Claims:We Claim:
1. A method for encrypting data for transmission over a communication channel, the method comprising:
generating, by a generation engine, a cover image by equating the one or more 2D images associated with a user and a 3D image, wherein the 3D image is based on the one or more 2D images;
embedding, by a multimodal steganography engine, a plurality of biometric features extracted from the one or more 2D images with a masked image resulting in generation of a stego-image, wherein the masked image is generated upon masking the data with the cover image; and
creating, by an image visual cryptography engine, one or more shares from a plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image using random visual cryptography, wherein the stego-image is divided into the plurality of sub-bands;
encrypting, by an encryption engine, the one or more shares through a public key and storing in a blockchain placed in a cloud space, wherein the one or more shares are stored upon dividing into a plurality of blocks and interlinked through a hash value; and
displaying, at a hologram engine, the decrypted data.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
decrypting, by a decryption engine, the one or more shares through a private key associated with the public key at the server;
validating, by a validation engine, the one or more shares using at least one smart contract upon decryption;
combining, by a combining engine, the one or more shares upon validation to generate the plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image;
authenticating, by an authentication engine, the user based on the one or more biometric features, wherein the one or more biometric features are extracted from the stego-image at the server;
displaying, by a hologram engine, a hologram associated with the data fetched from the stego image.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the authentication is based on comparing the one or more biometric features extracted from the stego-image with one or more previously stored biometric features associated with the user at the blockchain in the cloud space.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of biometric features comprises facial features and a finger print associated with the user.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data is a confidential image.
6. A system (102) for encrypting data for transmission over a communication channel, the system (102) comprising:
a generation engine (210) configured to generate a cover image by equating the one or more 2D images associated with a user and a 3D image, wherein the 3D image is based on the one or more 2D images;
a multimodal steganography engine (212), configured to embed a plurality of biometric features with a masked image resulting in generation of a stego-image, wherein the masked image is generated upon masking the data with the cover image;
an image visual cryptography engine (214) configured to create one or more shares from a plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image using random visual cryptography, wherein the stego-image is divided into the plurality of sub-bands; and
an encryption engine (216) configured to encrypt the one or more shares through a public key and storing in a blockchain placed in a cloud space, wherein the one or more shares are stored upon dividing into a plurality of blocks and interlinked through a hash value;
displaying at a hologram engine, the decrypted data.
7. The system (102) as claimed in claim 6, further comprising:
a decryption engine (218) configured to decrypt the one or more shares through a private key associated with the public key at the server;
a validation engine (220) configured to validate the one or more shares using at least one smart contract upon decryption;
a combining engine (222) configured to combine the one or more shares upon validation to generate the plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image;
an authentication engine (224) configured to authenticate the user based on the one or more biometric features, wherein the one or more biometric features are extracted from the stego-image at the server; and
a hologram engine (226) configured to display a hologram associated with the data fetched from the stego image.
8. The system (102) as claimed in claim 7, wherein the authentication is based on comparing the one or more biometric features extracted from the stego-image with one or more previously stored biometric features associated with the user at the blockchain in the cloud space.
9. The system (102) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of biometric features comprises facial features and a finger print associated with the user.
10. The system (102) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data is a confidential image.

Dated this 28th day of June 2021.
RUBINA AFZAL
AGENT FOR THE APPLICANTS
IN/PA No. 3586

, Description:
FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10 and Rule 13]

1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RULE BASED VISUAL CRYPTO-
STEGANOGRAPHY METHOD FOR SECURE DATA COMMUNICATION IN IOT SYSTEM USING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY”

2. APPLICANT
a) JAHNAVI S,
b) a national of India,
c) of Assistant Professor, CSE Department, Dayananda Sagar Academy of Technology and Management, Karnataka 560082, India; and

a) Dr. C. NANDINI,
b) a national of India,
c) of Vice Principal, Professor and Head, CSE Department, Dayananda Sagar Academy of Technology and Management, Karnataka 560082, India;

3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

[001] FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[002] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to data transmission and particularly to a method and system for encrypting data for transmission over a communication channel.
[003] DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[004] Traditionally, security application for the banking sector, the transmission of sensitive documents in government wings, large corporations uses a traditional cryptographic technique like AES, DES, and RSA. But securing the biometric data which is used for authentication over the communication channel or cloud has more sensitive and vital data. The sensitive and vital data during transmission is vulnerable to attacks as the existence of the sensitive and vital data is not hidden.
[005] There is thus a need for a system and method to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.
[006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[007] Embodiments according to the present invention provide a system for encrypting data for transmission over a communication channel. The system a generation engine configured to generate a cover image by equating the one or more 2D images associated with a user and a 3D image. Further, the 3D image is based on the one or more 2D images. The system includes a multimodal steganography engine configured to embed a plurality of biometric features extracted from the one or more 2D images with a masked image resulting in generation of a stego-image. The masked image is generated upon masking the data with the cover image. The system includes an image visual cryptography engine configured to create one or more shares from a plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image using random visual cryptography. The stego-image is divided into the plurality of sub-bands. The system includes an encryption engine configured to encrypt the one or more shares through a public key and storing in a blockchain placed in a cloud space. The one or more shares are stored upon dividing into a plurality of blocks and interlinked through a hash value; and displaying at a hologram engine, the decrypted data.
[008] Embodiments according to the present invention further provide a method for encrypting data for transmission over a communication channel. The method includes generating, by a generation engine, a cover image by equating the one or more 2D images associated with a user and a 3D image. Further, the 3D image is based on the one or more 2D images. The method includes embedding, by a multimodal steganography engine, a plurality of biometric features extracted from the one or more 2D images with a masked image resulting in generation of a stego-image. The masked image is generated upon masking the data with the cover image. The method includes creating, by an image visual cryptography engine, one or more shares from a plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image using random visual cryptography. The stego-image is divided into the plurality of sub-bands. The method includes encrypting, by an encryption engine, the one or more shares through a public key and storing in a blockchain placed in a cloud space. The one or more shares are stored upon dividing into a plurality of blocks and interlinked through a hash value. The method further includes displaying of the decrypted data at the hologram engine.
[009] These and other advantages will be apparent from the present application of the embodiments described herein.
[0010] The preceding is a simplified summary to provide an understanding of some embodiments of the present invention. This summary is neither an extensive nor exhaustive overview of the present invention and its various embodiments. The summary presents selected concepts of the embodiments of the present invention in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detailed description presented below. As will be appreciated, other embodiments of the present invention are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The above and still further features and advantages of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of embodiments thereof, especially when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 illustrates an environment including a system for encrypting data for transmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram of the system for encrypting data for transmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 3a illustrates an operational flow diagram depicting a process for encrypting data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0015] FIG. 3b illustrates an operational flow diagram depicting a process for decrypting the one or more shares for accessing the data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram depicting a method for encrypting data for transmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0017] The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including but not limited to. To facilitate understanding, like reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate like elements common to the figures. Optional portions of the figures may be illustrated using dashed or dotted lines, unless the context of usage indicates otherwise.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] The following description includes the preferred best mode of one embodiment of the present invention. It will be clear from this description of the invention that the invention is not limited to these illustrated embodiments but that the invention also includes a variety of modifications and embodiments thereto. Therefore, the present description should be seen as illustrative and not limiting. While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, it should be understood, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but, on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.
[0019] In any embodiment described herein, the open-ended terms "comprising," "comprises,” and the like (which are synonymous with "including," "having” and "characterized by") may be replaced by the respective partially closed phrases "consisting essentially of," consists essentially of," and the like or the respective closed phrases "consisting of," "consists of, the like.
[0020] As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” designate both the singular and the plural, unless expressly stated to designate the singular only.
[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates an environment 100 including a system 102 for encrypting data for transmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the data may be visual data such as an image, and a video, and the like. In an embodiment, the system 102 may be based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) rule based visual crypto-steganography. In an embodiment, the data may be transmitted from a transmission point by a user upon encryption and received at a receiving point. Further, the data may be decrypted to authenticate the user.
[0022] According to the novel aspect of the present subject matter, the system 102 may be configured to generate a cover image based on one or more 2D images associated with a user. In an embodiment, the cover image may be generated by equating one or more 2D images and a 3D image. In an embodiment, the 3D image may be based on one or more 2D images.
[0023] Upon generation of the cover image, the system 102 may be configured to extract one or more biometric features from one or more 2D images. Moving forward, the system 102 may be configured to embed one or more biometric features with a masked image in order to generate a stego-image. In an embodiment, the masked image may be generated upon masking the data for transmission with the cover image generated from one or more 2D images and the 3D image.
[0024] Continuing with the above embodiment, the system 102 may be configured to divide the stego-image into a number of sub-bands. Moving forward, the system 102 may be configured to create one or more shares from the number of sub-bands generated upon dividing the stego-image.
[0025] Moving forward, the system 102 may be configured to perform the encryption on one or more shares based on a public key. Moving forward, the system 102 may be configured to divide the one or more shares into a number of blocks. Upon dividing the one or more shares into the number of blocks, the system 102 may be configured to store the number of blocks at a blockchain-based server. In an embodiment, the blockchain-based server may be a cloud server. In an embodiment, the number of blocks may be interlinked with one another through a hashing function.
[0026] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic block diagram 200 of the system 102 for encrypting data for transmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the encryption may be based on a block-chain based technology at a cloud server. In an embodiment, the transmission may be over a communication channel. Further, the data may be an image, a video, and the like. In an embodiment, the data upon transmission preceded by encryption at a first end of the transmission may be decrypted at a second end. In an embodiment, encryption may include embedding one or more biometric features associated with a user into the data. In an embodiment, the embedding may be based on a multimodal cryptographic technique.
[0027] in an example, the system 102 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, data 206, an Internet of Things (IoT) device 208, a generation generator 210, a multimodal steganography 212, an image visual cryptography engine 214, an encryption engine 216, a decryption engine 218, a validation engine 220, a combining engine 222, an authentication engine 224, and a hologram engine 226. In an embodiment, the processor 202, the memory 204, the data 206, the IoT device 208, the generation generator 210, the multimodal steganography engine 212, the image visual cryptography engine 214, the encryption engine 216, the decryption engine 218, the validation engine 220, the combining engine 222, the authentication engine 224, and the hologram engine 226 may be communicably coupled to one another.
[0028] Further, the system 102 may be understood as one or more of a hardware, a configurable hardware. In an embodiment, the processor 202 may be a single processing unit. In another embodiment, the processor 202 may be a number of units. Further, the processor 202 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, microcomputers, central processing units, multiprocessors, logic circuitries, field programmable gate arrays. The processor 202 may further be configured to fetch and execute instructions from the data stored in the memory 204.
[0029] In an example, the memory 204 may include a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a volatile memory, a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) and a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), a non-volatile memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disks. In an embodiment, the memory 204 may include the data 206.
[0030] The data 206 serves as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the processor 202, the memory 204, the data 206, the IoT device 208, the generation engine 210, the multimodal steganography engine 212, the image visual cryptography engine 214, the encryption engine 216, the decryption engine 218, the validation engine 220, the combining engine 222, the authentication engine 224, and the hologram engine 226.
[0031] According to the novel aspects of the present subject matter, the IoT device 208 may be configured to capture a one or more biometric features associated with a user upon clicking one or more 2D images of the user. In an embodiment, the one or more 2D images may include a face and one or more fingers of the user. Examples of the IoT device 208 may include, but are not limited to, a camera, a video recorder, and a biometric reader. Examples of the one or more biometric features may include, but are not limited to, facial features, and a fingerprint of the user.
[0032] In an embodiment, the facial features may be extracted based on a Relational Bit Operator (RBO) method and a fingerprint minutiae. In an embodiment, the one or more biometric features may be stored as the data 206 in the memory 204 as referred above.
[0033] Moving forward, the generation engine 210 may be configured to generate a 3D image from the one or more 2D images. In an embodiment, the generation engine 210 may be configured to generate a cover image based on the one or more 2D images and the 3D image. In an embodiment, the cover image may be referred as "N". In an embodiment, the generation engine 210 may be configured to generate the cover image by aggregating the one or more 2D images with the 3D image. In an embodiment, the one or more 2D images may include a set of axial co-ordinates (x' y', and ?) and the 3D image may include a set of axial co-ordinates (x, y, and z). Furthermore, equating the one or more 2D image with the 3D image may result in generation of the N(xx', yy, and z?).
[0034] Continuing with the above embodiment, the multimodal steganography engine 212 may be configured to function based on a multimodal steganography technique. In an embodiment, the multimodal steganography engine 212 may be configured to generate a masked image by masking the cover image with the data. Moving forward, the multimodal steganography engine 212 may be configured to generate a stego-image based on the one or more biometric features and the masked image. In an embodiment, the multimodal steganography engine 212 may be configured to embed the one or more biometric features with the masked image for generating the stego-image.
[0035] Subsequent to generation of the stego-image, the image visual cryptography engine 214 may be configured to create one or more shares. In an exemplary embodiment, the one or more shares may be six. In an embodiment, the one or more shares may be colorless, meaningless, and clueless in terms of attributes. In an embodiment, the image visual cryptography engine 214 may be based on a random image visual cryptography technique. In an embodiment, the one or more shares may be generated upon dividing the stego-image into a number of sub-bands. In an exemplary embodiment, the number of sub-bands may be four. Further, the image visual cryptography engine 214 may be configured to generate the one or more shares from the number of sub-bands.
[0036] Continuing with the above embodiment, the encryption engine 216 may be configured to perform an encryption operation on the one or more shares. In an embodiment, prior to the encryption operation, the encryption engine 216 may be configured to divide the one or more shares into a number of blocks. Further, the encryption engine 216 may be configured to store the number of blocks at a blockchain-based cloud server based on an individual unique identity. In an embodiment, the encryption engine 216 may be configured to encrypt the number of blocks through a public key. Further, the key is encrypted based on DES.
[0037] Furthermore, for decrypting the encrypted number of blocks and fetch the data, the number of blocks may be accessed by the block-chain based cloud server.
[0038] Continuing with the above embodiment, the decryption engine 218 may be configured to decrypt the one or more shares through a private key. In an embodiment, the private key may be associated with the public key utilized to encrypt the one or more share divided into the number of blocks.
[0039] Subsequent to decrypting the one or more shares, the validation engine 220 may be configured to validate the one or more shares. In an embodiment, the validation may be based on at least one smart contract upon decryption.
[0040] Moving forward, upon validation of the one or more shares, the combining engine 222 may be configured to generate the number of sub-bands. In an embodiment, the combining engine 222 may be configured to function based on the random visual cryptography technique. In an embodiment, the number of sub-bands associated with the stego-image may be generated by combining the one or more shares by the combining engine 222. Furthermore, the number of sub-bands may be combined by the combining engine 222 for generating the stego-image.
[0041] Continuing with the above embodiment, upon generation of the number of sub-bands, the authentication engine 224 may be configured to authenticate the user. In an embodiment, the authentication may be based on the one or more biometric features. In an embodiment, the one or more biometric features may be extracted from the stego-image generated from the number of sub-bands upon combining by the combining engine 222.
[0042] In an embodiment, the authentication of the user may include comparing the one or more biometric features extracted from the stego-image with one or more previously stored biometric features associated with the user. In an embodiment, the one or more previously stored biometric features may be stored at the blockchain-based cloud server.
[0043] Further, upon successful authentication of the user, the hologram engine 226 may be configured to display the data fetched from the stego-image in a form of a hologram. In an embodiment, the hologram engine 226 may function as a display the hologram such that the hologram is related to the data and displays the data in the form of the hologram.
[0044] FIG. 3a illustrates an operational flow diagram 300a depicting a process for encrypting data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the data may be confidential data such as an image, a video, and the like. In an embodiment, the data may be related to geographic borders, military locations, identification information related to a bank application, or the like. In an embodiment, the encryption is based on blockchain technology.
[0045] In an embodiment, the process includes generating (step 302a) one or more 2D images of the user upon receiving a request for authentication. In an embodiment, the IoT device 208 may be configured to click the one or more 2D images as referred in the FIG. 2. In an embodiment, the one or more 2D images is clicked to fetch one or more biometric features related to the user from the one or more 2D images.
[0046] Further, the process may proceed towards gathering (304a) the one or more biometric features from the one or more 2D images related to a user. In an embodiment, the one or more biometric features may be gathered by the IoT device 208 as referred in the FIG. 2 upon extracting the one or more biometric features from the one or more 2D images. Examples of the one or more biometric features may include, but are not limited to, facial features, and a fingerprint of the user. In an embodiment, the facial features may be extracted based on a Relational Bit Operator (RBO) method and a fingerprint minutiae.
[0047] In an embodiment, the process may include converting (306a) a captured face to a 3D image. In an embodiment, the captured face may be interchangeably referred as the one or more 2D images. Further, the 3D image (x,y,z) and the captured face (x’,y’,?) may be equated to generate a N (xx’,yy’,z?) (2b). In an embodiment, the "N" may also be referred as a cover image as referred in the FIG. 2. In an embodiment, the cover image may be generated by the generation engine 210 as referred in the FIG. 2.
[0048] Continuing with the above embodiment, the process may include embedding (step 308a) the one or more biometric features with a masked image for generating a stego-image. In an embodiment, the asked image may be generated based on masking the cover image with the data such that the data may be related to military, geographic boundaries, and secret information. In an embodiment, the embedding may be performed based on a multimodal steganography technique by the multimodal steganography engine 212 as referred in the FIG. 2.
[0049] Moving forward, the process may include generating (step 310a) a number of sub-bands associated with the stego-image. In an embodiment, the number of sub-bands may be generated by the cryptography engine 214. In an exemplary embodiment, the number of sub-bands may be four. Further, generation of the number of sub-bands may be based on dividing the stego-image into the number of sub-bands.
[0050] Subsequent to generation of the number of sub-bands, the process may include generating (step 312a) one or more shares from the stego-image. In an embodiment, the one or more shares may be generated based on a random visual cryptography technique by the image visual cryptography engine 214 as referred in the FIG. 2. In an embodiment, the one or more shares may be generated by dividing the number of sub-bands associated with the stego-image.
[0051] Moving forward, the process may include encrypting (step 314a) the one or more shares. In an embodiment, the encryption may be performed by the encryption engine 216 as referred in the FIG. 2. In an embodiment, the process may include dividing the one or more shares into a number of blocks prior to encryption. In one embodiment, the number of blocks may be generated for the one or more shares. Further, the process may include storing the number of blocks at a blockchain-based cloud server based on an individual unique identity. In an embodiment, the encryption may be performed through a public key. Further, the key is encrypted based on Data Encryption Standard (DES).
[0052] FIG. 3b illustrates an operational flow diagram 300b depicting a process for decrypting the one or more shares for accessing the data, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0053] In an embodiment, for decrypting the encrypted number of blocks and fetch the data, the process may include accessing (step 302b) the number of blocks by the block-chain based cloud server.
[0054] In an embodiment, the process may include validating (step 304b) the number of blocks. In an embodiment, validation may be based on at least one smart contract. In an embodiment, the validation may be performed by the validation engine 220 as referred in the FIG. 2. Further, the validation may be preceded by decrypting the one or more shares through a private key. In an embodiment, the private key may be associated with the public key utilized to encrypt the one or more share divided into the number of blocks. In an embodiment, the decryption may be performed by the decryption engine 218 as referred in the FIG. 2.
[0055] Moving forward, the process may include generating (step 306b) the number of sub-bands based on the random visual cryptography technique. In an embodiment, the number of sub-bands associated with the stego-image may be generated based on one or more shares. In one embodiment, the one or more shares are retrieved using a visual cryptography method. Furthermore, the number of sub-bands may be combined by the combining engine 222 for generating the stego-image.
[0056] In an embodiment, the process may include combining (step 308b) the one or more sub-bands by the combining engine 222 for generating the stego-image. Further, the process may include extracting the one or more biometric features embedded in the stego-image based on the AI rule based multimodal image steganography using a mask image.
[0057] Moving forward, the process may include authenticating (step 310b) the user based on the one or more biometric features. In an embodiment, the authentication of the user may include comparing the one or more biometric features extracted from the stego-image with one or more previously stored biometric features associated with the user. In an embodiment, the one or more previously stored biometric features may be stored at the blockchain-based cloud server. In an embodiment, the authentication may be performed by the authentication engine 224. Further, the process may include displaying the data fetched from the stego-image in a form of a hologram. In an embodiment, the hologram may be displayed by the hologram engine 226 as referred in the FIG. 2.
[0058] FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic block diagram 400 depicting a method for encrypting data for transmission, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. In an embodiment, the data may be a confidential data such as an image, a video, or the like(secret information). In an embodiment, the data may be encrypted before transmission over a communication channel.
[0059] At a block 402, the method includes, generating, by a generation engine, a cover image by equating the one or more 2D images associated with a user and a 3D image, wherein the 3D image is based on the one or more 2D images.
[0060] At a block 404, the method includes, embedding, by a multimodal steganography engine, a plurality of biometric features extracted from the one or more 2D images with a masked image resulting in generation of a stego-image, wherein the masked image is generated upon masking the data with the cover image
[0061] At a block 406, the method includes, creating, by an image visual cryptography engine, one or more shares from a plurality of sub-bands associated with the stego-image using a random visual cryptography, wherein the stego-image is divided into the plurality of sub-bands
[0062] At a block 408, the method includes, encrypting, by an encryption engine, the one or more shares through a public key and storing at a blockchain placed in a cloud space, wherein the one or more shares are stored upon dividing into a plurality of blocks and interlinked through a hashing function.
[0063] In one embodiment, the present subject matter includes a number of advantages including a secure transfer of satellite images, secret information and military border images in the form of data, using an AI rule based Visual crypto-steganography method for data security using IOT system and blockchain for sharing the data. The number of advantages further includes authentication based on biometric features and the data presented in a data visualization tool for further decision making.
[0064] Embodiments of the invention are described above with reference to block diagrams and schematic illustrations of methods and systems according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the diagrams and combinations of blocks in the diagrams can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto one or more general purpose computers, special purpose computers, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce machines, such that the instructions which execute on the computers or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the block or blocks. Such computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means that implement the function specified in the block or blocks.
[0065] While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and various embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
[0066] This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope the invention is defined in the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements within substantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.