RECIRCULATION SYSTEM USING WIRELESS POWER

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods for controlling a wirelessly powered water pump apparatus include a water recirculation pump apparatus including: a pump; a first inlet connected to a hot water supply line; a second inlet connected to a cold water supply line; a first outlet supplying hot water from the hot water supply line to a plumbing fixture; a second outlet supplying cold water from the cold water supply line to the plumbing fixture; and processing circuitry configured to activate and deactivate the pump, wherein the processing circuitry receives power from an electrical receptacle via a wireless power receiver.

Claims

1. A water recirculation pump apparatus comprising: a pump; a first inlet connected to a hot water supply line; a second inlet connected to a cold water supply line; a first outlet supplying hot water from the hot water supply line to a plumbing fixture; a second outlet supplying cold water from the cold water supply line to the plumbing fixture; and processing circuitry configured to activate and deactivate the pump, wherein the processing circuitry receives power from an electrical receptacle via a wireless power receiver.

2. The water recirculation pump apparatus of claim 1, wherein a battery is absent from the water recirculation pump apparatus, and wherein the water recirculation pump apparatus is not connected via wire to the electrical receptacle.

3. The water recirculation pump apparatus of claim 1, further comprising communications circuitry configured to wirelessly communicate with a water heater remote from the water recirculation pump apparatus.

4. The water recirculation pump apparatus of claim 3, wherein the communications circuitry is further configured to receive water temperature data from a temperature sensor.

5. The water recirculation pump apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine that the water temperature data are below a threshold temperature; and cause the communications circuitry to send a signal to the water heater indicating that the pump is to activate and that heating elements of the water heater are to be inactive while the pump is active.

6. The water recirculation pump apparatus of claim 5, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: cause activation of the pump when there is no hot water demand at the plumbing fixture.

7. The water recirculation pump apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: cause the communications circuitry to send a signal to the water heater indicating that heating elements of the water heater are to be active when there is no hot water demand at the plumbing fixture.

8. A water recirculation pump system comprising: a pump; a first inlet connected to a hot water supply line; a second inlet connected to a cold water supply line; a first outlet supplying hot water from the hot water supply line to a plumbing fixture; a second outlet supplying cold water from the cold water supply line to the plumbing fixture; processing circuitry configured to activate and deactivate the pump; and a wireless power transmission system; wherein the processing circuitry receives power from an electrical receptacle via the wireless power transmission system.

9. The water recirculation pump system of claim 8, and wherein pump is not connected via wire to the electrical receptacle.

10. The water recirculation pump system of claim 8, further comprising communications circuitry configured to wirelessly communicate with a water heater remote from the water recirculation pump system.

11. The water recirculation pump system of claim 10, wherein the communications circuitry is further configured to receive water temperature data from a temperature sensor.

12. The water recirculation pump system of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: determine that the water temperature data are below a threshold temperature; and cause the communications circuitry to send a signal to the water heater indicating that the pump is to activate and that heating elements of the water heater are to be inactive while the pump is active.

13. The water recirculation pump system of claim 12, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: cause activation of the pump when there is no hot water demand at the plumbing fixture.

14. The water recirculation pump system of claim 10, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: cause the communications circuitry to send a signal to the water heater indicating that heating elements of the water heater are to be active when there is no hot water demand at the plumbing fixture.

15. A method for controlling a water recirculation pump, the method comprising: receiving, by processing circuitry of a water recirculation pump apparatus connected to a plumbing fixture, power from an electrical receptacle via a wireless power receiver; determining, by the processing circuitry, to activate a pump of the water recirculation pump apparatus; causing activation, by the processing circuitry; of the pump using the power from the wireless power receiver; and causing, by the processing circuitry, communications circuitry of the water recirculation pump apparatus to send a signal to a water heater remote from the water recirculation pump apparatus indicating that the pump is to be active.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving water temperature data from a temperature sensor, wherein determining to activate the pump is based on the water temperature data.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the signal further indicates that a heating element of the water heater is to be inactive while the pump is active.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the pump is activated when there is no hot water demand by the plumbing fixture.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to: cause the communications circuitry to send a second signal to the water heater to indicate that a heating element of the water heater is to be active when there is no hot water demand by the plumbing fixture.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the water recirculation pump apparatus is not connected via wire to the electrical receptacle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. In some instances, the use of the same reference numerals may indicate similar or identical items. Various embodiments may utilize elements and/or components other than those illustrated in the drawings, and some elements and/or components may not be present in various embodiments. Throughout this disclosure, depending on the context, singular and plural terminology may be used interchangeably.

[0005] FIG. 1 is an example water recirculation system using wireless power transmission of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0006] FIG. 2 shows the recirculation pump of FIG. 1. of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0007] FIG. 3 is a schematic of a recirculation system using the recirculation pump of FIG. 1. of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0008] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Hot water recirculation systems are plumbing systems that transport hot water to fixtures and appliances using a dedicated loop or integrated loop. In a dedicated loop, a hot water pipe passes near plumbing fixtures, and a pipe may connect the loop to a hot water valve of any fixture so that hot water circulating through the hot water loop is quickly available to the fixture. In an integrated loop, a pump is installed under a plumbing fixture farthest from the water heater and switches on when the water temperature drops below a threshold temperature. In an integrated loop, hot water is recirculated intermittently and is returned to the water heater via cold water pipes. However, the recirculation system pumps often require a 120V outlet. As a result, an additional 120V outlet may need to be installed at the water heater's location to accommodate both the water heater and the pump, or when the recirculation pump is installed at the fixture remote from the water heater, a nearby 120V outlet is needed.

[0010] To operate a recirculation pump under a plumbing fixture (e.g., a sink, etc.), either a 120V outlet needs to be installed under the fixture as well, or the pump needs to be able to be powered from a 120V outlet separated from the pump by a surface (e.g., a sink, countertop, etc.). In particular, a recirculation pump may include multiple connections: (1) to the hot water supply, (2) the cold water supply (e.g., the pump may push against the cold supply pressure and move water from the hot supply line to the cold supply line), and (3) a power supply (e.g., a 120V outlet).

[0011] To power a recirculation pump underneath a plumbing fixture with a 120V outlet separated from the pump by a surface, wireless power transmission to the pump may be needed.

[0012] Some wireless powering of recirculation pumps is used to recharge a pump battery that supplies power to the pump. One drawback of using a battery powered pump is that the battery sometimes has to be replaced. Another drawback of using a pump battery is having to recharge the battery. Pump designs that include batteries also tend to be larger to accommodate the additional hardware.

[0013] In addition, a cold water sandwich effect may occur in which when a cold water faucet is opened, some initial hot water comes out of the faucet, then cold water comes out as it arrives from the heat exchanger, and then the flow of newly heated hot water arrives. When the water temperature reaches a threshold temperature, the hot water pump may deactivate, but some hot water may still enter the cold water supply so that when the cold water valve opens, some warm water comes out.

[0014] In one or more embodiments, a direct current (DC) recirculation pump underneath a plumbing fixture may consume as little as 15 watts (or greater, such as up to 60 watts or another power) from a 120V power outlet using wireless power transmissions from the 120V power outlet. The wireless power transmission may power the recirculation pump rather than charging a battery of the pump, so the pump may convert the wireless power signals without a battery. By not using a battery, the pump may be smaller in design than battery powered pumps and may avoid the need to recharge and replace pump batteries. The smaller pump design herein allows for a smaller wireless charging pucks to transmit and receive the power than a larger pump design would require. In addition, by using wireless power transmission, the need to install a 120V outlet underneath a fixture to connect to the pump is avoided.

[0015] Some wireless powering of recirculation pumps uses broadcast power, which drops dramatically per transmission distance. Therefore, a shorter point-to-point wireless power transmission with less signal loss due to shorter distance between the power transmitter for the outlet and receiver for the pump would allow for the power transmitted from the outlet to be sufficient to power the pump directly rather than having to use it to charge a pump battery. When transmitting power wireless over longer distances, a pump battery may be needed so that the power transmission is to charge the battery (e.g., using a trickle charge with a capacitor) rather than directly powering the pump because the signal loss over distance causes the power transmission to be insufficient to power the pump directly. In this manner, a battery for powering a recirculation pump may be necessary rather than an implementation choice, and the need for the battery may be negated by using a shorter distance point-to-point wireless power transmission from a 120V outlet to a nearby recirculation pump whose current draw is small enough (e.g., up to 15 amps) to be powered directly by the wireless power transmission.

[0016] In one or more embodiments, to address the cold water sandwich effect, a small temperature probe may be installed in the existing hot water line proximal to the fixture to detect the hot water temperature sooner than measuring the water temperature at the water heater remote from the fixture. Positioning the temperature probe near the fixture, the hot water temperature may be detected earlier than at the water heater so that the pump may deactivate more quickly, avoiding the hot water coming out of a cold water faucet due to the delay in deactivating the hot water pump caused by the latency in detecting the hot water reaching a temperature threshold. The temperature probe may be wired or wireless (e.g., clamping onto the hot water pipe).

[0017] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump at the plumbing fixture may communicate with the remote water heater to control water heater operations. In particular, tankless water heaters may need time to heat and provide hot water to the fixture, so the pump system may send a trigger (e.g., wirelessly) to the water heater to notify the water heater that the pump is going to turn on. The notification may cause the water heater to turn on its burners to avoid any cold water being in the loop for the fixture. The pump communications may be facilitated by the constant power supply provided by the 120V outlet via the wireless power transmission to the pump. The recirculation pump communications to the water heater may facilitate a proactive (e.g., instead of reactive) providing of hot water to ensure that hot water is immediately available.

[0018] In one or more embodiments, temperature sensors may detect cold conditions, such as cold ambient temperatures, which may trigger activation of the remote water heater. For example, a freeze protection technique may rely on temperature sensor data for temperature sensors at water pipes or elsewhere (e.g., in the ambient environment) so that when a temperature is below a threshold temperature, the water heater may be triggered to activate its burners even when there is no current hot water demand. The temperature sensor data may override other controls, such as a vacation mode when the water heater burners may be inactive, instead causing the water heater burners to activate even when not scheduled to be active or when there is no current hot water demand. Alternatively, the recirculation pump may be activated when the temperature sensor data indicates low temperature. The recirculation pump may communicate to the water heater not to activate burners because the recirculation pump will be active. Such controls may alleviate the need to drip faucets in freezing temperatures, for example. As the temperature sensor senses the pipe temp drop close to or below freezing temperature the pump switches on automatically and circulates water throughout the home. Because the pump has access to both hot and cold sides of the pipe it can effectively reduce the risk of freezing in either pipe.

[0019] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump device may be able to monitor the temperature by using a wired or wireless temperature sensor that can be placed anywhere along the piping of the house. Depending on the temperature and other user provided preference, the system can switch on the pump to ensure hot water is available whenever needed. In some embodiments, the recirculation pump may include a bladder (e.g., connected to the piping or hot/cold water inlet/outlet) in which the temperature sensor may be positioned. Alternatively, or in addition, the recirculation pump may include a multi-valve design to allow for placement of the temperature sensor while also being able to close the valve to prevent hot water mixing with cold water.

[0020] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump may include communications circuitry and processing circuitry. The communications circuitry may communicate with any temperature or other sensors and with a remote water heater. The processing circuitry may analyze sensor data, determine when to activate the pump, and may control the communications circuitry to send communication signaling to a remote water heater. The recirculation pump hardware may be powered by a power source in communication with a wireless power receiver (e.g., a puck) positioned underneath a surface through which wireless power transmissions may be provided to power the recirculation pump device.

[0021] Modifications and variations of the methods and devices described herein will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the foregoing detailed description. Such modifications and variations are intended to come within the scope of the appended claims.

[0022] Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a water recirculation system 100 using wireless power transmission of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1, a recirculation pump 102 connected to a plumbing fixture 104 (e.g., a sink/faucet, etc.) may recirculate hot water between a water heater (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3) and the plumbing fixture 104. A hot water supply line 106 may connect and provide hot water to the plumbing fixture 104 (e.g., passing through the recirculation pump 102 via a hot water inlet 108 of the recirculation pump 102), and a cold water supply line 110 may connect and provide cold water to the plumbing fixture 104 (e.g., passing through the recirculation pump 102 via a cold water inlet 112 of the recirculation pump 102). The hot water may pass through a hot water outlet 113 to the plumbing fixture 104 and the cold water may pass through a cold water outlet 114 to the plumbing fixture 104. The recirculation pump 102 may pump some hot water from the hot water supply line 106 through a valve (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2) for recirculation. For example, when the water temperature in the hot water supply line 106 drops below a threshold temperature, the recirculation pump 102 may activate and move cool water in the hot water supply line 106 into the cold water supply line 110. When the recirculation pump 102 is inactive, a valve (e.g., see FIG. 2) may close to prevent mixing of hot and cold water.

[0024] Still referring to FIG. 1, the recirculation pump 102 may be electrically connected (e.g., via wire 116) to a wireless power transmission system 118, which may include a wireless power transmitter 120 (e.g., positioned on a top surface 122 of a countertop 124) and a wireless power receiver 126 (e.g., positioned on a bottom surface 128 of the countertop 124 so that the wireless power transmitter 120 and the wireless power receiver 126 are separated by the countertop 124). The wireless power transmitter 120 may be connected (e.g., via wire 130) to a power receptacle 132 (e.g., a 120V wall receptacle).

[0025] In one or more embodiments, instead of the recirculation pump 102 being powered by a battery charged by the wireless power transmission system 118, the wireless power transmission system 118 powers the recirculation pump 102. Some wireless powering of recirculation pumps uses broadcast power, which drops dramatically per transmission distance. Therefore, a shorter point-to-point wireless power transmission with less signal loss due to shorter distance between the wireless power transmitter 120 and the wireless power receiver 126 for the recirculation pump 102 would allow for the power transmitted from the power receptacle 132 to be sufficient to power the recirculation pump 102 rather than having to use the wireless power transmission system 118 to charge a pump battery. When transmitting power wireless over longer distances, a pump battery may be needed so that the power transmission is to charge the battery (e.g., using a trickle charge with a capacitor) rather than directly powering the pump because the signal loss over distance causes the power transmission to be insufficient to power the pump directly. In this manner, the need for the battery may be negated by using a shorter distance point-to-point wireless power transmission from a 120V outlet (e.g., the power receptacle 132) to the nearby recirculation pump 102 whose current draw is small enough (e.g., up to 15 amps) to be powered directly by the wireless power transmission system 118.

[0026] In one or more embodiments, the wireless power transmitter 120 may receive electrical energy from the power receptacle 132 and may convert the electrical energy to an electromagnetic force (EMF). The wireless power receiver 126 may detect the EMF and convert it back to electrical energy to power the recirculation pump 102.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows the recirculation pump 102 of FIG. 1. of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Referring to FIG. 2, a temperature sensor 202 may measure the temperature of the hot water supply line 106 of FIG. 1. When the water temperature in the hot water supply line 106 drops below a threshold temperature, the recirculation pump 102 may activate and a valve 206 (e.g., a check valve) may open to move cool water in the hot water supply line 106 into the cold water supply line 110. When the recirculation pump 102 is inactive, the valve 206 may close to prevent mixing of hot and cold water. As a result, the recirculation pump 102 may avoid cool water being in the hot water pipes when hot water is demanded at the plumbing fixture 104.

[0029] In one or more embodiments, the temperature sensor 202 may be positioned anywhere along a housing 210 of the recirculation pump 102. In some embodiments, optionally, the housing 210 may include or be attached to a bladder 210, and the temperature sensor may be arranged on or in the bladder 210. The housing 210 may include the hot water inlet 108, the cold water inlet 112, the hot water outlet 113, and the cold water outlet 114. The temperature sensor 202 may be wireless or wired (as explained further with respect to FIG. 3) to communicate temperature data. As the temperature sensor 202 senses a pipe temperature drop close to/below freezing temperature, the recirculation pump 102 may switch on automatically and circulate water. Because the recirculation pump 102 has access to both hot and cold sides of the pipe, it can effectively reduce the risk of freezing in either pipe.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a schematic of a recirculation system 300 using the recirculation pump 102 of FIG. 1. of one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 3, the system 300 may include a water heater 302 that may receive and heat cold water 304 to produce hot water 306. The cold water 304 and the hot water 306 may be provided to one or more plumbing fixtures (e.g., the plumbing fixture 104). The hot water heater 302 may include one or more heating elements 308 (e.g., burners, electric elements, heat pumps, and the like) with which to heat the cold water 304. The water heater 302 also may include processing circuitry 310 for determining when to activate and deactivate the heating elements 308 to produce hot water, and at what temperature, and to facilitate communications (e.g., using communications circuitry 312) with other devices/systems (e.g., the recirculation pump 102). The recirculation pump 102 may include processing circuitry 320 and communications circuitry 322. The processing circuitry 320 may determine when to activate and deactivate the recirculation pump 102 (e.g., based on temperature data from the temperature sensor 202 of FIG. 2). The communications circuitry 322 may communicate (e.g., wired or wirelessly) with the communications circuitry 322 of the water heater 302 to signal when the recirculation pump 102 is to be active and inactive, and when the heating elements 308 should be active or inactive.

[0032] In one or more embodiments, to address the cold water sandwich effect, the temperature sensor 202 may be installed on or in the hot water supply line 106 proximal to the plumbing fixture 104 (e.g., more proximal to the plumbing fixture 104 than to the water heater 302) to detect the hot water temperature sooner than measuring the water temperature at the water heater 302 remote from the plumbing fixture 104. Positioning the temperature sensor 202 near the plumbing fixture 104, the hot water temperature may be detected earlier than at the water heater 302 so that the processing circuitry 320 may deactivate the recirculation pump 102 may more quickly, avoiding the hot water coming out of a cold water faucet due to the delay in deactivating the recirculation pump 102 caused by the latency in detecting the hot water reaching a temperature threshold. The temperature sensor 202 may be wired or wireless (e.g., clamping onto the hot water pipe), and may communicate with the communications circuitry 322.

[0033] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump 102 at the plumbing fixture 104 may communicate (e.g., using the communications circuitry 322) with the remote water heater 302 (e.g., using the communications circuitry 312) to control water heater operations. In particular, tankless water heaters may need time to heat and provide hot water to the plumbing fixture 104, so the communications circuitry 322 may send a trigger (e.g., wirelessly) to the water heater 302 to notify the water heater 302 that the recirculation pump 102 is going to turn on. The notification may cause the water heater 302 to turn on the heating elements 308 to avoid any cold water being in the loop for the plumbing fixture 104. The pump communications may be facilitated by the constant power supply provided by the 120V receptacle 132 via the wireless power transmission to the recirculation pump 102. The recirculation pump 102 communications to the water heater 302 may facilitate a proactive (e.g., instead of reactive) providing of hot water to ensure that hot water is immediately available at the plumbing fixture 104.

[0034] In one or more embodiments, the temperature sensor 202 may detect cold conditions, such as cold ambient temperatures, which may trigger activation of the remote water heater. For example, a freeze protection technique may rely on temperature sensor data for temperature sensors at water pipes or elsewhere (e.g., in the ambient environment) so that when a temperature is below a threshold temperature, the water heater 302 may be triggered to activate its heating elements 308 even when there is no current hot water demand. The temperature sensor data may override other controls, such as a vacation mode when the water heater heating elements 308 may be inactive, instead causing the water heater heating elements 308 to activate even when not scheduled to be active or when there is no current hot water demand. Alternatively, the recirculation pump 102 may be activated when the temperature sensor data indicates low temperature. The recirculation pump 102 may communicate to the water heater 302 not to activate heating elements 308 because the recirculation pump 102 will be active. Such controls may alleviate the need to drip faucets in freezing temperatures, for example. As the temperature sensor 202 senses the pipe temperature drop close to or below freezing temperature, the recirculation pump 102 may switch on automatically and circulate water throughout the home. Because the recirculation pump 102 has access to both hot and cold sides of the pipe it can effectively reduce the risk of freezing in either pipe.

[0035] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump 102 may be able to monitor the temperature by the temperature sensor 202 that can be placed anywhere along the piping of the house. Depending on the temperature and other user provided preference, the system can switch on the recirculation pump 102 to ensure hot water is available whenever needed.

[0036] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump 102 hardware may be powered by a power source (e.g., the receptacle 132) in communication with the wireless power receiver 126 positioned underneath the countertop 124 through which wireless power transmissions may be provided to power the recirculation pump 102. In this manner, the processing circuitry 320 and the communications circuitry 322 may be powered without needing a battery that needs to be recharged and replaced.

[0037] In one or more embodiments, the water heater 302 may be tankless or may include one or more water tanks in which to heat the cold water 304.

[0038] In one or more embodiments, the recirculation pump 102 may include a motor 330, which may be single phase and may operate at 15 watts or less. Activating and deactivating the recirculation pump 102 may include activating and deactivating the motor 330. The recirculation pump 102 may include a timer 332 to control a length of time when the recirculation pump 102 is active. The timer 332 may be programmed or manually set to activate recirculation at specific times and for specific durations. The recirculation pump 102 may activate and deactivate at times overriding the set timer 332, such as when there is water demand or when the temperature data indicates that recirculation is needed.

[0039] In one or more embodiments, the communications circuitry 312 and/or the communications circuitry 322 may include a network interface device/transceiver coupled to antenna(s), and may use a number of communications techniques and infrastructure, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), plain old telephone (POTS) networks, wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others.

[0040] As used within this document, the term communicate is intended to include transmitting, or receiving, or both transmitting and receiving. This may be particularly useful in claims when describing the organization of data that is being transmitted by one device and received by another, but only the functionality of one of those devices is required to infringe the claim. Similarly, the bidirectional exchange of data between two devices (both devices transmit and receive during the exchange) may be described as communicating, when only the functionality of one of those devices is being claimed. The term communicating as used herein with respect to a wireless communication signal includes transmitting the wireless communication signal and/or receiving the wireless communication signal. For example, a wireless communication unit, which is capable of communicating a wireless communication signal, may include a wireless transmitter to transmit the wireless communication signal to at least one other wireless communication unit, and/or a wireless communication receiver to receive the wireless communication signal from at least one other wireless communication unit.

[0041] It is understood that the above descriptions are for purposes of illustration and are not meant to be limiting.

[0042] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing device or computer system 400 which may be used in implementing the embodiments of the components of the network disclosed above. For example, the computing system 400 of FIG. 4 may represent at least a portion of the recirculation pump 102 of FIG. 1. The computer system (system) includes one or more processors 402-406, and recirculation modules 407 (e.g., representing at least a portion of the processing circuitry 320 and the communications circuitry 322 of FIG. 3). Processors 402-406 may include one or more internal levels of cache (not shown) and a bus controller 422 or bus interface unit to direct interaction with the processor bus 412. Processor bus 412, also known as the host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couple the processors 402-406 with the system interface 424. System interface 424 may be connected to the processor bus 412 to interface other components of the system 400 with the processor bus 412. For example, system interface 424 may include a memory controller 418 for interfacing a main memory 416 with the processor bus 412. The main memory 416 typically includes one or more memory cards and a control circuit (not shown). System interface 424 may also include an input/output (I/O) interface 420 to interface one or more I/O bridges 425 or I/O devices with the processor bus 412. One or more I/O controllers and/or I/O devices may be connected with the I/O bus 426, such as I/O controller 428 and I/O device 430, as illustrated.

[0043] I/O device 430 may also include an input device (not shown), such as an alphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys for communicating information and/or command selections to the processors 402-406. Another type of user input device includes cursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating direction information and command selections to the processors 402-406 and for controlling cursor movement on the display device.

[0044] System 400 may include a dynamic storage device, referred to as main memory 416, or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readable devices coupled to the processor bus 412 for storing information and instructions to be executed by the processors 402-406. Main memory 416 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions by the processors 402-406. System 400 may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other static storage device coupled to the processor bus 412 for storing static information and instructions for the processors 402-406. The system outlined in FIG. 4 is but one possible example of a computer system that may employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0045] According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed by computer system 400 in response to processor 404 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 416. These instructions may be read into main memory 416 from another machine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 416 may cause processors 402-406 to perform the process steps described herein. In alternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of the present disclosure may include both hardware and software components.

[0046] A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processing application) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Such media may take the form of, but is not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media and may include removable data storage media, non-removable data storage media, and/or external storage devices made available via a wired or wireless network architecture with such computer program products, including one or more database management products, web server products, application server products, and/or other additional software components. Examples of removable data storage media include Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Disc Read-Only Memory (DVD-ROM), magneto-optical disks, flash drives, and the like. Examples of non-removable data storage media include internal magnetic hard disks, SSDs, and the like. The one or more memory devices 406 may include volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), etc.) and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.).

[0047] Computer program products containing mechanisms to effectuate the systems and methods in accordance with the presently described technology may reside in main memory 416, which may be referred to as machine-readable media. It will be appreciated that machine-readable media may include any tangible non-transitory medium that is capable of storing or encoding instructions to perform any one or more of the operations of the present disclosure for execution by a machine or that is capable of storing or encoding data structures and/or modules utilized by or associated with such instructions. Machine-readable media may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more executable instructions or data structures.

[0048] Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which are described in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.

[0049] Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations together with all equivalents thereof.

[0050] The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0051] Conditional language, such as, among others, can, could, might, or may, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain implementations could include, while other implementations do not include, certain features, elements, and/or operations. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements, and/or operations are in any way required for one or more implementations or that one or more implementations necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input or prompting, whether these features, elements, and/or operations are included or are to be performed in any particular implementation.

[0052] Many modifications and other implementations of the disclosure set forth herein will be apparent having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not to be limited to the specific implementations disclosed and that modifications and other implementations are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

[0053] In this specification, terms denoting direction, such as vertical, up, down, left, right etc. or rotation, should be taken to refer to the directions or rotations relative to the corresponding drawing rather than to absolute directions or rotations unless the context require otherwise.

[0054] Wherever it is used, the word comprising is to be understood in its open sense, that is, in the sense of including, and thus not limited to its closed sense, that is the sense of consisting only of. A corresponding meaning is to be attributed to the corresponding words comprise, comprised and comprises where they appear.

[0055] It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.

[0056] While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments and examples are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all modifications which would be obvious to those skilled in the art are therefore intended to be embraced therein.