AN OMNIDIRECTIONAL IMAGING SYSTEM FOR THE REVERSE ENGINEERING OF

INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES

D.Chapman a, A.Deacon b, J-L Brown b

a
Department of Geomatic Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 6BT - [email protected]
b
As-Built Solutions Ltd, CAB International, Noseworthy Way, Wallingford OX10 8DE - (atdd, jlb)@absl.co.uk

KEY WORDS: Omnidirectional imaging, panoramic imaging, As-built modeling

ABSTRACT:

Digital photogrammetry continues to evolve from specialist applications such as topographic mapping and is rapidly emerging as a
highly accessible method for capturing geometric data. A range of general-purpose softcopy photogrammetric systems are now
widely available to end users who are thus able to exploit images captured from an increasing number of high-resolution non-metric
digital cameras. In parallel with these developments an increasing diversity of range-imaging systems are being developed to
facilitate the rapid acquisition of geometric data. To date these devices do not offer the resolution, portability or speed afforded by
digital cameras, however this paper anticipates the development of hybrid range and intensity imaging systems. Through the
extension of such systems to facilitate the acquisition of omnidirectional imagery the paper seeks to demonstrate the utility of such
data in the rapid documentation of complex objects. The paper will demonstrate the development and exploitation of omnidirectional
digital photogrammetry and range imaging systems to enable the creation and exploitation of massive image databases of large
industrial objects such as process-plants, offshore oil platforms or power stations. Furthermore the paper will demonstrate the extent
to which computer vision based analyses of such databases can, in turn, permit precise yet cost-effective documentation of a wide
range of industrial facilities.

1. INTRODUCTION - MOTIVATIONS FOR AS-BUILT believe that the deployment of appropriate omni-directional
MODELLING OF INDUSTRIAL PLANT imaging systems enables the cost effective acquisition of
massive image achives that document the as-built status of very
Industrial facilities are often very dynamic environments in complex industrial environments.
which new or improved equipment items are constantly being Thus a number of strategies have been developed to exploit
incorporated in order to improve efficiency, increase safety or these archives to facilitate the creation of As-Built CAD models
reduce emissions. Costs associated with loss-of-production with the principle objectives of:
during planned maintenance are invariably very important to − Reverse engineering CAD models of existing
plant owner-operators and thus it is vital that any refurbishment structures;
is carefully planned to minimise unanticipated expenditure or − Exploiting these models to ensure first-time fit, clash
loss of production revenue. It is essential that during such free, of new equipment; and hence
operations there is a 'first-time-fit' of new equipment with the − Reduction of time spent on site
existing structures and that such installations are 'clash-free' i.e.
they do not physically conflict with new or existing plant items. 2. IMAGE-BASED AS-BUILT REPRESENTATIONS OF
Plant design or modification is now routinely planned using 3D INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS
Computer Aided Design tools that enable the creation of a
coherent 3D plant database in which the various design Complete automation of the transformation of either primary or
disciplines can share both geometric and attribute data relating secondary survey data into CAD based representation a has
to their specialisations. It has been suggested that maintaining long been a goal of a large community of engineers,
such CAD models throughout the life of the plant would result mathematicians and computer scientists. However, the size and
in significant downstream benefits to facility managers who complexity of the geometric models required to fully document
would be able to maintain the database to reflect the current dense, complex process plant environments poses real
operating status of the plant. Unfortunately design models are challenges to the Photogrammetric and Computer Vision
only rarely maintained after commissioning of the plant and communities seeking to automate scene description from image
often only drawings derived from the plant database are data.
archived. This is, in part, due to the cost of upgrading design
models to their true As-Built status. Frequently it is not possible In the mid 1990’s several authors (e.g. Debevec, 1996)
to predict prior to commissioning which areas of a plant are questioned whether there were classes of applications that
likely to require the very detailed dimensioning to support might benefit from an alternative of Imaged Based Rendering
subsequent modifications and, in most cases, a full three- (IBR) approach to scene representation. This activities were
dimensional survey of a facility is prohibitively expensive. directed towards the rendering of interactive views of an object
Thus in many cases local As-Built surveys are undertaken for directly from image data bypassing, or at least minimising, the
each plant modification in order to accurately document the requirement for any geometric model of the scene. (Figure 1).
interfaces between new and exiting plant. Informed by more
than ten years commercial activity in this sector the authors
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Geometry + Materials 3. OMNIDIRECTIONAL IMAGING TECHNIQUES

FOR IMAGE-BASED RENDERING AND
Geometry + Images
MODELLING

Rendering
Modeling
Images Images + Depth
Photographs, Images Many applications would benefit from a high resolution wide
Range scans
Renderings Light Field area image coverage to facilitate the cration of panoramic
image archives and consequently a number of imaging
Movie Map
configurations have been developed. (summarised in the table
Panorama below). As can be seen from the table none of these
Figure 1. Image based rendering – from images to images, after configurations totally satisfy the conflicting requirements of
Debevec, 1999. high resolution, high speed and very wide angle coverage at a
‘reasonable’ cost.
Representation Movement Geometry Lighting Sensor Wide High Dynamic Geometric Typical Example
Geometry + Continuous Global Dynamic Configuration FOV
Resolution imaging
Stability cost
Materials Single camera
Geometry + Continuous Global Fixed with fish-eye M M L H M
lens
Images
Images + Depth Continuous Local Fixed
Light Fields Continuous None Fixed
Movie Map Discrete None Fixed Single camera
with catadioptric H L H M L
Panorama None None Fixed Lens

Table 1. A classification of of image based rendering strategies.

Adapted from Debevec, (1999).

Much of this activity, was stimulated by innovative work Camera on

implemented by Apple in there QuickTime VR implementation Pan/Tilt Unit H M L M M
of environment maps (Chen, 1995) configured as either inward
looking ‘Object Movies’ or outward looking Panoramic Images
that can be linked together via ‘hot spots’. A major limitation of
panorama based implementations is that the choice of
viewpoints is limited to the projective centres of the input Rotating line
images and thus it is not possible to roam at will in, or around scan camera H H L H H
the scene. Whilst several light field rendering strategies have
been proposed that allow interpolation between discrete
samples of the full Plenoptic light field (c.f. Levoy &
Hanrahan 1996, McMillan & Bishop 1995) clearly, in the
Multiple camera
absence of any geometrical description, the more densely array H M M H H
images acquired the greater the sense of realism that is
achievable by such techniques. In some circumstances it is
possible to acquire very dense stereo panoramic intensity
images of an environment that are sufficient to give a real sense
of location and place (e.g. Shum and He, 1999).

Ideally we would wish to exploit panoramic range images to Table 2. Categorisation of omnidirectional imaging systems
complement image archives to extend and enhance the current
state-of-the art. In order to achieve this we require a compact In our application we require very high resolution images
panoramic range-imaging sensor. captured within a robust geometrical framework. This led to the
Ideally this sensor would be capable of: development of a a Video-theodolite based omnidirectional
imaging system.
− flexible deployment as detailed in section 1.
Images are acquired using a robotic video-theodolite system
− delivery of a calibrated gigapixel panoramic colour
based upon a Spectra Precision motorised theodolite. A camera
image
module attached to the theodolite enables the acquisition of
− accurate ( better than +/- 2mm) ranging associated
either monochrome or colour images via a IEEE 1394, firewire,
with each pixel
connection to thecontrolling PC. Each image is 'tagged' with the
− capturing a panorama sufficiently quickly (less than 2 azimuth and altitude angle of the theodolite at the time of
minutes) that the sensor can be deployed throughout capture. The theodolite is driven in scan pattern enabling a
the facility at spacings less than those in current panoramic mosaic of up to 150 individual images to be
HAZMAP deployments ( i.e. less than 1m centres in captured at each theodolite location (or station).
X,Y and Z).
The authors remain convinced that such a sensor will be Calibration of the camera with respect to the telescope axis is
developed in the next 2-5 years, however in the absence of such done on site using the method proposed by Huang (Huang &
a we show how such data may be included into an existing Harley, 1990) and with the adjustment of these observations
omni-directional image based rendering systems to deliver being undertaken as a conventional bundle adjustment. New
enhanced performance in as-built modelling. camera technologies allow less than 40 images to captured at
 The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 34, Part XXX

the same resolution as the older cameras, thereby reducing the are available projects are available for accurate measurement of
time and costs of such surveys. features through standard photogrammetric principles.

Once a station has been captured a single panoramic image is An image browser and measurement tool linked to the
automatically generated from the image mosaic through a back ViewPano panoramic browser supports multi-station
projection from image space to a cylinder with a predefined measurement together with a geometric calculator function that
radius in object space. This projection uses the interior and enables the extraction of a wide range of dimensional data. The
exterior orientation parameters from the bundle adjustment, principle advantage of this tool is that it enables ad-hoc
rather than correlation based stitching more commonly found in measurement to support engineering decision making and thus
other packages, since this is both more robust and yields results the package is intended to be used by plant engineers. Since
in the absence of well defined image texture. such users often do not have extensive photogrammetric
experience they must, therefore, be provided with sufficient
guidance from the software and operating procedures to ensure
that all data captured is 'fit for purpose'.

Figure 4. Typical panoramic image.

4. MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES DEVELOPED FOR

PHOTOGRAMMETRIC SEGMENTATION AND
RECONSTRUCTION
Figure 2. The Hazmap Videotheodolite A wide variety of measurement techniques have been
developed. These build upon basic multi-station intersection of
through the manual identification of homologous points. In
order to facilitate efficient location of such points the user
interface makes extensive use of epipolar line injection to
reduce ambiguities in the identification of such points in images
acquired from widely differing view points (figure 5).

4.1 Coupling photogrammetric point measurement to CAD

modelling systems

Cost-effective photogrammetric modelling relies upon the rapid

identification and measurement of key points on components.
In order to achieve this it proved necessary to develop close
linkage with target CAD modelling systems to enable the
locating of complex objects drawn from a database of standard
Figure 3. The Hazmap camera and a partial panorama generated components by positioning datum points to identify location,
from multiple image tiles. orientation and scale. Such components range from simple
geometric primitives such as cylinders and boxes to complex
The panoramic images, together with estimated station CSG based representations of equipment items such as pumps
positions and orientations, form an immediate deliverable and valves. Through the development of an asynchronous file
which can support qualitative assessment of plant condition based communication strategy it proved possible to export
through virtual walk-through technology. In the HAZMAP measured points in a format that could be read by small
system a package called ViewPano has been developed to applications (applets) written in the native macro or
optimise such activities enables the recording and playback of programming languages of major CAD systems. There applets
paths through the model along with the superimposition of 2D could then drive complex operations within the CAD
and 3D models and animated textures . environment. An example of one such macro written in PML
the Programmable Macro Language of the PDMS product is
In order to derive accurate positions and orientations for the show in figure 6 and the dialog boxes below show typical
camera locations it is necessary to measure homologous points PDMS dialogs to control the loose coupling of the
for input to a photogrammetric bundle adjustment program. Photogrammetric and CAD components of this modelling
Using this method adjustments of dense networks of over 500 solution to enable the rapid placement of complex CAD entities
camera stations are now routinely undertaken yielding drawn from a database of standard components.
orientation parameters for over 30,000 individual image tiles.
Analysis of the residuals from these highly redundant bundles
indicate that the angular precision of the hybrid camera system
is of the order of 20mgon and the precision of station locations
are usually better that +/- 2mm. Once precise station parameters
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image offers the potential to dramatically reduce the time for

modelling by facilitating rapid recovery of candidate image
pairs for intersection.

4.3 Measuring points that the observer cannot see

Interfacing the measurement system to advanced process plant

based CAD modelling tools rapidly exposed conflicts between
surface based measurements of features and the internal CSG
based model representations. In many cases the datum points
that define CAD entities are buried deep within the object and
therefore nor visible to the photogrammetric operator. Even
simple objects such as box like structures require a the
definition of a transformation from the, visible, corners of the
Figure 5. Epipolar line injection to aid identification of object to the centre of gravity which defines its origin in, for
homologous points. example, the PDMS system. Particular problems arise when
measuring cylindrical or dish shapes items typical of such
environments in which often have few surface markings
suitable for intersection.

To address such problems simple techniques for tangent

observations enable the rapid measurement of pipe centrelines –
perhaps the most common feature type to be modelled. Such
observations were based upon a ‘rubber band’ measurement
technique in which an operator dragged and observation cursor
across the image from one edge of an object to the opposite side
– the image coordinate for the observation being recorded at the
mid-point of this tangent measurement. From a subsequent
camera stations further tangent observations can be made to
facilitate the intersection of the centre of the feature. Whilst
this approach facilitates rapid measurement where the position
along a feature is clearly defined (for example at a weld or
flange) it requires a slight modification for pipe-like featrures
where the edges may be visible but there are no features to
Figure 6. Sample dialog box linking photogrammetric locate the position of a tangent observation along the pipe. In
measurement system to CAD environment this case we can use the epipolar line corresponding to our first
observation as a guideline for second, and subsequent, tangent
4.2 Rapid identification of candidate images for observations by constraining our measurement to be along the
measurement epipolar line. In this situation the geometry of the camera
stations is clearly critical – if the camera projection centres are
A major overhead implicit in all photogrammetric measurement co-planar with the pipe axis we reach a failure case. Thus for a
tasks is the selection of appropriate views of the object in order horizontal pipe centreline we require a vertical separation of
to make image observations that contribute to subsequent camera stations to ensure that the epipolar lines cut the pipe
intersection. As we have noted access to linked panoramic orthogonally
images provides an accessible index to the measurement Given initial estimates for edge locations and orientation there
images. However in order to further improve techniques for is clearly scope for some degree of image-processing assistance
semi-automatic identification alternate viewpoints a number of to aid precise alignment of the components with features in the
imaging searching strategies were developed. These all rely image archive. Initial research in this area focussed on the
upon the definition of a 3D point in world space with automated alignment of cylindrical components to tangent
subsequent searching of the image database for images which planes derived from edgels that correspond to an initial estimate
contain that point within their view frustum. These searching of location and orientation of manually located cylinders (Jones
functions were authored so that they could be triggered either et.al.1996). Within the HAZMAP research activity edgels were
internally or externally through a macro interface and a variety derived from relatively simple directional edge-filters that were
of methods developed for the determination of the target ‘hot oriented parallel to the initial cylinder estimate and the
spot’ which include: techniques proved to be relatively successful where strong un-
− Estimating a distance to an object observed on a single occluded edges were visible in multiple views.
image;
− Intersection of a simple observation with a previously 4.4 Superimposition of CAD models on image archives
defined line or plane (commonly the ground plane);
− Internal or external specification of a 3D point Clearly overlay techniques offer the potential to refine the
coordinate. position of assemblies of components that have been
As can be seen from figure 8 such techniques enable the user to approximately located – either by an operator of through
focus attention on images that may ‘see’ the hot spot location. superimposition of design models on as-built imagery as shown
Clearly since we make no assumptions about occlusion of the in figure 7.
target this can sometimes deliver inappropriate images,
however as we will see later even a fairly low quality range
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Such techniques for the refinement of an initial model has been archive to undertake qualitative assessments of plant condition
further demonstrated by researchers at the Delft University of and to inform early design decisions. In several instances
Technology (c.f. Tangelder et.al. 2000, Earmes 2000) who use circumstances relatively basic image inspection with very
an interative solution to match model edges to image edgels. limited superimposition lead to some significant results
including:
In practice, whilst such applications do offer some degree of − images of a failed weld in a nuclear environment that
operator assistance their practical application proved to be indicated that a displaced unit had snagged a
constantly compromised by the relative sparsity of high quality, thermocouple housing – necessitating a modification
homologous edges in image archives of the environments we to the robotic recovery strategy;
are seeking to model. In many, perhaps the majority, of cases − images that clearly indicated that small bore piping
the edge refinement technique was corrupted by specular that should have been installed with a slight fall to
reflections along the pipe or by occluding features – ensure self draining was, in fact, not parallel to other
particularly in the very common situation where parallel pipe pipe runs and in fact run up rather than downhill;
runs are packed together in pipe racks. Thus in practise only a − an ‘as-built’ model that contained equipment cabinets
very small minority of components benefited from automated that had, in fact, never been commissioned and
refinement and the overhead of manual intervention in the therefore were not present in the image archive;
myriad of failure cases required the development of alternative − the overlay of a design model clearly showing that a
strategies. structural member was of a significantly smaller
diameter than had been used in a load-analysis based
on the design data.
In each case there was little, or no, requirement for any
environment modelling but each required rapid access to
multiple views to confirm that these visual artefacts were not
simply optical illusions.

However in a number of circumstances engineers started to

extend their use of the image archive beyond the scope of what
was originally envisaged. For example engineers began to use
the rapid routing tools to design new piping installations using
the image archive for ‘visual clash checking’ by subjective
interpretation of the design layout when overlain on the image
archive and viewed from a number of directions.

The development of such techniques clearly demonstrates the

value of panoramic image archives as a cost effective, easy to
use, tool for rapid plant verification and early stage design.
Figure 7. CAD model overlain on image archive
However it is clear that access to range data associated with
each image would provide access to enhanced visualisation and
A further strategy enables the ‘rapid-routing’ of components
rigorous clash detection.
that can be constrained to orthogonal directions aligned with
either the site or local coordinate systems. Both of these
techniques enable efficient, yet approximate, modelling with
relatively few observations based on visual alignment of
components with edges and other features against multiple
images drawn from the image database.

Figure 9. CAD entity superimposed on image to check

conformity with design
Figure 8. Construction of a piping component

5. QUALITATIVE VERSUS QUANTITATIVE

ANALYSES OF PLANT CONDITION

It was rapidly found that in addition to the model construction

or refinement measurement tasks that had been anticipated
engineering end-users were also making extensive use of the
 The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 34, Part XXX

Figure 10. Early design of a new component – an initial check

for possible clashing.

6. LINKING PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAMMETRY TO Figure 11. The Long-range Biris device

RANGE IMAGING VIA ACTIVE TRIANGULATION
The sensor is mounted on a Directed Perception pan/tilt device
The HAZMAP photogrammetric system have extended some of that enables full panoramic coverage from an image station
the concepts outlined in the earlier discussion into a robust through the projection and detection of a laser light stripe . The
commercial system for industrial measurement which has seen pan-tilt unit can be used to scan the 3-D laser profile around a
application in more than XXX projects in XXX countries and 360° pan angle and a 110° tilt angle. The scanning parameters
has created image archives with more than XXX images. In as well as the image resolution are computer controlled and
order to maximise the benefits arising from the accessibility of therefore fully programmable. The very short baseline
panorama based IBR techniques to a wide cross section of plant employed in the sensor (150mm) enables a robust and compact
engineers whilst exploiting additional geometric data available construction highly suited to this application at the expense of a
from emerging range imaging systems a number of trials have relatively low precision .
been implemented using very compact short-range sensors.
6.2 Simulated and trial data sets
6.1 Extension of the video-theodolite concept to include
short-baseline active triangulation Since it was not possible to fully integrate the photogrammetric
and range-imaging systems in the budget and timescale of this
Whilst the time of flight and phase based range-imaging trial they were deployed separately and brought into a common
systems are clearly suited to the measurement of large, regular coordinate framework through the measurement of a number of
structures their bulk and relatively long data acquisition times targeted control points. Figure 3 shows low resolution
mean that they are less suited to the very cluttered settings of panoramas generated by the two systems. The partial Biris
our target environments. However it was considered that there panorama is generated from four overlapping cylindrical strips
might be potential to deploy a low accuracy, very short baseline each strip comprising 256 x 1024 pixels.
measurement solution that could augment the image data
provided by the Hazmap system to give additional cues to an
operator undertaking early stage design.

A proof of concept system was deployed that extended the

theodolite based laser-diode pointing systems developed by
Singh et.al. (1997). Here a video-theodolite was modified to
carry an eccentrically mounted Lasiris laser-diode which could
be fitted with a variety of lenses or diffraction gratings to
project a very stable pattern of dot or lines. This led to a trial
based upon a commercial implementation of a pan/tilt based
active triangulation system. The Biris range imaging system
which was initially developed by the National Research
Council of Canada (NRC) (Blais et al, 1992) and has been
adapted for use as a low-cost, highly portable measurement
device suited to close-range applications from stand-off Figure 12. Biris range-image data in Hazmap browser
distances of the order of 0.3m (Beraldin et.al. 1998). This
experiment sought to evaluate a modified Biris device that had
been developed to work over ranges of up to 3m (El-Hakim et
al, 1997).
 The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 34, Part XXX

the case of digital photogrammetry and considerable progress

has been made in the application of such techniques within
commercial packages such as Cyra’s Cyclone, Raindrop
Geomagic’s Wrap or Mensi’s 3D Ipsos. Thus a in recent years a
significant number of process plant modeling activities have
been undertaken using such sensors (c.f. Sanders 2001, Amott
et.al. 2000).

However due to the constraints on cost, size, weight and

productivity mentioned previously we are presently unable to
generate an equivalent density of data to that we can acquire
using intensity imaging devices. Thus our analyses of range-
data seek to extend and enhance the panoramic measurement
interface described above. This is because we consider that an
image-space based approach to measurement is likely to be
more accessible to end-users whilst allowing qualitative
interpretation of the fine detail accessible in the image data
Figure 13. A point cloud generated by integrating Biris scans which is not currently present in range image point-clouds.
(each colour represents a different scan)
Thus we have implemented techniques that enable the import
An increasing number of these laser scanning systems are and display of range image data clouds enabling their display as
capable of delivering such ‘clouds’ of XYZ coordinates. As either surfaces or as point-clouds. Access to such data enables:
with the digital photogrammetric systems a key factor in the − rapid setting of target hot-spots for image searching;
success of such systems lies in the tools available for the − clash analysis of design data against the point cloud;
consolidation of individual scans into a homogenous coordinate − the deployment of best-fit strategies to refine object
frameworks and the availability of sophisticated tools for rapid alignments.
extraction of geometric entities appropriate to any 3D CAD
model. Fortunately the problem of semi-automatic
segmentation is more tractable for laser scanning data than in

Figure 14a. Design pipe superimposed on image archive Figure 14b. Range image loaded

Figure 14c. ‘Shrink wrap’ surface fitted to range data Figure 14d. Points within +/- 10mm of design selected for least-
 The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 34, Part XXX

squares refinement of position

Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 31(B5), Vienna 1996,

pages 284-289.
7. CONCLUSIONS Levoy, M. and Hanrahan, P. 1996. Light field rendering. Proc.
SIGGRAPH ’96. August 1996. 12 pages.
The utility of image databases describing plant assets is now McMillan, L. And Bishop, G. 1995. Plenoptic Modeling: an
widely accepted within the process industries. As image-based rendering system. Proc. SIGGRAPH ’95. Los
improvements in the speed, resolution and cost of digital Angeles, CA, August 6-11, 1995. pages 39-46.
sensors drive down the costs of acquiring such archives their Sanders, F.H., 2001. 3D laser scanning helps Chevron revamp
application is likely to expand dramatically. However there still platform. Oil & Gas Journal, April 30,2001. 4 pages.
appears to be much further research required before we are able Shum, H-Y, and He L-W. 1999 Rendering with concentric
to routinely extract appropriate geometrical descriptions from mosaics. Computer Graphics, vol 33. pages 299 – 306.
such databases without human intervention. Singh, R., Chapman, D.P. & Atkinson, K.B. 1997. Digital
Future prospects for the convergence of photogrammetric and Photogrammetry for automatic close range measurement of
range-imaging techniques may well lead to a new generation of textureless and featureless objects. Photogrammetric Record,
sensors that combine the accessibility of high quality intensity 15(89): 691-702.
images with the undoubted benefits of having a depth value for Tangelder, J.W.H., Vosselman, G. and van den Heuvel, F.A.
every pixel and thus facilitate a much greater degree of 2000. Object-oriented measurement of pipe systems using edge
automation. matching and CSG models with constraints. International
To date few systems are capable of acquiring a high quality Archives of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing. 33(B5).
intensity image that is co-registered with a range image over a Amsterdam 2000. 8 pages.
wide field of view. Arguably an optimal sensor for these
environments would comprise a high resolution (Gigapixel) 360
degree range imaging device capable of delivering high
precision (< 1mm) range (X,Y,Z) and intensity (R,G,B)
images. At the time of writing such devices would appear to be
still one or two years away. However it is already clear that
debates of the merits of Laser Scanning versus Photogrammetry
are likely to increasingly sterile and that the immanent
convergence of these competing systems is likely to afford real
benefits to end users.

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