Disclosure of Invention
In view of this, the embodiment of the present invention provides a method, a system, and a storage medium for adaptively improving face image acquisition, which have high recognition accuracy, good imaging effect, and good customer experience.
In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for adaptively improving face image acquisition, including the following steps:
acquiring attitude information, coordinate information and size information of a human face in a picture;
determining the recognition distance between the face and the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face; specifically, in this embodiment, ratio information between the area of the face in the preview picture and the area of the entire preview picture is calculated according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face, so as to determine the recognition distance between the face and the image capturing apparatus.
Dynamically adjusting identification parameters according to the identification distance, wherein the identification parameters comprise orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment;
and acquiring a face image through the camera equipment based on the adjusted identification parameters.
Further, the step of determining the recognition distance between the face and the image pickup apparatus according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face includes the steps of:
determining the physical position of the face relative to the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the face posture of the face;
determining an offset value between the face image and the center of the picture according to the physical position;
determining the pitch angle and the left-right offset angle of the face according to the posture of the face in the picture;
and mapping the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment according to the size information of the face in the picture. Specifically, in this embodiment, ratio information between the area of the face and the area of the preview picture is calculated according to size information of the face in the picture, and a physical distance between the face and the image capturing apparatus is mapped.
Further, the step of dynamically adjusting the identification parameter according to the identification distance includes the following steps:
dynamically adjusting orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, and adjusting the face image to the center of the picture;
based on the physical distance between the human face and the camera device:
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is smaller than a first threshold value, reducing the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment, reducing the resolution of face imaging, and improving parameters of face detection size;
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is larger than the second threshold value, the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment are enhanced, the resolution of face imaging is improved, and parameters of the face detection size are reduced.
Further, the step of dynamically adjusting the orientation angle parameter of the camera device according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, and adjusting the face image to the center of the picture specifically includes:
after the orientation angle of the camera shooting equipment is dynamically adjusted according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, judging whether the pitching angle and the left-right offset angle of the face both meet a preset angle range, and if so, finishing adjusting the orientation angle of the camera shooting equipment; and otherwise, continuously adjusting the orientation angle of the camera equipment until the pitch angle and the left-right offset angle of the face both meet the preset angle range.
In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a system for adaptively improving face image acquisition, including:
the acquisition module is used for acquiring the posture information, the coordinate information and the size information of the face in the picture;
the determining module is used for determining the identification distance between the face and the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face;
the adjusting module is used for dynamically adjusting identification parameters according to the identification distance, and the identification parameters comprise orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment;
and the acquisition module is used for acquiring the face image through the camera equipment based on the adjusted identification parameters.
Further, the determining module includes:
the first determining unit is used for determining the physical position of the face relative to the camera equipment according to the coordinate information of the face and the face posture;
the second determining unit is used for determining an offset value between the face image and the center of the picture according to the physical position;
the third determining unit is used for determining the pitch angle and the left-right offset angle of the face according to the posture of the face in the picture;
and the mapping unit is used for mapping out the physical distance between the human face and the camera equipment according to the size information of the human face in the picture. Specifically, the mapping unit of this embodiment calculates the ratio information between the face area and the preview screen area according to the size information of the face in the screen, and maps the physical distance between the face and the image capturing apparatus
Further, the adjustment module includes:
the first adjusting unit is used for dynamically adjusting orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, and adjusting the face image to the center of the picture;
a second adjustment unit configured to, based on a physical distance between the face and the image pickup apparatus:
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is smaller than a first threshold value, reducing the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment, reducing the resolution of face imaging, and improving parameters of face detection size;
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is larger than the second threshold value, the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment are enhanced, the resolution of face imaging is improved, and parameters of the face detection size are reduced.
Further, the first adjusting unit specifically executes the following steps:
after the orientation angle of the camera shooting equipment is dynamically adjusted according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, judging whether the pitching angle and the left-right offset angle of the face both meet a preset angle range, and if so, finishing adjusting the orientation angle of the camera shooting equipment; and otherwise, continuously adjusting the orientation angle of the camera equipment until the pitch angle and the left-right offset angle of the face both meet the preset angle range.
In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a system for adaptively improving face image acquisition, including:
at least one processor;
at least one memory for storing at least one program;
when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to implement the method for adaptively improving facial image acquisition.
In a fourth aspect, the present invention further provides a storage medium having stored therein processor-executable instructions, which when executed by a processor, are configured to perform the method for adaptively improving human face image acquisition.
One or more of the above-described embodiments of the present invention have at least the following advantages: after coordinate information and size information of a face in a picture are obtained, the identification distance between the face and a camera device is determined, then identification parameters are dynamically adjusted according to the identification distance, and finally, a face image is collected through the camera device based on the adjusted identification parameters; the invention controls the shooting direction of the camera equipment by dynamically adjusting the identification parameters of the camera equipment, has good imaging effect, can ensure that the collected face image is in the center of the preview picture, ensures that the identification distance between the face and the camera equipment meets the identification requirement, improves the accuracy of living body identification and comparison identification, and has wide application range.
Detailed Description
The invention will be further explained and explained with reference to the drawings and the embodiments in the description. The step numbers in the embodiments of the present invention are set for convenience of illustration only, the order between the steps is not limited at all, and the execution order of each step in the embodiments can be adaptively adjusted according to the understanding of those skilled in the art.
The invention provides a method, a system and a storage medium for adaptively improving human face image acquisition, aiming at the condition of low accuracy of living body identification and comparison identification of human face image acquisition in the prior art.
The method comprises the steps of carrying out face detection through a visible light camera of a binocular camera, obtaining an approximate face position according to the position of a detected face in a picture and the posture of the face, and then judging the approximate face distance between the face and the binocular camera based on the size of the face (in the embodiment, the distance is calculated according to the proportion of the face picture in the picture imaged in the camera, according to the transmission principle of a camera lens, the farther the face is away from the camera, the smaller the face is in a preview picture of the camera, otherwise, the closer the face is to the camera, and the larger the face is in the preview picture of the camera).
Wherein, the lens transmission principle formula is as follows: f/D = H/H,
f: represents the focal length of the lens (fixed focus or zoom, manufacturer provided parameters), in units: mm.
D: distance between the lens and the object, unit: and m is selected.
h: height of the target surface of the lens (known by definition, typically the "image sensor" parameters, e.g.: 1/3 "CCD), unit: mm.
H: height of a lens shooting scene (generally 2 times height of a subject), unit: m).
As shown in fig. 1, the method for adaptively improving face image acquisition of the present embodiment specifically includes the following steps:
s1, acquiring posture information, coordinate information and size information of a human face in a picture;
preferably, in the step S1, the present embodiment performs imaging preview by using a visible light camera of a binocular camera, and acquires a coordinate position and a size of a face of the person in a preview screen by using a face detection technology.
S2, determining the recognition distance between the face and the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face; according to the embodiment, the ratio information of the face area in the preview picture to the whole preview picture area is calculated according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face, so that the recognition distance between the face and the camera equipment is determined.
Preferably, the step S2 includes the steps of:
s21, acquiring the posture of the face in the picture;
s22, determining the physical position of the face relative to the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the face posture of the face;
s23, determining an offset value between the face image and the center of the picture according to the physical position;
s24, determining a pitching angle and a left-right offset angle of the face according to the posture of the face in the picture;
and S25, mapping the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment according to the size information of the face in the picture. According to the size information of the face in the picture, the embodiment calculates the ratio information of the face area to the preview picture area, and maps the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment.
In the embodiment, the physical position of the face relative to the camera is mapped based on the coordinate position of the face in the imaging preview picture and the posture of the face, and the deviation value between the position of the face in the preview picture and the center of the preview picture is determined;
the embodiment maps the physical distance between the human face and the binocular camera based on the size of the human face in the preview picture (namely the size of the human face in the preview picture), and based on the camera imaging principle, the human face in the picture is imaged to be smaller for the same human face, and the general reason is that the human face is far away from the camera, and vice versa. Therefore, the invention can obtain an empirical value as the standard distance between the human face and the camera based on experience, and the empirical value is determined by presetting the relationship between the ratio of different human face imaging sizes in the picture and the corresponding human face detection size parameter, human face imaging resolution parameter, binocular camera fill-in light and self-service equipment ambient light intensity parameter.
S3, dynamically adjusting identification parameters according to the identification distance, wherein the identification parameters comprise one or more of orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment, face detection size parameters, face imaging resolution parameters, light supplement lamp intensity parameters of the camera equipment and self-service equipment environment light intensity parameters;
specifically, the step S3 includes the following steps:
s31, dynamically adjusting orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment according to coordinate information and postures of the human faces in the picture, and adjusting the human face images to the center of the picture;
s32, based on the physical distance between the human face and the camera equipment:
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is smaller than a first threshold value, reducing the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment, reducing the resolution of face imaging, and improving parameters of face detection size;
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is larger than the second threshold value, the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment are enhanced, the resolution of face imaging is improved, and parameters of the face detection size are reduced.
In the embodiment, firstly, based on the face position and the face pose, the rotation orientation parameter of the camera is controlled through the motor, so that the face of the client is imaged in the center of the picture; the face position is an offset value between the position of the face in the preview picture and the center of the preview picture, and the direction of the face relative to the camera, namely the upper, lower, left and right directions, can be mapped through the offset value;
and then determining whether the pitch angle and the left-right deflection angle are out of the preset angle range or not through the posture of the face, and adjusting the orientation of the camera based on the pitch angle, the left-right deflection angle and the position of the face so as to enable the pitch angle and the left-right deflection angle of the face in the face image acquired by the camera to be within the preset angle range.
If the physical distance between the face and the binocular camera is too close, for example, less than 15cm (namely a first threshold), the intensity of infrared light is reduced and an environment light supplement lamp of self-service equipment is reduced through a camera hardware automatic gain control module, so that face imaging overexposure of the infrared camera is prevented, and meanwhile, the resolution of face imaging is reduced and the parameters of the face size in a face detection algorithm are increased;
if the physical distance between the human face and the binocular camera is too far, for example, the physical distance is larger than 100cm (namely, a second threshold), the intensity of infrared light is increased and an environment light supplement lamp of the self-service equipment is added through the camera hardware automatic gain control module, the human face imaging of the infrared camera is prevented from being too dark, and meanwhile, the resolution of the human face imaging is improved and the parameters of the human face size in the human face detection algorithm are reduced.
The embodiment adjusts the light intensity of the infrared lamp and adjusts the environment light supplement lamp of the self-service equipment through the camera hardware automatic gain control module. The camera hardware automatic gain control module adjusts the intensity of the infrared light through the current. The resolution of the face imaging can adjust the number of pixels contained in each unit size of an acquired picture, and the face is detected only when the size parameter of the face in the face detection algorithm, namely the face image in the face preview picture reaches the size set by the parameter, otherwise, the face is not detected.
And S4, acquiring a face image through the camera equipment based on the adjusted identification parameters.
By utilizing the technical scheme provided by the invention, the face image acquisition is improved based on the binocular camera without the cooperation of a client, and the face imaging is adjusted by the method, so that the problems of too far and too close face living body identification distance in a complex environment and the problems of face pitching angle and left and right deflection angle caused by different face postures can be effectively solved, the face living body and comparison identification experience of the client is improved, and the application adaptability of face identification is improved.
The following describes in detail an implementation process of the method for adaptively improving face image acquisition, with reference to the accompanying drawings of the specification:
A. in the aspect of face acquisition, the main concern is the up-down depression angle and the left-right deflection angle of the face. As shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3, in this embodiment, an image meeting the requirements of the top-bottom depression angle and the left-right deflection angle is acquired by adjusting the angle of the camera, the current top-bottom depression angle and the current left-right deflection angle of the face are acquired by using a face detection algorithm, and when the angle detected by the face is in the range of 0 to 5 degrees, the adjustment operation of the camera is completed.
B. The approximate face distance between the face and the binocular camera is judged based on the size of the face, and the calculation method comprises the following steps:
the working principle of the camera in this embodiment is roughly as follows: the human face head portrait projects an optical image generated by a LENS (LENS) onto the surface of an image SENSOR (SENSOR), then is converted into an electric signal, is converted into a digital image signal after A/D (analog-to-digital conversion), is sent into a digital signal processing chip (DSP) for processing, is transmitted into a computer for processing through a USB interface, and can be seen through a display.
The invention can solve the problem of face brushing and withdrawal of a binocular camera on a bank self-service machine, and generally, when the conventional distance between the camera and a face is 30-100 cm, an image acquired by the face is a qualified image, and when the distance between the camera and the face is 10-30 cm and 100-130 cm, the acquired image is unqualified due to ultra-short and ultra-long distance.
For the problems of ultra-short distance and ultra-long distance, the method judges the following steps according to the proportion of the imaging size of the face in the picture: the method is specifically determined by presetting the relationship between the ratio of different human face imaging sizes in a picture and corresponding human face detection size parameters, human face imaging resolution parameters, binocular camera light supplement lamps and self-service equipment environment light intensity parameters.
As shown in fig. 4, when the face is too far away from the binocular camera, i.e. the distance is 100cm to 130cm, the proportion of the face pixels occupying the picture is 2.1% to 7%.
As shown in fig. 5, when the face is too close to the binocular camera, i.e. the distance is 10cm to 30cm, the proportion of face pixels occupying the picture is 38% to 45%.
C. The present embodiment derives an approximate face position based on the position of the face in the screen and the pose of the face.
As shown in fig. 6, fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a human face biased to the top of a picture, as shown in fig. 7, fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a human face biased to the left of a picture, and in this embodiment, a biased position of a human face is obtained by calculating Y, H, and L, specifically:
when the face is at the top and bottom edges, Y/H > =16% and < 30%; the up-down direction of the camera needs to be adjusted; referring to fig. 6, when the captured image is located at the top of the frame, the camera needs to be adjusted to rotate.
When the face is at the left edge and the right edge, X/L > =8% and <15%, the left and right directions of the camera are required to be adjusted;
wherein, X represents the distance from the transverse center line of the face to the left or right edge; y represents the distance from the vertical center line of the face to the upper or lower edge; l represents a length size in the preview screen; h represents the height dimension in the preview screen.
D. And dynamically adjusting the orientation angle parameter of the camera, the size parameter of the face detection, the face imaging resolution parameter, the light supplement lamp of the binocular camera and the ambient light intensity parameter of the self-service equipment to obtain the optimal imaging which accords with the face living body detection and the face comparison.
In summary, the adjustment of the human face posture is realized by adjusting the angle of the camera, the up-down depression angle and the left-right deflection angle of the current human face are obtained through a human face detection algorithm, and the adjustment operation of the camera can be completed when the angle detected by the human face is in the range of 0-5 degrees.
And (3) adjusting the face distance: the method is determined by presetting the relationship between the ratio of different human face imaging sizes in a picture and corresponding human face detection size parameters, human face imaging resolution parameters, binocular camera light supplement lamps and self-service equipment environment light intensity parameters.
And (3) adjusting the position of the face: the method is determined by presetting the relationship between the position of the face in the picture and the adjustment orientation angle parameter of the corresponding binocular camera.
In some embodiments, the rotation orientation parameter of the camera is controlled by a motor, so that the face of the client is imaged in the center of the picture; if the distance is too close, for example, less than 15cm, the intensity of the infrared lamp and an ambient light supplement lamp of the self-service equipment are reduced through a camera hardware automatic gain control module, so that the face imaging overexposure of the infrared camera is prevented, and meanwhile, the resolution of the face imaging is reduced and the parameters for detecting the size of the face are increased; if the distance is too far, for example, greater than 100cm, the intensity of the infrared lamp and the ambient light supplement lamp of the self-service device are increased through the camera hardware automatic gain control module, so that the face imaging of the infrared camera is prevented from being too dark, the resolution of the face imaging is improved, and parameters for detecting the size of the face are reduced (the adjusting method of the embodiment is suitable for cameras such as monocular and binocular cameras).
It should be noted that: in the embodiment, the intensity of the infrared light and the intensity of the ambient light are both used for adjusting light, so that the light is proper when a picture is shot; the human face imaging resolution is to adjust the imaging pixels of the human face, so that the shot picture is optimal, and the human face recognition is facilitated; the size of the detected face is a parameter identified by a living body algorithm, and the parameter is adjusted according to the quality of an actual imaging picture, so that the improvement of the identification rate of the living body algorithm is facilitated. In addition, the resolution mentioned in the present embodiment has no relation with the size of the face; the resolution of the embodiment is the resolution of a preview picture after the camera is imaged; the human face size is a parameter of the living body algorithm, and the human faces with different sizes can be identified by the algorithm by adjusting the human face size parameter, so that the adaptability of algorithm identification is improved.
It can be understood that at a fixed resolution, different distances between the face and the camera lead to different sizes of the face;
and when the distance between the human face and the camera is fixed, the human face imaging quality with high resolution is better.
As shown in table 1, different operations corresponding to the face being too close to and too far from the camera are listed.
TABLE 1
|
Intensity of infrared light
|
Environment light supplement lamp
|
Human face imaging resolution
|
Detecting face size
|
Too close to be close to each other
|
Reduce
|
Reduce
|
Reduce the
|
Is raised
|
Too far away from
|
Increase of
|
Increase of
|
Is raised
|
Reduce the |
By utilizing the technical scheme provided by the invention, the face image acquisition can be improved through the binocular camera without the cooperation of customers, the problems of pitch angle and left-right deflection angle of the face image caused by too far and too close face living body identification distance and different face postures in a complex environment are effectively solved, the face living body and comparison identification experience of the customers is improved, and the application adaptability of face identification is improved.
Corresponding to the method in fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a system for adaptively improving human face image acquisition, including:
the acquisition module is used for acquiring the posture information, the coordinate information and the size information of the face in the picture;
the determining module is used for determining the identification distance between the face and the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the size information of the face;
the adjusting module is used for dynamically adjusting identification parameters according to the identification distance, and the identification parameters comprise orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment;
and the acquisition module is used for acquiring the face image through the camera equipment based on the adjusted identification parameters.
Further as a preferred embodiment, the determining module includes:
the first determining unit is used for determining the physical position of the face relative to the camera equipment according to the coordinate information of the face and the face posture;
the second determining unit is used for determining an offset value between the face image and the center of the picture according to the physical position;
the third determining unit is used for determining the pitch angle and the left-right offset angle of the face according to the posture of the face in the picture;
and the mapping unit is used for mapping the physical distance between the human face and the camera equipment according to the size information of the human face in the picture. The mapping unit of this embodiment calculates the ratio information between the face area and the preview screen area according to the size information of the face in the screen, and maps out the physical distance between the face and the image capturing apparatus.
Further as a preferred embodiment, the adjusting module includes:
the first adjusting unit is used for dynamically adjusting orientation angle parameters of the camera equipment according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, and adjusting the face image to the center of the picture;
a second adjustment unit configured to, based on a physical distance between the face and the image pickup apparatus:
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is smaller than a first threshold value, reducing the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment, reducing the resolution of face imaging, and improving parameters of face detection size;
if the physical distance between the face and the camera equipment is larger than the second threshold value, the light supplement lamp intensity of the camera equipment and the ambient light intensity of the self-service equipment are enhanced, the resolution of face imaging is improved, and parameters of the face detection size are reduced.
Further as a preferred embodiment, the first adjusting unit specifically executes the following steps:
after the orientation angle of the camera shooting equipment is dynamically adjusted according to the coordinate information and the posture of the face in the picture, judging whether the pitching angle and the left-right offset angle of the face both meet a preset angle range, and if so, finishing adjusting the orientation angle of the camera shooting equipment; and otherwise, continuously adjusting the orientation angle of the camera equipment until the pitch angle and the left-right offset angle of the face both meet the preset angle range.
Corresponding to the method in fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a system for adaptively improving face image acquisition, including:
at least one processor;
at least one memory for storing at least one program;
when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to implement the method for adaptively improving facial image acquisition.
In correspondence with the method of fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a storage medium having stored therein processor-executable instructions, which when executed by a processor, are configured to perform the method for adaptively improving human face image acquisition.
In alternative embodiments, the functions/acts noted in the block diagrams may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Furthermore, the embodiments presented and described in the flow charts of the present invention are provided by way of example in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the technology. The disclosed methods are not limited to the operations and logic flows presented herein. Alternative embodiments are contemplated in which the order of various operations is changed, and in which sub-operations described as part of larger operations are performed independently.
Furthermore, although the present invention is described in the context of functional modules, it should be understood that, unless otherwise indicated to the contrary, one or more of the described functions and/or features may be integrated in a single physical device and/or software module, or one or more functions and/or features may be implemented in separate physical devices or software modules. It will also be appreciated that a detailed discussion of the actual implementation of each module is not necessary for an understanding of the present invention. Rather, the actual implementation of the various functional modules in the apparatus disclosed herein will be understood within the ordinary skill of an engineer, given the nature, function, and internal relationship of the modules. Accordingly, those skilled in the art can, using ordinary skill, practice the invention as set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It is also to be understood that the specific concepts disclosed are merely illustrative of and not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims and their full scope of equivalents.
The functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium if they are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as separate products. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present invention. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a U-disk, a removable hard disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, and various media capable of storing program codes.
The logic and/or steps represented in the flowcharts or otherwise described herein, e.g., an ordered listing of executable instructions that can be considered to implement logical functions, can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. For the purposes of this description, a "computer-readable medium" can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection (electronic device) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette (magnetic device), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber device, and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM). Further, the computer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.
It should be understood that portions of the present invention may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof. In the above embodiments, the various steps or methods may be implemented in software or firmware stored in memory and executed by a suitable instruction execution system. For example, if implemented in hardware, as in another embodiment, any one or combination of the following techniques, which are known in the art, may be used: a discrete logic circuit having a logic gate circuit for implementing a logic function on a data signal, an application specific integrated circuit having an appropriate combinational logic gate circuit, a Programmable Gate Array (PGA), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or the like.
In the description herein, references to the description of the term "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.
While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.