阅读说明：本技术 用于检测到达角的系统及位置检测系统 (System for detecting angle of arrival and position detection system ) 是由 托马斯·弗朗西斯·贝克 于 2020-07-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本公开涉及一种用于检测到达角的系统及一种位置检测系统。用于检测到达角AoA的所述系统包含第一装置及至少一个第二装置。所述第一装置传输蓝牙BT包,并且所述第二装置接收所述BT包及确定所述BT包的AoA。所述第二装置包含用于接收第一RF信号的第一射频RF天线及用于接收第二RF信号的第二RF天线。所述第二装置还包含第一BT核心及第二BT核心,及处理电路。所述第一BT核心耦合到所述第一RF天线及用于基于所述第一RF信号生成第一信号。所述第二BT核心耦合到所述第二RF天线及基于所述第二RF信号生成第二信号。所述处理电路测量所述第一信号与所述第二信号之间的相位差及基于所述相位差确定所述AoA。(The present disclosure relates to a system for detecting an angle of arrival and a position detection system. The system for detecting angle of arrival, AoA, includes a first device and at least one second device. The first device transmits a bluetooth BT packet, and the second device receives the BT packet and determines an AoA of the BT packet. The second device includes a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna for receiving a first RF signal and a second RF antenna for receiving a second RF signal. The second device also includes a first BT core and a second BT core, and a processing circuit. The first BT core is coupled to the first RF antenna and is for generating a first signal based on the first RF signal. The second BT core is coupled to the second RF antenna and generates a second signal based on the second RF signal. The processing circuit measures a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal and determines the AoA based on the phase difference.)

1. A system for detecting an angle of arrival, AoA, the system comprising:

a first device configured to transmit a Bluetooth (BT) packet;

at least one second device configured to receive the BT packet and determine an AoA of the BT packet, the at least one second device comprising:

a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna configured to receive a first RF signal and a second RF antenna configured to receive a second RF signal;

a first BT core coupled to the first RF antenna and configured to generate a first signal based on the first RF signal;

a second BT core coupled to the second RF antenna and configured to generate a second signal based on the second RF signal; and

a processing circuit configured to measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine the AoA of the BT packet based on the measured phase difference.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first BT core and the second BT core comprise low power BT cores and are configured to be powered by a single Local Oscillator (LO) circuit.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the first and second signals comprise Intermediate Frequency (IF) signals generated using LO signals provided by the LO circuit.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the first and second signals comprise Direct Current (DC) signals generated using LO signals provided by the LO circuit.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to measure a time difference of arrival between the first signal and the second signal based on the measured phase difference.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the first device comprises a BT capable apparatus including one of a television, a computer, a light, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, or a stove.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the processing circuit is configured to launch an application associated with the BT capable device on the at least one second device by pointing the at least one second device at the BT capable device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one second device comprises a plurality of second devices mounted on a plurality of corners of a vehicle, the plurality of second devices configured to determine AOAs of BT packets received from the first device located outside the vehicle, and wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine a location of the first device based on the determined AOAs of BT packets.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to measure magnitudes of the first signal and the second signal.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one second device comprises a plurality of second devices installed at a plurality of known locations in an indoor environment, wherein the plurality of second devices are configured to determine AOAs of BT packets received from the first device, and wherein the first device is configured to determine a location of the first device based on the determined AOAs of BT packets.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first device is configured to determine the location of the first device using the determined AOA of BT packets in a triangulation calculation, and wherein the first device is configured to display the location of the first device on an indoor map.

13. A position detection system, the system comprising:

a plurality of beacon devices installed at a plurality of locations in an indoor environment, the beacon devices being Bluetooth (BT) capable; and

a handheld communication device configured to communicate with the plurality of beacon devices by transmitting BT packets,

wherein:

each of the plurality of beacon devices is configured to receive at least one of the BT packets and determine an angle of arrival, AoA, of the at least one of the BT packets, and

each of the plurality of beacon devices comprises:

a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna configured to receive a first RF signal and a second RF antenna configured to receive a second RF signal;

a first BT core coupled to the first RF antenna and configured to generate a first signal based on the first RF signal;

a second BT core coupled to the second RF antenna and configured to generate a second signal based on the second RF signal; and

a processing circuit configured to measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal.

14. The location detection system of claim 13, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine an AoA of the at least one of the BT packets based on the measured phase difference.

15. The location detection system of claim 14, wherein the handheld communication device is configured to request each of the plurality of beacon devices to send the determined AoA and to receive an AoA determined by the plurality of beacon devices.

16. The location detection system of claim 15, wherein the handheld communication device is configured to determine a location of the handheld communication device in the indoor environment based on knowledge of the plurality of locations of the plurality of beacon devices and the aoas determined by the plurality of beacon devices.

17. The location detection system of claim 16, wherein the handheld communication device is configured to display the determined location of the handheld communication device on a map of the indoor environment.

18. A position detection system, the system comprising:

a plurality of beacon devices installed in a plurality of locations, each beacon device of the plurality of beacon devices being Bluetooth (BT) capable and configured to receive BT packets from a handheld communication device external to the vehicle; and

a controller circuit located within the vehicle,

wherein:

each of the plurality of beacon devices is configured to receive at least one of the BT packets and determine an angle of arrival, AoA, of the at least one of the BT packets, and

each of the plurality of beacon devices comprises:

a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna configured to receive a first RF signal and a second RF antenna configured to receive a second RF signal;

a first BT core coupled to the first RF antenna and configured to generate a first signal based on the first RF signal;

a second BT core coupled to the second RF antenna and configured to generate a second signal based on the second RF signal; and

a processing circuit configured to measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal and determine an AOA of the at least one of the BT packets based on the measured phase difference.

19. The location detection system of claim 18, wherein the controller circuit is configured to request from each of the plurality of beacon devices to send the determined AoA of the at least one of the BT packets and to receive aoas determined by the plurality of beacon devices.

20. The location detection system of claim 19, wherein the controller circuit is configured to determine a location of the handheld communication device based on knowledge of the plurality of locations of the plurality of beacon devices and the aoas determined by the plurality of beacon devices.

Technical Field

This description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly, for example, but not by way of limitation, to angle of arrival detection using dual core bluetooth receivers.

Background

The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard may be used to detect the angle of arrival (AoA) of signals from Bluetooth (BT) capable devices. In a BLE standard implementation, special hardware (chips) is required to establish the direction-finding link in both BT-enabled devices and AoA detection platforms. The direction-finding link must follow a standard protocol and therefore may only be used for a particular device. Furthermore, an external switch is required in order to switch between two or more antennas in the AoA detection platform.

Disclosure of Invention

One embodiment of the present application provides a system for detecting an angle of arrival (AoA). The system comprises: a first device configured to transmit a Bluetooth (BT) packet; at least one second device configured to receive the BT packet and determine an AoA of the BT packet, the at least one second device comprising: a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna configured to receive a first RF signal and a second RF antenna configured to receive a second RF signal; a first BT core coupled to the first RF antenna and configured to generate a first signal based on the first RF signal; a second BT core coupled to the second RF antenna and configured to generate a second signal based on the second RF signal; and a processing circuit configured to measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal.

Another embodiment of the present application provides a position detection system. The system comprises: a plurality of beacon devices installed at a plurality of locations in an indoor environment, the beacon devices being Bluetooth (BT) capable; and a handheld communication device configured to communicate with the plurality of beacon devices by transmitting BT packets, wherein: each of the plurality of beacon devices is configured to receive at least one of the BT packets and determine an angle of arrival (AoA) of the at least one of the BT packets, and each of the plurality of beacon devices comprises: a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna configured to receive a first RF signal and a second RF antenna configured to receive a second RF signal; a first BT core coupled to the first RF antenna and configured to generate a first signal based on the first RF signal; a second BT core coupled to the second RF antenna and configured to generate a second signal based on the second RF signal; and a processing circuit configured to measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal.

Another embodiment of the present application provides a position detection system. The system comprises: a plurality of beacon devices installed at a plurality of locations, each beacon device of the plurality of beacon devices being Bluetooth (BT) capable and configured to receive BT packets from a handheld communication device external to a vehicle; and a controller circuit located within the vehicle, wherein: each of the plurality of beacon devices is configured to receive at least one of the BT packets and determine an angle of arrival (AoA) of the at least one of the BT packets, and each of the plurality of beacon devices comprises: a first Radio Frequency (RF) antenna configured to receive a first RF signal and a second RF antenna configured to receive a second RF signal; a first BT core coupled to the first RF antenna and configured to generate a first signal based on the first RF signal; a second BT core coupled to the second RF antenna and configured to generate a second signal based on the second RF signal; and a processing circuit configured to measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal and determine an AOA of the at least one of the BT packets based on the measured phase difference.

Drawings

Certain features of the inventive technique are set forth in the appended claims. However, for purposes of explanation, several embodiments of the present technology are set forth in the following figures.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a home environment in which an angle of arrival (AoA) detection arrangement of the present technology may be used.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system for AOA detection using a dual core bluetooth receiver, in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an output phase based AoA determination scheme in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an automotive environment in which the AoA detection device of the present technology may be used.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an automotive application of an AoA detection device, in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a location detection application of an AoA detection device, in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system for AOA detection using a single-core BT receiver with multiple antennas.

Fig. 8 is a graph illustrating a plot of phase versus time for a single-core BT receiver with multiple antennas, in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of various configurations of the present technology and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the present technology may be practiced. The accompanying drawings are incorporated herein and constitute part of the detailed description, which includes specific details that provide a thorough understanding of the present technology. The present techniques, however, are not limited to the specific details set forth herein and may be practiced without one or more of the specific details. In some instances, structures and components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of the present technology.

The present technology relates to angle of arrival (AoA) detection using a dual core Bluetooth (BT) receiver. The device of the present technology has two antennas and uses two BT cores to calculate the AoA of packets received from a BT capable device. Each BT core is connected to an antenna and the BT link is established by a BT capable device as if a single antenna is typically used. The present technique utilizes Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) to calculate the magnitude and phase difference between two input signals received by two BT cores. Based on the orientation of the two antennas, the AoA of the signal from the BT capable device may be estimated by using the phase difference between the signals received on the two antennas.

In some aspects, the disclosed AoA detection features may be implemented by using an off-chip antenna switch that switches between two antennas on one BT core while continuously receiving reference signals on one BT core. In other aspects, the target AoA detection feature may be implemented by using two antenna switches to switch simultaneously between multiple antennas on two cores to increase the number of samples and achieve better angle estimation.

The present technique has several advantageous features compared to existing solutions. For example, the disclosed dual core receiver does not require any special packet extensions and does need to follow any protocol. In other words, the disclosed techniques are not limited to any packet type and may be used with any low energy rate (e.g., 2Mbps, 1Mbps), all remote rates, BT base data rates, BT enhanced data rates, or other custom supported packet types. Features of the present technology may be used in applications involving finding other BT devices. For example, a key such as a car key including a BT transmitter may be found by running an application on a handheld communication device (e.g., a smartphone, a tablet computer, or a smartwatch). The application may point in the direction of the key and help find the key.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a home environment 100 in which AoA detection devices of the present technology may be used. The home environment 100 includes a plurality of consumer electronic devices and household appliances, such as a handheld communication device 102 (e.g., a smartphone, a smartwatch, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer), a Television (TV)104 (e.g., a smart TV), a computer 106 (e.g., a desktop computer), a laptop computer 108, a stove 110, a refrigerator 112, a washing machine 114, a dryer 116, and a light 118. Consumer electronic devices and household appliances are BT capable, e.g., low energy BT (ble) capable.

The handheld communication device 102 (hereinafter "device 102") includes an AoA detection device of the present technology, e.g., an AoA detection chip 105. The device 102 also contains a plurality of applications running on the device. Each application is associated with one of the consumer electronic devices and the home appliance of the home environment 100. For example, a specific remote control application for each of the TV 104, computer 106, laptop 108, range 110, refrigerator 112, washing machine 114, dryer 116, and/or lights 118. Device 102 includes two or more (radio frequency) RF antennas and two BT cores coupled to two of the RF antennas. The first BT core is coupled to a first RF antenna and is for generating a first signal based on the first RF signal. The second BT core is coupled to a second RF antenna and generates a second signal based on the second RF signal. The processing circuit measures a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal and determines the AoA based on the phase difference. In some implementations, the first signal and the second signal are Intermediate Frequency (IF) signals generated using an LO signal provided by an LO circuit. In one or more implementations, the first signal and the second signal are Direct Current (DC) signals generated by using the LO signal.

In some implementations, the AoA detection chip 105 may include a processor circuit that may measure a phase difference between the first signal and the second signal and determine the AoA based on the measured phase difference. In one or more implementations, the AoA detection chip 105 may communicate the measured phase difference between the first signal and the second signal to a host processor, e.g., a processor of a cell phone or embedded in an automobile that may calculate the AoA based on the measured phase difference. When the user of the device 102 points him at a device of a consumer electronics device and a home appliance of the home environment 100, such as the TV 104, the AoA detection chip 105 determines that the pointed at device is the TV 104 and activates an application associated with the TV 104, which would require remote control of the TV 104.

In some aspects, the device 102 may include an off-chip antenna switch that switches between two antennas on one BT core while continuously receiving reference signals on one BT core. In other aspects, the device 102 may include two antenna switches to switch simultaneously between multiple antennas on two cores, increasing the number of samples and enabling better angle estimation.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system 200 for AOA detection using dual core BT receivers, in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technology. The example system 200 shown in fig. 2 is a wireless communication device, such as the device 102 of fig. 1, and includes RF antennas 210(210-1 and 210-2), duplexers 212(212-1 and 212-2), BT cores 220(220-1 and 220-2), baseband circuitry 240, memory 250, processor 260, and Local Oscillator Generator (LOGEN) 270. BT core 220 includes a transmitter 222(222-1 and 222-2) and a receiver 224(224-1 and 224-2) and is coupled to an RF antenna through duplexer 212. The receiver 224 may comprise suitable logic and/or code that may be operable to receive RF signals from the RF antenna 210 and process the RF signals. For example, receiver 224 may be operable to amplify and/or downconvert received RF signals. In various embodiments of the present technology, receiver 224 may be operable to cancel noise in the received signal and may be linear over a wide range of frequencies.

The baseband circuitry 240 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or code operable to perform processing of baseband signals. For example, baseband circuitry 240 may analyze received signals and generate control and/or feedback signals for configuring various components of the wireless communication device, such as receiver 224. The baseband circuitry 240 may be operable to encode, decode, transcode, modulate, demodulate, encrypt, decrypt, scramble, descramble, process, and/or otherwise process data in accordance with one or more wireless standards. In some implementations, the baseband circuitry 240 includes processing circuitry 242, such as maximum ratio combining circuitry (MRC).

When a BT capable device within range of device 102 transmits BT packets, the first antenna 210-1 receives a first RF signal and the second antenna 210-2 receives a second RF signal. Receivers 224-1 and 224-2 may generate first and second signals based on the first and second RF signals, respectively. The first and second signals are processed by processing circuit 242, which may produce two magnitudes and an optimal phase difference between the first and second signals. The processing circuit 242 may process the two magnitudes and the optimal phase difference to determine the AoA of the BT packet, as described in more detail herein. The determined AoA may then be used in various applications, examples of which are described with respect to fig. 1, which allow activation of applications associated with a BT-capable device of a home environment (e.g., 100 of fig. 1) on the device 102 by pointing the device 102 at the device. Other applications of the present technology include direction finding and position detection, described in more detail below.

The memory 250 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may enable storage of various types of information, such as received data, generated data, code, and/or configuration information. For example, memory 250 may include RAM, ROM, flash memory, and/or magnetic storage devices. In various embodiments of the present techniques, information stored in memory 250 may be used to configure receiver 224 and/or baseband circuitry 240.

The processor 260 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be capable of processing data and/or controlling the operation of the system 200. In this regard, processor 260 may be enabled to provide control signals to various other portions of system 200. Processor 260 may also control the transfer of data between various portions of system 200. Additionally, processor 260 may be capable of implementing an operating system or otherwise executing code to manage the operation of system 200.

Local Oscillator Generator (LOGEN)270 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to generate one or more oscillating signals at one or more frequencies. LOGEN 270 is operable to generate digital and/or analog signals. In this manner, LOGEN 270 may be operable to generate one or more clock signals and/or sinusoidal signals. Characteristics of the oscillating signal, such as frequency and duty cycle, may be determined based on one or more control signals from, for example, processor 260 and/or baseband circuitry 240.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an output phase based AoA determination scheme 300 in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique. In the AoA determination scheme 300 as shown in fig. 3, first and second antennas ANT0 and ANT1 (e.g., 210-1 and 210-2 of fig. 2) of a communication device (dual BT core, e.g., system 200 of fig. 2) are at a distance d (equal to λ/2) from each other, where λ is the operating wavelength of the RF signal associated with the incident traveling wavefront 310. Antennas ANT0 and ANT1 are on an axis 320 that is at an angle θ to a line 330 that is perpendicular to the direction of the incident traveling wavefront 310. The angle θ is AoA corresponding to the incident row wavefront 310 and may be determined based on the measured phase φ between the first and second signals received by ANT0 and ANT1, as determined by processing circuitry 242 of FIG. 2. The phase Φ depends on the difference between the travel distances of the traveling waves arriving at ANT0 and ANT1, and can be expressed as: d1 k, where k is the number of waves defining the number of arcs per unit distance and is given by: k 2 pi f/c, where f is the operating frequency and c is the speed of light. According to fig. 3, d1 ═ d cos (θ) and thus Φ ═ 2 π fd cos (θ)/c, AoA θ can be expressed according to it as: θ ═ acos (Φ c/2 π fd).

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an automotive environment 400 in which AoA detection devices of the present technology may be used. The automotive environment 400 includes four beacon devices 410(410-1, 410-2, 410-3, and 410-4) mounted on four corners of an automobile 402, and a processing unit 405. The beacon device 410 is BT capable and, in response to receiving a BT packet from a handheld communication device, is capable of detecting, along with the processing unit 405, a location of a BT capable device, such as a handheld communication device (e.g., a smartphone) external to the automobile 402. Each of the beacon devices 410 includes two antennas 424(424-1 and 424-2) that may receive the first and second RF signals, respectively, and a dual core BT chip within a Printed Circuit (PC) board 422. The dual-core BT chip may generate first and second signals based on the first and second RF signals. As discussed in more detail below, the processing unit 405 (e.g., MRC) may determine a location of the handheld communication device.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an automotive application 500 of an AoA detection device in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique. The automotive application 500 relates to the automotive environment 400 of FIG. 4 discussed above. The beacon devices 410(410-1, 410-2, 410-3, and 410-4) are capable of receiving BT packets from the user device 502 (e.g., a handheld communication device, such as a smartphone) when the user device 502 is within BT range of the beacon device 410. The user device 502 is seen at a different angle for each beacon device 410, and the BT packets received by the beacon device 410 have a different AoA (e.g., α 1, α 2, α 3, or α 4). As described with respect to fig. 3, the AoA associated with each beacon device 410 is determined by the processing unit 405 of fig. 4 based on the phase difference of the RF signals received at the antennas 424 (e.g., 424-1 and 424-2) of fig. 4. Example values for α 1, α 2, α 3, and α 4 may be 15 °, 5 °, 355 °, and 350 °, respectively. The processing unit 405 also has information about the location of the beacon device 410 and can use triangulation calculations to find the location of the handheld communication device based on the known location of the beacon device 410 and its corresponding value of AoA (α 1, α 2, α 3, or α 4).

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a location detection application 600 of an AoA detection device in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique. The location detection application 600 is associated with an indoor environment 602, such as a shopping mall, a corporate building, a sports airport, and the like. A plurality of beacon devices 610 (e.g., 610-1, 610-2, 610-3, 610-4) are installed at various locations in the indoor environment 602 and are capable of receiving BT signals from a device 605 (e.g., a handheld communication device, such as a smartphone, a smartwatch, or a tablet computer) having an unknown location within the indoor environment 602. The beacon devices 610 are similar to the beacon device 410 and each includes two antennas coupled to a dual BT core, as discussed above. Each of the beacon devices 610 may detect the corresponding AoA of the BT packet received from the device 605.

The device 605 may request that the beacon device 610 transmit its corresponding AoA to the device 605. A software application in the device 605 associated with the indoor environment 602 knows the location of the beacon device 610. The device 605 may use the known location of the beacon device 610 and its corresponding AoA to determine its location within the indoor environment 602 using triangulation calculations. The device 605 may display its location on a display, such as the display of the indoor environment 602. The number of beacon devices is not limited to the number shown in fig. 6 (four), and may be as many as several hundred beacon devices depending on the size of the indoor environment 602. This allows the user to be able to find his location on a nearby display provided in the airport or shopping mall, for example.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system 700 for AOA detection using a single-core BT receiver with multiple antennas. The system 700 is implemented based on BLE direction finding standards and includes a tracker 702 and a target device 704. Tracker 702 includes a single BT core (BT transceiver) 710, RF switch 720, and multiple antennas 730 (e.g., 730-1, 730-2, 730-3, and 730-4), and target device 704 includes BT transceiver 740 and antenna 750. Each antenna receives BT packets from the target device 704 at a different time. Once the distance between the multiple antennas 730 is known, the receive time of each BT packet is related to the phase described above with respect to fig. 3. An RF switch may couple each of antennas 730 to BT core 710. BT core 710 may calculate the location of target device 704 based on phase differences calculated between signals received at the individual antennas.

Fig. 8 is a graph 800 illustrating a plot 810 of phase versus time for a single-core BT receiver with multiple antennas, in accordance with one or more implementations of the present technique. As discussed above with respect to fig. 1, the techniques of this disclosure may also be implemented using a single core and an antenna array including multiple antennas (e.g., ANT1, ANT2, ANT3, ANT4, and ANT 5). For example, the first antenna ANT1 may be used as a reference and direct a switch to antenna 2. In a low IF receiver, the phase of the signal is constantly changing at a fixed rate. Some software may determine the phase of ANT1 and extrapolate it over time to compare the phases of ANT2 and ANT 1. This may be performed for each antenna in the array. If the initial phase ramp has any errors, or if frequency drift or some other problem causes the phase to deviate from the estimated trajectory shown in graph 810, the single-core receiver may generate errors in estimating the phase difference between the cores.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the aspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistent with the language claims, wherein 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. The term "some" refers to one or more, unless specifically stated otherwise. Pronouns for males (e.g., his) include females and neutral gender (e.g., her and it) and vice versa. Headings and sub-headings (if any) are used for convenience only and do not limit the invention.

The adjectives "configured to," "operable to," and "programmed to" do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of the subject matter, but are intended to be used interchangeably. For example, a processor configured to monitor and control operations or components may also mean that the processor is programmed to monitor and control operations, or that the processor is operable to monitor and control operations. Likewise, a processor configured to execute code may be understood as a processor programmed to execute code or operable to execute code.

A phrase such as an "aspect" does not imply that such aspect is essential to the present technology or that such aspect applies to all configurations of the present technology. The disclosure relating to an aspect may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A phrase such as an "aspect" may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa. A phrase such as a "configuration" does not imply that such configuration is essential to the present technology or that such configuration applies to all configurations of the present technology. The disclosure relating to a configuration may apply to all configurations, or one or more configurations. A phrase such as "configured" may refer to one or more configurations and vice versa.

The word "example" is used herein to mean "serving as an example or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as "an example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.

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. The claim elements should not be construed in accordance with the provisions of 35u.s.c. § 112(f), unless the element is recited explicitly using the phrase "means for …", or in the case of method claim terms, the element is recited using the phrase "step for …". Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes," "has," and the like are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term "comprising" as "comprising" is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms described herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application. Various components and blocks may be arranged differently (e.g., arranged in a different order, or divided in a different manner) without departing from the scope of the present technology.

The adjectives "configured to," "operable to," and "programmed to" do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of the subject matter, but are intended to be used interchangeably. For example, a processor configured to monitor and control operations or components may also mean that the processor is programmed to monitor and control operations, or that the processor is operable to monitor and control operations. Likewise, a processor configured to execute code may be understood as a processor programmed to execute code or operable to execute code.