1. A filtration cassette comprising:
one or more filter membranes, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow;
one or more filtrate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for retentate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the filtrate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for retentate flow on the filtrate flow screen may be selectively blocked; and
one or more retentate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for filtrate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the retentate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for filtrate flow on the retentate flow screen may be selectively blocked;
wherein the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are assembled and encapsulated about the periphery thereof by sealant; and
wherein the sealant contemporaneously seals the respective channels of the one or more filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens to selectively block one or more ports in proximity thereto.
2. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the channels are cut from the respective edges of the one or more filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens.
3. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens further comprises one or more sealant holes to enhance sealing of the respective channels.
4. The filtration cassette of claim 3, wherein the sealant holes of the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are in respective alignment with each other.
5. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the ports of each of the filter membrane, filtrate flow screen and retentate flow screen components are in respective alignment with each other.
6. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filter membrane is positioned, respectively, between the filtrate flow screen and the retentate flow screen.
7. The filtration cassette of claim 1, further comprising a first and second end plate attached at either end thereof.
8. The filtration cassette of claim 7, wherein the first and second end plates are encapsulated into the cassette.
9. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filter membrane is selected from the group consisting of ultrafiltration, microporous, nanofiltration or reverse osmosis filters formed from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polysulfone, polyethersulfone, regenerated cellulose, polyamide, polypropylene, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, cellulose acetate, polyacrylonitrile, vinyl copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, vinyl copolymer, polyacrylonitrile, vinyl copolymer, polycarbonate, PFA, and blends thereof.
10. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filter membranes comprise a porous polymer material.
11. The filtration cassette of claim 10, wherein the porous polymer material comprises a polysulfone membrane.
12. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens comprise a mesh material.
13. The filtration cassette of claim 12, wherein the mesh material comprises polyester or polypropylene.
14. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein the sealant is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic materials and thermoset elastomers.
15. The filtration cassette of claim 14, wherein the thermoplastic material is selected from the group consisting of thermoplastic olefin elastomers, thermoplastic polyurethane, plastomer, polypropylene, polyethylene, polytetrafluoroethylene, fluourinated polypropylene and polystyrene.
16. The filtration cassette of claim 14, wherein the thermoset elastomers are selected from the group consisting of epoxy resins, urethanes, silicones, fluorosilicones, and vinyl esters.
17. The filtration cassette of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are cut to roughly the same shape and perimeter.
18. A filtration stack assembly comprising one or more filtration cassettes and a first and a second end plate attached at either end thereof, wherein each filtration cassette comprises:
one or more filter membranes, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow;
one or more filtrate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for retentate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the filtrate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for retentate flow on the filtrate flow screen may be selectively blocked; and
one or more retentate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for filtrate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the retentate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for filtrate flow on the retentate flow screen may be selectively blocked;
wherein the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are assembled and encapsulated about the periphery thereof by sealant; and
wherein the sealant contemporaneously seals the respective channels of the one or more filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens to selectively block one or more ports in proximity thereto.
19. A method of fabricating a filtration cassette comprising:
providing one or more filter membranes, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow;
providing one or more filtrate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for retentate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the filtrate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for retentate flow on the filtrate flow screen may be selectively blocked; and
providing one or more retentate flow screens, each having at least one port for filtrate flow and at least one port for retentate flow and further having one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the port for filtrate flow, wherein the one or more channels on the retentate flow screen permit introduction of a sealant such that the port for filtrate flow on the retentate flow screen may be selectively blocked;
introducing a sealant about the periphery of the filter membrane, the filtrate flow screen, and the retentate flow screen wherein the sealant conteporaneously encapsulates the periphery thereof and seals the one or more channels in proximity to and at least partially surrounding the ports for retentate flow and the port for filtrate flow.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein each of the filter membrane, filtrate flow screen and retentate flow screen components comprise sealant holes to enhance sealing of the respective channels.
21. The method of claim 19, further comprising assembling the one or more filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens such that their respective ports are in alignment prior to introducing the sealant about the periphery thereof.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein a series of filter membranes, filtrate flow screens and retentate flow screens are assembled such that each respective membrane filter is positioned between a respective filtrate flow screen and respective retentate flow screen.
23. The method of claim 19, further comprising attaching a first and second end plate at either end of the cassette thereof.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising encapsulating the end plates into the cassette.
25. The method of claim 19, further comprising encapsulating the filtration cassette about the periphery thereof and sealing the respective channels using injection molding or vacuum assisted resin transfer molding processes.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of fencing data transfers in a parallel active messaging interface (\u2018PAMI\u2019) of a parallel computer, the parallel computer comprising a plurality of compute nodes that execute a parallel application; the PAMI comprising data communications endpoints, each endpoint comprising a specification of data communications parameters for a thread of execution on a compute node, including specifications of a client, a context, and a task; the compute nodes coupled for data communications through the PAMI and through data communications resources including a deterministic data communications network through which data communications are delivered to target endpoints in the same order in which the communications are transmitted from origin endpoints; the method comprising:
initiating execution through the PAMI of an ordered sequence of active SEND instructions for SEND data transfers between two endpoints, a designated origin endpoint on an origin compute node and a designated target endpoint on a target compute node, each SEND instruction effecting a deterministic SEND data transfer, from the designated origin endpoint to the designated target endpoint, through the deterministic data communications network in which the SEND data transfers are effected according to the ordered sequence of the SEND instructions; and
executing through the PAMI, with no FENCE accounting for SEND data transfers, an active FENCE instruction, the FENCE instruction completing execution only after completion of all SEND instructions initiated prior to execution of the FENCE instruction for SEND data transfers between the two endpoints.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the client comprises a collection of data communications resources dedicated to the exclusive use of an application-level data processing entity;
the context comprises a subset of the collection of data processing resources, context functions, and a work queue of data transfer instructions to be performed by use of the subset through the context functions operated by an assigned thread of execution; and
the task comprises a process of execution for the parallel application.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein each context carries out, through post and advance functions, data communications for the application on data communications resources in the exclusive possession of that context.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein each context carries out data communications operations independently and in parallel with other contexts.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein executing a FENCE instruction further comprises:
receiving in the PAMI through the origin endpoint the FENCE instruction, the FENCE instruction specifying a FENCE done callback function;
transmitting by the PAMI the FENCE instruction to the target endpoint, the FENCE instruction specifying a dispatch callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target compute node the dispatch callback function for the FENCE instruction, sending to the origin a FENCE synchronization message;
responsive to the FENCE synchronization message, transmitting by the PAMI from the origin endpoint to the target endpoint a transfer completion notification message after completion of all SEND data transfers previously initiated between the two endpoints, the transfer completion notification message specifying a FENCE acknowledgment callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target node the FENCE acknowledgment call back function, including transmitting from the target to the origin a FENCE acknowledgment message; and
executing by the PAMI in the origin node the FENCE done callback function.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein executing a FENCE instruction further comprises:
receiving in the PAMI through the origin endpoint the FENCE instruction, the FENCE instruction specifying a FENCE done callback function;
transmitting by the PAMI, after completion of all SEND data transfers previously initiated between the two endpoints, the FENCE instruction to the target endpoint, the FENCE instruction specifying a dispatch callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target compute node the dispatch callback function for the FENCE instruction, including sending to the origin a FENCE synchronization message;
responsive to the FENCE synchronization message, transmitting by the PAMI from the origin endpoint to the target endpoint a transfer completion notification message, the transfer completion notification message specifying a FENCE acknowledgment callback function;
executing by the PAMI in the target node the FENCE acknowledgment call back function, including transmitting from the target to the origin a FENCE acknowledgment message; and
executing by the PAMI in the origin node the FENCE done callback function.
7-18. (canceled)