Techniques to automatically focus a digital camera

More than one reissue application has been filed for the reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 8,497,928. The reissue applications are application Ser. No. 17/685,313 filed Mar. 2, 2022 (the present continuation reissue application) and application Ser. No. 16/908,579 filed Jun. 22, 2020 (reissue application). This application is a continuation reissue of reissue application Ser. No. 16/908,579, which is now reissue U.S. Pat. No. RE49,039 for U.S. Pat. No. 8,497,928, issued Jul. 30, 2013 from U.S. application Ser. No. 11/831,051, filed Jul. 31, 2007.

A digital camera is an electronic device used to capture and store images electronically in a digital format, instead of using photographic film like conventional cameras, or recording images in an analog format to magnetic tape like many video cameras. Modern compact digital cameras are typically multifunctional, with some devices capable of recording sound and/or video as well as still images.

Many digital cameras provide an autofocus feature. Autofocus is a feature that allows a user of a digital camera to obtain the correct focus on a subject rather than requiring the operator to adjust focus manually. Typically a user may assist the camera by determining which area of the photograph to focus on by performing a button half press or other convoluted user interaction to achieve the desired focus. Providing a technique to allow users to more easily determine the area of the photograph they wish to focus on may be desirable. Accordingly, there may be a need for improved techniques to automatically focus a digital camera.

Various embodiments are generally directed to techniques to automatically focus a digital camera. Some embodiments are particularly directed to automatically focusing a digital camera using a display device. The display device may be integrated with, or separate from, the digital camera. In one embodiment, for example, a mobile electronics device may comprise a digital camera having a lens component and lens position component. A display may be coupled to the digital camera to reproduce an image with a first focal point. The digital camera may also include a focal point selection module coupled to the display to select a second focal point for the image. The digital camera may also include a focus control module coupled to the focal point selection module and the lens position component to provide focus control signals to the lens position component to focus the lens component on the second focal point. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

illustrates a mobile electronic devicein accordance with one or more embodiments. The mobile electronic devicemay be implemented as a combination handheld computer and mobile telephone, sometimes referred to as a smart phone. Examples of smart phones include, for example, Palm® products such as Palm® Treo™ smart phones. Although some embodiments may be described with the mobile electronic deviceimplemented as a smart phone by way of example, it may be appreciated that the embodiments are not limited in this context. For example, the mobile electronic devicemay comprise, or be implemented as, any type of wireless device, mobile station, or portable computing device with a self-contained power source (e.g., battery) such as a laptop computer, ultra-laptop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), cellular telephone, combination cellular telephone/PDA, mobile unit, subscriber station, user terminal, portable computer, handheld computer, palmtop computer, wearable computer, media player, pager, messaging device, data communication device, and so forth.

The mobile electronic devicemay provide voice communications functionality in accordance with different types of cellular radiotelephone systems. Examples of cellular radiotelephone systems may include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) systems, North American Digital Cellular (NADC) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Extended-TDMA (E-TDMA) systems, Narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone Service (NAMPS) systems, third generation (3G) systems such as Wide-band CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA-2000, Universal Mobile Telephone System (UMTS) systems, and so forth.

In addition to voice communications functionality, the mobile electronic devicemay be arranged to provide data communications functionality in accordance with different types of cellular radiotelephone systems. Examples of cellular radiotelephone systems offering data communications services may include GSM with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) systems (GSM/GPRS), CDMA/1xRTT systems, Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) systems, Evolution Data Only or Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO) systems, Evolution For Data and Voice (EV-DV) systems, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) systems, High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), and so forth.

The mobile electronic devicemay be arranged to provide voice and/or data communications functionality in accordance with different types of wireless network systems. Examples of wireless network systems may include a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) system, wireless wide area network (WWAN) system, and so forth. Examples of suitable wireless network systems offering data communication services may include the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.xx series of protocols, such as the IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n series of standard protocols and variants (also referred to as “WiFi”), the IEEE 802.16 series of standard protocols and variants (also referred to as “WiMAX”), the IEEE 802.20 series of standard protocols and variants, and so forth.

The mobile electronic devicemay be arranged to perform data communications in accordance with different types of shorter range wireless systems, such as a wireless personal area network (PAN) system. One example of a suitable wireless PAN system offering data communication services may include a Bluetooth system operating in accordance with the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) series of protocols, including Bluetooth Specification versions v1.0, v1.1, v1.2, v2.0, v2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate (EDR), as well as one or more Bluetooth Profiles, and so forth. Other examples may include systems using infrared techniques or near-field communication techniques and protocols, such as electromagnetic induction (EMI) techniques. An example of EMI techniques may include passive or active radio-frequency identification (RFID) protocols and devices.

As shown in the embodiment of, the mobile electronic devicemay comprise a dual processor architecture including a host processorand a radio processor. In various implementations, the host processorand the radio processormay be arranged to communicate with each other using interfacessuch as one or more universal serial bus (USB) interfaces, micro-USB interfaces, universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) interfaces, general purpose input/output (GPIO) interfaces, control/status lines, control/data lines, audio lines, and so forth.

The host processormay be responsible for executing various software programs such as system programs and applications programs to provide computing and processing operations for the mobile electronic device. The radio processormay be responsible for performing various voice and data communications operations for the mobile electronic devicesuch as transmitting and receiving voice and data information over one or more wireless communications channels. Although some embodiments may be described as comprising a dual processor architecture for purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that the mobile electronic devicemay comprise any suitable processor architecture and/or any suitable number of processors consistent with the described embodiments.

The host processormay be implemented as a host central processing unit (CPU) using any suitable processor or logic device, such as a general purpose processor. Although some embodiments may be described with the host processorimplemented as a CPU or general purpose processor by way of example, it may be appreciated that the embodiments are not limited in this context. For example, the host processormay comprise, or be implemented as, a chip multiprocessor (CMP), dedicated processor, embedded processor, media processor, input/output (I/O) processor, co-processor, microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), programmable logic device (PLD), or other processing device in accordance with the described embodiments.

As shown, the host processormay be coupled through a memory busto a memory. The memory busmay comprise any suitable interface and/or bus architecture for allowing the host processorto access the memory. Although the memorymay be shown as being separate from the host processorfor purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that in various embodiments some portion or the entire memorymay be included on the same integrated circuit as the host processor. Alternatively, some portion or the entire memorymay be disposed on an integrated circuit or other medium (e.g., hard disk drive) external to the integrated circuit of host processor. In various embodiments, the mobile electronic devicemay comprise an expansion slot to support a multimedia and/or memory card, for example.

The memorymay be implemented using any machine-readable or computer-readable media capable of storing data such as volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include, without limitation, random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory (e.g., NOR or NAND flash memory), content addressable memory (CAM), polymer memory (e.g., ferroelectric polymer memory), phase-change memory, ovonic memory, ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storing information.

The host processormay also be coupled to various components, such as a keypad, a display, an input/output (I/O) interface, various audio/visual (A % V) devices, a power supply, and so forth. In some cases, the host processormay further implement a digital interface to communicate digital signals between the host processorand the various coupled components. Examples of such digital signals may include, without limitation, digital clock signals such as from an integrated circuit (IC) clock source. The digital clock signal is typically a signal used to coordinate the actions of two or more circuits. The clock signal oscillates between a high and low state, normally with a fifty percent duty cycle, and is usually a square waveform. Circuits using the clock signal for synchronization may become active at either the rising edge or falling edge, or both, of the oscillating clock signal. Consequently, the host processortypically delivers a clock signal to the various components coupled to the host processorin part to synchronize and control the coupled components.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise an alphanumeric keypadcoupled to the host processor. The keypadmay comprise, for example, a QWERTY key layout and an integrated number dial pad. In some cases, the keypadmay comprise a thumbboard arranged for operation using the thumbs of a user. The mobile electronic devicealso may comprise various keys, buttons, and switches such as, for example, input keys, preset and programmable hot keys, left and right action buttons, a navigation button such as a multidirectional navigation button, phone/send and power/end buttons, preset and programmable shortcut buttons, a volume rocker switch, a ringer on/off switch having a vibrate mode, and so forth.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise a displaycoupled to the host processor. The displaymay comprise any suitable visual interface for displaying content to a user of the mobile electronic device. In one embodiment, for example, the displaymay be implemented by a LCD such as a touch-sensitive color (e.g., 16-bit color) thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD screen. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive LCD may be used with a stylus and/or a handwriting recognizer program.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise an I/O interfacecoupled to the host processor. The I/O interfacemay comprise one or more I/O devices such as a serial connection port, an infrared port, integrated Bluetooth® wireless capability, and/or integrated 802.11x (WiFi) wireless capability, to enable wired (e.g., USB cable) and/or wireless connection to a local computer system, such as a local personal computer (PC). In various implementations, mobile electronic devicemay be arranged to transfer and/or synchronize information with the local computer system.

The host processormay be coupled to various A/V devicesthat support A/V capability of the mobile electronic device. Examples of A/V devicesmay include, for example, a microphone, one or more speakers, an audio port to connect an audio headset, an audio coder/decoder (codec), an audio player, a digital camera, a video camera, a video codec, a video player, and so forth.

The host processormay be coupled to a power supplyarranged to supply and manage power to the elements of the mobile electronic device. In various embodiments, the power supplymay be implemented by a rechargeable battery, such as a removable and rechargeable lithium ion battery to provide direct current (DC) power, and/or an alternating current (AC) adapter to draw power from a standard AC main power supply.

As mentioned above, the radio processormay perform voice and/or data communication operations for the mobile electronic device. For example, the radio processormay be arranged to communicate voice information and/or data information over one or more assigned frequency bands of a wireless communication channel. In various embodiments, the radio processormay be implemented as a communications processor using any suitable processor or logic device, such as a modem processor or baseband processor. Although some embodiments may be described with the radio processorimplemented as a modem processor or baseband processor by way of example, it may be appreciated that the embodiments are not limited in this context. For example, the radio processormay comprise, or be implemented as, a digital signal processor (DSP), media access control (MAC) processor, or any other type of communications processor in accordance with the described embodiments.

In various embodiments, the radio processormay perform analog and/or digital baseband operations for the mobile electronic device. For example, the radio processormay perform digital-to-analog conversion (DAC), analog-to-digital conversion (ADC), modulation, demodulation, encoding, decoding, encryption, decryption, and so forth.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise a memorycoupled to the radio processor. The memorymay be implemented using one or more types of machine-readable or computer-readable media capable of storing data such as volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. The memorymay comprise, for example, flash memory and secure digital (SD) RAM. Although the memorymay be shown as being separate from and external to the radio processorfor purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that in various embodiments some portion or the entire memorymay be included on the same integrated circuit as the radio processor.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise a transceiver modulecoupled to the radio processor. The transceiver modulemay comprise one or more radio transceivers arranged to communicate using different types of protocols, communication ranges, operating power requirements, RF sub-bands, information types (e.g., voice or data), use scenarios, applications, and so forth. In various embodiments, the transceiver modulemay comprise one or more transceivers arranged to support voice communication for a cellular radiotelephone system such as a GSM, UMTS, and/or CDMA system. The transceiver modulealso may comprise one or more transceivers arranged to perform data communications in accordance with one or more wireless communications protocols such as WWAN protocols (e.g., GSM/GPRS protocols, CDMA/1xRTT protocols, EDGE protocols, EV-DO protocols, EV-DV protocols, HSDPA protocols, etc.), WLAN protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, etc.), PAN protocols, Infrared protocols, Bluetooth protocols, EMI protocols including passive or active RFID protocols, and so forth. In some embodiments, the transceiver modulemay comprise a Global Positioning System (GPS) transceiver to support position determination and/or location-based services. It may be appreciated that the term “transceiver” as used herein may describe a transmitter, a receiver, or both a transmitter and receiver.

The transceiver modulegenerally may be implemented using one or more chips as desired for a given implementation. Although the transceiver modulemay be shown as being separate from and external to the radio processorfor purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that in various embodiments some portion or the entire transceiver modulemay be included on the same integrated circuit as the radio processor. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise an antenna systemfor transmitting and/or receiving electrical signals. As shown, the antenna systemmay be coupled to the radio processorthrough the transceiver module. The antenna systemmay comprise or be implemented as one or more internal antennas and/or external antennas.

The mobile electronic devicemay comprise a subscriber identity module (SIM)coupled to the radio processor. The SIMmay comprise, for example, a removable or non-removable smart card arranged to encrypt voice and data transmissions and to store user-specific data for allowing a voice or data communications network to identify and authenticate the user. The SIMalso may store data such as personal settings specific to the user.

As mentioned above, the host processormay be arranged to provide processing or computing resources to the mobile electronic device. For example, the host processormay be responsible for executing various software programs such as system programs and application programs to provide computing and processing operations for the mobile electronic device.

System programs generally may assist in the running of the mobile electronic deviceand may be directly responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing the individual hardware components of the computer system. Examples of system programs may include, without limitation, an operating system (OS), device drivers, programming tools, utility programs, software libraries, application programming interfaces (APIs), and so forth. The mobile electronic devicemay utilize any suitable OS in accordance with the described embodiments such as a Palm OS®, Palm OS® Cobalt, Microsoft® Windows OS, Microsoft Windows® CE, Microsoft Pocket PC, Microsoft Mobile, Symbian OS™, Embedix OS, Linux, Binary Run-time Environment for Wireless (BREW) OS, JavaOS, a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) OS, Mac OS X, and so forth.

Application programs generally may allow a user to accomplish one or more specific tasks. Examples of application programs may include, without limitation, one or more messaging applications (e.g., telephone, voicemail, facsimile, e-mail, IM, SMS, MMS, video conferencing), a web browser application, personal information management (PIM) applications (e.g., contacts, calendar, scheduling, tasks), word processing applications, spreadsheet applications, database applications, media applications (e.g., video player, audio player, multimedia player, digital camera, video camera, media management), gaming applications, and so forth. In various implementations, the application programs may provide one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to communicate information between the mobile electronic deviceand a user. In some embodiments, application programs may comprise upper layer programs running on top of the OS of the host processorthat operate in conjunction with the functions and protocols of lower layers including, for example, a transport layer such as a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer, a network layer such as an Internet Protocol (IP) layer, and a link layer such as a Point-to-Point (PPP) layer used to translate and format data for communication.

As show in, the mobile electronic devicemay comprise or implement a focus management module. Focus management modulemay be arranged to provide automatic focus control to a user. For example, focus management modulemay be responsible for providing control signals to control one or more of A/V devicesof mobile electronic device. Although the focus management modulemay be shown as being implemented on the same integrated circuit as the host processorfor purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that in various embodiments some portion or the entire focus management modulemay be included separate from the host processor. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

illustrates one embodiment of a digital camera system. The digital camera systemmay be representative of, for example, a digital camera system of mobile electronics device. Although some embodiments may be described with reference to a digital camera by way of example, it may be appreciated that the principles and techniques may be implemented using various A/V devicesand accompanying technology. For example, some embodiments may employ a digital video camera in various implementations.

As shown, digital camera systemmay comprise or implement focus management module, pointing component, display, digital cameraand bus. The busmay comprise any suitable interface and/or bus architecture for allowing the digital camerato communicate with focus management module. Although focus management modulemay be shown as being separate from digital camerafor purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that in various embodiments some portion or the entire focus management modulemay be included on the same integrated circuit as the digital camera. Alternatively, some portion or the entire focus management modulemay be disposed on an integrated circuit or other medium (e.g., hard disk drive) external to the integrated circuit of digital camera.

Focus management modulemay comprise or implement focal point selection module, focus control moduleand white balance control module. Digital cameramay comprise or implement controller, lens component, lens position component, microphone position component, directional microphone, memory, flash control moduleand flash component. It can be appreciated that a limited number of elements are shown for purposes of illustration and not limitation.

Displayof digital camera systemmay be representative of, for example, displayof mobile electronic device. The displaymay comprise any suitable visual interface for displaying content to a user of digital camera system. In one embodiment, for example, the displaymay be implemented by a LCD such as a touch-sensitive color (e.g., 16-bit color) thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD screen. In some embodiments, the touch-sensitive LCD may be used with a stylus or other pointing device. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Digital camera systemmay be representative of, for example, one of A/V devicesof mobile electronics device. In one embodiment, digital camera systemmay be implemented as an electronic device used to capture and store images electronically in a digital format. Additionally, in some embodiments digital camera systemmay be capable of recording sound and/or video in addition to still images. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Digital cameraof digital camera systemmay comprise controller. Controllermay provide control signals to components of digital camera, including lens position component, microphone position componentand flash control module, to provide functionality for digital camera system. In some embodiments, controllermay also provide control signals to focus management modulevia bus. In one embodiment, controllermay be implemented as, for example, host processorof mobile electronics device. Alternatively, controllermay be implemented as a separate processor from host processor. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Digital cameramay further comprise memory. Memorymay be implemented as, for example, memoryof mobile electronics device. Although the memorymay be shown as being separate from controllerfor purposes of illustration, it is worthy to note that in various embodiments some portion or the entire memorymay be included on the same integrated circuit as controller. Alternatively, some portion or the entire memorymay be disposed on an integrated circuit or other medium (e.g., hard disk drive) external to the integrated circuit of controller.

Focus management moduleof digital camera systemmay be representative of, for example, focus management moduleof mobile electronics device. Focus management modulemay be arranged to provide automatic focus control to a user by, for example, providing control signals to control one or more of lens position component, microphone position componentand flash control module, for example. In some embodiments the focus management modulemay be implemented on the same integrated circuit as controller. In various embodiments some portion or the entire focus management modulemay be included separate from controller. In various embodiments, focus management modulemay be implemented by one or more hardware components, software components, and/or combination thereof. Focus management modulemay, for example, be implemented as computer executable instructions stored on memoryto be executed by controller. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Digital cameramay comprise a lens componentand a lens position component. Lens componentmay consist of a photographic or optical lens or assembly of lenses made of a transparent material such as glass, plastic, acrylic or Plexiglass, for example. In one embodiment, the one or more lens elements of lens componentmay reproduce an image of an object and allow for zooming in or out on the object by mechanically changing the focal length of the lens elements. In various embodiments, digital zoom may be employed in digital camera systemto zoom in or out on an image. In some embodiments the one or more lens elements of lens componentmay be used to focus on different portions of the image by varying the focal length of the lens elements. The desired focus can be obtained with an autofocus feature of digital camera systemor by manually focusing on the desired portion of the image, for example.

Lens position componentmay be configured to receive control signals from controllerand focus control moduleand use this control information to adjust the lens component. In various embodiments, the lens position componentmay be implemented by one or more hardware components, software components, and/or combination thereof. The embodiments are not limited in this context. For example, lens position component may receive control information from controllerindicating that a user wishes to focus on a particular portion of an object. Lens position componentmay use this control information to configure the lens elements of lens componentinto the proper configuration to deliver the desired focus.

In one embodiment, displayof digital camera systemmay be coupled to digital cameraand may be arranged to capture and reproduce an image with a first focal point. The image may be viewed through lens componentand reproduced on display. The image on displaymay comprise a substantially real-time preview of the image to allow for framing and previewing before capturing a photograph. In some embodiments, the focal point refers to the intended center of interest of a photograph and is typically the point where the image will be in the clearest focus.

Focal point selection modulemay be coupled to the displayand may allow for the selection of a second focal point for the image. The second focal point may be selected, for example, by an operator using the displayto indicate that a second focal point is desired. In some embodiments, for example, displaymay comprise a touchscreen display and may be configured to send coordinates for the second focal point to the focal point selection module. These coordinates, which may in one example comprise X, Y coordinates, may correspond to pressure applied to an area of the display. Pressure may be applied to the displayby any suitable input device, including a stylus or a finger, for example, and this pressure may be digitized to represent the coordinates. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

Focus control modulemay be coupled to the focal point selection moduleand the lens position componentto provide focus control signals to the lens position componentto focus the lens componenton the second focal point. In various embodiments, the focus control signals may represent a focal length for the lens component. In some embodiments, focus control modulemay determine the focal length for lens componentbased on the coordinates for the second focal point determined by focal point selection module. Lens position componentmay use the control signals from focus control moduleto adjust the lens elements of lens componentto achieve the desired focus on the second focal point.

The digital camera systemmay further comprise a pointing componentcoupled to the displayand the focal point selection module. The pointing componentmay be configured to control a pointer on the displayin response to user or operator commands. The pointing componentmay send coordinates for the second focal point to the focal point selection module. The coordinates may correspond to a position for the pointer on the display. In various embodiments the pointer may comprise any overlay image on displaythat is capable of indicated the currently selected area or focal point. For example, the pointer may include an arrow, box, circle, oval or any other suitable image. The overlay image may have varying degrees of translucency as desired for a given implementation.

In some embodiments, the digital camera systemmay comprise a directional microphoneand a microphone position componentcoupled to the focus control module. In various embodiments, the focus control modulemay provide focus control signals to the microphone position componentto focus the directional microphoneon the second focal point. For example, focus control modulemay provide coordinates to microphone position component. Microphone position componentmay use the coordinates to focus directional microphoneon the sound emanating from the focal point defined by the coordinates.

Directional microphonemay consist of one or more microphones whose response varies with the direction of sound incidence. In one embodiment, directional microphonemay be implemented as a digital directional microphone capable of creating null points at different frequencies to cancel various sounds around a desired focal point. In various embodiments, the microphone position componentmay be implemented by one or more hardware components, software components, and/or combination thereof. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

In some embodiments, the digital camera systemmay comprise a white balance control modulecoupled to the focal point selection module. The white balance control modulemay be configured to modify a white balance setting value for the image based on the second focal point. In various embodiments, white balance control modulemay be implemented by one or more hardware components, software components, and/or combination thereof. White balance control may refer to the adjustment of the relative amounts of red, green, and blue primary colors in an image such that neutral colors are reproduced correctly. Changing the white balance may change the overall mixture of colors in an image and can be used for generalized color correction.

Flash componentand flash control moduleof digital camera systemmay be coupled to the focal point selection moduleand/or controller. The flash control modulemay be configured to select a flash level value representing flash intensity for the flash componentbased on the second focal point. In various embodiments, the flash control modulemay be implemented by one or more hardware components, software components, and/or combination thereof. Flash componentmay consist of a device or group of devices that produce an instantaneous flash of light, typically around 1/3000 of a second at a color temperature of about 5500K, to help illuminate a scene. Flash componentmay be used, for example, to aid in capturing images of quickly moving objects, to create a different temperature light than the ambient light, and to illuminate scenes that do not have enough available light to adequately expose the image.

Operations for the mobile electronic devicemay be further described with reference to one or more logic flows. It may be appreciated that the representative logic flows do not necessarily have to be executed in the order presented, or in any particular order, unless otherwise indicated. Moreover, various activities described with respect to the logic flows can be executed in serial or parallel fashion. The logic flows may be implemented using any desired hardware elements, software elements, or combination of both.