Author: claimsbot

1. A moving obstacle detecting device installed in or on a moving body for detecting moving obstacles in the vicinity of the moving body, the moving obstacle detecting device comprising:
an image capturing unit configured and arranged to capture an image of the surroundings of the moving body;
an optical flow calculating unit configured to find an optical flow corresponding to characteristic points in the image captured with the camera;
a focus of expansion calculating unit configured to calculate focus or foci of expansion of the motion vectors in the optical flow found by the optical flow calculating unit;
a histogram creating unit configured to create a histogram of the distribution of the focus or foci of expansion calculated by the focus of expansion calculating unit;
a peak test unit configured to detect at least one moving obstacle to test peaks in the histogram, said test determining whether or not the peaks correspond to the same object if two or more peaks exist in the histogram created by the histogram creating unit.
2. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the histogram creating unit is configured to create the histogram of the distribution of the foci of expansion based on a predetermined axis.
3. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 2, wherein the direction of the axis along which the histogram is created is changed in accordance with the location on the moving body where the image capturing unit is installed.
4. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the histogram creating unit is configured to create the histogram of the distribution of the foci of expansion along an axis oriented in the transverse direction of the moving body based on the foci of expansion calculated by the focus of expansion calculating unit.
5. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the moving body is a vehicle.
6. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the optical flow calculating unit is configured to vary the time interval according to which it calculates the motion vectors based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the angle to which the steering wheel of the vehicle is rotated, the yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor, the difference between the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels, the status of the turn signal (directional), and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
7. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the focus of expansion calculating unit is configured to vary the time interval according to which it calculates the foci of expansion based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the angle to which the steering wheel of the vehicle is rotated, the yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor, the difference between the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels, the status of the turn signal (directional), and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
8. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the peak examining unit is configured to:
use a prescribed risk level to determine if the peaks correspond to the same object when two or more peaks are found to exist in the histogram of the foci of expansion created by the histogram creating unit; and
vary the risk level based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, the existence or absence of a sidewalk the number of lanes, the time of day during which the vehicle is traveling, the weather at the time when the vehicle is traveling, and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
9. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 8, wherein
the peak examining unit is configured to detect a moving obstacle(s) by determining if the highest peak among the plurality of peaks that exist is of the same distribution as each of the other peak(s).
10. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 9, wherein
the peak examining unit is configured to separate the motion vectors of the optical flow into a group of motion vectors whose foci of expansion are included in the highest peak and a group of motion vectors whose foci of expansion are included in other peak(s), generate distributions of the foci of expansion in each of the groups of motion vectors, and calculate the probability that the distributions of the foci of expansion in the two groups of motion vectors occurred within the same population.
11. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 10, wherein
the peak examining unit is configured such that when it calculates the probability that the distributions of the foci of expansion in two groups of motion vectors occurred within the same population, it uses the t-test to test the difference between the two groups and determines that the distributions are different when the t-value is larger than a prescribed value.
12. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 11, wherein
said prescribed value is set to a smaller value in situations where the number of moving obstacles is large and to a larger value in situations where the number of moving obstacles is small.
13. The moving obstacle detecting device as claimed in claim 12, wherein
the prescribed value is varied based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, the existence or absence of a sidewalk the number of lanes, the time of day during which the vehicle is traveling, the weather at the time when the vehicle is traveling, and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
14. A moving obstacle detecting method for detecting moving obstacles existing in the vicinity of a moving body, comprising:
(1) capturing an image of the surroundings of the moving body;
(2) finding an optical flow corresponding to characteristic points in the captured image;
(3) calculating focus or foci of expansion of the motion vectors in the optical flow;
(4) creating a histogram of the distribution of the focus or foci of expansion calculated; and
(5) detecting at least one moving obstacle to test peaks in the created histogram to determine whether or not the peaks correspond to the same object determine if two or more peaks exist in the histogram of the foci of expansion created.
15. The moving obstacle detecting method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step (4) creates the histogram of the distribution of the foci of expansion based on a predetermined axis.
16. The moving obstacle detecting method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step (4) creates the histogram of the distribution of the foci of expansion along an axis oriented in the transverse direction of the moving body based on the foci of expansion calculated.
17. The moving obstacle detecting method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step (2) varies the time interval according to which it calculates the motion vectors based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the angle to which the steering wheel of the moving body is rotated, the yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor, the difference between the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels, the status of the turn signal (directional), and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
18. The moving obstacle detecting method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step (3) varies the time interval according to which it calculates the foci of expansion based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the angle to which the steering wheel of the moving body is rotated, the yaw rate detected by a yaw rate sensor, the difference between the rotational speeds of the left and right wheels, the status of the turn signal (directional), and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
19. The moving obstacle detecting method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the step (5) uses a prescribed risk level to determine if the peaks correspond to the same object when two or more peaks are found to exist in the histogram of the foci of expansion created; and
varies the risk level based on one or more of the following pieces of information: the width of the road on which the vehicle is traveling, the existence or absence of a sidewalk the number of lanes, the time of day during which the vehicle is traveling, the weather at the time when the vehicle is traveling, and information acquired from a car navigation system comprising a road map and a GPS.
20. The moving obstacle detecting method as claimed in claim 19, wherein step (5) detects a moving obstacle(s) by determining if the highest peak among the plurality of peaks that exist is of the same distribution as each of the other peak(s).
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

I claim:

1. A method of generating a plurality of simulation results adapted for display on a display device, comprising the steps of:
(a) generating, responsive to a plurality of rock classifications, a plurality of model realizations representing an architecture of a fluvial reservoir; and
(b) generating, responsive to said plurality of model realizations representing said architecture of said fluvial reservoir, a plurality of grids, said plurality of grids representing said simulation results adapted for display on said display device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step (a) comprises the step of:
defining, responsive to said plurality of rock classifications, channel belt margins.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step (a) comprises the step of:
generating a plurality of channel realizations.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step (a) comprises the step of:
rejecting invalid ones of a plurality of channel realizations thereby generating a plurality of valid channel realizations.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step (b) comprises the step of:
gridding tops and bases of a plurality of valid channel realizations.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating step (b) comprises the step of:
generating 3-D grids corresponding to gridded tops and bases of a plurality of valid channel realizations, said 3-D grids representing said plurality of model realizations representing said architecture of said fluvial reservoir.
7. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine, to perform method steps for generating a plurality of simulation results adapted for display on a display device, said method steps comprising:
(a) generating, responsive to a plurality of rock classifications, a plurality of model realizations representing an architecture of a fluvial reservoir; and
(b) generating, responsive to said plurality of model realizations representing said architecture of said fluvial reservoir, said plurality of grids, said plurality of grids representing said simulation results adapted for display on said display device.
8. The program storage device of claim 7, wherein the generating step (a) comprises the step of:
defining, responsive to said plurality of rock classifications, channel belt margins.
9. The program storage device of claim 7, wherein the generating step (a) comprises the step of:
generating a plurality of channel realizations.
10. The program storage device of claim 7, wherein the generating step (a) comprises the step of:
rejecting invalid ones of a plurality of channel realizations thereby generating a plurality of valid channel realizations.
11. The program storage device of claim 7, wherein the generating step (b) comprises the step of:
gridding tops and bases of a plurality of valid channel realizations.
12. The program storage device of claim 7, wherein the generating step (b) comprises the step of:
generating 3-D grids corresponding to gridded tops and bases of a plurality of valid channel realizations, said 3-D grids representing said plurality of model realizations representing said architecture of said fluvial reservoir.
13. A system adapted for generating a plurality of simulation results adapted for display on a display device, comprising:
apparatus adapted for generating, responsive to a plurality of rock classifications, a plurality of model realizations representing an architecture of a fluvial reservoir; and
apparatus adapted for generating, responsive to said plurality of model realizations representing said architecture of said fluvial reservoir, a plurality of grids, said plurality of grids representing said simulation results adapted for display on said display device.
14. The system of claim 13, wherein said apparatus adapted for generating said plurality of model realizations representing the architecture of a fluvial reservoir comprises:
apparatus adapted for defining, responsive to said plurality of rock classifications, channel belt margins.
15. The system of claim 13, wherein said apparatus adapted for generating said plurality of model realizations representing the architecture of a fluvial reservoir comprises:
apparatus adapted for generating a plurality of channel realizations.
16. The system of claim 13, wherein said apparatus adapted for generating said plurality of model realizations representing the architecture of a fluvial reservoir comprises:
apparatus adapted for rejecting invalid ones of a plurality of channel realizations thereby generating a plurality of valid channel realizations.
17. The system of claim 13, wherein said apparatus adapted for generating said plurality of grids, which represents the architecture of a fluvial reservoir, comprises:
apparatus adapted for gridding tops and bases of a plurality of valid channel realizations.
18. The system of claim 13, wherein said apparatus adapted for generating said plurality of grids, which represents the architecture of a fluvial reservoir, comprises:
apparatus adapted for generating 3-D grids corresponding to gridded tops and bases of a plurality of valid channel realizations, said 3-D grids representing said plurality of model realizations which further represent said architecture of said fluvial reservoir.
19. A method of generating, responsive to a set of predefined channel belt margins, a plurality of model realizations representing an architecture of a fluvial reservoir, said channel belt margins being predefined in response to a set of rock classifications, comprising the steps of:
generating a plurality of channel realizations in response to the predefined channel belt margins;
rejecting invalid ones of said plurality of channel realizations thereby generating a plurality of valid channel realizations; and
gridding tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations,
said plurality of model realizations being generated in response to the gridding of the tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of generating a plurality of channel realizations further comprises the steps of:
setting input parameters; and
generating said plurality of channel realizations in response to the predefined channel belt margins.
21. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of gridding the tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations comprises the steps of:
gridding the tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations; and
simulating scour by surface truncation,
said plurality of model realizations being generated in response to the simulating step.
22. A program storage device readable by a machine tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for generating, responsive to a set of predefined channel belt margins, a plurality of model realizations representing an architecture of a fluvial reservoir, said channel belt margins being predefined in response to a set of rock classifications, said method steps comprising:
generating a plurality of channel realizations in response to the predefined channel belt margins;
rejecting invalid ones of said plurality of channel realizations thereby generating a plurality of valid channel realizations; and
gridding tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations.
23. The program storage device of claim 22, wherein the step of generating a plurality of channel realizations further comprises the steps of:
setting input parameters; and
generating said plurality of channel realizations in response to the predefined channel belt margins.
24. The program storage device of claim 22, wherein the step of gridding the tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations comprises the steps of:
gridding the tops and bases of said plurality of valid channel realizations; and
simulating scour by surface truncation.

1. Device with integrated electronic components, that comprises a board forming a support for the components, a cover mounted on the board to cover the components, and a separating partition which extends from the cover to the board substantially perpendicularly to the latter, the partition separating two distinct zones of the board in which electronic components are placed, cooling gas being able to be injected into one of the two distinct zones of the board called the \u201cupstream zone\u201d, and able to be discharged into the other of the two distinct zones of the board, called the \u201cdownstream zone\u201d, wherein it comprises an overcover covering the cover and defining an internal space between the cover and the overcover in which are provided cooling gas division means delimiting two distinct secondary spaces in the internal space, an upstream secondary space into which cooling gas is able to be injected and a downstream secondary space into which cooling gas is able to be discharged so that cooling gas injected into the upstream zone of the board is directed toward the downstream secondary space of the internal space and that cooling gas injected into the upstream secondary space of the internal space is directed toward the downstream zone of the board.
2. Device according to claim 1, wherein the cooling gas division means comprise at least one pair of deflectors associated with at least one pair of orifices provided in the cover on either side of the separating partition, at least one deflector opening into the downstream secondary space and at least one deflector opening into the upstream secondary space.
3. Device according to claim 2, wherein the deflectors are distributed in a symmetrical manner relative to the separating partition.
4. Device according to claim 2, wherein the deflector comprises a beveled zone of increasing thickness with an edge that is substantially indistinguishable from the overcover and another edge substantially indistinguishable from the cover.
5. Device according to claim 4, wherein the edge substantially indistinguishable from the cover of the beveled zone of the deflector forms a leading edge for a deflector situated in the upstream secondary space and a trailing edge for a deflector situated in the downstream secondary space.
6. Device according to claim 4, wherein the edge substantially indistinguishable from the overcover of the beveled zone of the deflector forms a trailing edge for a deflector situated in the upstream secondary space and a leading edge for a deflector situated in the downstream secondary space.
7. Device according to claim 2, wherein each deflector comprises a substantially quadrangular central zone, and a triangular zone forming a pointed end, the height of each of the central zone and the triangular zone being equal to the distance between the cover and the overcover.
8. Device according to claim 2, wherein each deflector is made of a nonflammable material, for example of the polymer type.
9. Device according to claim 2, wherein each deflector is made of an electrically conductive material, for example of the metal type or of the filled or coated polymer type.
10. Method for cooling two distinct zones of a device with integrated electronic components that comprises a board forming a support for said components, a cover mounted on said board to cover said components, and a separating partition which extends from the cover to the board substantially perpendicularly to the latter, said partition separating the said two distinct zones of the board in which the said electronic components are placed, cooling gas being able to be injected into one of the two distinct zones of the board called the \u201cupstream zone\u201d, and able to be discharged into the other of the two distinct zones of the board, called the \u201cdownstream zone\u201d, wherein it comprises a step of passing cooling gas via gas division means provided in an internal space between the cover and an overcover delimiting two distinct secondary spaces in the internal space, an upstream secondary space into which cooling gas is injected and a downstream secondary space into which cooling gas is discharged so that cooling gas injected into the upstream zone of the board is directed toward the downstream secondary space of the internal space and that cooling gas injected into the upstream secondary space of the internal space is directed toward the downstream zone of the board.
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 conductance detector for detecting conductivity andor dielectric constant of one or more chemical andor biological species in a phase, comprising:
a cell structure including
a rigid architecture having a top surface a portion of which is electrically conductive forming a first conductive component;
a second conductive component substantially overlapping the first conductive component and spaced from said first conductive component by an insulating component;
one or more flow pathways between the first conductive component and the second conductive component for the chemical andor biological species to flow;
the first conductive component, the second conductive component and the insulating component having an architecture selected to give
a cross sectional area over which a displacement current andor external current flows that is on an order of about 1 cm2; and
a distance over which the displacement current andor external current flows that is in a range from about nanometer to hundreds of microns and even higher;
a power supply for generating a time dependent electrical signal for inducing a time dependent response, the power supply being coupled to at least one of said first and second conductive components;
a signal detector coupled to at least one of said first and second conductive components for measuring the time dependent response; and
a microprocessor connected to said signal detector for determining changes in conductance caused by a presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
2. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein said signal detector is configured to measure one or both of a first component of the first time-dependent response that is an in-phase component related to a change in a sigma conductance and a second component that is an out of phase component related to a change in an epsilon conductance due to the presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
3. The conductance detector according to claims 1, wherein said power supply includes a generator for generating a plurality of time dependent signals with a plurality of time dependencies, and said power supply is configured to combine the plurality of time-dependent signals and to induce a time-dependent response with a plurality of time dependences.
4. The conductance detector according to claim 1, wherein the rigid architecture comprises a substrate fashioned from any one of silicon, glass, silica, alumina, a printed circuit board, acetate, kapton and plastic.
5. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein a flow surface of at least one of said flow pathways of the conductance detector is functionalized with a chemical andor biological functionality that interacts with said chemical andor biological species in said phase, wherein said flow surface, the first conductive component and the second conductive component are in close proximity to render significant any change in said sigma conductance andor said change in said epsilon conductance due to said presence of said chemical andor biological species.
6. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein the cell structure is replaceably housed in a housing or is housed in a microfluidics platform.
7. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein the phase being tested for the presence of the chemical andor biological species is conveyed to the cell structure by a tube or by an adaptor.
8. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein the signal detector or the microprocessor are programmed to apply at least one correlation method to improve signal-to-noise of the conductance detector.
9. The conductance detector according to claim 8 wherein the correlation method includes one of Fourier transformation, lock-in techniques, wavelet analysis, Hadamard transforms, Shah convolution Fourier transform analysis or convolution methods.
10. The conductance detector according to claim 1 connected to a chromatography sample output of a chromatography apparatus to detect any chemical andor biological species present in the chromatography sample output from said chromatography apparatus by said change in said sigma conductance andor said change in said epsilon conductance caused by the presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
11. The conductance detector according to claim 10 wherein the chromatography apparatus is a gas chromatography apparatus, a thin layer chromatography apparatus, a high performance liquid chromatography apparatus, an ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography apparatus, or a flash chromatography apparatus.
12. The conductance detector according to claim 1 connected to an electrophoresis sample output of an electrophoresis apparatus to detect said chemical andor biological species present in the electrophoresis sample output from said electrophoresis apparatus by said change in said sigma conductance andor said change in said epsilon conductance caused by the presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
13. The conductance detector according to claim 12 wherein the electrophoresis apparatus is a gel apparatus, a capillary apparatus or a microchannel electrophoresis apparatus.
14. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein the cell structure includes a plurality of cavities located in the insulating component into which the phase being tested for the presence of the chemical andor biological species can enter as the phase flows through the cell structure.
15. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein said time dependent response is processed using a time-domain analysis technique including any one or combination of fourier transform, wavelet analysis, differentiation, and high pass filtering to emphasize contributions to said time-dependent response due to said chemical andor biological species relative to contributions to said time-dependent response due to a changing composition of said phase.
16. The conductance detector according to claim 1 wherein the insulating component is fashioned by spin coating, deposition, or spontaneous oxidation.
17. A conductance detector for detecting conductivity andor dielectric constant of one or more chemical andor biological species dispersed in a phase and separated by an integrated substantially planar gel electrophoresis apparatus, comprising:
a first rigid architecture having a top surface a portion of which is electrically conductive forming a first conductive component, the first component being insulated from the phase;
a second conductive component, the second component being insulated from the phase;
a gel component through which displacement current generated by the first or second conductive components flows;
flow pathways through the gel component for the chemical andor biological species to flow;
a power supply for generating a time dependent electrical signal for inducing a time dependent response, the power supply being coupled to at least one of said first and second conductive components;
a signal detector coupled to at least one of said first and second conductive components for measuring the time dependent response; and
a processor connected to said signal detector configured to determine changes in conductance caused by a presence of said chemical andor biological species.
18. The conductance detector according to claim 17 wherein the first and second conductive components comprise a plurality of electrode pairs disposed at different locations along the substantially planar gel electrophoresis apparatus such that
the power supply and signal detector are coupled to each of the electrode pairs; and
said processor and said signal detector configured to determine changes in conductance caused by a presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase in a proximity of each electrode pair.
19. The conductance detector according to claim 18 wherein
a first and a second electrode from each pair are disposed on the first rigid architecture and a second rigid architecture, respectively, such that they substantially overlap;
the first and second rigid architecture are spaced by a spacer; and
the gel component, through which the phase containing the chemical andor biological species to be separated flows, is disposed between the first and second rigid architecture.
20. The conductance detector according to claim 19 wherein the first and second rigid architectures are fashioned from silicon, glass, silica, alumina, a printed circuit board, acetate, kapton, or plastic.
21. The conductance detector according to claim 18, wherein the power supply and signal detector are coupled to each of the electrode pairs using multiplexers.
22. A method for detecting conductivity andor dielectric constant of one or more chemical andor biological species in a phase, comprising:
flowing a phase being tested for the one or more chemical andor biological species through a cell structure, the cell structure including
a rigid architecture having a first electrically conductive component separated from a second conductive component by an insulating component,
one or more flow pathways between the first conductive component and the second conductive component for the chemical andor biological species to flow,
the first conductive component, the second conductive component and the insulating component having an architecture selected to give
a cross sectional area over which a displacement current andor external current flows that is on an order of about 1 cm2; and
a distance over which the displacement current andor external current flows that is in a range from about nanometer to hundreds of microns and even higher;
applying a time dependent electrical signal to at least one of said first and second conductive components for inducing a time dependent response; and
measuring the time dependent response and determining from said time dependent response any changes in conductance caused by a presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
23. The method according to claim 22 wherein said cell structure comprises said a rigid architecture having a top surface a portion of which is electrically conductive forming said first conductive component, and wherein said second conductive component substantially overlapps the first conductive component and spaced from the first conductive component by the insulating component.
24. The method according to claim 22 wherein said time dependent response is measured by a signal detector is configured to measure one or both of a first component of the first time-dependent response that is an in-phase component related to a change in a sigma conductance and a second component that is an out of phase component related to a change in an epsilon conductance due to the presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
25. The method according to claim 22 wherein said time dependent electrical signal is applied using a power supply which includes a generator for generating and combining a plurality of time dependent signals with a plurality of time dependencies, and said power supply is configured to combine the plurality of time-dependent signals and to induce a time-dependent response with a plurality of time dependences.
26. The method according to claim 22 wherein the rigid architecture comprises a substrate fashioned from any one of silicon, glass, silica, alumina, a printed circuit board, acetate, kapton and plastic.
27. The method according to claim 22 wherein a flow surface of at least one of said flow pathways of the conductance detector is functionalized with a chemical andor biological functionality that interacts with said chemical andor biological species in said phase, wherein said flow surface, the first conductive component and the second conductive component are in close proximity to render significant any change in said sigma conductance andor said change in said epsilon conductance due to said presence of said chemical andor biological species.
28. A method for detecting conductivity andor dielectric constant of one or more chemical andor biological species dispersed in a phase and separated by an integrated substantially planar gel electrophoresis apparatus, comprising:
flowing said phase containing the one or more chemical andor biological species through a substantially planar electrophoresis gel component which is located between
a first electrically conductive component, the first electrically component being insulated from the phase and a second electrically conductive component, the second electrically component being insulated from the phase;
a gel component through which displacement current generated by the first or second conductive components flows;
flow pathways through the gel component for the chemical andor biological species to flow;

applying a time dependent electrical signal for inducing a time dependent response at least one of said first and second conductive components wherein a displacement current is generated by the first or second conductive components flows;
measuring the time dependent response and processing the measured time dependent response for determining changes in conductance caused by a presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase.
29. The method according to claim 28 wherein the first and second conductive components comprise a plurality of electrode pairs disposed at different locations along the substantially planar gel electrophoresis apparatus and
a power supply and a signal detector are coupled to each of the electrode pairs; and
a processor connected to said signal detector configured to determine changes in conductance caused by a presence of said chemical andor biological species in said phase in a proximity of each electrode pair.
30. The method according to claim 29 wherein
a first and a second electrode from each pair are disposed on the first rigid architecture and a second rigid architecture, respectively, such that they substantially overlap;
the first and second rigid architecture are spaced by a spacer; and
the gel component through which the phase containing the chemical andor biological species to be separated flows is disposed between the first and second rigid architecture.