).

FIG. 7 illustrates one example of a suitable computing system environment 700 which may be used to implement certain aspects of the invention. The computing system environment 700 is only one example of a suitable computing environment, and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of the invention. Neither should the computing environment 700 be interpreted as having any dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of components illustrated in the representative operating environment 700. In this respect, the invention is operational with numerous general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, handheld mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, dash-top devices, satellite radio receivers, mobile payment devices, content reproduction devices, video game consoles, etc.), server computers, personal computers, laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

The computing environment may execute computer-executable instructions, such as program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

FIG. 7 depicts a general purpose computing device in the form of a computer 710.

Components of computer 710 may include, but are not limited to, a processing unit 720, a system memory 730, and a system bus 721 that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing unit 720. The system bus 721 may be any of several types of bus structures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus also known as Mezzanine bus.

Computer 710 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 710 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other one or more media which may be used to store the desired information and may be accessed by computer 710. Communication media typically embody computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

The system memory 730 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 731 and random access memory (RAM) 732. A basic input/output system 733 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 710, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 731. RAM 732 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 720. By way of example, and not limitation, FIG. 7 illustrates operating system 734, application programs 735, other program modules 736, and program data 737.

The computer 710 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only, FIG. 7 illustrates a hard disk drive 741 that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatile magnetic media, a magnetic disk drive 751 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile magnetic disk 752, and an optical disk drive 755 that reads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk 756 such as a CD ROM or other optical media. Other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media that can be used in the exemplary operating environment include, but are not limited to, magnetic tape cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile disks, digital video tape, solid state RAM, solid state ROM, and the like. The hard disk drive 741 is typically connected to the system bus 721 through an non-removable memory interface such as interface 740, and magnetic disk drive 751 and optical disk drive 755 are typically connected to the system bus 721 by a removable memory interface, such as interface 750.

The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in FIG. 7, provide storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for the computer 710. In FIG. 7, for example, hard disk drive 741 is illustrated as storing operating system 744, application programs 745, other program modules 746, and program data 747. Note that these components can either be the same as or different from operating system 734, application programs 735, other program modules 736, and program data 737. Operating system 744, application programs 745, other program modules 746, and program data 747 are given different numbers here to illustrate that, at a minimum, they are different copies. A user may enter commands and information into the computer 710 through input devices such as a keyboard 762 and pointing device 761, commonly referred to as a mouse, trackball or touch pad. Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 720 through a user input interface 760 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interface and bus structures, such as a parallel port, game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 791 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 721 via an interface, such as a video interface 790. In addition to the monitor, computers may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers 797 and printer 796, which may be connected through a output peripheral interface 795.

The computer 710 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 780. The remote computer 780 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 710, although only a memory storage device 781 has been illustrated in FIG. 7. The logical connections depicted in FIG. 7 include a local area network (LAN) 771 and a wide area network (WAN) 773, but may also include other networks such as one or more enterprise networks, intranets and/or the Internet. When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 710 is connected to the LAN 771 through a network interface or adapter 770. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 710 typically includes a modem 772 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 773, such as the Internet. The modem 772, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 721 via the user input interface 760, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 710, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. By way of example, FIG. 7 illustrates remote application programs 785 as residing on memory device 781. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, though advantages of the present invention are indicated, it should be appreciated that not every embodiment of the invention will include every described advantage. Some embodiments may not implement any features described as advantageous herein and in some instances.

Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in any of numerous ways. For example, one or more embodiments may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, the software code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection of processors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed among multiple computers. Such processors may be

implemented as integrated circuits, with one or more processors in an integrated circuit component, although a processor may be implemented using circuitry in any suitable format.

A computer may have one or more input and output devices. These devices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface. Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interface include display screens for visual presentation of output and speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentation of output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a user interface include touch-sensitive screens, keyboards and pointing devices, such as mice, touch pads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receive input information through speech recognition or in other audible format.

Computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in any suitable form, including as a local area network or a wide area network, such as an enterprise network or the Internet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and may operate according to any suitable protocol and may include wireless networks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.

Also, the various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded as software that is executable on one or more processors that employ any one of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, such software may be written using any of a number of suitable programming languages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may be compiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code that is executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, the invention may be embodied as a computer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable media) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compact discs (CD), optical discs, digital video disks (DVD), magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuit configurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductor devices, or other tangible computer storage medium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one or more computers or other processors, perform methods that implement the various embodiments of the invention discussed above. A computer readable storage medium may retain information for a sufficient time to provide computer-executable instructions in a non-transitory form. Such a computer readable storage medium or media can be transportable, such that the program or programs stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more different computers or other processors to implement various aspects of the present invention as discussed above. As used herein, the term "computer-readable storage medium" encompasses only a computer-readable medium that can be considered to be a manufacture (i.e., an article of manufacture) or a machine. Alternatively, the invention may be embodied as a computer readable medium which is not a computer-readable storage medium. For example, the invention may be embodied as a propagating signal.

The terms "program" or "software" are used herein in a generic sense to refer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executable instructions that can be employed to program a computer or other processor to implement various aspects of the present invention as discussed above. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to some embodiments of the invention, one or more computer programs that, when executed, implement aspects of the invention need not reside on a single computer or processor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a number of different computers or processors to implement various aspects of the present invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in any suitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may be shown to have fields that are related through location in the data structure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigning storage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium that conveys relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanism may be used to establish a relationship between information in fields of a data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or other mechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Various aspects of the present invention may be used alone, in combination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically discussed in the embodiments described in the foregoing and is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings. For example, aspects described in relation to one embodiment may be combined in any manner with aspects described in relation to other embodiments.

Also, the invention may be embodied as a method, of which an example has been provided. The acts or steps performed as part of the method may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments may be constructed in which acts or steps are performed in an order different than illustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, even though shown as sequential acts or steps in illustrative embodiments.

Use of ordinal terms such as "first," "second," "third," etc., in the claims to modify a claim element does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order of one claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of a method are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish one claim element having a certain name from another element having a same name (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements.

Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of "including," "comprising," or "having,"

"containing," "involving," and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

What is claimed is: