阅读说明：本技术 节目购买方法、装置、设备和计算机可读存储介质 (Program purchasing method, device, equipment and computer readable storage medium ) 是由 袁龙飞 刘晓军 于 2021-07-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开的实施例提供了节目购买方法、装置、设备和计算机可读存储介质。所述方法包括：在目标节目视频播放过程中,生成并展示视频购买页面；在展示视频购买页面的之前/之后/同时,对所述目标节目视频进行慢速播放；根据获取到的用户购买成功的指令,对所述目标节目视频进行加速播放；直至所述目标节目视频的时间轴与服务器的时间轴一致。以此方式,可以使用户在购买过程中仍然能够观看目标节目视频。(Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a program purchase method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium. The method comprises the following steps: in the video playing process of the target program, generating and displaying a video purchasing page; before/after/while displaying the video purchasing page, slowly playing the target program video; accelerating the playing of the target program video according to the obtained instruction of successful purchase of the user; until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server. In this way, the user may be enabled to still view the target program video during the purchase process.)

1. A program purchasing method is applied to a carousel system and is characterized by comprising the following steps:

in the video playing process of the target program, generating and displaying a video purchasing page;

before/after/while displaying the video purchasing page, slowly playing the target program video;

and accelerating the playing of the target program video according to the acquired instruction of successful purchase of the user until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with that of the server.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

the receiving server calculates that the user may spend a time threshold in the payment process.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the elapsed duration threshold is obtained by the server according to a current network performance indicator of the user terminal, and/or a historical elapsed duration in the user payment process, and/or a historical elapsed duration in a payment process of other users under the same terminal.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, further comprising:

and when the remaining trial playing time length is less than the consumed time length threshold value, supplementing the target program video trial playing time length.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein slow-playing the target program video before/after/while the video purchase page is presented comprises:

obtaining the probability of purchasing a target program video by a user based on historical related information of watching and purchasing the program video by the user;

if the probability of purchasing the target program video by the user is not less than the preset target probability, slowly playing the target program video before/while displaying a video purchase page; otherwise, after the user starts the payment process, the target program video is played slowly.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 or 5, further comprising:

determining a slow playing rate according to the local cache time length of the target program video, the consumed time length threshold, the supplemented target program video trial playing time length and the target program type;

and determining an accelerated playing speed according to the time axis of the target program video and the time axis of the server.

7. The method of claim 1 or 6, wherein the target program video is played at an optimal definition code rate based on a current network performance indicator when the target program video is accelerated.

8. A program purchasing apparatus, comprising:

the display unit is used for generating and displaying a video purchasing page in the video playing process of the target program;

the playing control unit is used for carrying out slow playing on the target program video before/after/at the same time of displaying the video purchasing page; the system is also used for accelerating the playing of the target program video according to the obtained instruction of successful purchase of the user; until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server.

9. An electronic device comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having stored thereon a computer program, wherein the processor, when executing the program, implements the method of any of claims 1-6.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, on which a computer program is stored, which program, when being executed by a processor, carries out the method of any one of claims 1 to 6.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of video playing technology, and more particularly, to a program purchasing method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium.

Background

In the existing tv carousel system, if a user clicks to purchase a program video or a member, the current interface enters a full-screen purchase page and does not play the program video any more, as shown in fig. 1. However, since the broadcast stream of the program video of the carousel system is a live stream, the real-time performance is high, the played time point cannot be traced back in the program video playing process, and the playing cannot be suspended, so that the user cannot watch the program content played in real time in the purchasing process in the program purchasing process. So that the user loses the right to watch the program video even if the user obtains the program video playing right.

Disclosure of Invention

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a program purchasing method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium are provided.

In a first aspect of the present disclosure, a program purchasing method is provided, which is applied to a carousel system.

The method comprises the following steps:

in the video playing process of the target program, generating and displaying a video purchasing page;

before/after/while displaying the video purchasing page, slowly playing the target program video;

and accelerating the playing of the target program video according to the acquired instruction of successful purchase of the user until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with that of the server.

The above-described aspects and any possible implementation further provide an implementation, further including:

the receiving server calculates that the user may spend a time threshold in the payment process.

The above-mentioned aspects and any possible implementation manners further provide an implementation manner, where the consumed duration threshold is obtained by the server according to a current network performance index of the user terminal, and/or a historical consumed duration in the user payment process, and/or a historical consumed duration in a payment process of other users under the same terminal.

The above-described aspects and any possible implementation further provide an implementation, further including:

and when the remaining trial playing time length is less than the consumed time length threshold value, supplementing the target program video trial playing time length.

The above-described aspect and any possible implementation manner further provide an implementation manner that, before/after/while a video purchase page is displayed, slow-playing the target program video includes:

obtaining the probability of purchasing a target program video by a user based on historical related information of watching and purchasing the program video by the user;

if the probability of purchasing the target program video by the user is not less than the preset target probability, slowly playing the target program video before/while displaying a video purchase page; otherwise, after the user starts the payment process, the target program video is played slowly.

The above-described aspects and any possible implementation further provide an implementation, further including:

determining a slow playing rate according to the local cache time length of the target program video, the consumed time length threshold, the supplemented target program video trial playing time length and the target program type;

and determining an accelerated playing speed according to the time axis of the target program video and the time axis of the server.

The foregoing aspects and any possible implementations further provide an implementation that, when the target program video is accelerated, based on a current network performance index, the target program video is played at an optimal definition code rate.

In a second aspect of the present disclosure, a program purchasing apparatus is provided. The device includes:

the display unit is used for generating and displaying a video purchasing page in the video playing process of the target program;

the playing control unit is used for carrying out slow playing on the target program video before/after/at the same time of displaying the video purchasing page; the system is also used for accelerating the playing of the target program video according to the obtained instruction of successful purchase of the user; until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server.

In a third aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes: a memory having a computer program stored thereon and a processor implementing the method as described above when executing the program.

In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, which program, when executed by a processor, implements a method as according to the first and/or second aspect of the present disclosure.

Because the embodiment of the disclosure adopts the technical scheme, the method at least has the following technical effects:

in the embodiment of the disclosure, since the target program video is played slowly before/after/while the video purchase page is displayed, it can be avoided that the user cannot watch the complete target program video and loses the right to watch the program segment played when the user purchases the program because the target program video stops playing and cannot backtrack the playing when the user performs the payment operation. And since the user is distracted when purchasing the program, the slow playing of the target program video enables the user to more easily acquire the content of the target video. And after the user successfully purchases the target program, the target program video is accelerated to be played, so that the user can acquire the real-time target program video as soon as possible.

It should be understood that the statements herein reciting aspects are not intended to limit the critical or essential features of the embodiments of the present disclosure, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

The above and other features, advantages and aspects of various embodiments of the present disclosure will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like or similar reference characters designate like or similar elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a full screen purchase page schematic diagram according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 shows a flow chart of a program purchase method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram showing a purchase page, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a program purchase method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 shows a block diagram of a program purchasing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device capable of implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

To make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure more clear, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all embodiments of the present disclosure. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments disclosed herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

In addition, the term "and/or" herein is only one kind of association relationship describing an associated object, and means that there may be three kinds of relationships, for example, a and/or B, which may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

In the existing television carousel system, if a user clicks to purchase a program video or a member, the current interface enters a full-screen purchase page and does not play the program video any more. However, since the broadcast stream of the program video of the carousel system is a live stream, the real-time performance is high, the played time point cannot be traced back in the program video playing process, and the playing cannot be suspended, so that the user cannot watch the program content played in real time in the purchasing process in the program purchasing process. So that the user loses the right to watch the program video even if the user obtains the program video playing right.

Based on the technical problem, in the process of playing the target program video, the target program video is slowly played before/after/at the same time of displaying the video purchase page, and the target program video is accelerated to be played according to the obtained instruction of successful purchase of the user; until the time axis of the target program video coincides with the time axis of the server. According to the embodiment of the disclosure, on one hand, the user can still watch the target program video when purchasing the video or the member, and on the other hand, the user can disperse attention when purchasing the video or the member, so that the target program video is played slowly before, after or at the same time of displaying the video purchasing page, and thus the user can more easily perceive the content of the target program video, and the watching experience of the user is improved. And then, the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server through accelerated playing, so that the user can obtain the complete target program video content, and the user experience is improved.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of a program purchasing method 200 according to an embodiment of the disclosure, which includes the following specific steps:

step S210, generating and displaying a video purchasing page in the video playing process of a target program;

it should be noted that, in the present disclosure, program purchasing includes, but is not limited to, purchasing a single target program video or a member, after purchasing the single target program video, only the viewing right of the target program video can be obtained, and after purchasing the member, the viewing rights of a plurality of program videos corresponding to the member can be obtained, and when purchasing the member, the member may further include a plurality of different packages, for example, purchasing members with different durations, and specific technicians and users in the field may select purchasing contents according to needs, which is not limited herein.

In the current television carousel system, if a user does not purchase a target program video, the user can only try to watch the target program video for a period of time, the method is set in the target program video playing process, namely, after the user watches the target program video for a preset watching time, a video purchasing page is generated and displayed, wherein the preset watching time is a preset value, can be zero, and can also be a numerical value smaller than the trial watching time, which is not limited herein. As another optional implementation, in the process that the user tries to watch the target program video, a floating window is set on the playing interface of the target program video, and when the user clicks the floating window, a video purchase page is generated and displayed.

In order to avoid that the video purchase page affects the user to watch the target program video, the video purchase page is set in the application of the disclosure to occupy only a part of area of the current interface, and the occupied part of area blocks main content of the target program video as little as possible, as an optional implementation manner, as shown in fig. 3, the video purchase page can be displayed in the upper right corner of the target program video.

In the application, the video purchase page includes, but is not limited to, a plurality of payment platforms, and a user can select any one of the plurality of payment platforms to perform payment operation; the video purchase page further includes authority content that can be obtained after the user purchases, for example, the member purchase or the target program video purchase is performed as mentioned in the above embodiment, and a value of an electronic resource corresponding to the authority purchased by the user, where the authority content may be, but is not limited to, an electronic coin and the like; optionally, the remaining trial viewing time of the target program video, the full-screen purchase page, and the like may also be included. The specific requirements can be set by those skilled in the art, and are not limited herein.

Step S220, before/after/while the video purchase page is displayed, slow-speed playing is carried out on the target program video;

the embodiment of the disclosure can perform slow playing on the target program video after the video purchase page is generated, at this time, although the video purchase page is generated, the video purchase page may not be displayed yet, the target program video can also be played slowly while the video purchase page is displayed, and similarly, the target program video can also be played slowly after a period of time after the video purchase page is displayed. Obtaining the probability of purchasing a target program video by a user based on historical related information of watching and purchasing the program video by the user; if the probability of purchasing the target program video by the user is not less than the preset target probability, slowly playing the target program video before/while displaying the video purchase page; otherwise, after the user starts the payment process, the target program video is played slowly. Specifically, when the target program video is started, the server may collect history related information of the user watching and purchasing the program video, where the history related information of the user watching and purchasing the program video includes, but is not limited to, a type of the user watching and purchasing the program video, a time when the user watches and purchases the program video, and the like, for example, if the user watches and purchases the television program video more times, a probability that the user purchases the target program video is increased if the target program video is the television program, or if the user watches and purchases the program video more times in a leisure time period such as noon or evening, a probability that the user purchases the target program video is increased if the user watches the target program video in the time period, and different weights may be set for the type of the user watching and purchasing the program video and the time when the user watches and purchases the program video, and obtaining the probability of the user purchasing the target program video through weighting calculation. As an alternative embodiment, the present disclosure may determine the probability of a user purchasing a target program video through a big data system. Specific technical personnel in the field can set according to actual needs, and are not limited herein.

The disclosed embodiments preset a target probability. And when the calculated probability of the user purchasing the target program video reaches the target probability, indicating the carousel system to play the target program video at a low speed before or at the same time of displaying the video purchasing page. And when the calculated probability of the user purchasing the target program video does not reach the target probability, playing the target program video at a normal speed before or at the same time of displaying the video purchasing page. And if the user starts a payment process, for example, the user is connected with the server when scanning the payment two-dimensional code of the video purchase page, and after receiving an instruction of starting payment operation of the user, the server instructs the carousel system to play the target program video at a low speed. That is, after the video purchase page is displayed, the target program video is slowly played, and a person skilled in the art can set the target program video according to actual requirements, which is not described herein again.

Wherein, after displaying the video purchase page, the user purchases through the video purchase page, as an optional implementation manner, after selecting the payment platform, the user connects with the server by scanning the payment two-dimensional code corresponding to the payment platform and generates an order, and then jumps to the payment page, in the process, the server collects the current network performance index of the user terminal, such as the network speed of the user terminal, and inquires the historical consumed duration of the user in the payment process and the historical consumed duration of other users in the payment process with the same type as the user terminal in the database, and obtains the consumed duration threshold value of the user in the payment process according to at least one of the current network performance index of the user terminal, the historical consumed duration of the user in the payment process and the historical consumed duration of other users in the payment process under the same terminal, as an optional implementation manner, different weights may be set for the current network performance index of the user terminal, the historical consumed time in the user payment flow, and the historical consumed time in the payment process of other users under the same terminal, a threshold of the consumed time that the user may consume in the payment flow is obtained by weighting the current network performance index of the user terminal, the historical consumed time in the user payment flow, and the historical consumed time in the payment process of other users under the same terminal, and the threshold of the consumed time is sent to the monitoring module of the carousel system. Optionally, the user may spend a time threshold in the payment process, and may also be related to the type of the target program video, for example, if the user watches a program with high real-time performance such as a ball game, and the user is more attentive to the target program video, a longer time may be spent in the payment process. Specifically, those skilled in the art can set the setting according to actual requirements, and details are not described herein.

The method includes the steps that after a consumed time length threshold value is obtained, the consumed time length threshold value is compared with the remaining trial viewing playing time length of the target program video, if the remaining trial viewing playing time length is smaller than the consumed time length threshold value, it is indicated that a user may not complete purchasing operation before trial viewing of the target program video is finished, at this time, if playing of the video is suspended after the remaining trial viewing playing time length reaches, the user may not watch the complete video.

Since the user does not pay attention to the target program video completely during the payment process, the present disclosure sets slow playing to the target program video before/after/while the video purchase page is displayed, wherein different slow playing gears may be set, wherein each slow playing gear corresponds to one slow playing speed, for example, 1, 2, and 3 gears of the slow playing gear may correspond to 0.25 times, 0.5 times, and 0.75 times, respectively. Specifically, the slow playing rate may be determined according to, but not limited to, a local caching duration of the target program video, the consumed duration threshold, a supplemented target program video preview playing duration, and a target program type, where the slow playing rate may be determined according to one or more of the above items, for example, the slow playing rate may be determined according to the local caching duration of the target program and the supplemented target program video preview playing duration, specifically, it is determined after the target program video cached locally can be played to the supplemented target program video preview playing duration, the slow playing rate may also be determined according to the type of the target program video, for example, the target program video may be classified into a type of an entertainment program, a tv series, a game, or the like, and if the target program video is an entertainment program, the playing rate of the target program video may be appropriately set to a slow playing rate of a higher gear, if the game is the match, the playing rate of the target program video can be properly set to the slow playing rate of the lower gear, and a person skilled in the art can set the playing rate according to actual requirements, which is not described herein again.

Step S230, according to the obtained instruction that the user successfully purchases, the target program video is accelerated to be played until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server;

after the user completes payment according to the payment order, the server adds the corresponding program video or member authority to the user account according to the information of successful payment of the user, collects and stores the time consumed by the user in the payment process, and particularly stores the time consumed by the user in a database of the time consumed by the payment process corresponding to the user, so that the server can obtain a more accurate value when calculating the time threshold value which is possibly consumed by the user in the payment process later.

And then the server sends a command of successful purchase of the user to the carousel system of the terminal, the carousel system of the terminal starts an authentication process according to the obtained command of successful purchase of the user, after the authentication of the carousel system is passed, information of successful purchase of the user and authority content information purchased by the user can be displayed on an interface of the terminal, and the information can be displayed on a current interface in a form of a text box.

After the authentication is passed, the carousel system of the embodiment of the disclosure performs accelerated playing on the target program video; until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server, wherein an accelerated playing rate is determined according to the time axis of the terminal target program video and the time axis of the server, for example, the time axis of the target program video is different from the time axis of the server by ten seconds, if the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server in a short time, a larger accelerated playing rate is required, but if the target program video is a game with stronger real-time property such as a ball game, an excessively fast accelerated playing rate may affect user experience, at this time, a slower accelerated playing rate may be set according to the time axis of the terminal target program video and the time axis of the server, wherein a current fast playing rate may also be determined according to the determined slow playing rate, and a specific skilled person in the art may set according to actual requirements, and will not be described in detail herein.

And when the time axis of the target program video of the terminal is consistent with the time axis of the server, restoring the playing speed of the target program video to normal, specifically, if the user does not finish the purchasing operation after the supplemented residual trial playing time length is finished, entering a full-screen purchasing page.

When the target program video is played, code rates with various definitions are available for watching, such as 1080p, 4K and the like, in the embodiment of the disclosure, when the target program video is played at an accelerated speed, the target program video is played at the optimal definition code rate based on the current network performance index, at this moment, the bandwidth condition between the terminal and the server is monitored in real time through the multimedia playing system, and the target video is automatically played at the optimal definition code rate on the premise of ensuring smooth playing according to the monitored bandwidth condition.

A program purchasing method proposed by the embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to specific implementation manners, as shown in fig. 4:

step S410, the carousel system generates and displays a video purchase page in the video playing process of the target program;

step S420, the server obtains a user possible consumed duration threshold value in the payment process according to the current network performance index of the user terminal, and/or the historical consumed duration in the user payment process, and/or the historical consumed duration in the payment process of other users under the same terminal;

step S430, the carousel system receives a time length threshold value which is calculated by the server and is possibly consumed by the user in the payment process;

step S440, determining a slow playing rate according to the local cache duration of the target program video, the consumed duration threshold, the supplemented target program video trial playing duration and the target program type;

step S450, the carousel system performs slow play on the target program video before/after/while displaying the video purchase page;

step S460, when the remaining trial playing time is less than the consumed time threshold, supplementing the target program video trial playing time;

step S470, according to the obtained instruction of successful purchase of the user, accelerating the playing of the target program video until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server;

and determining the accelerated playing speed according to the time axis of the target program video and the time axis of the server. When the target program video is played in an accelerated mode, the target program video is played at the optimal definition code rate based on the current network performance index.

According to the program purchasing method disclosed by the embodiment of the disclosure, a user can watch the target program video while purchasing, and meanwhile, because the user attention is dispersed in the purchasing process, the program purchasing method also sets to play the target program video at a slow speed before/after/at the same time of displaying a video purchasing page so that the user can more easily acquire the content of the target program video, and the target program video is played at an accelerated speed when the acquired instruction of successful purchase of the user is obtained; and the time axis of the target program video is consistent with that of the server, so that the user experience can be improved on the premise of not influencing the watching of the target program video by the user.

It is noted that while for simplicity of explanation, the foregoing method embodiments have been described as a series of acts or combination of acts, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited by the order of acts, as some steps may, in accordance with the present disclosure, occur in other orders and concurrently. Further, those skilled in the art should also appreciate that the embodiments described in the specification are exemplary embodiments and that acts and modules referred to are not necessarily required by the disclosure.

The above is a description of method embodiments, and the following is a further description of the present disclosure by way of apparatus embodiments.

Fig. 5 shows a block diagram of a program purchasing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and as shown in fig. 5, the apparatus 500 includes: a presentation unit 510, a play control unit 520, wherein:

the display unit 510 is configured to generate and display a video purchase page in a video playing process of a target program; a play control unit 520, configured to perform slow play on the target program video before/after/while displaying the video purchase page; the system is also used for accelerating the playing of the target program video according to the obtained instruction of successful purchase of the user; until the time axis of the target program video is consistent with the time axis of the server. .

It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the described module may refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, and is not described herein again.

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an electronic device 600 that may be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown, the device 600 includes a CPU601, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes according to computer program instructions stored in a ROM 602 or loaded from a storage unit 608 into a RAM 603. In the RAM603, various programs and data necessary for the operation of the device 600 can also be stored. The CPU601, ROM 602, and RAM603 are connected to each other via a bus 604. An I/O interface 605 is also connected to bus 604.

A number of components in the device 600 are connected to the I/O interface 605, including: an input unit 606 such as a keyboard, a mouse, or the like; an output unit 607 such as various types of displays, speakers, and the like; a storage unit 608, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or the like; and a communication unit 609 such as a network card, modem, wireless communication transceiver, etc. The communication unit 609 allows the device 600 to exchange information/data with other devices via a computer network such as the internet and/or various telecommunication networks.

The processing unit 601 performs the various methods and processes described above, such as the methods 200 and 400. For example, in some embodiments, methods 200 and 400 may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly embodied in a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 608. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and/or installed onto the device 600 via the ROM 602 and/or the communication unit 609. When the computer program is loaded into RAM603 and executed by CPU601, one or more steps of methods 200 and 400 described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, CPU601 may be configured to perform methods 200 and 400 by any other suitable means (e.g., by way of firmware).

The functions described herein above may be performed, at least in part, by one or more hardware logic components. For example, without limitation, exemplary types of hardware logic components that may be used include: field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application Specific Standard Products (ASSPs), systems on a chip (SOCs), Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and the like.

Program code for implementing the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be performed. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium may be a tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The machine-readable medium may be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a machine-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection based on one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a RAM, a ROM, an EPROM, an optical fiber, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. Under certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation can also be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.