Optimal energy management of a rural microgrid system using multi-objective optimization

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed to improve energy efficiency of a farm with livestock wastes by generating a cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) microgrid model; performing on a computer a multi-objective optimization to improve system efficiency of energy utilization and reduce environmental problems caused by animal wastes; and displaying results of the optimization for review.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method to improve energy efficiency of a farm with livestock waste with a microgrid, comprising: generating a comprehensive cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) microgrid model; performing on a computer a multi-objective optimization to improve system efficiency of energy utilization and reduce environmental problems caused by animal waste; displaying results of the optimization for review; modeling, an objective function of system operating cost (OC), including biogas, fuel cost (FC), internal combustion engine (ICE) start up and shut down cost (SSC), equipment operation and maintenance cost (OMC), and cost of electricity bought from the grid (EBC) as follows: $\begin{array}{c}\mathrm{OC}=\mathrm{FC}+\mathrm{SSC}+\mathrm{OMC}+\mathrm{EBC}\\ \mathrm{FC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\Delta T\left(F_t+F_{\mathrm{GB},t}+F_{\mathrm{ACC},t}\right)C_{\mathrm{Bio}}\\ \mathrm{SSC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}\left(v_{g,t}\mathrm{SU}+w_{g,t}\mathrm{SD}\right)\\ \mathrm{OMC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\Delta T\left({\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{ICE}}\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}{P}_{g,t}+{\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{GB}}{P}_{\mathrm{GB},t}+{\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{ACC}}{P}_{\mathrm{ACC},t}+{\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{AR}}{P}_{\mathrm{AR},t}\right)\\ \mathrm{EBC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\Delta T\left(C_{\mathrm{GriE}}{P}_{\mathrm{grid},t}\right)\end{array}$ where ΔT is hourly time step, C.sub.Bio is the biogas cost in dollars per liter ($/L), F.sub.t,GB,ACC are fuel cost of ICEs, gas boiler, and absorption chiller for cooling in L/h, SU, SD are start up cost and shut down cost in $, OM.sub.ICE,GB,ACC,AR are operation and maintenance cost of ICEs, GB, ACC, and AR in $/kWh, P.sub.GB,ACC,AR,t is output of gas boiler, absorption chiller for cooling and absorption refrigerator in time t in kW, C.sub.GriE is electricity cost of the grid in $/kWh, P.sub.grid,t is the power bought from the grid in kW, M is the number of generators, and N is a time t counter; and optimizing the microgrid based on dispalyed result, start and shut down cost, operating and maintenance cost, and cost of electricity; wherein the steps are carried out by a computer having a processor and memory.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling fuel consumption rate of biogas-fueled internal combustion engine (ICE) as real power
F.sub.g,t=a.sub.g+b.sub.gP.sub.g,t+c.sub.gP.sub.g,t.sup.2 where P.sub.g,t is the generator g output in kW at time t, and a.sub.g, b.sub.g, c.sub.g are coefficients from the ICE.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling hourly available capacity of battery storage P.sub.batt,t in time t as: $P_{\mathrm{batt},t}=P_{\mathrm{batt},t-1}+E_{\mathrm{cha},t}{\eta }_{\mathrm{cha}}-\frac{E_{\mathrm{dis},t}}{{\eta }_{\mathrm{dis}}}$ where E.sub.cha,t is hourly charging quantity flows into the battery storage in kWh in time t, E.sub.dis,t is hourly discharging quantity flows out of the battery storage in kWh in time t, η.sub.cha is charging efficiency of the battery storage, η.sub.dis is the discharging efficiency of the battery storage.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling system constraints as: $\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}{P}_{g,t}+P_{\mathrm{PV},t}+P_{\mathrm{grid},t}-P_{L,t}=\Delta P_t$ where M is the number of generators g, P.sub.g,t is the generator g output in kW at time t, P.sub.PV,t is DC output power of a photovoltaic module at time t, where P.sub.grid,t is the energy from a main grid in kWh in time t, and P.sub.L,t is a load demand in kW in time t.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: incorporating an explicit periodic operating cost minimization criterion applied to infrastructure of the microgrid and maximization of energy output from distributed energy resources (DERs); and balancing trade-offs between daily operating cost minimization and periodic maximization of energy output from the DERs.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising providing optimal management of a rural microgrid infrastructure based on multi-objective optimization including economic cost of waste management.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling thermal components of a microgrid optimization model with models for cooling demand and hot water demand.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising using individual objective optimization results as extreme points of a trade-off curve and creating a pareto front for operation management.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising performing the multi-objective optimization with the CCHP model for a multi-criteria rural microgrid system based on mixed integer non-linear programming.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling cooling demand with a combined model of absorption refrigerator, absorption chiller, and heat release from a thermal storage.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling of emissions and cost of energy, heat and power, for the microgrid.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling of AC and DC power distribution with energy storage, thermal and electrical, for onsite demand management in the microgrid.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein modeling includes modeling of grid-tied or islanded microgrids for revenue maximization and emission minimization using managed sale of energy and reduction of operating cost while providing for local thermal and electrical demand.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows an exemplary microgrid system.

(2) FIG. 2 shows an exemplary flow chart of a microgrid optimization model.

(3) FIG. 3 shows an exemplary computer system to improve energy efficiency of a farm with livestock wastes.

DESCRIPTION

(4) FIG. 1 shows an exemplary microgrid system. The produced biogas is used to fire ICEs, gas boiler, as well as absorption chiller for cooling. The whole system can be divided into two parts: electrical part and thermal part. In electrical part, PV and ICEs are used as DERs to provide electricity for the whole system, the output of which are converted into direct current flowing into the DC bus. The gird will provide additional electricity to the whole system during periods of insufficient electricity inside the system. The grid can also be automatically selected to directly supply the load when emergencies occur in PV and ICEs. The energy storage ensemble (ESE) located between DC bus and AC bus is used to balance power supply and load demand between DERs, grid, battery, and the load. The model of the electrical part can be either operated in islanded mode or in grid-connected mode depending on the load condition.

(5) In thermal part, part of the jacket water and exhaust heat from ICEs are utilized by heat exchanger (HE) and absorption refrigerator (AR) to provide the hot water and the cooling supply, respectively. The hot water tank is used to store the generated hot water and release it when there is an insufficiency of hot water supply. In case of capacity limit on heat exchanger, one gas boiler (GB) is added to provide enough hot water supply together with heat exchanger and hot water tank. Similarly, the thermal storage (TS) is used to store cold water generated from absorption refrigerator and release it when necessary. One absorption chiller for cooling (ACC) is also added in case of the capacity limit on absorption refrigerator, to provide enough cooling supply together with absorption refrigerator and thermal storage.

(6) FIG. 2 shows an exemplary flow chart of a microgrid optimization model. A model of a grid 200 includes models for solar radiation 210, photovoltaic (PV) model 212, and PV constraints 214. Similarly, a battery model 200 and battery constraints 224 are captured. The model also includes biogas 250 with an internal combustion engine (ICE) model 252 and constraints 254. The ICE model 252 communicates with a thermal model 260 and thermal constraint 262.

(7) The model components 210-262 are provided to demand profiles 270 such as electrical, cooling, hot water profiles, among others. The information is provided to a multi-objective function optimizer 280. The optimizer 280 minimizes operating costs while maximizing energy output. This is subject to system constraints 300. The system can perform individual objective minimization 310-312, and then performs a multi-objective optimization 320 to generate results 330.

(8) A combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) microgrid model can be used to improve system efficiency of energy utilization and lessen environmental problems caused by animal wastes based on multi-objective optimization. In this proposed model, the animal manure is used to produce biogas, which is used to feed internal combustion engines (ICEs), gas boilers, and absorption chillers. The generated electricity would offset that would otherwise be bought from main grids. PV generation is introduced to further increase the renewable fraction of energy contents. The electrical storage is also included to balance power demand and power supply. To increase system efficiency of energy utilization, coolant water from ICEs, plus their exhaust, could be utilized based on the thermal storage modeled, by inclusion of absorption refrigerator and heat exchanger. The final goal is to maximize energy output from distributed energy resources (DERs) and meanwhile minimize daily system operating cost. Extra electricity generated beyond the load demand could be used to charge battery storage. In this way, system energy cost is reduced with energy system improvement and reconfiguration, and surrounding environmental problems due to animal wastes are also lessened.

(9) In one implementation, a rural dairy farm was selected as the test bed. The microgrid system infrastructure was introduced first. Then, the modeling of individual main component concerned of the microgrid system is done. Next, the multi-objective optimization method is deployed as describe in details below.

(10) First, a biogas-fired ICE model is detailed. The fuel consumption rate of biogas-fueled ICE is expressed as a quadratic function of real power:
F.sub.g,t=a.sub.g+b.sub.gP.sub.g,t+c.sub.gP.sub.g,t.sup.2  (1)
where P.sub.g,t is the generator g output in kW at time t, a.sub.g, b.sub.g, c.sub.g are coefficients that can be calculated, respectively, from the data sheet provided by the manufacturer.

(11) The total fuel consumption rate F.sub.t is shown as follows:

(12) $\begin{array}{cc}{F}_t=\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}\left(a_g+b_g{P}_{g,t}+c_g{P}_{g,t}^2\right)& \left(2\right)\end{array}$

(13) The ICE units are first constrained by their capacities:
P.sub.g.sup.−u.sub.g,t<P.sub.g,t<P.sub.g.sup.+u.sub.g,t∀gεM  (3)
where P.sub.g.sup.+,− are the generator capacity's lower bound and upper bound, u.sub.g,t is binary variable indicating the state of generator g in time t (0 is off and 1 is on), M is the total number of generators.

(14) The ICE units are constrained by minimum up and down time constraints:
u.sub.g,s≧u.sub.g,t−u.sub.g,t-1,∀g,sε{t+1, . . . t+UT.sub.g−1}  (4)
1−u.sub.g,s≧u.sub.g,t-1−u.sub.g,t,∀g,sε{t+1, . . . t+DT.sub.g−1}  (5)
where s is the time period, UT.sub.g is the minimum up time of generator g in hours, DT.sub.g is the minimum down time of generator g in hours.

(15) Ramp rate constraints are also considered for ICE units, which can restrict generators' output between two consecutive periods due to their physical limitations, also including start up and shut down periods:
P.sub.g,t−P.sub.g,t-1≦R.sub.g.sup.+u.sub.g,t-1+R.sub.g.sup.SU(1−u.sub.g,t-1),∀g,t  (6)
P.sub.g,t-1−P.sub.g,t≦R.sub.g.sup.−u.sub.g,t+R.sub.g.sup.SD(1−u.sub.g,t),∀g,t  (7)
where R.sub.g.sup.+,− are ramp up and ramp down constraints in kW when generator g is on, R.sub.g.sup.SU,SD are start up and shut down constraints in kW when generator g starts up and shuts down.

(16) Two other binary variables are used to represent start up and shut down states of ICEs, as shown in the following two equation:
v.sub.g,t=u.sub.g,t−u.sub.g,t-1,∀g,t  (8)
w.sub.g,t=u.sub.g,t-1−u.sub.g,t,∀g,t  (9)
where v.sub.g,t and w.sub.g,t are binary variables indicating start up and shut down state of ICEs.

(17) Next, a PV model is detailed. The calculation of DC output power of PV modules P.sub.PV,t is shown as the following equation:
P.sub.PV,t=η.sub.PV,tA.sub.PVG.sub.β,t  (10)

(18) The PV efficiency η.sub.PV,t in time t is shown in [22]:
η.sub.PV,t=η.sub.rη.sub.pc(1−β(T.sub.c,t−T.sub.ref))  (11)

(19) The PV cell temperature T.sub.c in ° C. in time t is given by [23]:

(20) $\begin{array}{cc}{T}_{c,t}=T_a+\left(\frac{\mathrm{NOCT}-20}{800}\right)G_{\beta ,t}& \left(12\right)\end{array}$
where A.sub.PV is the available total PV modules area in m.sup.2, G.sub.β,t is incident solar radiation in Wh/m.sup.2 in time t, η.sub.r is PV reference module efficiency, η.sub.pc is PV power conditioning efficiency, β is PV efficiency temperature coefficient, T.sub.ref is PV reference temperature in ° C., T.sub.a is PV ambient temperature, NOCT is normal operating cell temperature in ° C.

(21) A battery storage model is discussed next. The output power from DERs may be insufficient to supply the load; DERs and the main grid may fail to supply the load; and the supply from DERs may also exceed beyond the load demand. In these cases, the electrical battery storage is needed to balance the load demand and power supply, and store extra energy from DERs.

(22) The hourly available capacity of the battery storage P.sub.batt,t in time t is calculated as the following:

(23) $\begin{array}{cc}{P}_{\mathrm{batt},t}=P_{\mathrm{batt},t-1}+E_{\mathrm{cha},t}{\eta }_{\mathrm{cha}}-\frac{E_{\mathrm{dis},t}}{{\eta }_{\mathrm{dis}}}& \left(13\right)\end{array}$
where E.sub.cha,t is hourly charging quantity flows into the battery storage in kWh in time t, E.sub.dis,t is hourly discharging quantity flows out of the battery storage in kWh in time t, η.sub.cha is charging efficiency of the battery storage, η.sub.dis is the discharging efficiency of the battery storage.

(24) $\begin{array}{cc}\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}{P}_{g,t}+P_{\mathrm{PV},t}+P_{\mathrm{grid},t}=P_{L,t}+E_{\mathrm{cha},t}-E_{\mathrm{dis},t}& \left(14\right)\end{array}$
where P.sub.grid,t the hourly energy from the main grid in kWh in time t, P.sub.L,t is the load demand in kW in time t.
ΔP.sub.t=E.sub.cha,t−E.sub.dis,t  (15)

(25) The hourly charging or discharging quantity of the battery storage is constrained by the capacity of the battery storage E.sub.s.
0≦E.sub.cha,t≦E.sub.s  (16)
0≦E.sub.dis,t≦E.sub.s  (17)
where ΔP.sub.t is a free variable in kW, indicating the hourly charging or discharging quantity of the battery storage.

(26) In any hour t, the battery storage is either in charging state (E.sub.cha,t≠0, E.sub.dis,t=0) or in discharging state (E.sub.cha,t=0, E.sub.dis,t≠0) or doesn't work (E.sub.cha,t=0, E.sub.dis,t=0).
E.sub.cha,t×E.sub.dis,t=0  (18)

(27) The charged quantity of the battery storage is subject to the following constraints:
SOC.sup.−×E.sub.s≦P.sub.batt,t≦SOC.sup.+×E.sub.s  (19)
where SOC.sup.+,− are the upper bound and the lower bound of state of charge for the battery storage.

(28) CCHP Model

(29) The water based thermal storage tank is used to provide space cooling while the hot water tank is used to provide the daily hot water consumption. The model of the thermal storage tank for cooling is shown as the following equation [13]:
Q.sub.t.sup.out−Q.sub.t.sup.in=CρV(T(t+1)−T(t))/Δt−ΣCρVΔT  (20)

(30) While for the hot water tank model, the two terms in the left-hand side of the above equation are reversed. In the above equation, Q.sub.t.sup.out is the heat release in kWh, Q.sub.t.sup.in is the heat storage in kWh, C is the specific heat coefficient of storage medium in kWh/kg-K, ρ is the density of storage medium in kg/m.sup.3, V is the capacity of storage tank in m.sup.3, T is the average temperature in the tank in K, Δt is the hourly time duration, E is the coefficient of waste heat from storage tank, and ΔT is the temperature range in the tank.

(31) The constraints of thermal storage for space cooling and hot water tank are described by following equations:

(32) $\begin{array}{cc}\begin{array}{c}{Q}_t^{\mathrm{cool}}={\mathrm{COP}}_{\mathrm{AR}}{Q}_{\mathrm{ICE}1,t}+Q_{\mathrm{ACC},t}+Q_{\mathrm{hr}1,t}\\ =Q_{\mathrm{AR},t}+Q_{\mathrm{ACC},t}+Q_{\mathrm{hr}1,t}\end{array}& \left(21\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{colin}}\le Q_{\mathrm{AR},t}& \left(22\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{colout}}=Q_{\mathrm{hr}1,t}& \left(23\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{colout}}\times Q_t^{\mathrm{colin}}=0& \left(24\right)\\ \begin{array}{c}{Q}_t^{\mathrm{hw}}={\mathrm{COP}}_{\mathrm{HE}}{Q}_{\mathrm{ICE}2,t}+Q_{\mathrm{GB},t}+Q_{\mathrm{hr}2,t}\\ =Q_{\mathrm{HE},t}+Q_{\mathrm{GB},t}+Q_{\mathrm{hr}2,t}\end{array}& \left(25\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{hwin}}\le Q_{\mathrm{HE},t}& \left(26\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{hwout}}=Q_{\mathrm{hr}2,t}& \left(27\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{hwout}}\times Q_t^{\mathrm{hwcolin}}=0& \left(28\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{hr}}=\underset{n=1}{\overset{2}{.Math.}}{Q}_n^{\mathrm{ICE}}& \left(29\right)\\ Q_t^{\mathrm{wh}}=Q_{\mathrm{ICE}3,t}& \left(30\right)\end{array}$
Q.sub.t.sup.cool,hw are space cooling demand and hot water demand in kW, COP.sub.AR,HE are the coefficient of performance for absorption refrigerator and heat exchanger, Q.sub.ICE1,2,3 are heat recovered from ICEs for space cooling, hot water and waste heat not recovered in kW, Q.sub.ACC,GB are output from absorption chiller for cooling and gas boiler in kW, Q.sub.AR,HE are output from absorption refrigerator and heat exchanger in kW, Q.sub.hr1,2 are heat released from thermal storage and hot water tank in kW, Q.sub.t.sup.wh is the waste heat not recovered in kW, Q.sub.t.sup.colin,out are heat recovered from ICEs flowing into and that flowing out of thermal storage in kW, Q.sub.t.sup.hwin,out are heat recovered from ICEs flowing into and that flowing out of hot water tank in kW.

(33) The system optimizes two objective functions in one embodiment:

(34) A. Minimization of Operating Cost

(35) The objective function of system operating cost (OC) in $, including biogas fuel cost (FC), ICEs start up and shut down cost (SSC), equipments operation and maintenance cost (OMC), and cost of electricity bought from the grid (EBC), are shown as the followings:

(36) $\begin{array}{cc}\mathrm{OC}=\mathrm{FC}+\mathrm{SSC}+\mathrm{OMC}+\mathrm{EBC}& \left(31\right)\\ \mathrm{FC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\Delta T\left(F_t+F_{\mathrm{GB},t}+F_{\mathrm{ACC},t}\right)C_{\mathrm{Bio}}& \left(32\right)\\ \mathrm{SSC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}\left(v_{g,t}\mathrm{SU}+w_{g,t}\mathrm{SD}\right)& \left(33\right)\\ \mathrm{OMC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\Delta T\left({\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{ICE}}\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}{P}_{g,t}+{\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{GB}}{P}_{\mathrm{GB},t}+{\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{ACC}}{P}_{\mathrm{ACC},t}+{\mathrm{OM}}_{\mathrm{AR}}{P}_{\mathrm{AR},t}\right)& \left(34\right)\\ \mathrm{EBC}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\Delta T\left(C_{\mathrm{GriE}}{P}_{\mathrm{grid},t}\right)& \left(35\right)\end{array}$
where ΔT is hourly time step, C.sub.Bio is the biogas cost in $/L, F.sub.t,GB,ACC are fuel cost of ICEs, gas boiler, and absorption chiller for cooling in L/h, SU, SD are start up cost and shut down cost in $, OM.sub.ICE,GB,ACC,AR are operation and maintenance cost of ICEs, GB, ACC, and AR in $/kWh, P.sub.GB,ACC,AR,t are output of gas boiler, absorption chiller for cooling and absorption refrigerator in time t in kW, C.sub.GriE is electricity cost of the grid in $/kWh, P.sub.grid,t is the power bought from the grid in kW.
B. Maximization of DG Output

(37) The objective function of the total DG output E.sub.AG in kWh is given by the following equation:

(38) $\begin{array}{cc}{E}_{\mathrm{DG}}=\underset{t=1}{\overset{N}{.Math.}}\left(\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}{P}_g\left(t\right)+P_{\mathrm{PV}}\left(t\right)\right)\Delta T& \left(36\right)\end{array}$
C. System Constraints

(39) $\begin{array}{cc}\underset{g=1}{\overset{M}{.Math.}}{P}_{g,t}+P_{\mathrm{PV},t}+P_{\mathrm{grid},t}-P_{L,t}=\Delta P_t& \left(37\right)\end{array}$

(40) In one embodiment, a multi-objective optimization can be used to manage and find the best solution between different objectives. Since these objectives might be nonlinear, conflicting or incommensurable, the global optimal solution for the multi-objective optimization is generally achieved by Pareto optimality. The Pareto optimal solutions are best compromise or trade-off solutions between different objectives. A trade-off frontier between the objective of system operating cost minimization and the objective of DG output maximization would be found according to the preferences of the decision makers. However, the development of Pareto optimal solutions is significantly complicated when the number of objectives exceeds two, where normal boundary interaction (NBI) and E-constraint method are efficient algorithms to solve such problems. The whole system model is programmed and optimized in GAMS environment. Since it is mixed integer nonlinear programming, the BONMIN solver is selected to solve the optimization problem.

(41) Based on MINLP, a CCHP model of a rural microgrid uses multi-objective optimization to improve system efficiency of energy utilization, reduce the daily operating cost, and lessen environmental problems caused by animal wastes. A variety of energy sources, such as ICEs, PV modules, battery, thermal storage, absorption refrigerator, absorption chiller, gas boiler, heat and exchanger are included in the microgrid model. Constraint functions are included in the optimization model to reflect some detailed as well as necessary considerations and thus make the results more accurate and close to reality. From the results, the multi-objective optimization on daily operating cost minimization and DG energy output maximization works very well based on the microgrid model presented, which can give optimal solutions to both the daily operating cost and the DG energy output.

(42) The system may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or a combination of the three. Preferably the invention is implemented in a computer program executed on a programmable computer having a processor, a data storage system, volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements, at least one input device and at least one output device.

(43) By way of example, a block diagram of a computer to support the system is discussed next in FIG. 3. The computer preferably includes a processor, random access memory (RAM), a program memory (preferably a writable read-only memory (ROM) such as a flash ROM) and an input/output (I/O) controller coupled by a CPU bus. The computer may optionally include a hard drive controller which is coupled to a hard disk and CPU bus. Hard disk may be used for storing application programs, such as the present invention, and data. Alternatively, application programs may be stored in RAM or ROM. I/O controller is coupled by means of an I/O bus to an I/O interface. I/O interface receives and transmits data in analog or digital form over communication links such as a serial link, local area network, wireless link, and parallel link. Optionally, a display, a keyboard and a pointing device (mouse) may also be connected to I/O bus. Alternatively, separate connections (separate buses) may be used for I/O interface, display, keyboard and pointing device. Programmable processing system may be preprogrammed or it may be programmed (and reprogrammed) by downloading a program from another source (e.g., a floppy disk, CD-ROM, or another computer).

(44) Each computer program is tangibly stored in a machine-readable storage media or device (e.g., program memory or magnetic disk) readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer, for configuring and controlling operation of a computer when the storage media or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described herein. The inventive system may also be considered to be embodied in a computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner to perform the functions described herein.

(45) The system has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment details and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.