Aspects of the present disclosure relate to computationally efficient methods for forecasting values with confidence intervals based on datasets with complex geometries (e.g., time series data).
Forecasting with simultaneous quantification of uncertainty in the forecast has emerged as a problem of practical importance for many application domains, such as: computer vision, time series forecasting, natural language processing, classification, and regression, to name a few. Recent research has focused on deep learning techniques as one possible approach to provide suitable forecasting models, and several approaches have been studied to characterize uncertainty in the deep learning framework, including: dropout, Bayesian neural networks, ensemble-based models, calibration-based models, neural processes, and deep kernel learning. Of these various approaches, deep kernel learning has emerged as a useful framework to forecast values and characterize uncertainty (alternatively, confidence) in the forecasted values simultaneously. In particular, deep kernel learning has proven useful for forecasting time series datasets with complex geometries.
Deep kernel learning combines deep neural network techniques with Gaussian process. In this way, deep kernel learning combines the capacity of approximating complex functions of deep neural network techniques with the flexible uncertainty estimation framework of Gaussian process.
Unfortunately, deep kernel learning is computationally expensive—generally O(n3), where n is the number of training data points. Thus, when applied to organizations' ever larger and more complex datasets, deep kernel learning may require significant amounts of time and processing resources to operate. And as datasets get larger, the problem grows significantly non-linearly. Consequently, organizations are forced to invest significant resource in additional and more powerful on-site computing resources and/or to offload the processing to cloud-based resources, which are expensive and which may create security concerns for certain types of data (e.g., financial data, personally identifiable data, health data, etc.).
Accordingly, what is needed is a framework for reducing the computational complexity of deep kernel learning while still being able to forecast and characterize uncertainty simultaneously.
Certain embodiments provide a method for performing finite rank deep kernel learning, including: receiving a training dataset; forming a set of embeddings by subjecting the training dataset to a deep neural network, wherein the forming comprises minimizing a loss function comprising a data fit loss component, a complexity component, and a regularity loss component; forming, from the set of embeddings, a plurality of dot kernels; linearly combining the plurality of dot kernels to for a composite kernel for a Gaussian process; receiving live data from an application; and predicting a plurality of values and a plurality of uncertainties associated with the plurality of values simultaneously using the composite kernel.
Other embodiments comprise systems configured to perform finite rank deep kernel learning as well as non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums comprising instructions for performing finite rank deep kernel learning.
The following description and the related drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative features of one or more embodiments.
The appended figures depict certain aspects of the one or more embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting of the scope of this disclosure.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the drawings. It is contemplated that elements and features of one embodiment may be beneficially incorporated in other embodiments without further recitation.
Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatuses, methods, processing systems, and computer readable mediums for computationally efficiently forecasting values with confidence intervals, which are particularly well-suited to operate on datasets with complex geometries.
Deep kernel learning is a state-of-the-art method for forecasting with uncertainty bounds (or confidence intervals) that relies upon two underlying machine learning paradigms, namely: deep neural networks and Gaussian processes. In deep kernel learning, the deep neural network is used to learn a kernel operator of a Gaussian process, which is then successively used to forecast with uncertainty bounds.
Described herein is a modelling framework, which may be referred to as finite rank deep kernel learning, which beneficially reduces the computational complexity of deep kernel learning while enhancing deep kernel learning's ability to approximate complex functions and estimate uncertainty (or confidence). Notably, while described in the example context of deep kernel learning throughout, the framework described herein is similarly applicable to other kernel-based techniques where deep neural networks are used to learn the kernel, such as: deep kernel learning for classification and deep neural network-based support vector machines, to name a few.
One feature of finite rank deep kernel learning is a composite kernel (or “expressive” kernel), which is a linear combination of a plurality of simpler linear (or “dot”) kernels. Composite kernels are capable of capturing complex geometries of a dataset, such as where certain regions of the dataset have very different structure as compared to other regions, even verging on discontinuity. Modeling this type of dataset is difficult with conventional machine learning algorithms, such as deep kernel learning, because traditional machine learning algorithms try to learn a global description of a dataset.
In finite rank deep kernel learning, each dot kernel is learned by a deep neural network. Learning simpler dot kernels, which can then be linearly combined into a composite kernel, is easier for the deep neural network to learn because an individual dot kernel represents the local geometry of the dataset rather than the global geometry, which in many cases is more complicated. Because the dot kernels are easier to learn, the overall performance of finite rank deep kernel learning is improved from a processing efficiency standpoint, and any processing device running finite rank deep kernel learning will enjoy improved performance, such as faster operation, lower processing requirements, and less memory usage, as compared to conventional machine learning methods.
Example applications of finite rank deep kernel learning include: regression with confidence bounds, forecasting time series or sequential data (long and short term), and anomaly detection, as a few examples. In regression problems based on a set of dependent variables x, the aim is to predict the value of a response variable y≈f(x)+ε. In a time series forecasting problem, z(t) is either a time series or a sequence. The aim is to forecast z(T+τ) based on {a, b(t), z(t)|t=0, . . . , T}, where a is the time series metadata and b(t) is the exogenous variable. The time series forecasting problem can be formulated as a regression problem where x={a, b(t), z(t)|t=0, . . . , T} and y=z(T+τ) in the framework described herein. In both cases, the output of the model would be a probability distribution of the variable y.
A Gaussian process is a stochastic process (e.g., a collection of random variables indexed by time or space) in which every finite collection of those random variables has a multivariate normal distribution. In other words, every finite linear combination of those variables is normally distributed. The distribution of a Gaussian process is the joint distribution of all those random variables, and as such, it is a distribution over functions within a continuous domain, e.g. time or space.
A machine-learning algorithm that involves a Gaussian process uses learning and a measure of the similarity between points (the kernel function) to predict the value for an unseen point from training data. The prediction is not just an estimate for that point, but also includes uncertainty information because it is a one-dimensional Gaussian distribution (which is the marginal distribution at that point).
Gaussian process is a maximum a posteriori (MAP) framework, which assumes a prior probability distribution over the function space of all possible candidate regressors, and a kernel. Thus, Gaussian process is a flexible and non-parametric framework that can forecast and quantify uncertainty simultaneously.
Generally speaking, there are two approaches to derive the theory of the Gaussian process: weight space view and function space view.
In the weight space view approach, the weights of a regression are assumed to be derived from a probability distribution, which has a Gaussian prior. A maximum a posteriori estimation is utilized to evaluate the posterior, which is then used to weigh predictions for test points for different weight configurations.
In the function space view approach, the candidate regressor functions are assumed to be sampled from a probability distribution of functions. The kernel operator models the covariance, and the posterior distribution is used to average the predictions made by individual regressors. The following outlines the equations for the function space viewpoint.
Initially, let X={x1, . . . , xn} be the training features, where xi∈d, and f(X):={f(x1), . . . f(xn)} is sampled from a distribution (0, KX,X), where KX,X∈n×n is comprised of the value of the kernel operator evaluated at every pair of training data points. Further, let y denote the response variable corresponding to the training data points. It can be shown that:
Selection of the kernel function in Gaussian process is a non-trivial task, as depending on the geometry of the data, the right similarity or kernel function needs to be identified.
A loss function may be constructed as the log likelihood on the posterior distribution of the Gaussian process, and during the model training, the error is successively back-propagated to find the optimal embedding and the radial basis function scale parameter.
Notably, the algorithmic complexity of Gaussian process is O(n3), where n is the number of training data points. In order to reduce the computational complexity, a framework is described herein to derive the kernel with a complexity of O(n) without any approximation of the kernel.
In the deep kernel learning framework, a deep neural network is used to learn an embedding, which is acted upon by a radial basis function (RBF) to create the kernel. A radial basis function (RBF) is a real-valued function ϕ whose value depends only on the distance from the origin, so that ϕ(x)=ϕ(∥x∥); or alternatively on the distance from some other point c, called a center, so that ϕ(x, c)=ϕ(∥x−c∥). Sums of radial basis functions may be used to approximate given functions. This approximation process can also be interpreted as a simple kind of neural network.
The imposition of a radial basis function kernel adds an additional structure to the kernel operator, which is a continuous operator. However, such kernels may not be adequate to represent the geometry of an arbitrary dataset, especially in cases where the dataset has widely varying local geometries (as discussed, for example, with respect to
Two challenges of conventional deep kernel learning are reducing computational cost without approximating the kernel function and the representation power of the kernel function. The finite rank deep kernel learning framework described herein enhance the representation power, while at the same time reducing the computational complexity. In other words, the framework described herein improves the performance of any machine upon which it is running (through reduced computation complexity) as well as improves the performance of whatever application it is supporting (through improved representation power).
Let X be an arbitrary topological space, which is a feature space of a regression. Let H be the Hilbert space of the bounded real valued functions defined on X. Initially, a kernel operator K:X×X→ is called positive definite when the following is true:
With the aid of the Riesz Representation Theorem, it can be shown that for all x∈X, there exists an element Kx∈H, such that f(x)=f, Lx, where ⋅,⋅ is an inner product, with which the Hilbert Space H is endowed. Next, a reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H (RKHS) may be defined, which constructs an operator K(x, y) as an inner product of two elements Kx and Ky from the Hilbert space H. A reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H may be defined as:
From the definition of the reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H, it can be observed that the reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H satisfies the conditions of the positive definite kernel operators, as described above. Moreover, the Moore Aronszajn Theorem proves that for any symmetric positive definite kernel operator K, there exists a Hilbert space H for which it is the reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H, or in other words, the operator satisfies K(x, y):=Kx, Ky, where Kx and Ky belong to the Hilbert space H of the real valued bounded functions on X. Notably, Kx and Ky can be discontinuous.
It also can be noted that the space of the reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H may be very rich in terms of the complexity, and no a priori assumption need be made on the smoothness of the operator. An example of a reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H, which is non-smooth is as follows:
Thus, K=δ is a symmetric and positive definite kernel, but is non-smooth.
Next, a subclass of the reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space H may be considered, which is continuous in addition to being symmetric and positive definite. Such kernels are called Mercer kernels. Mercer's Decomposition Theorem provides a decomposition of such an arbitrary kernel into the Eigen functions, which are continuous themselves. For example, for any continuous reproducing kernel for the Hilbert space K(x, y), the following condition is satisfied:
Kernel operators may be thought of as similarity functions that capture relationships between points in a dataset.
Kernel functions used in existing deep kernel learning methods are primarily radial basis function kernels and polynomial kernels and consequently form a small set of possible kernel functions to represent a potentially rich and complex dataset. These kernels are primarily rank 1 (e.g., 102), which constitute a smaller subspace of possible kernels as depicted in
By contrast, finite rank deep kernel learning expresses a composite kernel as a sum of multiple simpler dot kernels, which cover the space of finite rank Mercer kernels 104, as depicted in
As depicted in
Notably, a Mercer kernel generally has countable rank i.e. any Mercer kernel can be expressed as a sum of countable rank 1 kernels. For example, ϕi(x)ϕi(y) is a rank 1 kernel. Generally, a Mercer kernel K(x, y) is of finite rank R if it can be expressed as follows:
In some cases, kernels used in machine learning are rank 1 Mercer kernels, which have σ1=1, and σi=0 for i≥2. For example, popular kernels used in machine learning, such as a polynomial kernel (k(x, y)=(x′y+c)d) and a Radial Basis Function kernel
are rank 1 Mercer kernels. Generally, any rank 1 Mercer kernel may be expressed as K(x, y)=c(x), c(y) for some continuous function c.
As above, Mercer kernels 106 form a subspace of the reproducing kernels for the Hilbert space 108. Similarly, rank 1 Mercer kernels 102 form a smaller subspace of the Mercer kernels 106, as depicted in
It is desirable to create a set of kernels that have greater representational power. One method is to use a finite rank Mercer kernel to represent a richer class of kernels, which may be represented as follows:
This kernel selection technique is useful when using deep neural networks to learn the embeddings ϕi, especially where a dataset has widely differing local geometries, because the deep neural network could decompose the embeddings ϕi into orthogonal embeddings.
Notably, any arbitrary finite rank Mercer kernel can be approximated by a deep neural network. Thus, for any Mercer kernel:
The Gaussian process kernel may be modeled as follows:
A penalty term to the cost may be introduced, as follows:
Below it will be shown further that the inversion of the matrix (Kγ+σ2I)−1, and the determinant computation |Kγ+σ2I| can be further simplified, and as a consequence the optimization can be done in batches.
The main computational bottleneck in deep kernel learning concerns the inversion of the kernel operator, which as above has computational complexity O(n3). As shown below, methods described herein can reduce the computational complexity of calculating a loss function, such as negative log-likelihood, to O(n), which gives substantial performance improvements when training models.
The optimizations discussed herein are based on the following lemmas. First, according to the Sherman-Morrison formula, suppose A∈n×n and u, v∈n are column vectors, then A+uvT is invertible if and only if 1+vTA−1u≠0, which in this case gives the following:
Second, according to a matrix determinant lemma, suppose A is an invertible square matrix and u, v are column vectors, then the matrix determinant lemma states that:
Thus, as above, a finite rank kernel with orthogonal basis functions may be defined as:
The negative log-likelihood, which conventionally requires computationally costly matrix inversions, can then be reformulated in part using Lemma 1 as follows:
Thus, there is no inversion necessary for this part of the negative log-likelihood calculation. Further, Lemma 2 can be used as follows:
From these two formulations, the resulting equation for negative log-likelihood is shown below and is order O(n) because there are no matrix inversion necessary:
Thus, training a model using these formulations is significantly more efficient than with conventional methods that require matrix inversion.
Based on the above formulations, total loss may be decomposed into the following loss components:
Inferencing with a finite rank deep kernel learning model may also be optimized to O(n), which provides the same significant improvement when such a model is being used, for example by an application, such as described in more detail below.
First, the mean value of predictions E[y*] may be calculated as follows:
Thus, the computational cost of the expectation is linear with respect to the size of the training or testing dataset, specifically O((N+N*)R).
Second, the uncertainty bounds of the predictions cov [y*] may be calculated as follows:
Here again, the computational cost of the uncertainty bounds are also linear with respect to the size of the training or testing dataset, specifically O((N+N*)R).
As depicted in
It is apparent from the simulation results that the bag of neural network method (
By contrast, the finite rank deep kernel learning method (
In this example, the Gaussian process (
By contrast, the finite rank deep kernel learning method (
In this example, the normalized root mean squared error values were found to be 0.41 for deep kernel learning (
Taken collectively,
Flow 700 then proceeds to step 704 where the training data 703 is fed to a deep neural network. The outputs of the deep neural network are embeddings 705. As described above, by changing the loss function to emphasize orthogonality of the embeddings, the resulting embeddings may be approximately orthogonal.
Flow 700 then proceeds to step 706 where a plurality of dot kernels 707 are constructed from the approximately orthogonal embeddings. As described above, each of the dot kernels may be a finite rank Mercer kernel.
Flow 700 then proceeds to step 708 where the plurality of dot kernels are linearly combined into a composite (i.e., expressive) kernel 709.
Flow 700 then proceeds to step 710 where the composite kernel is used as the basis of a finite rank deep kernel learning predictive model. For example, the predictive model may act on live data 711 to create predictions for application 712. Notably, in this example, predictive model 710 has two outputs: (1) predicted values, which are mean values based on the predictions from each dot kernel; and (2) confidences associated with the predicted values.
Flow 700 concludes at step 714 where an application 712, such as computer vision, time series forecasting, natural language processing, classification, and regression, or those described in more detail below, uses the outputs of the predictive model 710 to provide an application-specific output 714.
Method 900 begins at step 902 with receiving a training dataset. As described above, in some embodiments the training dataset may comprise training data with complex geometries, such as datasets including multiple discontinuous portions.
Method 900 then proceeds to step 904 with forming a set of embeddings by subjecting the training dataset to a deep neural network. In some embodiments, forming the set of embeddings comprises minimizing a loss function. In some embodiments, the loss function comprises: one or more of:
a complexity component=Σi=1R log(σ2+∥ϕi(X)∥22)+(N−R)log σ2; or
Method 900 then proceeds to step 906 with forming, from the set of embeddings, a plurality of dot kernels. In some embodiments, Σi,j,i≠j(ϕi(x, ω)Tϕj(x, ω))2 is minimized as a cost function to maintain an orthogonality of the set of embeddings when forming the set of embeddings.
In some embodiments, the orthogonality of the set of embeddings is optimized based on a cost function, wherein the cost function includes a penalty term λ associated with orthogonality of the set of embeddings. In some embodiments, the cost function may be implemented as:
Method 900 then proceeds to step 908 with linearly combining the plurality of dot kernels to form a composite kernel. In one embodiment, the composite Kernel for the Gaussian process is modeled as a linear combination of the plurality of dot kernels as: K(x, y)=Σi=1Rϕi(x, ω)ϕi(y, ω). In some embodiments, the composite kernel for the Gaussian process is a finite rank Mercer kernel.
Method 900 then proceeds to step 910 with receiving live data from an application. In this example, live data is distinguished from training data in that it is data the model has not yet seen. In one embodiment, the live data comprises financial data. In another embodiment, the live data comprises resource utilization data. In yet another embodiment, the live data is user activity data (e.g., user log data captured on systems used by users or accessed by users).
Method 900 then proceeds to step 912 with predicting a plurality of values and a plurality of uncertainties associated with the plurality of values simultaneously using the composite kernel.
In some embodiments, predicting the plurality of values comprises determining a mean value of each prediction E[y*] of the plurality of predictions according to:
In some embodiments, predicting the plurality of uncertainties comprises: determining a covariance of each prediction (cov [y*]) of the plurality of predictions according to:
and determining a variance of each prediction y* a diagonal of the of cov [y*].
In one embodiment, the application is a financial management application, the plurality of values comprises a plurality of predicted future financial transactions, and each uncertainty of the plurality of uncertainties associated with a respective predicted future financial transaction estimates a range of values of the respective predicted future transaction.
In another embodiment, the application is a resource management application, the plurality of values comprises a plurality of predicted resources needs, and each uncertainty of the plurality of uncertainties associated with a respective predicted future resource need estimates a range of values of the respective resource need.
In yet another embodiment, the application is a resource access control application, the plurality of values comprises a plurality of predicted user activities, and each uncertainty of the plurality of uncertainties associated with a respective predicted future user activity estimates a range of values of the respective user activity.
Notably,
In this example, personalized cash flow forecasting begins with collecting and grouping transaction data at 1002, such as invoices, sales, payroll, taxes, and others. In some cases, each of these types of transactions may be analyzed at 1004 to determine patterns in the data.
The transaction data may then be used for finite rank deep kernel learning in order to build a finite rank deep kernel learning model, such as described above (e.g., with respect to
The model (not shown) may then generate predictions. In some cases, such as shown in this example, the model may predict different sorts of transactions with different kernels of a composite kernel, which may account for different behavior of different transaction types. The model (or models) may be used to predict, for example, cash in and cash out, as shown at 1008. These may then be combined to predict a personalized cash flow as shown at 1010. Further, different kernels can also represent different behavior of transactions across different time intervals for same transaction types.
Finite rank deep kernel learning is broadly applicable to any application where forecasting or prediction with uncertainty estimation (e.g., confidence intervals) is desirable. In particular, finite rank deep kernel learning may improve application and processing system performance where the underlying dataset is large and complex (e.g., in terms of geometry).
A first example application is cash flow forecasting e.g., for providing financial services. For example, a financial services organization may seek to provide cash flow forecasting services to users of a financial planning application. Because cash flow, when considered as a time series dataset, tends to be complex and discontinuous, finite rank deep kernel learning (as described herein) is a desirable methodology. Moreover, because the organization offering the financial services may have many customers with much data that can be aggregated, finite rank deep kernel learning may significantly improve the performance of the financial planning application in terms of accuracy of cash flow forecasts, confidence in cash flow forecasts, speed of generating the forecasts, and efficiency of computing resources used to produce the forecasts and uncertainty estimations (e.g., confidence intervals).
The prediction of financial transactions (e.g., cash flow) over time along with confidence intervals can improve the types of financial services offered to users. This is especially true where an organization wants to limit “false positive” alerts, such as an alert that the user's predicted cash flow would underrun their current bank account balance. Thus, the confidence interval can improve the ability to tune such alerts for user experience.
A second example application is forecasting computer resource utilization, including local and cloud-based resources. Computer resource utilization is particularly challenging to forecast over longer periods of time given it has cyclical and non-cyclical elements in addition to significant variability at any given time. This sort of complex geometry time series data is again an excellent candidate for analysis by a finite rank deep kernel learning model. In particular, in addition to creating better forecasts of resource utilization (and therefore needs) as compared to conventional modelling methods, finite rank deep kernel learning provides more accurate confidence intervals on the forecasts, which allows for strategic planning. For example, accurately forecasting computing resource utilization may create the opportunity to contract for cloud-based resources well in advance for better prices than spot prices for on-demand needs. Similarly, accurately forecasting computing resource utilization may create the opportunity to plan for resource expansion and allocate budget over a longer period of time. Further yet, the use of finite rank deep kernel learning may be a contributing factor in reducing resource utilization based on its significantly more efficient performance characteristics as compared to conventional modelling methods.
A third example application is detecting anomalous behavior to identify security risks e.g., from user log data or cloud based application logs. By nature, the more data captured regarding user behavior provides for more opportunities for detecting anomalies. But historically, significantly increasing the amount of captured user data (e.g., log data), meant likewise significantly increasing the amount of data that needed processing, the time to process it, the time to train models, etc. However, by using a computationally efficient method such as finite rank deep kernel learning, more data can be captured and processed without the conventional unsustainable increase in processing demand. Further, finite rank deep kernel learning creates more accurate confidence bounds, the detection accuracy (e.g., of anomalous behavior) is improved because the confidence of what is and is not anomalous is likewise improved.
A fourth example application is resource planning, for example, for online customer support. Some organizations may have significantly variable seasonal human resource needs. By way of example, a tax preparation organization may require significantly more human resources during tax preparation season as compared to the off-season. However, this sort of need is difficult to forecast given the complex nature of the underlying data. Finite rank deep kernel learning is well-suited for this task because it can learn with significant granularity local patterns in datasets. For example, as described above, the dot kernels provide a means for capturing localized data trends in a dataset while still creating a forecast that matches the characteristics of the dataset as a whole.
Many other example applications exist. Because the aforementioned application examples all likely involve very large datasets, the finite rank deep kernel learning method disclosed herein would significant improve processing system performance in terms of processing cycles, total cycle time, memory usage, and others.
Processing system 1200 includes a CPU 1202 connected to a data bus 1230. CPU 1202 is configured to process computer-executable instructions, e.g., stored in memory 1210 or storage 1220, and to cause processing system 1200 to perform methods as described herein, for example with respect to
Processing system 1200 further includes input/output device(s) 1204 and input/output interface(s) 1206, which allow processing system 1200 to interface with input/output devices, such as, for example, keyboards, displays, mouse devices, pen input, and other devices that allow for interaction with processing system 1200.
Processing system 1200 further includes network interface 1208, which provides processing system 1200 with access to external networks, such as network 1214.
Processing system 1200 further includes memory 1210, which in this example includes a plurality of components.
For example, memory 1210 includes deep neural network component 1212, which is configured to perform deep neural network functions as described above.
Memory 1210 further includes embedding component 1214, which is configured to determine embeddings based on output from neural deep neural network component 1212. For example, embedding component 1214 may identify orthogonal embeddings for use in creating a plurality of dot kernels.
Memory 1210 further includes dot kernel component 1216, which is configured to determine dot kernels based on the embeddings determined by embedding component 1214.
Memory 1210 further includes composite kernel component 1218, which is configured to create composite (i.e., expressive) kernels from the dot kernels determined by dot kernel component 1216. For example, composite kernel component 1218 may be configured to linearly combine a plurality of dot kernels to determine a composite kernel.
Note that while shown as a single memory 1210 in
Processing system 1200 further includes storage 1220, which in this example includes training data 1222, live data 1224, and model parameters 1226. Training data 1222 may be, as described above, data used to train a finite rank deep kernel learning model. Live data 1224 may be data provided, for example, by an application, which is to be acted upon by the finite rank deep kernel leaning model. Model parameters 1226 may be parameters related to, for example, the deep neural network used to determine embeddings, as described above.
While not depicted in
As with memory 1210, a single storage 1220 is depicted in
The preceding description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various embodiments described herein. The examples discussed herein are not limiting of the scope, applicability, or embodiments set forth in the claims. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments. For example, changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements discussed without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various examples may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For instance, the methods described may be performed in an order different from that described, and various steps may be added, omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to some examples may be combined in some other examples. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover such an apparatus or method that is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to, or other than, the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.
As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects.
As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of items refers to any combination of those items, including single members. As an example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples of the same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b, b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).
As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing and the like.
The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions for achieving the methods. The method steps and/or actions may be interchanged with one another without departing from the scope of the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions is specified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified without departing from the scope of the claims. Further, the various operations of methods described above may be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s) and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally, where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations may have corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components with similar numbering.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
A processing system may be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include any number of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specific application of the processing system and the overall design constraints. The bus may link together various circuits including a processor, machine-readable media, and input/output devices, among others. A user interface (e.g., keypad, display, mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus may also link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals, voltage regulators, power management circuits, and other circuit elements that are well known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further. The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/or special-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors, microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can execute software. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implement the described functionality for the processing system depending on the particular application and the overall design constraints imposed on the overall system.
If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or any combination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, such as any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. The processor may be responsible for managing the bus and general processing, including the execution of software modules stored on the computer-readable storage media. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. By way of example, the computer-readable media may include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data, and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions stored thereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed by the processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition, the computer-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integrated into the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or general register files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in a computer-program product.
A software module may comprise a single instruction, or many instructions, and may be distributed over several different code segments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media. The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules. The software modules include instructions that, when executed by an apparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to perform various functions. The software modules may include a transmission module and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in a single storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices. By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a hard drive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the software module, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache to increase access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into a general register file for execution by the processor. When referring to the functionality of a software module, it will be understood that such functionality is implemented by the processor when executing instructions from that software module.
The following claims are not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language of the claims. Within a claim, reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specifically so stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “step for.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims.
This Application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/944,019, filed Jul. 30, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/882,984, filed Aug. 5, 2019, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62882984 | Aug 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16944019 | Jul 2020 | US |
Child | 18636716 | US |