Patent Application
20170285902
This document generally relates to modifying settings of an electronic test or measurement instrument.
Electronic test or measurement instruments are able to capture an electrical signal (e.g., a waveform) and present a trace of the captured signal on a display. In addition to displaying the trace of the electrical signal, the electronic test or measurement instrument may be able to apply a mathematical process to the captured waveform. This processing can transform the captured signal and present a transformed version of the captured signal as a separate trace, or extract parameters from the captured waveform.
This document describes techniques, methods, systems, and other mechanisms for modifying settings of an electronic test or measurement instrument.
Particular implementations can, in certain instances, realize one or more of the following advantages. A user may change a source of a trace quickly and with a single user input action. A user may be able to configure traces and other parameters of a test or measurement instrument with fewer user input actions, greater accuracy, and fewer errors.
The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.
This document generally describes modifying settings of an electronic test or measurement instrument.
Each display grid may be a portion of the user interface that can display one or more traces. The traces may illustrate a series of data values that are charted in the grid by time domain (on the x-axis) and amplitude (on the y-axis). The scale and distribution of values represented on each axis may vary from grid to grid. The charted data values do not necessarily have to be acquired and displayed in real time (e.g., within 0.001, 0.01, or 0.1 seconds of being received at a probe). Rather, the trace of data values that are presented in any particular grid can be a representation of a stored trace, a mathematical modification of another trace (whether that other trace be one that is presently being acquired or a trace that is stored), or a zoomed version of another trace (whether that other trace is one that is presently being acquired, that is stored, or that is a mathematical transformation of another trace).
In greater detail, the top-left grid 110 presents two acquisition channel traces. In other words, this grid may display those one or more waveforms that are currently being acquired by the hardware on input channels of the hardware, for example, through the use of oscilloscope probes. In this example, the grid shows two traces, C1 and C2, that represent signals acquired from two respective oscilloscope channels, channels 1 and 2. Trace C1 shows a sinusoidal waveform, and trace C2 shows a flat line (e.g., because the corresponding probe may not be connected to a signal generating source).
The oscilloscope display presents a cursor (5) (sometimes referred to as a “marker” over the display grid 110). A cursor is a measurement user interface element that identifies the values at a particular part of a trace at which the trace and the cursor intersect. In this example, the cursor is a vertical line, and the electronic display can present the voltage value at a location at which the vertical line intersects the trace, and can display the time value at which the vertical line is located (and thus also at the location/voltage which the intersection with the trace occurs). Each grid may include one or more cursors, and the cursors may be vertical cursors (as shown) or horizontal cursors. User input can move the cursors (horizontal movement for a vertical cursor, and vertical movement for a horizontal cursor).
The bottom-left display grid 120 includes multiple mathematical traces F1 and F2. A mathematical trace may be a series of data values that result from the mathematical transformation of another trace. The other trace that serves as a source for the mathematical transformation can be a currently-acquired trace (e.g., those in the upper-left grid 110), a memory trace (e.g., those in upper-right grid 130), or a zoom trace (e.g., those in lower-right grid 140). The mathematical transformation can include taking the source trace and applying a mathematical function to that trace. An example mathematical function can include taking the absolute value of the input trace. For example, applying this mathematical transformation to the sinusoidal acquisition trace C1 that is shown in
Another example mathematical function is an averaging function. This function may average the signals in an input trace waveform over a period of time, which can effectively reduce a display of noise within the waveform. Another example, mathematical function is a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), which can take an input trace and generate a frequency-domain representation of the waveform represented by that input trace. Other mathematical functions can include calculating a derivative of a trace, calculating a log of a trace (in base e or base 10), or calculating a sum of two separate traces.
The top-right display grid 130 shows memory traces M1 and M2 that were previously stored by the electronic device (or that were imported from a remote location, for example, as a file transfer over the Internet). A memory trace may have been a snapshot of a trace that was being acquired in real time (e.g., trace C1), but may also be a snapshot of a math trace or a snapshot of a zoom trace. A memory trace may be a graphical representation of the data values that were stored for the respective trace (or at least a portion thereof).
The bottom-right display grid 140 shows zoomed traces Z1 and Z2. A zoomed trace may show a zoomed portion of source trace. The source trace may be an acquisition trace, a math trace, or a memory trace.
Near the bottom of the user interface is a measurement table (6). The measurement table may display measurements for various traces.
At the bottom of the user interface (from the left to the middle) are groups of trace descriptor buttons (7), (8), (9), and (10). Each trace that is shown in the user interface (e.g., in the grids) may have its own descriptor button. In this example, each descriptor button is a box or user interface element that presents data that identifies characteristics of its respective trace and/or the channel on which the trace occurred. For example, each descriptor button may include the name of its corresponding trace. Here, the name is presented in the upper-left corner of the descriptor button (e.g., as C1, C2, F1, F2, Z1, Z2, M1, and M2).
If the trace uses another trace as a runtime input so that the destination trace updates to reflect runtime changes to the source trace (e.g., as do the mathematical and zoom traces), the descriptor button identifies the input trace in the upper-right portion of the descriptor button. For example, the descriptor button for the F1 math trace (i.e., the left of the two math descriptor buttons (8)) uses the C1 acquisition trace as an input waveform, and therefore applies its mathematical function to the C1 trace (at least the portion that is currently displayed in the user interface). As another example, the descriptor button for the Z1 zoom trace shows that the Z1 zoom trace also uses the C1 acquisition trace as an input waveform. The Z1 zoom trace therefore presents a zoomed version of the C1 acquisition trace. The lower, body portion of each descriptor button shows various other characteristics or settings of the respective trace or channel for which the descriptor button is displaying information. This data can include the scale that is used to present the trace (e.g., the volts per division and the units of time per division).
Each trace can also be associated with various other characteristics that may not be presented by its respective descriptor button. For instance, the math traces may be associated with or otherwise assigned to one of the multiple mathematical functions that are described above, and that are used to compute the respective mathematical trace, but those mathematical functions may not be indicated by each trace's respective descriptor button. As another example, each zoom trace may be associated with zoom factors, which may be scales for zooming the source trace in the x and y directions. As yet another example, the acquisition traces may be associated with a bandwidth limit characteristic (e.g., full bandwidth or 200 MHz bandwidth), a coupling characteristic (e.g., AC or DC coupling), and an input impedance characteristic (e.g., 50 ohm or 1M ohm). User input may specify these additional characteristics, for example, by selecting the respective descriptor button to cause an additional window to appear, in which these characteristics may be specified.
Also at the bottom of the user interface (but to the right) is a timebase descriptor button (11). Next to the timebase descriptor button is a trigger descriptor button (12), which can show the values of the trigger that is applied to the traces/channels in one or multiple of the grids. Below the timebase descriptor is a cursor box 150 (also identified as item 710 in
The user may desire to copy the properties of trace C1 to trace C4, and therefore may select the C1 descriptor button and drag it to and drop it over the C4 descriptor button. Doing so may copy all or at least some of the properties for trace C1 into trace C4. In other words, trace C4 may acquire the bandwidth limits, the coupling, and the input impedance characteristics that are set for trace C1, including additional display characteristics, such as the displayed scale. This updating of trace C4's characteristics can affect the operation of hardware of the electronic device, for example, by changing physical characteristics of the device to set the bandwidth limits, the coupling, and the input impedance of the channel under test. Trace C4, however, may still measure the waveform that is input at the C4 input port.
This copying operation may occur between other descriptor buttons, so long as the initially-selected descriptor button and the descriptor button on which the user released are of a same type (e.g., both acquisition descriptor buttons or both math descriptor buttons). As an example, when copying from a first math descriptor button to a second math descriptor button, the name of the second math descriptor button may remain the same, but the second math descriptor button may be updated with all or at least some of the properties of the first math descriptor button. These properties may include the source, the type of mathematical operation, the scale for the display, etc. A similar type of copying operation may occur for dragging and dropping between memory trace descriptor buttons or two zoom trace descriptor buttons (in which the name stays the same, but all or multiple other characteristics are updated).
A difference between copying between channel descriptor buttons and copying between math or zoom descriptor buttons is that copying between channel descriptor buttons may leave the source channel fixed. This may be because channel traces may be specifically designated as acquiring data for that trace's particular channel, and the source channel may not be modifiable. All other trace characteristics other than name, however, may copy from the source trace to the destination trace.
The copying user interface interaction may include the computing system receiving user input at a location at which a first descriptor button is being displayed (51), dragging that user input to another location of the user interface at which a second descriptor button is being displayed (52), and releasing the user input when it is located over the second descriptor button (53). In some examples, the user may not release his finger from the display during this process (except for the final release at the second descriptor button). As such, the user may perform the copying operation with a single-input user gesture. A similar single-input user gesture can include the user selecting the first descriptor box by clicking a mouse button, dragging the first descriptor box to the second descriptor box while holding down the mouse button, and releasing the mouse button when the cursor hovers over the second descriptor box.
During this drag and drop process, the electronic device may show the descriptor box (or a copy thereof) moving with the location of the user contact with the display to correspond to the location of the user contact with the display (as illustrated in
In some examples, a user may move traces or add traces to a grid by dragging from the descriptor button for a trace and dropping that descriptor button on the grid for which it is to appear (or vice versa). In doing so, if the dragged and dropped trace is on another grid, the trace may either now appear on two grids, or the trace may move from one grid to another.
When the user selects a first descriptor button and drops that descriptor button on a second descriptor button, but the buttons are for different types of traces, another type of operation (e.g., a non-copying operation) may occur.
This user input action for changing a source of a trace is similar in many respects to that for copying trace settings from one trace to another. The user input action may occur using a finger on a touchscreen that drags a descriptor box from one location to another location, may occur using a mouse cursor that drags a descriptor box, or may use touch user input or mouse cursor user input to tap, click, swipe, or otherwise select each of the descriptor boxes.
This source-changing type of user input action may occur between most pairs of descriptor boxes. It is also possible that in some implementations, dragging between two types of the same descriptor box performs a source-changing operation rather than a copying operation (e.g., when the device has been configured to perform source-changing for selection of the same type of descriptor boxes). For example, a user may drag a descriptor box for an acquisition trace, a memory trace, a zoom trace, or even for another math trace (in some examples) onto a descriptor box for a math trace in order to assign the selected trace as the input trace for the math trace.
With a similar dragging operation, a user may change the input to a zoom trace, for example, by dragging a descriptor box for an acquisition trace, a math trace, a memory trace, or a zoom trace (in some examples). Since the acquisition traces do not have an input that is independent of the hardware assigned to each acquisition source, dragging descriptor box from a trace of any type other type may not have an affect. Similarly, dragging a descriptor box for a non-memory trace to a descriptor box for a memory trace may not have an affect (although in some examples such a user input would prompt the computing device to record data for the dragged trace and store it as a new memory trace or overwrite an existing memory trace).
In some implementations, since there may be at least two different types of actions that can occur when a user drags from one descriptor box to another (e.g., either copying or source-changing), the computing system may determine whether the source and destination descriptor boxes are of the same type or are of different types (e.g., where the types are acquisition trace, math trace, memory trace, and zoom trace). In response to such a determination, the computing system may activate the appropriate user input action.
A user may create a “new” descriptor box for any of the types of descriptor boxes in this manner. Creating a new descriptor box may include adding a descriptor box to the display at the location of the “new” descriptor box 310, moving the display of the “new” descriptor box 310 to be adjacent to the newly-created descriptor box (e.g., to the right), and adding a trace that corresponds to the newly-created descriptor box in the body of the display (e.g., in an appropriate display grid).
In some examples, creating a new descriptor box for a trace as described above generates the newly-created trace in a default display grid (e.g., the left-most display grid or the upper-left-most display grid). In some examples, creating the new descriptor box for a trace may generate the newly-created trace in the same display grid as the initially-selected trace descriptor box (e.g., in
In some examples, should the user drag the cursor box to the first grid 720 and release, the cursor box 710 may still show a cursor setting for the first grid 720, but the cursor location (and thus the values in the cursor box) may update to the dropped location in the first grid. In some examples, should the user drag from a location on one of either display grids 720 or 730 and release at the cursor box 710, the cursor box 710 may update to display the cursor from the selected display grid (and in some examples may move the cursor to a location at which the user selected the display grid).
Stated another way, sometimes grids may represent a small range of a very large waveform trace. In this case, it can become problematic to display grid scale labels showing the absolute values with full resolution. This can also cause difficulties in identifying the difference between two consecutive labels. For example, if the waveform trace contains a horizontal range of 2.499999990 s to 2.500000010, representing a horizontal scale of 2 ns/div with a trigger delay of 2.5 s, the grid labels for each division may be drawn as 2.499999990, 2.499999992, 2.499999994, 2.499999996, 2.499999998, 2.5, 2.500000002, 2.500000004, 2.500000006, 2.500000008, and 2.500000010. These labels require a good deal of horizontal space and the differences between adjacent labels can become difficult to quickly discern. An alternative is to draw only one grid label at full resolution at the center or another portion of the display (e.g., at a grid division line) and the remaining grid labels may be drawn as differences (deltas) from this reference.
For given examples, rather than displaying the long numbers above, the grid labels may be drawn as −Δ100 ns, −Δ80 ns, −Δ60 ns, −Δ40 ns, −Δ20 ns, 2.5 s, Δ20 ns, Δ40 ns, Δ60 ns, Δ80 ns, and Δ100 ns. The reference label may be displayed inside the grid, so that the margin area outside the grid does not need to become larger. Otherwise, the long reference label could require the grid area to be reduced. Since the delta labels do not take much space, they can be shown in the normal label positions just outside the grid, but also could be shown inside the grid. In some examples, the electronic device initially displays grid labels that show their entire horizontal range, but upon determining that a length of one or more of the labels exceeds an identified number of values, the electronic device switches to displaying delta labels. As such, as the user zooms into the display and the grid labels become longer and display more resolution, the device can change from displaying absolute labels to delta labels.
The electronic devices described herein permits a user to touch the display with a finger or mouse cursor and pan left/right up/down, in addition to zooming. To enable both of these functions with a single finger (i.e., both panning and zooming) a decision scheme has been employed. With this scheme, the electronic device detects that user input contacted the display, and should the user input move a threshold distance away from the point of initial contact, the electronic device determines the location of the user input and, based on that location, determines which type of user input action to activate.
Stated another way, should the user input move a predetermined distance in a direction (e.g., past the circle boundary in
With a zooming operation, the electronic device may display a box or other shape on the user interface (e.g., as shown in
Should the user invoke a zooming operation, and then release (81) his or her finger or mouse cursor from the display once the box reaches a user-determined size and shape, the electronic device may react by zooming to the area that was presented within the box. The device may zoom by changing a scale of a grid in which the user dragged to create the box, or the device may zoom by presenting a zoom trace (new or updated) in another grid with scale characteristics specified by the zooming operation.
At box 1202, the electronic device presents a user interface on a display of the electronic device. For example, an oscilloscope may present the user interface that is shown in
At box 1204, the user interface includes a display of a trace of a first waveform. For example, the user interface may include a display of the trace C1 that is shown in
At box 1206, the user interface includes a display of a user interface element that includes properties of a trace of the first waveform. For example, the user interface may include one or more of the channel descriptor buttons (7) for C1, as shown in
At box 1208, the user interface includes a display of a trace of a second waveform. For example, the user interface may include a display of the trace C2 within display grid 110, or may include a display of the trace F1 within display grid 120. Each display grid may be presented at a different portion of the user interface and may each display its own x and y axis labels, which may differ among the different display grids.
At box 1210, the user interface includes a display of a user interface element that includes properties of a trace of the second waveform. For example, the user interface may include one or more of the channel descriptor buttons (7) for C2, or may include one or more of the channel descriptor buttons (8) for F1, as shown in
At box 1212, the electronic device receives user input that selects the first user interface element and then selects the second user interface element in response. For example, the electronic device may detect that a user dragged from a first descriptor button to a second descriptor button and then released. As described throughout this disclosure, user input can select the user interface elements in other ways, such as by tapping the first descriptor button and then tapping the second descriptor button.
At box 1214, the electronic device applies one or more settings of the trace of the first waveform to the trace of the second waveform. For example, in response to the electronic device determining that the traces associated with the first descriptor button and the second descriptor button are for the same types of traces, the electronic device may perform the copying functions that are described throughout this disclosure. In response to the electronic device determining that the traces associated with the first descriptor button and the second descriptor button are for different types of traces, the electronic device may perform the source update functions that are described throughout this disclosure.
Computing device 1300 includes a processor 1302, memory 1304, a storage device 1306, a high-speed interface 1308 connecting to memory 1304 and high-speed expansion ports 1310, and a low speed interface 1312 connecting to low speed bus 1314 and storage device 1306. Each of the components 1302, 1304, 1306, 1308, 1310, and 1312, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate. The processor 1302 can process instructions for execution within the computing device 1300, including instructions stored in the memory 1304 or on the storage device 1306 to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 1316 coupled to high-speed interface 1308. In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices 1300 may be connected, with each device providing portions of the necessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers, or a multi-processor system).
The memory 1304 stores information within the computing device 1300. In one implementation, the memory 1304 is a volatile memory unit or units. In another implementation, the memory 1304 is a non-volatile memory unit or units. The memory 1304 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.
The storage device 1306 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 1300. In one implementation, the storage device 1306 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 1304, the storage device 1306, or memory on processor 1302.
The high-speed controller 1308 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 1300, while the low speed controller 1312 manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions is by way of example only. In one implementation, the high-speed controller 1308 is coupled to memory 1304, display 1316 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 1310, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low-speed controller 1312 is coupled to storage device 1306 and low-speed expansion port 1314. The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.
The computing device 1300 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a standard server 1320, or multiple times in a group of such servers. It may also be implemented as part of a rack server system 1324. In addition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 1322. Alternatively, components from computing device 1300 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 1350. Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 1300, 1350, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 1300, 1350 communicating with each other.
Computing device 1350 includes a processor 1352, memory 1364, an input/output device such as a display 1354, a communication interface 1366, and a transceiver 1368, among other components. The device 1350 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage. Each of the components 1350, 1352, 1364, 1354, 1366, and 1368, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.
The processor 1352 can execute instructions within the computing device 1350, including instructions stored in the memory 1364. The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors. Additionally, the processor may be implemented using any of a number of architectures. For example, the processor 1302 may be a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computers) processor, a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) processor, or a MISC (Minimal Instruction Set Computer) processor. The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 1350, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 1350, and wireless communication by device 1350.
Processor 1352 may communicate with a user through control interface 1358 and display interface 1356 coupled to a display 1354. The display 1354 may be, for example, a TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) display or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology. The display interface 1356 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 1354 to present graphical and other information to a user. The control interface 1358 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 1352. In addition, an external interface 1362 may be provided in communication with processor 1352, so as to enable near area communication of device 1350 with other devices. External interface 1362 may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.
The memory 1364 stores information within the computing device 1350. The memory 1364 can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units. Expansion memory 1374 may also be provided and connected to device 1350 through expansion interface 1372, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface. Such expansion memory 1374 may provide extra storage space for device 1350, or may also store applications or other information for device 1350. Specifically, expansion memory 1374 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory 1374 may be provided as a security module for device 1350, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 1350. In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.
The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 1364, expansion memory 1374, or memory on processor 1352 that may be received, for example, over transceiver 1368 or external interface 1362.
Device 1350 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 1366, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary. Communication interface 1366 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 1368. In addition, short-range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). In addition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 1370 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 1350, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 1350.
Device 1350 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 1360, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information. Audio codec 1360 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 1350. Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 1350.
The computing device 1350 may be implemented in a number of different forms, some of which are shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 1380. It may also be implemented as part of a smartphone 1382, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.
Additionally computing device 1300 or 1350 can include Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives. The USB flash drives may store operating systems and other applications. The USB flash drives can include input/output components, such as a wireless transmitter or USB connector that may be inserted into a USB port of another computing device.
Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.
These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable medium” refer to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.
To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.
The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), peer-to-peer networks (having ad-hoc or static members), grid computing infrastructures, and the Internet.
The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.
Although a few implementations have been described in detail above, other modifications are possible. Moreover, other mechanisms for performing the systems and methods described in this document may be used. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures do not require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be added to, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62318170 | Apr 2016 | US |
