Author: claimsbot

1. An image sensor comprising:
an array of pixels, each pixel having at least one photo-sensitive element,
readout circuitry operable to receive an analog signal from each pixel at a first time and at a second time, the signal level between said first and second times varying in dependence with the light sensed by said photo-sensitive element, said signal level at said first and second times including pixel noise; and
a voltage regulator circuit including:
an input stage configured to receive a reference signal and a feedback signal and generate a control voltage;
a sample and hold circuit configured to sample and hold the control voltage during a time period starting before said first time and ending after said second time; and
an output stage configured to generate the feedback signal and further configured to generate, in response to the sampled and held control voltage, a regulated output voltage for application as a supply voltage to the array of pixels and readout circuitry.
2. The image sensor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said sample and hold circuit comprises at least one switch coupled in series between an output of the input stage and an input of the output stage, said at least one switch controlled to an open position during said time period.
3. The image sensor as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a bandgap circuit configured to generate said reference signal.
4. The image sensor as claimed in claim 1 operable such that correlated double sampling is performed on said analog signal, said double sampling being performed at said first and second times respectively.
5. The image sensor as claimed in claim 1 wherein the readout circuitry comprises a continuous time architecture comprising:
an input circuit comprising a first input for receiving said analog signal and a second input for receiving a time variant reference signal, and two coupling capacitors; and
a comparator circuit that compares the time variant reference signal and the analog signal;
wherein the analog signal from the pixel and the time variant reference signal are constantly read onto one of the two coupling capacitors respectively of the input circuit between said first time and said second time.
6. The image sensor of claim 1 wherein the image sensor is provided within one of a camera module, a camera, or a mobile telephone.
7. The image sensor as claimed in claim 2 wherein said sample and hold circuit comprises a sampling capacitor coupled between said switch and the input of the output stage and configured to store said control voltage at a fixed value during said time period.
8. The image sensor as claimed in claim 5 wherein the sensor is operable such that the threshold of said comparator circuit is dependent on the analog signal at said first time, said readout circuit being operable, at said second time, to perform an analog to digital conversion to obtain a digital value corresponding to the change in said analog signal level between said first time and said second time.
9. An image sensor comprising:
an array of pixels, each pixel having at least one photo-sensitive element,
readout circuitry operable to receive an analog signal from each pixel at a first time and at a second time, the signal level between said first and second times varying in dependence with the light sensed by said photo-sensitive element, said signal level at said first and second times including pixel noise; and
a current source circuit configured to provide a bias current to a column output line of the array of pixels that is dependent on a voltage, the current source circuit comprising: a sample and hold circuit configured to sample and hold the voltage during a time period starting before said first time and ending after said second time.
10. The image sensor as claimed in claim 9 wherein said current source circuit comprises a current reference and two transistors arranged as a current mirror, and wherein said sample and hold circuit comprises at least one switch coupled between an output of the current reference output and a common control electrode of the two transistors in the current mirror.
11. The image sensor as claimed in claim 9 wherein the current source circuit comprises a bandgap circuit operable to provide the bias.
12. The image sensor as claimed in claim 9 operable such that correlated double sampling is performed on said analog signal, said double sampling being performed at said first and second times respectively.
13. The image sensor as claimed in claim 9 wherein the readout circuitry comprises a continuous time architecture comprising:
an input circuit comprising a first input for receiving said analog signal and a second input for receiving a time variant reference signal, and two coupling capacitors; and
a comparator circuit that compares the time variant reference signal and the analog signal;
wherein the analog signal from the pixel and the time variant reference signal are constantly read onto one of the two coupling capacitors respectively of the input circuit between said first time and said second time.
14. The image sensor of claim 9 wherein the image sensor is provided within one of a camera module, a camera, or a mobile telephone.
15. The image sensor as claimed in claim 9, wherein said current source circuit comprises a transistor coupled to the column output line and having a control terminal, and wherein said sample and hold circuit provides the sampled and held voltage to the control terminal of the transistor.
16. The image sensor as claimed claim 10 wherein the sample and hold circuit further comprises a capacitor coupled between the common control node and a reference supply node.
17. The image sensor as claimed in claim 13 wherein the sensor is operable such that the threshold of said comparator circuit is dependent on the analog signal at said first time, said readout circuit being operable, at said second time, to perform an analog to digital conversion to obtain a digital value corresponding to the change in said analog signal level between said first time and said second time.
18. An image sensor comprising:
an array of pixels, each pixel having at least one photo-sensitive element;
readout circuitry operable to perform correlated double sampling of an analog signal output from each pixel comprising a measurement of black level pixel noise at a first time followed by a measurement of a pixel image signal at a second time; and
a voltage regulator circuit including:
an input stage configured to receive a reference signal and a feedback signal and generate a control voltage;
a sample and hold circuit configured to sample and hold the control voltage during a time period starting before said first time and ending after said second time; and
an output stage configured to generate the feedback signal and further configured to generate, in response to the sampled and held control voltage, a regulated output voltage for application as a supply voltage to the array of pixels and readout circuitry.
19. An image sensor comprising:
an array of pixels, each pixel having at least one photo-sensitive element;
readout circuitry operable to perform correlated double sampling of an analog signal output from each pixel comprising a measurement of black level pixel noise at a first time followed by a measurement of a pixel image signal at a second time; and
a current source circuit configured to provide a bias current to a column output line of the readout circuit, said bias current dependent on a voltage, the current source circuit comprising: a sample and hold circuit configured to sample and hold the voltage during a time period starting before said first time and ending after said second time.
20. The sensor of claim 19, wherein the current source circuit comprises a transistor having a source-drain path coupled in series with the column output line, said transistor having a gate terminal to which the sampled and held voltage is applied.

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 comprising:
generating a coupon configured for use in a near field communication transaction;
transmitting the coupon for inclusion in a secure element, wherein the secure element maintains the coupon and a near field communication application in a secure element memory, and wherein the secure element is coupled to a mobile device comprising a mobile device memory, a mobile device processor that executes a mobile application, and a mobile device transceivers;
initiating execution of the near field communication application, operating at an application layer above a physical layer, by a secure element processor of the secure element, in response to a near field communication interaction triggered from a point-of-sale terminal to the secure element, the execution occurring without communication with the mobile device;
receiving the coupon at a management server from the point of sale terminal and processing a near field communication transaction using the coupon at the management server, wherein the coupon is transmitted from the secure element to the point of sale terminal without prior authentication as a result of the execution of the near field communication application.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein a digital artifact is delivered from the management server to the mobile device through the mobile device transceiver, wherein the digital artifact includes metadata operable to trigger a call-to-action.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the digital artifact comprises an advertisement, receipt, ticket, media, metadata andor content.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the call-to-action is a user prompt to enter an email address, accept a couponreward, andor opt-in for alerts and notifications.
5. The method of claim 2, wherein the digital artifact is sent to the mobile device based on targeting parameters associated with personal information and transaction history stored at the management server.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein personal information includes user location, gender, age, interest, andor affiliations and wherein transaction history comprises historical payment transactions, real-time payment transactions, banking transactions, bill pay, merchants, price-level, spend categories, transactions conducted through the mobile device, andor transactions downloaded from banks.
7. The method of claim 2, wherein the digital artifact is sent to the mobile device when a user of the mobile device browses a particular screen of the mobile device application that specifies unique real-estate, uses proximity services such as near field communications that specify a unique code, or accesses location-based services.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein a shopping list is transmitted from the mobile device to the point-of-sale terminal prior to initiating the near field communication interaction.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital artifact is sent to the mobile device based on movement of the mobile device into close proximity of a smart poster, a radio frequency identification (RFID) device, a Bluetooth device, or a location-based service device.
10. The method of claim 2, wherein the digital artifact is received through a near field communication transceiver at the secure element after purchase from the point-of-sale terminal, wherein the digital artifact comprises a receipt, coupon, ticket, andor returnrefund policy.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein transaction data is transmitted from the mobile device to another mobile device using near field communications, Bluetooth, andor wireless fidelity (WiFi).
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure element is physically coupled to the mobile device but electrically decoupled from the mobile device.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the secure element is included in a housing associated with the mobile device.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein a security tool is implemented at the mobile device application, the security tool configured to prompt a user to login to the mobile device, use biometrics to authenticate the user before authorizing a transaction, prompt the user to enter a payment limit PIN in response to a pending purchase exceeding a pre-determined amount, temporarily disable the secure element, permanently disable the secure element, delete all cached data stored in mobile device memory, andor store encrypted security codes on the mobile device, wherein disabling the secure element prevents near field communication payments, coupon redemption and ticket redemption.
15. The method of claim 2, wherein a status of the digital artifact is received at the mobile device, wherein the status is one of assigned, saved, redeemed or deleted.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein data is exchanged between the secure element processor and the mobile device processor.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure element comprises a ticketing application, an identity application andor a coupon application.
18. A system comprising:
a processor configured to generate a coupon configured for use in a near field communication transaction; and
an interface configured to transmit the coupon for inclusion in a secure element;
a secure element coupled to a mobile device comprising a mobile device memory, a mobile device processor that executes a mobile application, and a mobile device transceiver, the secure element comprising:
a secure element memory configured to maintain the coupon and a near field communication application; and
a secure element processor configured to execute the near field communication application, operating at an application layer above a physical layer in response to a near field communication interaction triggered from a point-of-sale terminal to the secure element, the execution occurring without communication with the mobile device; and
a management server configured to receive the coupon from the point of sale terminal and process a near field communication transaction using the coupon, wherein the coupon is transmitted without prior authentication from the secure element to the point of sale terminal as a result of the execution of the near field communication application.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein a digital artifact is delivered from the management server to the mobile device through the mobile device transceiver, wherein the digital artifact includes metadata operable to trigger a call-to-action.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein the digital artifact comprises an advertisement, receipt, ticket, media, metadata andor content.

1. A processing apparatus which is coupled to a storage apparatus via a plurality of physical paths as transmission paths for a plurality of data inputoutput requests to be transmitted to the storage apparatus, the transmission occurring in association with the execution of an application program managed as a process by an operating system, the processing apparatus comprising:
a CPU;
a memory;
an association storage section implemented by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory;
a transmission controller implemented by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory; and
a physical path proportion storage section implemented by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory,
wherein the association storage section stores a first information piece about attributes identifying a specific process generating data inputoutput requests in such a manner that the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying at least one of the physical paths as at least one first physical path, and
wherein when transmitting first data inputoutput requests generated by the process identified by the first information piece to the storage apparatus, the transmission controller transmits the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via the first physical path identified by the second information piece associated with the first information piece and, when transmitting second data inputoutput requests generated by a process not identified by the first information piece to the storage apparatus, transmits the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via at least one second physical path different from the first physical path of the plurality of physical paths,
wherein the physical path proportion storage section stores the proportion of the number of physical paths used as the first physical paths to the number of physical paths used as the second physical paths, and the association storage section stores the first information piece in such a manner that the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying a number, according to the proportion, of the first physical paths, and
wherein when at least some of the data inputoutput requests to be transmitted to the storage apparatus are the first data inputoutput requests, the transmission controller transmits the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via a number, assigned according to the proportion, of the first physical paths, and transmits the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via a number, assigned according to the proportion, of the second physical paths.
2. A processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when it is found that at least one physical path has an anomaly, the association storage section updates the number of the first physical paths identified by the second information piece associated with the first information piece according to the number of the physical paths except the at least one physical path found to have an anomaly.
3. A processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the association storage section stores a plurality of the first information piece in such a manner that each the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying physical paths, and
wherein when transmitting first data inputoutput requests generated by the process identified by one of the plurality of first information pieces to the storage apparatus, the transmission controller transmits the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via the first physical path identified by the second information piece associated with the one first information piece and, when transmitting second data inputoutput -requests generated by a process not identified by the plurality of first information pieces to the storage apparatus, the transmission controller transmits the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via the at least one second physical path.
4. A processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of physical paths are formed by connecting a plurality of first communication ports of the processing apparatus and a plurality of second communication ports of the storage apparatus one-on-one to a plurality of third communication ports of a switch having the plurality of third communication ports.
5. A processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attributes of the process include at least one of an identification of the process identification of the application program managed as the process by the operating system, an identification identifying the owner of the process, an identification identifying the group of the owner of the process, information indicating execution priority of the process managed by the operating system, an identification of the processing apparatus in which the process has been created, information indicating utilization of the CPU by the process, information indicating usage of the memory by the process, information indicating the directory in which the process is being executed, and an identification of the parent process that has created the process.
6. A control method for a processing apparatus which is coupled to a storage apparatus via a plurality of physical paths as transmission paths for a plurality of data inputoutput requests to be transmitted to the storage apparatus, the transmission occurring in association with the execution of an application program managed as a process by an operating system, the processing apparatus comprising a CPU; a memory; an association storage section implemented by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory; and a transmission controller implemented by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory; the control method comprising:
storing by the association storage section stores a first information piece about attributes identifying a specific process generating data inputoutput requests in such a manner that the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying at least one of the physical paths as at least one first physical path;
when transmitting first data inputoutput requests generated by the process identified by the first information piece to the storage apparatus, transmitting the transmission controller transmits the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via the first physical path identified by the second information piece associated with the first information piece;
when transmitting second data inputoutput requests generated by a process not identified by the first information piece to the storage apparatus, transmitting the transmission controller transmits the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via at least one second physical path different from the first physical path of the plurality of physical paths;
storing, by a physical path proportion storage section implemented by the CPU executing a program stored in the memory, the proportion of the number of physical paths used as the first physical paths to the number of physical paths used as the second physical paths;
storing, by the association storage section, the first information piece in such a manner that the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying a number, according to the proportion, of the first physical paths; and
when at least some of the data inputoutput requests to be transmitted to the storage apparatus are the first data inputoutput requests, transmitting the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via a number, assigned according to the proportion, of the first physical paths, and transmitting the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via a number, assigned according to the proportion, of the second physical paths.
7. A control method according to claim 6, further comprising:
when it is found that at least one physical path has an anomaly, updating by the association storage section the number of the first physical paths identified by the second information piece associated with the first information piece according to the number of the physical paths except the at least one physical path found to have an anomaly.
8. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer software program for a processing apparatus which is coupled to a storage apparatus via a plurality of physical paths as transmission paths for a plurality of data inputoutput requests to be transmitted to the storage apparatus, the transmission occurring in association with the execution of an application program managed as a process by an operating system, the computer software program comprising:
to store code for storing a first information piece about attributes identifying a specific process generating data inputoutput requests in such a manner that the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying at least one of the physical paths as at least one first physical path;
code for, when transmitting first data inputoutput requests generated by the process identified by the first information piece to the storage apparatus, to transmit transmitting the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via the first physical path identified by the second information piece associated with the first information piece;
code for, when transmitting second data inputoutput requests generated by a process not identified by the first information piece to the storage apparatus, to transmit transmitting the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via at least one second physical path different from the first physical path of the plurality of physical paths;
code for storing the proportion of the number of physical paths used as the first physical paths to the number of physical paths used as the second physical paths;
code for storing the first information piece in such a manner that the first information piece is associated with a second information piece identifying a number, according to the proportion, of the first physical paths; and
code for, when at least some of the data inputoutput requests to be transmitted to the storage apparatus are the first data inputoutput requests, transmitting the first data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via a number, assigned according to the proportion, of the first physical paths, and transmitting the second data inputoutput requests to the storage apparatus via a number, assigned according to the proportion, of the second physical paths.
9. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 8, further comprising:
code for, when it is found that at least one physical path has an anomaly, updating by the association storage section the number of the first physical paths identified by the second information piece associated with the first information piece according to the number of the physical paths except the at least one physical path found to have an anomaly.

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. An apparatus for estimating particulate consumption in a particulate filter, the apparatus comprising:
an empirical boundary conditions module, the empirical boundary conditions module configured to store boundary soot consumption rates corresponding to defined operating conditions;
a defined relationships module, the defined relationships module configured to store relationship information between a plurality of potential operating conditions and the boundary soot consumption rates;
a condition index module, the condition index module configured to determine a condition index value according to current operating conditions and the stored relationship information; and
a final output value module, the final output value module configured to combine the condition index value with the boundary soot consumption rates to determine a final output value of current soot consumption rate.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the boundary soot consumption rates comprise soot consumption rates via oxidation.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the boundary soot consumption rates comprise soot consumption rates via noxidation.
4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the soot consumption rates via oxidation on the particulate filter comprise an oxidation high rate and an oxidation low rate, the defined operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, O2 mass fraction, and soot loading on the particulate filter, the plurality of potential operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, O2 mass fraction, and soot loading on the particulate filter, and the stored relationship information comprises a plurality of soot consumption ratios, the ratios comprising the soot consumption rate associated with each of the plurality of potential operating conditions divided by the difference between the oxidation high rate and the oxidation low rate.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the oxidation low rate equals zero.
6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the soot consumption rates via noxidation on the particulate filter comprise a noxidation high rate and a noxidation low rate, the defined operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, NO2 mass flow rate, and soot loading on the particulate filter, the plurality of potential operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, NO2 mass flow rate, and soot loading on the particulate filter, and the stored relationship information comprises a plurality of soot consumption ratios, the ratios comprising the soot consumption rate associated with each of the plurality of potential operating conditions divided by the difference between the noxidation high rate and the noxidation low rate.
7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the condition index value comprises a normalized value on a scale from a low value to a high value, the low value for the condition index value corresponds to the oxidation low rate, the high value for the condition index value corresponds to the oxidation high rate, and the final output value module is configured to linearly interpolate between the oxidation low rate and the oxidation high rate for a condition index value between the low value and the high value.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the final output value module is further configured to linearly extrapolate below the oxidation low rate for condition index values below the low value, and linearly extrapolate above the oxidation high rate for condition index values above the high value.
9. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the condition index value comprises a normalized value on a scale from a low value to a high value, the low value for the condition index value corresponds to the noxidation low rate, the high value for the condition index value corresponds to the noxidation high rate, the final output value module is configured to linearly interpolate between the noxidation low rate and the noxidation high rate for condition index values between the low value and the high value, and wherein the final output value module is further configured to linearly extrapolate below the noxidation low rate for condition index values below the low value, and linearly extrapolate above the noxidation high rate for condition index values above the high value.
10. A signal bearing medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform operations to estimate the rate of particulate consumption in a particulate filter, the operations comprising:
storing boundary soot consumption rates determined according to defined operating conditions;
storing relationship information between a plurality of potential operating conditions and the boundary soot consumption rates;
determining a condition index value determined according to current operating conditions and the stored relationship information; and
combining the condition index value with the boundary soot consumption rates to produce a final output value of soot consumption rate.
11. The signal bearing medium of claim 10, wherein the boundary soot consumption rates comprise soot consumption rates via oxidation, the soot consumption rates via oxidation comprise an oxidation high rate and an oxidation low rate, the defined operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, O2 mass fraction, and soot loading on the particulate filter values, the plurality of potential operating conditions comprise a range of particulate filter temperature, O2 mass fraction, and soot loading on the particulate filter, and wherein the stored relationship information comprises a plurality of soot consumption ratios, the ratios comprising the soot consumption rate associated with each of the plurality of potential operating conditions divided by the difference between the oxidation high rate and the oxidation low rate.
12. The signal bearing medium of claim 10, wherein the boundary soot consumption rates comprise soot consumption rates via noxidation, the soot consumption rates via noxidation comprise a noxidation high rate and a noxidation low rate, the defined operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, NO2 mass flow rate, and soot loading on the particulate filter, the plurality of potential operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, NO2 mass flow rate, and soot loading on particulate filter, and wherein the stored relationship information comprises a plurality of soot consumption ratios, the ratios comprising the soot consumption rate associated with each of the plurality of potential operating conditions divided by the difference between the noxidation high rate and the noxidation low rate.
13. The signal bearing medium of claim 11, wherein the condition index value comprises a normalized value on a scale from a low value to a high value, the low value for the condition index value corresponds to the oxidation low rate, the high value for the condition index value corresponds to the oxidation high rate, and wherein combining the condition index value with the boundary soot consumption rates comprises linearly interpolating between the oxidation low rate and the oxidation high rate for condition index values between the low value and the high value, and linearly extrapolating below the oxidation low rate for condition index values below the low value, and linearly extrapolating above the oxidation high rate for condition index values above the high value.
14. The signal bearing medium of claim 12, wherein the condition index value comprises a normalized value on a scale from a low value to a high value, the low value for the condition index value corresponds to the noxidation low rate, the high value for the condition index value corresponds to the noxidation high rate, and wherein combining the condition index values with the boundary soot consumption rates comprises linearly interpolating between the noxidation low rate and the noxidation high rate for condition index values between the low value and the high value, and linearly extrapolating below the noxidation low rate for condition index values below the low value, and linearly extrapolating above the noxidation high rate for condition index values above the high value.
15. A method for estimating particulate consumption in a particulate filter, the method comprising:
storing boundary soot consumption rates determined according to defined operating conditions;
storing relationship information between a plurality of potential operating conditions and the boundary soot consumption rates;
determining a condition index value determined according to current operating conditions and the stored relationship information; and
combining the condition index value with the boundary soot consumption rates to produce a final output value of soot consumption rate.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the boundary soot consumption rates comprise soot consumption rates via oxidation, the soot consumption rates via oxidation comprise an oxidation high rate and an oxidation low rate, and the defined operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, O2 mass fraction, and soot loading on the particulate filter.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the boundary soot consumption rates comprise soot consumption rates via noxidation, the soot consumption rates via noxidation comprise a noxidation high rate and a noxidation low rate, and the defined operating conditions comprise particulate filter temperature, NO2 mass flow rate, and soot loading on the particulate filter.
18. The method of claim 16, wherein the condition index value comprises a normalized value on a scale from a low value to a high value, the low value for the condition index value corresponds to the oxidation low rate, the high value for the condition index value corresponds to the oxidation high rate, wherein combining the condition index value with the boundary soot consumption rates comprises linearly interpolating between the oxidation low rate and the oxidation high rate for condition index values between the low value and the high value, and linearly extrapolating below the oxidation low rate for condition index values below the low value, and linearly extrapolating above the oxidation high rate for condition index values above the high value.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the condition index value comprises a normalized value on a scale from a low value to a high value, the low value for the condition index value corresponds to the noxidation low rate, the high value for the condition index value corresponds to the noxidation high rate, wherein combining the condition index value with the boundary soot consumption rates comprises linearly interpolating between the noxidation low rate and the noxidation high rate for condition index values between the low value and the high value, and linearly extrapolating below the noxidation low rate for condition index values below the low value, and linearly extrapolating above the noxidation high rate for condition index values above the high value.
20. An exhaust gas after-treatment system for determining the rate of soot consumption on a particulate filter, the system comprising:
a particulate filter configured to capture particulate matter from an exhaust gas stream;
a temperature sensor configured to estimate the particulate filter temperature;
a flow rate sensor configured to estimate the mass flow rate of exhaust through the particulate filter;
an O2 estimator configured to estimate the mass fraction of O2 through the particulate filter;
a soot load estimator configured to estimate the soot loading on the particulate filter; and
a controller configured to store a high rate of soot oxidation and a low rate of soot oxidation based on defined operating conditions, to store relationships between a plurality of potential operating conditions and the high and low soot oxidation rates, to determine a conditions index determined according to current operating conditions, and to combine the conditions index with the high rate of soot oxidation and low rate of soot oxidation to determine a rate of soot consumption on the particulate filter.
21. The system of claim 20, further comprising an internal combustion engine that produces exhaust gas as a byproduct of operation, wherein the internal combustion engine is fluidly coupled to the particulate filter, wherein the operating conditions of the exhaust gas aftertreatement system are influenced by the current operating conditions of the engine, and wherein the defined operating conditions of the exhaust gas aftertreatement system are influenced by the combustion related hardware characteristics of the engine.