JP2008301039A - Radio apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately judge the remaining capacity of a battery by measuring the battery voltage in respective states of only reception, and transmission and reception during a standby state of a radio apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: When a power amplifier is already actuated ("YES" at a step S1), a voltage measurement section is instructed to measure the battery voltage (step S3) when sectioning a section time of a transmission frame is interrupted ("YES" at a step S2), and a measured value is compared with a threshold (TH2) corresponding to the state of transmission and reception (step S4). When the power amplifier is not actuated yet ("NO" at the step S1) and the radio apparatus is in the standby state ("YES" at a step S7), measurement is instructed and a measured value is compared with a threshold (TH0) corresponding to the standby state (steps S8, S9). When the radio apparatus is not in the standby state ("NO" at the step S7), measurement is instructed and a measured value is compared with a threshold (TH1) corresponding to the state of only reception (steps S10, S11). On the basis of the above results, the remaining amount of the battery is totally judged (step S12). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless device, and more particularly, to a wireless device that can be driven by a battery.

  For example, many wireless devices that can be driven by a battery such as a mobile phone have a function of detecting a battery voltage and determining a remaining battery level (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such a wireless device can make the user recognize the level of the remaining battery level by displaying a so-called battery pictograph on the screen.

  A wireless device having a voice call or e-mail transmission / reception function is in a state where neither transmission nor reception (so-called standby), only reception, or transmission or transmission / reception is performed while the power is on. It is in the state to go. The current consumption of the wireless device for each of these states increases in the above order.

  The distinction of the state of the wireless device as described above corresponds to the definition of an idle slot period, a reception slot period, and a transmission slot period in a time division multiple access (TDMA) mobile phone. In the TDMA type mobile phone, there is a problem that it is difficult to maintain the accuracy of the determination result of the remaining battery level because the detection value in the transmission slot period of the battery voltage and the detection value in the reception or idle period change. A technique for solving such a problem by selecting a measurement timing is known (for example, see Patent Document 2).

The invention according to Patent Document 2 measures the battery voltage during a period excluding the transmission slot, and compares the measured value with a threshold value set to a different value during standby and during communication. The accuracy of the determination result of the remaining battery level is maintained.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-127717 (11th and 12th pages, FIG. 3) Japanese Patent No. 3229050 (first, third, fourth page, FIG. 2)

  The above-described wireless device status distinction (during standby, reception only or transmission / reception) exists regardless of the multiple access method distinction (not limited to the TDMA method). Therefore, in order to maintain the accuracy of the determination result of the remaining battery level in any multi-access network, the measurement of the battery voltage and the remaining battery level according to the above state distinction Judgment processing is required.

  The conventional technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above by the applicant avoids measurement of the battery voltage during a transmission slot period in which the current consumption value is maximized and the battery voltage is the lowest, and the current consumption value is relatively small. The measurement results are stabilized by performing measurement only. However, in this conventional technique, since the condition during transmission with a relatively large current consumption value is not reflected, there may be a case where the accuracy of the determination result of the remaining battery level is not always sufficient.

  Note that the above-described Patent Document 1 is intended to reduce the calculation load of the processing unit required for measuring the remaining battery level, and is different from the subject of the present invention (Patent Document 1 is taken up). The purpose is to introduce an example of background technology for measuring the battery voltage and determining the remaining battery level.)

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problem, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to accurately determine the remaining battery level by measuring the battery voltage while the wireless device is transmitting.

  In order to achieve the above object, a wireless device according to the present invention is a wireless device that can be driven by a battery, with a receiving unit, a transmitting unit including a power amplifier, and a timing for dividing a transmission frame of a predetermined time length into unit times. Time management capable of generating an interrupt signal synchronously and sending an activation signal to the power amplifier at an earlier timing than the first break of the unit time to activate the power amplifier in one unit time Means, voltage measuring means capable of measuring the voltage of the battery for driving the battery, selecting whether transmission is possible for each unit time, and from the time management means for the unit time for which transmission is selected A power amplifier can send the activation signal and a transmission signal input can be given to the transmission means, and the power amplifier is activated Later, upon receiving the interrupt signal from the time management unit, the voltage measurement unit is instructed to measure the battery voltage, and the measured value is compared with a threshold value at the time of transmission to determine the degree of the remaining battery level. And a control means capable of doing so.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately determine the remaining battery level by measuring the battery voltage in the state of transmission by using the timing signal for controlling the transmission of the wireless device for the battery voltage measurement.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same code | symbol shall represent the same structure between each figure.

  Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The wireless device 1 includes a common bus 10 that commonly connects some configurations described later.

  The wireless device 1 includes an antenna 11 that is connected to a wireless transmission unit 13 and a wireless reception unit 14 via a transmission / reception switching unit 12. The wireless transmission unit 13 includes a power amplifier 13a. The wireless transmitter 13 is connected to the encoder / modulator 15, and the wireless receiver 14 is connected to the demodulator / decoder 16.

  The wireless transmission unit 13 and the encoding / modulation unit 15 together constitute a transmission unit of the wireless device 1. The radio reception unit 14 and the demodulation / decoding unit 16 together constitute a reception unit of the radio apparatus 1.

  The encoder / modulator 15 and the demodulator / decoder 16 are connected to the controller 17 through, for example, the common bus 10. The wireless device 1 includes a time management unit 18, a display unit 19, and a voice interface unit 20 that are connected to the control unit 17 through the common bus 10, for example. The time management unit 18 has a built-in clock and is connected to the power amplifier 13a as indicated by a dashed arrow. The wireless device 1 includes a speaker 21 and a microphone 22 connected to the audio interface unit 20.

  The wireless device 1 includes a battery holder 31 for mounting the battery 30. A voltage / current is applied from the battery 30 to each part of the wireless device 1 through the electrode of the battery holder 31. The battery 30 may be rechargeable by an external power input (not shown). A voltage measurement unit 32 is connected to the electrode of the battery holder 31. The voltage measurement unit 32 is connected to the control unit 17 through, for example, the common bus 10.

  The operation of the wireless device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating transitions of current consumption and battery voltage in each state of reception only or transmission / reception while the wireless device 1 is on standby. 2 has a common horizontal axis (time axis), the vertical axis in the upper diagram corresponds to the current consumption, and the vertical axis in the lower diagram corresponds to the battery voltage. However, both the current consumption axis and the battery voltage axis only represent changes in relative values. For convenience of explanation, current consumption due to use of functions other than communication that the wireless device 1 may have is not considered.

  In FIG. 2, a transition of current consumption and battery voltage of the wireless device 1 in the process of receiving a voice call while waiting for the wireless device 1 and ending the call after a while has been started for a while is shown. ing. The wireless device 1 consumes a constant current to perform regular communication necessary for the purpose of location registration and the like while waiting with a mobile communication network base station (not shown). As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 2, the current consumption value during standby of the wireless device 1 is I0.

  When a call is started in response to an incoming call, the wireless device 1 alternately repeats a reception only state and a transmission / reception state. Among these, during reception, a received wave that has arrived at the antenna 11 from the base station is received by the wireless reception unit 14 via the transmission / reception switching unit 12. The radio reception unit 14 amplifies and frequency-converts the received wave, and then the demodulation / decoding unit 16 demodulates the symbol of the audio signal carried by the received wave and performs processing such as error correction decoding. .

  The resulting digital audio signal is converted into an analog electrical signal by the audio interface unit 20 and reproduced from the speaker 21. As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 2, the current consumption of the wireless device in the reception only state is I1. In general, since a larger current is consumed during reception of the wireless device 1 than during standby, I0 <I1.

  Next, a case where the wireless device 1 performs further transmission will be described. The voice sent to the other party is collected by the microphone 22 and converted into a digital signal by the voice interface unit 20. The encoding / modulating unit 15 performs processing such as error correction encoding on the digital audio signal, and modulates the continuous wave by the encoded output.

  The wireless transmission unit 13 frequency-converts the modulation output and amplifies the modulation output by the power amplifier 13a, and radiates a transmission wave from the antenna 11 to the base station via the transmission / reception switching unit 12. As shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 2, the current consumption of the wireless device in the transmission / reception state is assumed to be I2. Since the power amplifier 13a having the largest current consumption among the configurations of the wireless device 1 is operated, I1 <I2.

  The output voltage of the battery 30 changes depending on the current consumption, and decreases as the current consumption increases. As shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 2, the battery voltage standby value is V0, the reception only value is V1, and the transmission / reception state value is V2. Between these values, a magnitude relationship of V0> V1> V2 is established corresponding to the above-described magnitude relationship of current consumption (I0 <I1 <I2).

  The control unit 17 can instruct the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage while the wireless device 1 is on standby. When the voltage measuring unit 32 measures the standby value V0, the control unit 17 compares the value V0 with a threshold value corresponding to the standby state (the value is TH0).

  The control unit 17 can instruct the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage while the wireless device 1 is in a reception-only state. When the voltage measurement unit 32 measures the value V1 in the reception-only state, the control unit 17 compares the value V1 with a threshold value corresponding to the reception-only state (this value is TH1).

  The control unit 17 can instruct the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage while the wireless device 1 is in a transmission / reception state. When the voltage measuring unit 32 measures the value V2 of the transmission / reception state, the control unit 17 compares the value V2 with a threshold value corresponding to the state of transmission / reception (this value is TH2). However, since the measurement in this case is meaningless unless the power amplifier 13a performs the amplification operation, it is necessary to set the measurement timing in accordance with the frame configuration of the transmission channel. This point will be described later with reference to FIGS.

  As described above, the control unit 17 sets the measured value V0 of the waiting battery voltage to the threshold value TH0, the measured value V1 of the battery voltage in the reception only state to the threshold value TH1, and the battery voltage in the transmission / reception state. The measured value V2 is compared with the threshold value TH2 to determine the magnitude relationship. The usage of the determination result in each of the above states can be considered as follows.

  First, the remaining battery level can be determined based on a comparison between the measured value V2 in the transmission / reception state where the current consumption is maximized and the threshold value TH2. Next, it is possible to determine the remaining battery level by combining the comparison between the measured value V1 and the threshold value TH1 in the reception only state with the second largest current consumption during transmission / reception and the comparison between V2 and TH2. Alternatively, the remaining battery level can be determined by comparing the measured value V0 in the standby state with the longest time and the threshold value TH0 together with the comparison between V2 and TH2.

  Further, for example, the determination result of each of the above three states is appropriately weighted and comprehensively determined, so that the case where the power amplifier 13a is being transmitted and the power amplifier 13a is operating is always taken into consideration and the remaining battery level is accurately determined. Judgment can be made.

  The control unit 17 can display the determination result of the battery remaining amount on the display unit 19 in a so-called battery pictograph display format, for example. Further, when it is determined that the remaining battery level is insufficient, an alarm display of an arbitrary format can be displayed using the display unit 19 or the speaker 21.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a frame configuration of a transmission channel assigned to the wireless device 1. In this example, one frame having a time width of 20 milliseconds (mS) is divided into 16 unit times (the width of one unit time is 1.25 mS), and the control unit 17 corresponds to the set required transmission bit rate. Selects whether or not transmission is possible at each unit time (for example, according to the following document).
3GPP2 C.I. S0002-0 Version 1.0 (http://www.3gpp2.org/Public_html/specs/C.S0002-0_v1.0.pdf), pp. 148-150.

  As shown in FIG. 3, one frame having a time width of 20 ms is divided into 16 units of time having a time width of 1.25 ms. Each unit time is assigned a number from “0” to “15”. In response to the bit rate required for transmission, the control unit 17 determines how many unit times in one frame transmission is allowed, and in what unit time the transmission is allowed. To decide. FIG. 3 shows an example in which transmission is enabled in the 0th, 2nd, 5th and 6th, 9th, 11th, 12th and 15th unit times represented by hatching.

  The unit time management as shown in FIG. 3 is performed by generating an interrupt signal every 1.25 mS in synchronization with the timing for dividing the unit time by the time management unit 18 incorporating a clock. In addition, the time management unit 18 performs timing control on the power amplifier 13a so that transmission can be performed from the beginning of the unit time in which transmission is enabled. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the concept of timing control by the time management unit 18 described above.

  The upper and lower figures in FIG. 4 share the horizontal axis (time axis), and the upper figure shows the time relationship of the timing signals generated by the time management unit 18. The lower diagram in FIG. 4 conceptually represents a temporal change in the current consumption of the power amplifier 13a. The time width of 1.25 mS from the first (left side) “interrupt” to the later (right side) “interrupt” shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 4 is one of the unit times permitted to be transmitted. Correspond.

  The “activation signal” shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 4 is a signal sent from the time management unit 18 to the power amplifier 13a ahead of the interrupt signal corresponding to the unit time interval by a time width of “τ”. It is. The power amplifier 13a needs to be provided with an activation signal in advance so that a transmission output can be obtained by performing an amplification operation as soon as a signal input is given from the previous stage in the wireless transmission unit 13. As shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 4, the current consumption of the power amplifier 13a gradually increases in this preparation stage, so that the output of the battery 30 is in a transient state where the current value increases and the voltage value decreases.

  The control unit 17 receives the interrupt signal corresponding to the start of the unit time that is allowed to be transmitted, and gives a signal input to the wireless transmission unit 13 (modulation output of the encoding / modulating unit 15). 15 (represented by the block arrow in the upper diagram of FIG. 4). Then, since the power amplifier 13a is given a start signal in advance and is preparing for transmission, a transmission output can be obtained from the beginning of the unit time. As shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 4, at this stage, the current consumption value of the power amplifier 13a is substantially stabilized, so that the output current / voltage values of the battery 30 are also substantially stabilized.

  Next, the battery voltage measurement timing instructed by the control unit 17 to the voltage measurement unit 32 will be described. When the control unit 17 instructs the battery voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage after the activation signal is sent from the time management unit 18 to the power amplifier 13a, the voltage measurement unit 32 starts from FIG. The battery voltage may be measured before the interrupt signal. In that case, since the output voltage of the battery 30 is in a transient state as described above, an inaccurate measurement result is obtained.

  In order to avoid such a problem, the control unit 17 sends a start signal from the time management unit 18 to the power amplifier 13a to start the power amplifier 13a, and then receives the first interrupt signal in FIG. 4 to measure the voltage. The unit 32 is instructed to measure the battery voltage. In this way, since the measurement can be performed after the output voltage value of the battery 30 is stabilized, a more accurate measurement result can be obtained.

  The measurement of the battery voltage by the voltage measuring unit 32 requires a certain amount of time from the start to the end. The voltage measurement unit 32 can notify the control unit 17 of the end of measurement, for example, as an interrupt signal.

  There may be a case where the signal input to the wireless transmission unit 13 ends earlier than the timing of the subsequent interrupt signal in FIG. When the signal input is completed, the current consumption of the power amplifier 13a decreases and the output voltage of the battery 30 increases. If the battery voltage is measured in this state, an incorrect result may be obtained as a value during transmission.

  In order to avoid this, the control unit 17 receives the notification of the end of measurement from the voltage measurement unit 32 in a certain unit time, and if the transmission signal input is not given to the wireless transmission unit 13, the control unit 17 The measurement result of the battery voltage (the determination result compared with the measurement value or the threshold value (TH2)) may be rejected.

  The process of the control part 17 mentioned above is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the process of the control unit 17. When the process is started (“START”), the control unit 17 confirms whether or not the power amplifier 13a has been activated by receiving the activation signal from the time management unit 18 (step S1). If it has been started (“YES” in step S1), it waits for an interrupt signal from the time management unit 18 (“NO” in step S2).

  In response to the interrupt signal (“YES” in step S2), the control unit 17 instructs the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage (step S3), and the obtained measurement value corresponds to the transmission / reception state. It is compared with a threshold value (TH2) (step S4). If a transmission signal input to the wireless transmission unit 13 is given when the measurement end notification is received from the voltage measurement unit 32 (“YES” in step S5), the process proceeds to a comprehensive determination of the remaining battery level described later. If the transmission signal input to the wireless transmission unit 13 is not given when the measurement end notification is received from the voltage measurement unit 32 (“NO” in step S5), the result of the comparison between the measured value and the threshold value (TH2) is rejected. (Step S6), and again waits for an interrupt in Step S2.

  If the power amplifier 13a is not activated in step S1 (“NO” in step S1), the control unit 17 causes the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage when the wireless device 1 is waiting (“YES” in step S7). (Step S8), and the measured value obtained is compared with the corresponding threshold value (TH0) during standby (step S9). Further, when the wireless device 1 is not waiting (“NO” in step S7), the control unit 17 instructs the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage (step S10), and the obtained measurement value is set to the reception only state. Comparison is made with the corresponding threshold value (TH1) (step S11).

  Based on the comparison result between the battery voltage and each threshold value in steps S4, S9, and S11, the control unit 17 comprehensively determines the remaining battery level as described above (step S12).

  According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the remaining battery level can be accurately evaluated by measuring the battery voltage during transmission at the timing synchronized with the unit time interval in the transmission frame configuration.

  The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the wireless device 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The wireless device 2 includes a power measurement unit 35. The other configuration of the wireless device 2 is the same as the configuration of the wireless device 1 shown in FIG.

  The power measurement unit 35 is connected to the control unit 17 through, for example, the common bus 10. The power measurement unit 35 is connected to the output stage of the wireless transmission unit 13 and is configured to be able to measure the transmission power of the wireless transmission unit 13 in response to an instruction from the control unit 17.

  FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing an example of the frame configuration of the transmission channel assigned to the wireless device 2, and adds the target (battery voltage or transmission power) to be measured for each unit time permitted for transmission. FIG. The symbol “V” in the figure means the battery voltage, and the control unit 17 instructs the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the same as in the first embodiment. The symbol “P” in the figure means transmission power, and the control unit 17 instructs the power measurement unit 35 to measure it.

  The battery voltage measurement and the transmission power measurement may be executed by, for example, time-division processing of the control unit 17 depending on the hardware configuration of the wireless device 2, and in such a case, it cannot be performed at the same time.

  As described in the first embodiment, the measurement of the battery voltage by the voltage measurement unit 32 requires a certain amount of time from the start to the end. Similarly, measurement of transmission power by the power measurement unit 35 requires a certain amount of time from the start to the end. Therefore, the battery voltage measurement and the transmission power measurement may not be completed within the same unit time.

  In such a case, for example, the control unit 17 causes the voltage measurement unit 32 to measure the battery voltage during the first (0th) transmission enabled unit time in FIG. 7 and the second transmission enabled unit. In time, the transmission power can be measured by the power measurement unit 35, and the battery voltage and the transmission power can be alternately measured in the unit time in which transmission is allowed thereafter.

  According to the second embodiment of the present invention, by measuring the voltage and power alternately, the battery voltage and the transmission power can be accurately measured even when the measurement hardware and the time available for measurement are limited. Can do.

  In the description of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the configuration of the wireless device, the method of multiple access, the configuration of the transmission frame, the ratio and arrangement of the unit time permitted to be transmitted, and the like are examples, and the gist of the present invention Various modifications are possible without departing from the scope.

1 is a block diagram of a wireless device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The figure which illustrates notionally transition of the consumption current and battery voltage in each state of reception only or transmission / reception during the standby of the radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission frame configuration of a wireless device according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a concept of timing control by a time management unit of the wireless device according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart of processing of a control unit of the wireless device according to the first embodiment. The block diagram of the radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. The figure which attaches and shows the measuring object for every unit time to an example of the transmission frame structure of the radio | wireless apparatus which concerns on Example 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Radio | wireless apparatus 10 Common bus 11 Antenna 12 Transmission / reception switching part 13 Wireless transmission part 14 Wireless reception part 15 Encoding / modulation part 16 Demodulation / decoding part 17 Control part 18 Time management part 19 Display part 20 Audio | voice interface 21 Speaker 22 Microphone 30 Battery 31 Battery holder 32 Voltage measurement unit 35 Power measurement unit

Claims (6)

In a wireless device that can be battery powered,
Receiving means;
A transmission means including a power amplifier;
An interrupt signal is generated in synchronization with a timing at which a transmission frame having a predetermined time length is divided into unit times, and the power is generated at an earlier timing than the first division of the unit time in order to activate the power amplifier in one unit time. A time management means capable of sending a start signal to the amplifier;
Voltage measuring means capable of measuring the voltage of the battery for driving the battery;
Select whether or not transmission is possible at each unit time, and for the unit time for which transmission is selected, cause the start signal to be sent from the time management means to the power amplifier and provide a transmission signal input to the transmission means And a threshold value at the time of transmission of the measured value obtained by receiving the interrupt signal from the time management means and instructing the voltage measuring means to measure the battery voltage after the power amplifier is activated. And a control unit that can determine the level of the remaining battery level by comparing with the wireless device.   The control means further compares the measured value obtained by instructing the voltage measuring means to measure the battery voltage when the receiving means and the transmitting means are in a standby state, with a threshold value during standby. Accordingly, it is possible to determine the degree of the remaining battery level in combination with the comparison with the threshold value at the time of transmission.   The control means is configured to obtain a measured value obtained by instructing the voltage measuring means to measure the battery voltage when the receiving means and the transmitting means are in a state where only the reception is being executed, and a threshold value when only the reception is executed. The wireless device according to claim 1, further comprising a comparison with the threshold value at the time of transmission to determine a level of a remaining battery level. In a wireless device that can be battery powered,
Receiving means;
A transmission means including a power amplifier;
An interrupt signal is generated in synchronization with a timing at which a transmission frame having a predetermined time length is divided into unit times, and the power is started at a timing earlier than the first division of the unit time in order to activate the power amplifier in one unit time. A time management means capable of sending a start signal to the amplifier;
Voltage measuring means capable of measuring the voltage of the battery for driving the battery;
Select whether transmission is possible at each unit time, and for the unit time for which transmission is selected, the time management means sends the activation signal to the power amplifier and gives a transmission signal input to the transmission means And when the reception unit and the transmission unit are in a standby state or in a state where only reception is being performed, a threshold value at the time of standby is obtained for a measurement value obtained by instructing the voltage measurement unit to measure the battery voltage. The value or the reception threshold is compared with the execution threshold value, and after the power amplifier is activated, the interrupt signal is received from the time management means and the voltage measurement means is obtained to instruct the battery voltage measurement. A radio apparatus comprising: a control unit that can determine a level of a remaining battery level by comparing a measured value with a threshold value at the time of transmission. When the voltage measuring means ends the measurement of the battery voltage in one unit time, it notifies the control means of the end of the measurement,
The control means rejects the result of the measurement of the battery voltage obtained in the unit time if the transmission signal input is not given to the transmission means when receiving the notification of the end of the measurement. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless device is characterized in that: A power measuring means capable of measuring an output of the power amplifier;
The control means alternately performs an instruction to measure the battery voltage to the voltage measuring means and an instruction to measure the output of the power amplifier to the power measuring means at every unit time when transmission is selected. The wireless device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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