Disclosure of Invention
The embodiment of the invention provides a wireless forwarding method, a main access point and a forwarding access point, which are used for solving the problem that in the prior art, the WDS is adopted for wireless forwarding, so that the addressing complexity of the forwarding process of WLAN equipment is increased.
The embodiment of the invention provides a wireless forwarding method, which comprises the following steps:
a main access point receives a downlink message sent by first equipment to second equipment, wherein the source address of the downlink message is the address of the first equipment, and the destination address of the downlink message is the address of the second equipment;
the main access point determines the number of a forwarding access point corresponding to the second equipment and the address of a second wireless module in the forwarding access point according to the address of the second equipment;
the main access point packages the downlink message into a downlink tunnel message, the downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of a forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of a first wireless module of the main access point, and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of a second wireless module;
and the main access point sends the downlink tunnel message to the second wireless module according to the source address and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message and the carried number and the protocol type of the forwarding access point.
Optionally, the encapsulating, by the master access point, the downlink message into a downlink tunnel message includes:
a first conversion module of the main access point packages the downlink message into an initial downlink tunnel message, wherein the initial downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of a forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the initial downlink tunnel message is the address of the first conversion module, and the destination address is the address of the second wireless module;
the first conversion module sends the initial downlink tunnel message to the first wireless module;
and the first wireless module modifies the source address of the initial downlink tunnel message into the address of the first wireless module to obtain the downlink tunnel message.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
a first wireless module of the main access point receives an uplink tunnel message sent to the first device by the second device, wherein the uplink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of a forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the uplink tunnel message is an address of the second wireless module, and the destination address of the uplink tunnel message is an address of the first wireless module;
when determining that a source address, a destination address, a number of a forwarding access point and a protocol type in the uplink tunnel message meet preset conditions, the main access point decapsulates the uplink tunnel message to obtain the uplink message, wherein the source address of the uplink message is the address of the second device, and the destination address of the uplink message is the address of the first device;
and the master access point sends the uplink message to the first equipment.
Optionally, decapsulating, by the master access point, the uplink tunnel message to obtain an uplink message, and then:
the master access point determines the corresponding relation among the address of the second equipment, the address of a second wireless module in the forwarding access point and the number of the forwarding access point;
the main access point judges whether the corresponding relation is stored in an index table or not, and if not, the corresponding relation is stored in the index table; the index table is used for determining the number of the forwarding access point corresponding to the second device and the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point when sending the downlink message.
Optionally, the receiving, by the first wireless module of the master access point, the uplink tunnel message sent by the second device to the first device includes:
the first wireless module of the main access point modifies the destination address of the received uplink tunnel message into the first conversion module and sends the modified uplink tunnel message to the first conversion module;
the decapsulating, by the master access point, the uplink tunnel message to obtain an uplink message, including:
and the first conversion module decapsulates the modified uplink tunnel message to obtain the uplink message.
The embodiment of the invention provides a wireless forwarding method, which comprises the following steps:
a second wireless module of a forwarding access point receives a downlink tunnel message sent to the second device by a first device, wherein the downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the first wireless module of a main access point, and the destination address is the address of the second wireless module;
when determining that a source address, a destination address, a number of a forwarding access point and a protocol type in the downlink tunnel message meet preset conditions, the forwarding access point decapsulates the downlink tunnel message to obtain a downlink message, wherein the source address of the downlink message is an address of the first device, and the destination address of the downlink message is an address of the second device;
and the forwarding access point sends the downlink message to the second equipment.
Optionally, the receiving, by the second wireless module of the forwarding access point, the downlink tunnel message sent by the first device to the second device includes:
the second wireless module of the forwarding access point modifies the destination address of the received downlink tunnel message into a second conversion module of the forwarding access point and sends the modified downlink tunnel message to the second conversion module;
the decapsulating, by the forwarding access point, the downlink tunnel message to obtain a downlink message, including:
and the second conversion module decapsulates the modified downlink tunnel message to obtain the downlink message.
Optionally, the method further comprises:
the forwarding access point receives an uplink message sent to the first device by the second device, wherein a source address of the uplink message is an address of the second device, and a destination address of the uplink message is an address of the first device;
the forwarding access point packages the uplink message into an uplink tunnel message, the uplink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, the number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the uplink tunnel message is the address of a second wireless module of the forwarding access point, and the destination address of the uplink tunnel message is the address of a first wireless module of the main access point;
and the forwarding access point sends the uplink tunnel message to the first wireless module according to the source address and the destination address of the uplink tunnel message and the carried number and the protocol type of the forwarding access point.
Optionally, the step of encapsulating, by the forwarding access point, the uplink message as an uplink tunnel message includes:
a second conversion module of the forwarding access point encapsulates the uplink message into an initial uplink tunnel message, wherein the initial uplink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the initial uplink tunnel message is the address of the second conversion module, and the destination address is the address of the first wireless module;
a second conversion module of the forwarding access point sends the initial uplink tunnel message to the second wireless module;
and the second wireless module of the forwarding access point modifies the source address of the initial uplink tunnel message into the address of the second wireless module to obtain the uplink tunnel message.
Correspondingly, the embodiment of the invention provides a main access point, which comprises a first conversion module and a first wireless module;
the two ends of the first conversion module are respectively connected with the first wireless module and the first device, and are used for receiving downlink messages sent by the first device to the second device, packaging the downlink messages into initial downlink tunnel messages and sending the initial downlink tunnel messages to the first wireless module;
the first conversion module is further configured to receive an uplink tunnel message sent by the first wireless module and sent to the first device by the second device, decapsulate the uplink tunnel message to obtain an uplink message, and send the uplink message to the first device;
the first wireless module is connected to the first conversion module, and is configured to receive the initial downlink tunnel message sent by the first conversion module; modifying the source address of the initial downlink tunnel message into the address of the first wireless module to obtain the downlink tunnel message; sending the downlink tunnel message to a forwarding access point;
the first wireless module is further configured to receive an uplink tunnel message sent by the forwarding access point; modifying the destination address of the received uplink tunnel message into the first conversion module, and sending the modified uplink tunnel message to the first conversion module.
Correspondingly, the embodiment of the invention provides a forwarding access point, which comprises a second conversion module and a second wireless module;
the second wireless module is connected with the second conversion module and used for receiving a downlink tunnel message sent by the main access point and sent by the first device to the second device; modifying the destination address of the received downlink tunnel message into the second conversion module, and sending the modified downlink tunnel message to the second conversion module;
the second wireless module is further configured to receive an initial uplink tunnel message sent by the second conversion module; modifying the source address of the initial uplink tunnel message into the address of the second wireless module to obtain the uplink tunnel message; sending the uplink tunnel message to the main access point;
two ends of the second conversion module are respectively connected with the second wireless module and the second device, and are used for receiving the downlink tunnel message sent by the second wireless module; decapsulating the downlink tunnel message to obtain a downlink message, and sending the downlink message to the second device;
the second conversion module is further configured to receive an uplink message sent to the first device by the second device, encapsulate the uplink message into an initial uplink tunnel message, and send the initial uplink tunnel message to the second wireless module.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a computing device, including:
a memory for storing program instructions;
and the processor is used for calling the program instructions stored in the memory and executing the method according to the obtained program.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium, which stores computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform any one of the methods described above.
The embodiment of the invention shows that a main access point receives a downlink message sent by first equipment to second equipment, wherein the source address of the downlink message is the address of the first equipment, and the destination address of the downlink message is the address of the second equipment; the main access point determines the number of a forwarding access point corresponding to the second equipment and the address of a second wireless module in the forwarding access point according to the address of the second equipment; the main access point packages the downlink message into a downlink tunnel message, the downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of a forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of a first wireless module of the main access point, and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of a second wireless module; and the main access point sends the downlink tunnel message to the second wireless module according to the source address and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message and the carried numbering protocol type of the forwarding access point. When the first device sends the downlink message to the second device, the main access point encapsulates the downlink message into a downlink tunnel message, and then sends the downlink tunnel message to the second wireless module of the forwarding access point through the first wireless module in the main access point. After the forwarding access point receives the downlink tunnel message, only two addresses, namely a source address and a destination address of the received downlink tunnel message, need to be judged whether or not, and whether or not four addresses corresponding to the first device, the main access point, the forwarding access point and the second device are legal does not need to be judged, so that the addressing complexity in the data forwarding process is simplified. And secondly, the source address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the first wireless module of the main access point, and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the second wireless module, so that the addresses of the first device and the second device are not exposed when the downlink tunnel message is transmitted in a wireless link, and the safety of data transmission is improved.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.
Fig. 1 exemplarily shows a schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present invention, and as shown in fig. 1, the system architecture applicable to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first device 1011, a first device 1012, a first device 1013, a master access point 102, a forwarding access point 1031, a forwarding access point 1032, a forwarding access point 1033, a second device 1041, a second device 1042, and a second device 1043. The first device 1011, the first device 1012, and the first device 1013 are connected to one end of the main access point 102 by wire, the forwarding access point 1031, the forwarding access point 1032, and the forwarding access point 1033 are connected to the other end of the main access point 102 by wireless, the forwarding access point 1031 is connected to the second device 1041 by wire, the forwarding access point 1032 is connected to the second device 1042 by wire, and the forwarding access point 1033 is connected to the second device 1043 by wire. In a specific process of data transmission, the first device and the second device may transmit data in a one-to-one manner, for example, the first device 1011 only transmits data with the second device 1041, the first device 1012 only transmits data with the second device 1042, and the first device 1013 only transmits data with the second device 1043. The first device and the second device may also transmit data in a one-to-many manner, for example, in a downlink direction, the first device 1011 may transmit data with the second device 1041, the first device 1011 may transmit data with the second device 1042, and the first device 1011 may also transmit data with the second device 1043. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the number of the first devices connected to the main access point is not limited to three, and the number of the forwarding access points connected to the main access point is not limited to three, and the number of the first devices and the number of the forwarding access points may be adjusted according to actual situations. Optionally, in a specific implementation, one forwarding access point may also be connected to a plurality of second devices.
Based on the system architecture shown in fig. 1, as shown in fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for wireless forwarding, which includes the following steps in a downlink direction, that is, in a direction in which a first device sends a downlink message to a second device:
step S201, the master access point receives a downlink message sent by the first device to the second device, where a source address of the downlink message is an address of the first device, and a destination address of the downlink message is an address of the second device.
Step S202, the main access point determines the number of the forwarding access point corresponding to the second device and the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point according to the address of the second device.
Step S203, the main access point packages the downlink message as a downlink tunnel message, the downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the first wireless module of the main access point, and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the second wireless module.
And step S204, the main access point sends the downlink tunnel message to the second wireless module according to the source address and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message and the carried number and the protocol type of the forwarding access point.
Step S205, the second wireless module of the forwarding access point receives the downlink tunnel message sent by the first wireless module.
Step S206, when the forwarding access point determines that the source address, the destination address, the number of the forwarding access point and the protocol type in the downlink tunnel message meet the preset conditions, the forwarding access point decapsulates the downlink tunnel message to obtain the downlink message.
Step S207, the forwarding access point sends the downlink message to the second device.
Specifically, in step S201, the master access point receives a downlink message sent by the first device to the second device through the first conversion module.
In steps S202 to S204, the first conversion module queries an index table according to the address of the second device, and if the index table does not have the number of the forwarding access point corresponding to the second device and the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point, it indicates that the address of the second device is not bound to the master access point, and flooding needs to be performed, where the specific process is as follows: the method comprises the steps of copying downlink messages according to the number of forwarding access points accessed to a main access point, respectively packaging each copied downlink message into an initial downlink tunnel message, wherein the packaged initial downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, the number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type. The number of the forwarding access point is uniquely allocated by the main access point when the forwarding access point accesses, the protocol type is a preset special protocol type, the protocol type is used for fixedly identifying the downlink tunnel message and does not conflict with the traditional TCP/IP protocol type, and meanwhile, the downlink tunnel message can be correctly identified by the forwarding access point. When encapsulating the downlink message, encapsulating different destination addresses and numbers of forwarding access points for different forwarding access points. The source address of the encapsulated initial downlink tunnel message is the address of the first conversion module, and the destination address is the address of the wireless module of the forwarding access point accessing the main access point. The first conversion module sends the initial downlink tunnel message to the first wireless module, then the first wireless module modifies the source address stored in the tunnel head into the address of the first wireless module to obtain the downlink tunnel message, and finally the downlink tunnel message is respectively sent to the wireless modules of the forwarding access points accessing the main access point. Only one of the forwarding access points receiving the downlink tunnel message feeds back the uplink tunnel message. The main access point determines the corresponding relation among the address of the second device, the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point and the number of the forwarding access point according to the fed-back uplink tunnel message, and then stores the corresponding relation in the index table, thereby realizing the binding between the address of the second device, the number of the forwarding access point and the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point.
If the index table has the number of the forwarding access point corresponding to the second device and the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point, the downlink message is encapsulated into an initial downlink tunnel message according to the number of the forwarding access point and the address of the second wireless module in the forwarding access point, which are inquired from the index table, and the encapsulated initial downlink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, the number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type, wherein the source address is the address of the first conversion module, the destination address is the address of the second wireless module inquired from the index table, and the number of the forwarding access point is the number of the forwarding access point inquired from the index table. The first conversion module then sends the initial downlink tunnel message to the first wireless module. The first wireless module modifies the source address of the initial downlink tunnel message into the address of the first wireless module to obtain the downlink tunnel message, and then sends the downlink tunnel message to the second wireless module of the forwarding access point.
In steps S205 to S207, after the second wireless module of the forwarding access point receives the downlink tunnel message, it is determined whether a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point, and a protocol type in the downlink tunnel message meet preset conditions, if yes, the second wireless module of the forwarding access point modifies the destination address of the received downlink tunnel message to be a second conversion module of the forwarding access point, and sends the modified downlink tunnel message to the second conversion module. And the second conversion module decapsulates the modified downlink tunnel message to obtain a downlink message, and then judges whether the destination address of the downlink message is the address of the second device, if so, the downlink message is sent to the second device, otherwise, the downlink message is discarded.
When the first device sends the downlink message to the second device, the main access point encapsulates the downlink message into the downlink tunnel message, wherein a tunnel header of the downlink tunnel message comprises a source address and a destination address of the downlink tunnel message, then the downlink tunnel message is sent to the second wireless module of the forwarding access point through the first wireless module of the main access point, and after the forwarding access point receives the downlink tunnel message, only the source address and the destination address of the received downlink tunnel message need to be judged whether legal or not, and whether four addresses corresponding to the first device, the main access point, the forwarding access point and the second device are legal or not does not need to be judged, so that the addressing complexity in the data forwarding process is simplified. And secondly, the source address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the first wireless module of the main access point, and the destination address of the downlink tunnel message is the address of the second wireless module, so that the addresses of the first device and the second device are not exposed when the downlink tunnel message is transmitted in a wireless link, and the safety of data transmission is improved.
Based on the system architecture shown in fig. 1, as shown in fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for wireless forwarding, where in an uplink direction, that is, in a direction in which a second device sends an uplink message to a first device, the method includes the following steps:
step S301, the forwarding access point receives an uplink message sent by the second device to the first device, wherein the source address of the uplink message is the address of the second device, and the destination address is the address of the first device.
Step S302, the forwarding access point packages the uplink message as an uplink tunnel message, the uplink tunnel message at least comprises a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point and a protocol type, the source address of the uplink tunnel message is an address of a second wireless module of the forwarding access point, and the destination address of the uplink tunnel message is an address of a first wireless module of the main access point.
Step S303, the forwarding access point sends the uplink tunnel message to the first wireless module according to the source address and the destination address of the uplink tunnel message and the carried number and the protocol type of the forwarding access point.
Step S304, the first wireless module of the main access point receives the uplink tunnel message sent by the second wireless module of the forwarding access point.
Step S305, when the main access point determines that the source address, the destination address, the number of the forwarding access point and the protocol type in the uplink tunnel message meet the preset conditions, the main access point decapsulates the uplink tunnel message to obtain the uplink message.
Step S306, the master access point sends the uplink message to the first device.
Specifically, in step S301 and step S302, the forwarding access point receives, through the second conversion module, an uplink message sent by the second device to the first device, and then the uplink message is encapsulated by the second conversion module as an initial uplink tunnel message, where the initial uplink tunnel message at least includes a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point, and a protocol type. In a specific implementation, the source address and the destination address of the initial uplink tunnel message, and the number and the protocol type of the forwarding access point that are carried in the initial uplink tunnel message may be stored in the tunnel header of the initial uplink tunnel message, where the source address of the initial uplink tunnel message is the address of the second conversion module, and the destination address is the address of the first wireless module. The initial uplink tunnel message is then sent by a second conversion module of the forwarding access point to a second wireless module.
In step S303, before the forwarding access point sends the uplink tunnel message to the first wireless module through the second wireless module, the second wireless module of the forwarding access point modifies the source address of the initial uplink tunnel message into the address of the second wireless module, so as to obtain the uplink tunnel message. In specific implementation, the second wireless module modifies the source address stored in the tunnel header into the address of the second wireless module, and obtains the uplink tunnel message.
In step S304 and step S305, after receiving the uplink tunnel message sent by the second wireless module of the forwarding access point, the first wireless module of the main access point determines whether a source address, a destination address, a number of the forwarding access point, and a protocol type in the uplink tunnel message meet preset conditions, if yes, the first wireless module modifies the destination address of the uplink tunnel message to be the first conversion module, and sends the modified uplink tunnel message to the first conversion module. And a first conversion module of the main access point receives the modified uplink tunnel message sent by the first wireless module, and then decapsulates the modified uplink tunnel message to obtain the uplink message, wherein the source address of the uplink message is the address of the second device, and the destination address of the uplink message is the address of the first device. Further, the first conversion module determines a correspondence between an address of the second device, an address of a second wireless module in the forwarding access point, and a number of the forwarding access point, and determines whether the correspondence is stored in an index table, and if not, the correspondence is stored in the index table, and the index table is used for determining the address of the second wireless module of the forwarding access point and the number of the forwarding access point corresponding to the second device when the downlink message is sent. In addition, in a scenario where the first device and the second device transmit data one to one, the address of the first device, the address of the second wireless module of the forwarding access point, and the number of the forwarding access point may be stored in the index table in a corresponding manner, so that in a downlink direction, the index table may be used to determine the address of the second wireless module of the forwarding access point and the number of the forwarding access point corresponding to the second device, and in an uplink direction, the index table may be used to index the address of the first device according to the number of the forwarding access point.
When the second device sends the uplink message to the first device, the forwarding access point encapsulates the uplink message into an uplink tunnel message, wherein a tunnel header of the uplink tunnel message comprises two addresses, namely a source address and a destination address of the uplink tunnel message, and then the uplink tunnel message is sent to the first wireless module of the main access point through the second wireless module of the forwarding access point. Secondly, the source address of the uplink tunnel message is the address of the second wireless module of the forwarding access point, and the destination address of the uplink tunnel message is the address of the first wireless module, so that the addresses of the first device and the second device are not exposed when the uplink tunnel message is transmitted in a wireless link, and the safety of data transmission is improved.
Based on the same conception, fig. 4 exemplarily shows a structure of a master access point provided by the embodiment of the present invention, and the master access point can execute a flow of a method of wireless forwarding.
As shown in fig. 4, the master access point 400 includes: a first conversion module 401, a first wireless module 402;
both ends of the first conversion module 401 are respectively connected to the first wireless module 402 and the first device 403, and are configured to receive a downlink message sent by the first device 403 to the second device 404, encapsulate the downlink message into an initial downlink tunnel message, and send the initial downlink tunnel message to the first wireless module 402;
the first conversion module 401 is further configured to receive an uplink tunnel message sent by the first wireless module 402 and sent to the first device 403 by the second device 404, decapsulate the uplink tunnel message to obtain an uplink message, and send the uplink message to the first device 403;
the first wireless module 402 is connected to the first converting module 401, and configured to receive the initial downlink tunnel message sent by the first converting module 401; modifying the source address of the initial downlink tunnel message to the address of the first wireless module 402 to obtain the downlink tunnel message; sending the downlink tunnel message to a forwarding access point 500;
the first wireless module 402 is further configured to receive an uplink tunnel message sent by the forwarding access point 500; modifying the destination address of the received uplink tunnel message to the first conversion module 401, and sending the modified uplink tunnel message to the first conversion module 401.
Based on the same conception, fig. 5 exemplarily shows a structure of a forwarding access point provided by an embodiment of the present invention, and the forwarding access point can execute a flow of a method of wireless forwarding.
As shown in fig. 5, the forwarding access point 500 includes: a second conversion module 501 and a second wireless module 502;
the second wireless module 502 is connected to the second conversion module 501, and is configured to receive a downlink tunnel message sent by the main access point 400 and sent by the first device 403 to the second device 404; modifying the destination address of the received downlink tunnel message to the second conversion module 501, and sending the modified downlink tunnel message to the second conversion module 501;
the second wireless module 502 is further configured to receive an initial uplink tunnel message sent by the second conversion module 501; modifying the source address of the initial uplink tunnel message into the address of the second wireless module 502 to obtain the uplink tunnel message; sending the uplink tunnel message to the master access point 400;
both ends of the second conversion module 501 are connected to the second wireless module 502 and the second device 404, respectively, and are configured to receive a downlink tunnel message sent by the second wireless module 502; decapsulating the downlink tunnel message to obtain a downlink message, and sending the downlink message to the second device 404;
the second conversion module 501 is further configured to receive an uplink message sent by the second device 404 to the first device 403, encapsulate the uplink message into an initial uplink tunnel message, and send the initial uplink tunnel message to the second wireless module 502.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a computing device, which may be specifically a desktop computer, a portable computer, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and the like. The computing device may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, input/output devices, etc., the input devices may include a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, etc., and the output devices may include a Display device, such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), etc.
Memory, which may include Read Only Memory (ROM) and Random Access Memory (RAM), provides the processor with program instructions and data stored in the memory. In an embodiment of the invention, the memory may be used to store program instructions for a method of wireless forwarding;
and the processor is used for calling the program instructions stored in the memory and executing the wireless forwarding method according to the obtained program.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer storage medium, where the computer storage medium stores computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to execute a method of wireless forwarding.
It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, 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 flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations 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 changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.