UNIFORM DENSITY CUBE MAP RENDERING FOR SPHERICAL PROJECTIONS

Abstract

A cube map is used for determining the appearance of a surface by means of a precomputed texture image. Embodiments of the present invention are drawn computer systems and methods for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map that mitigates non-uniform pixel density near the edges of the cube map to avoid artifacts and increase rendering performance.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map, said method comprising: dividing at least one cube face of the cube map into quadrant surfaces; assigning viewports to the quadrant surfaces; determining coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces; rendering views of the viewports using said coordinates, wherein said views comprise said vertexes; and expanding the views into the at least one cube face, wherein the views expanded into the at least one cube face comprise an approximately uniform pixel density.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said determining coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces is performed using the transformation function: $\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}},\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}}\right\},$ wherein {u, v} represents the coordinates, and wherein further {x, y} represents Cartesian coordinates of vertexes within a respective quadrant surface.

3. A method as described in claim 2, further comprising: performing a first rendering pass to determine the coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces; and performing a second rendering pass to expand the views into the at least one cube face.

4. A method as described in claim 2, wherein said expanding the views into the at least one cube face is performed using the transformation function: $\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.},\frac{y}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.}\right\},$ wherein $=\frac{x-u}{u\left(x+y\right)},$ wherein ||==||, wherein {u, v} represents the vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces, wherein w represents a perspective value, and wherein further {x, y} represents Cartesian coordinates of vertexes within a respective quadrant surface.

5. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising rendering a scene using said cube map and wherein said cube map comprises at least one map from the group of maps comprising: an environment map; and a shadow map.

6. A method as described in claim 1, wherein graphics processor unit (GPU) hardware configured for multi-view rendering is used to perform said rendering views of the viewports.

7. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising storing said cube map in a memory of a computer system.

8. A computer system for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map, said computer system comprising: a memory operable for storing data and instructions of an application; a processor configured to execute said instructions for controlling rendering of three-dimensional (3D) environments; and a graphics processing unit communicatively coupled to the processor and the memory, wherein the graphics processing unit is configured to perform, responsive to said instructions, a method of rendering a spherical projection as a cube map, said method of rendering comprising: dividing at least one cube face of the cube map into quadrant surfaces; assigning viewports to the quadrant surfaces; determining coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces; rendering views of the viewports using said coordinates, wherein said views comprise said vertexes; and expanding the views into the at least one cube face, wherein a pixel density of the views expanded into the at least one cube face is approximately uniform.

9. A computer system as described in claim 8, wherein said determining coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces is performed using the transformation function: $\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}},\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}}\right\},$ wherein {u, v} represents the coordinates, and wherein further {x, y} represents Cartesian coordinates of vertexes within a respective quadrant surface.

10. A computer system as described in claim 9, wherein said method further comprises: performing a first rendering pass to determine the coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces; and performing a second rendering pass to expand the views into the at least one cube face.

11. A computer system as described in claim 9, wherein said expanding the views onto the cube faces comprises performing the calculation: $\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.},\frac{y}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.}\right\},$ wherein $=\frac{x-u}{u\left(x+y\right)},$ wherein ||==||, wherein {u, v} represents the vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces, wherein w represents a perspective value, and wherein further {x, y} represents Cartesian coordinates of vertexes within a respective quadrant surface.

12. A computer system as described in claim 8, wherein said method further comprises rendering a scene using said cube map and wherein said cube map comprises at least one map from the group of maps comprising: an environment map; and a shadow map.

13. A computer system as described in claim 8, wherein hardware of said graphics processing unit configured for multi-view rendering is used to perform said rendering views of the viewports.

14. A computer system as described in claim 8, further comprising storing said at least one cube face as a cube map in said memory.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising a plurality of programmed instructions, which when executed by a processor in a computing device are operable to perform rendering of a spherical projection as a cube map, the programmed instructions comprising: instructions to divide at least one cube face of the cube map into quadrant surfaces; instructions to assign viewports to the quadrant surfaces; instructions to determine coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces; instructions to render views of the plurality of viewports using said coordinates, wherein said views comprise said vertexes; and instructions to expand the views onto the at least one cube face, wherein the views expanded onto the at least one cube face comprise an approximately uniform pixel density.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 15, wherein said instructions for determining coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces comprise instructions for performing the transformation function: $\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}},\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}}\right\},$ wherein {u, v} represents the coordinates, and wherein further {x, y} represents Cartesian coordinates of vertexes within a respective quadrant surface.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 16, wherein said programmed instructions further comprise instructions for performing a first rendering pass to determine the coordinates of world-space vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces, and for performing a second rendering pass to expand the views into the at least one cube face.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 16, wherein said instructions for expanding the views onto the at least one cube face comprise instructions for performing the transformation function: $\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.},\frac{y}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.}\right\},$ wherein $=\frac{x-u}{u\left(x+y\right)},$ wherein ||==||, wherein {u, v} represents the vertexes projected onto the quadrant surfaces, wherein w represents a perspective value, and wherein further {x, y} represents Cartesian coordinates of vertexes within a respective quadrant surface.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 15, wherein said cube map comprises at least one map from the group of maps comprising: an environment map; and a shadow map.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 15, wherein said programmed instructions further comprise instructions for using graphics processor unit (GPU) hardware configured for multi-view rendering to execute said instructions for rendering views of the viewports.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium as described in claim 15, further comprising instructions for storing said at least one cube face as a cube map in a memory of a computer system.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map having uniform pixel density depicted according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 2A is a diagram of an exemplary unwrapped cube map having six cube faces.

[0016] FIG. 2B is a diagram of an exemplary cube map face divided into quadrants depicted according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 2C is diagram of an exemplary render target of an individual cube map face with uniform pixel density.

[0018] FIG. 2D is a diagram of an exemplary cube map face projected from a 3D sphere onto a 2D plane using a transformation function according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 2E is a diagram of an exemplary cube face projection transformed (e.g., unwrapped) for 2D screen space using a transformation function that determines a best fit representation of a 3D cube map face projection according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 2F is a diagram depicting an exemplary cube map and distorted spherical projection.

[0021] FIG. 2G is a diagram depicting the projected clip space of an exemplary cube map face according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 3 is a diagram depicting the transformation of a cube face projection for 2D screen space using a best fit approach according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0023] FIG. 4 is a flow-chart of an exemplary sequence of computer-implemented steps for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map with uniform pixel density depicted according to embodiments of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 5 is a block diagram and data flow diagram for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map with uniform pixel density depicted according to embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments. While the subject matter will be described in conjunction with the alternative embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter to these embodiments. On the contrary, the claimed subject matter is intended to cover alternative, modifications, and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

[0026] Furthermore, in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details or with equivalents thereof. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects and features of the subject matter.

[0027] Portions of the detailed description that follows are presented and discussed in terms of a method. Although steps and sequencing thereof are disclosed in a figure herein (e.g., FIG. 4) describing the operations of this method, such steps and sequencing are exemplary. Embodiments are well suited to performing various other steps or variations of the steps recited in the flowchart of the figure herein, and in a sequence other than that depicted and described herein.

[0028] Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolic representations of operations on data bits that can be performed on computer memory. These descriptions and representations are the means used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. A procedure, computer-executed step, logic block, process, etc., is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps or instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

[0029] It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout, discussions utilizing terms such as accessing, writing, including, storing, transmitting, traversing, associating, identifying or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Exemplary Computer System

[0030] Embodiments of the present invention are drawn to computer systems for rendering a spherical projection into a cube map that mitigates non-uniform pixel density near the edges of the cube map to avoid artifacts and increase performance. The following discussion describes such exemplary computer systems.

[0031] In the example of FIG. 1, the exemplary computer system 112 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 101 for running software applications and optionally an operating system. Random access memory 102 and read-only memory 103 store applications and data for use by the CPU 101. Data storage device 104 provides non-volatile storage for applications and data and may include fixed disk drives, removable disk drives, flash memory devices, and CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical storage devices. The optional user inputs 106 and 107 comprise devices that communicate inputs from one or more users to the computer system 112 (e.g., mice, joysticks, cameras, touch screens, and/or microphones).

[0032] A communication or network interface 108 allows the computer system 112 to communicate with other computer systems, networks, or devices via an electronic communications network, including wired and/or wireless communication and including an Intranet or the Internet. The display device 110 may be any device capable of displaying visual information in response to a signal from the computer system 112 and may include a flat panel touch sensitive display, for example. The components of the computer system 112, including the CPU 101, memory 102/103, data storage 104, user input devices 106, and graphics subsystem 105 may be coupled via one or more data buses 100.

[0033] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a graphics sub-system 105 may be coupled with the data bus and the components of the computer system 112. The graphics system may comprise a physical graphics processing unit (GPU) 105 and graphics/video memory. GPU 105 may include one or more rasterizers, transformation engines, and geometry engines, and generates pixel data from rendering commands to create output images. The physical GPU 105 can be configured as multiple virtual GPUs that may be used in parallel (e.g., concurrently) by a number of applications or processes executing in parallel, or multiple physical GPUs may be used simultaneously. Graphics sub-system 105 can output display data to display device 110.

[0034] The graphics sub-system 105 may be configured to perform multi-viewport rendering, where scenes for multiple viewports are rendered in a single pass. The graphics sub-system may perform operations such as determining projected cube map face screen coordinates {u, v} based on the value of Cartesian coordinates {x, y}, and unwrapping a cube face projection for 2D screen space (e.g., clip space) using a best fit representation by performing a perspective divide so that the projection comprises approximately uniform pixel density. According to some embodiments, the graphics sub-system 105 may include specialized cube map texture fetching hardware resident therein for quickly and efficiently fetching cube map textures.

[0035] Some embodiments may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, 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.

Exemplary Cube Map Face Rendering

[0036] With regard to FIG. 2A, an exemplary unwrapped cube map 210 having six cube faces is depicted. For convenience, the cube faces are labeled top, bottom, left, right, front, and back, although any orientation can be used. The cube map 210 is operable to store an image that can be subsequently applied to an object during rendering to change the appearance of the object. For example, a spherical projection, such as a surrounding scene or environment, may be captured into a cube map for use during rendering of the scene. When a spherical projection is rendered as a cube map 210 using traditional rendering techniques, regions near the corner or edges of the cube map are oversampled, thereby wasting computing resources and degrading performance. Furthermore, oversampling regions of the cube map often results in visual distortion and artifacts. Embodiments of the present invention can render a best fit representation of the faces of cube map 210 to achieve a more uniform pixel density when used to represent a spherical projection.

[0037] With regard to FIG. 2B, an exemplary cube map face 220 divided into quadrants is depicted according to embodiments of the present invention. In this example, Viewport VP1 is assigned to a top-left quadrant, viewport VP2 is assigned to a top-right quadrant, viewport VP3 is assigned to a bottom-left quadrant, and viewport VP4 is assigned to a bottom-right quadrant. As described in detail below, embodiments of the present invention determine positions of vertexes projected onto the quadrants, and the views from the perspective of the viewports are rendered. According to some embodiments, the viewports are rendered substantially concurrently using hardware configured for multi-viewport rendering. Subsequently, the rendered cube face projections are unwrapped for 2D screen space (e.g., clip space) using a best fit representation of the cube map face to achieve a more uniform pixel density.

[0038] With regard to FIG. 2C, an exemplary render target of an individual cube map face 230 is depicted. The cube map face 230 includes a plurality of pixels with perfectly uniform pixel density, meaning that the size of a pixel 232 near the center of the cube map face 230 is the same as the size of a pixel 234 near the corner of the render target 230. In other words, the cube map face 230 is not distorted or prone to oversampling.

[0039] With regard to FIG. 2D, the cube map face 230 depicted in FIG. 2C is projected from a 3D sphere onto a 2D plane using a transformation function to be described later according to embodiments of the present invention. The 3D sphere represents a surrounding environment or scene. In this way, the spherical projection can be encoded and/or stored in memory as a cube map. As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the resultant cube face projection 240 is distorted and displays non-uniform pixel density. Specifically, the pixels are smaller and more tightly grouped near the corners and edges of the projection compared to the pixels near the center of the projection. For example, a pixel 242 near the center of the cube face projection 240 appears larger than a pixel 244 near the corner of the cube face projection 240.

[0040] FIG. 2E depicts the cube face projection 240 from FIG. 2D transformed (e.g., unwrapped or expanded) to a sheared or skewed plane in 2D screen space using a transformation function that determines a best fit representation 250 of a cube map face projection according to embodiments of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 2E, the unwrapped best fit representation 250 displays more uniform pixel density compared to the cube face projection 240 of FIG. 2D. For example, a pixel 252 near the center of the unwrapped best fit representation 250 is approximately the same size as pixel 254 near the corner of the cube face projection 240.

[0041] FIG. 2F depicts an exemplary cube map 260 projected onto an exemplary spherical projection 265. When the spherical projection 265 is rendered using traditional rendering techniques, regions near the corner or edges of the cube map (e.g., corner 261) are oversampled, thereby wasting computing resources and degrading performance. Furthermore, oversampling regions of the cube map often results in visual distortion and artifacts (e.g., distortion 266). Therefore, according to embodiments of the present invention, a best fit representation of the faces of cube map 260 is used to achieve a more uniform pixel density for representing the spherical projection, and the resultant projection is transformed to mitigate said artifacts.

[0042] FIG. 2G depicts the projected clip space 271 of an exemplary cube map face. When rendering cube map faces, the entire clip space range {1,1} is typically used for rendering. However, due to perspective distortion of the sphere surface, rasterization can be performed using the range of screen coordinates {u, u} to achieve the same post projection results. For example, from the perspective of observer 275 facing spherical projection 270, only the portion of the spherical projection between screen coordinates {u, u} is required for rasterization. The region of the spherical projection between screen coordinates {1, u} and {u, 1} can be skipped, thereby mitigating oversampling and improving performance during rasterization.

Exemplary Cube Map Face Transformation and Best Fit Unwrapping

[0043] As mentioned above, a transformation function may be used to determine the coordinates of the world-space vertexes projected onto the cube map faces, or quadrant surfaces thereof. The transformation function determines the coordinates of the projected cube map face from Cartesian coordinates using Equation I:

[00004]$\begin{array}{cc}\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}},\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}}\right\}& \mathrm{Equation}.Math..Math.I\end{array}$

[0044] Equation I determines the projected cube map face screen coordinates {u, v} based on the value of Cartesian coordinates {x, y}. As mentioned above with regard to FIG. 2B, the resultant cube face projection 220 is distorted and has non-uniform pixel density. Subsequently, the cube face projection is unwrapped for 2D screen space (e.g., clip space) to a sheared or skewed plane using a best fit representation of the 3D cube map face projection by performing a perspective divide so that the projection comprises approximately uniform pixel density (Equation II).

[00005]$\begin{array}{cc}\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.},\frac{y}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.}\right\}.Math.\left[=,w=1\right]& \mathrm{Equation}.Math..Math.\mathrm{II}\end{array}$

[0045] FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary best fit approach for transforming a cube face projection 310 for 2D screen space according to embodiments of the present invention. The value of a is determined such that the transformation function is configured correctly for cube map rendering. This can be accomplished by finding the best fit for the spherical projection 310 inside the unwrapped projection 320. According to some embodiments, the value of a is determined such that the spherical projection 310 contacts the unwrapped projection 320 at {x, y}={0.5, 1.0}, as depicted in FIG. 3, where the clip space ranges from 0 to 1. In FIG. 3, the value of {u, v} is determined to be {0.333, 0.666}, and =0.3333.

[0046] According to some embodiments, the value of is determined by calculating

[00006]$=\frac{x-u}{u\left(x+y\right)}.$

The value of can be similarly determined:

[00007]$=\frac{y-v}{v\left(x+y\right)}.$

The and values are sheared projection coefficients for projecting world space vertexes onto a surface. Here, the a and B values are used to determine the best fit for fitting the spherical projection inside the unwrapped projection relative to an outermost corner (see FIG. 3) of a quadrant surface. Using the example of FIG. 3, the value of can be determined by the calculation

[00008]$\frac{x-u}{u\left(x+y\right)}=\frac{0.5-0.333}{0.333.Math.\left(0.5+1.0\right)}=0.3333.$

According to some embodiments, the a and B values are determined such that the cube face quadrants cumulatively represent a 90 degree range in azimuth and elevation of the total spherical projection. According to some embodiments, the absolute value of equals the absolute value of for each respective viewport when the projection is symmetrical, such as for a cube map spherical projection.

[0047] The value of w represents the width relative to the depth of the vertex (e.g., perspective), and the value of w equals 1 at the point of the plane of projection that is farthest away from the viewport. The best fit may be determined for one viewport, and subsequently applied (e.g., transversely) to the remaining viewports. Alternatively, the best fit may be calculated independently for each viewport. According to some embodiments, each cube map face is divided into quadrants, and each quadrant is assigned a viewport.

[0048] With regard to FIG. 4, an exemplary sequence of computer-implemented steps 400 for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map with relatively uniform pixel density is depicted according to embodiments of the present invention. The steps 400 prevent oversampling near the edges and corners of the cube map to improve the rendering performance and image quality when rendering the spherical projection as a cube map.

[0049] At step 401, the six faces of the cube map are portioned into equal sized quadrants (e.g., quadrant surfaces). At step 402, viewports are assigned to the quadrants. For example, one viewport may be assigned to each quadrant, totaling 24 viewports per cube map. At step 403, coordinates of vertexes projected onto the quadrants in a three-dimensional coordinate system (e.g., world space) are determined. The coordinate positions of the projected vertexes {u, v} can be determined using the formula:

[00009]$\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}},\frac{y}{\sqrt{x^2+y^2+1}}\right\}.$

This step results in a distorted cube face projection having non-uniform pixel density.

[0050] At step 404, the views from the perspective of the viewports are rendered. At this stage, the respective views of the viewports are distorted and have non-uniform pixel density. At step 405, the distorted cube face projection is unwrapped/expanded for 2D screen space (e.g., clip space) using a best fit representation of the 3D cube map face. A transformation function is applied such that the 2D projection comprises approximately uniform pixel density, and the resultant unwrapped and undistorted views are stored in the faces of the cube map. The formula

[00010]$\left\{u,v\right\}=\left\{\frac{x}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.},\frac{y}{w+x.Math..Math.+y.Math..Math.}\right\}$

can be used to expand (e.g., transform or unwrap) the views onto the cube faces, where

[00011]$=\frac{x-u}{u\left(x+y\right)}.$

At step 406, the resultant cube map is stored in computer memory. Subsequently, a lookup operation may be performed to determine values of a scene using the cube map, where the cube map is a shadow map or environment map, for example, and the scene may be rendered according to the values.

[0051] With regard to FIG. 5, an exemplary block diagram and data flow diagram 500 for rendering a spherical projection as a cube map with uniform pixel density is depicted according to embodiments of the present invention. 3D scene data 510 representing a surrounding environment is fed to a geometry engine 520. The geometry engine 520 applies transformations (e.g., vertex shading, tessellation, etc.) and generates the outputs for all viewports. Transformation engine 530 may perform operations such as determining projected cube map face screen coordinates {u, v} based on the value of Cartesian coordinates {x, y} (Equation I), and unwrapping the cube face projection for 2D screen space (e.g., clip space) using a best fit representation by performing a perspective divide so that the projection comprises approximately uniform pixel density (Equation II). The resultant cube map with nearly uniform pixel density may be stored in computer memory and used to render one or more geometric primitives. The primitives are rasterized to create the frame buffer image (e.g., a bitmap) for display using rasterizer 540. The rasterized image is output to display device 550 for display.

[0052] According to some embodiments of the present invention, the cube map is an environment map used for light capture probes. According to other embodiments, the cube map is an omni-directional shadow map. According to other embodiments, the cube map is used to determine a radiance value of a pixel or texel used for light calculation.

[0053] According to some embodiments, lookup operations performed on a cube map generated by embodiments of the present invention are performed using cube map texture fetching hardware. According to some embodiments, the cube map texture fetching hardware is a component of a GPU.

[0054] Embodiments of the present invention are thus described. While the present invention has been described in particular embodiments, it should be appreciated that the present invention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments, but rather construed according to the following claims.