Abstract: The present invention features geothermal systems with improved control strategies for efficient operation of multiple geothermal wells. In many embodiments, each well in a geothermal system of the present invention is operated in cycles. Each cycle includes a heat exchange phase followed by a thermal recovery phase. During a heat exchange phase, the well is engaged in exchanging heat with a heat pump. During a thermal recovery phase, the well is kept inactive for establishing thermal equilibrium with the earth. On many occasions, the geothermal system simultaneously operates a group of wells in a heat exchange phase to serve the building HVAC load, while maintaining other wells inactive for thermal recovery. The switching between different operational stages is regulated for each well to improve the overall performance of the system while satisfying the building demand.

Abstract: A client side, Web server, or clustered server Xbase style data access and transfer system allows native Xbase style application programs to transparently use SQL or other RDBMS style systems as their underlying data store. The system includes a non-flat file client/server storage mechanism as the target data storage system, a native Xbase style application program, script, or Web based application requiring access to a non-Xbase style backend database, and network communications system connecting the two, such as an IP based Ethernet, Web processing system, or other wireless or wired packet switching medium. The native Xbase system connects to the back end application to read and write data as if it were utilizing the native local Xbase desktop database file(s). This allows non-client/server database applications to be easily ported to utilize improved back end servers instead of simple file sharing.

Abstract: A method of incorporating allocations of network access in a DOCSIS 1.0 compliant cable network, wherein users compete for bandwidth, includes limiting bandwidth consumed by a cable modem of a user to a value representative of that user's bandwidth allocation for a time interval. Preferably, the method includes the steps of: (a) generating cable modem configuration files, each of which limits bandwidth consumption by a cable modem of a user to a bandwidth allowance of that user equaling to the respective bandwidth allocation; (b) sending the configuration files to a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) Server of the DOC Network; and (c) sending a command either to each user's cable modem, or to a cable modem termination system to which each user's cable modem is connected, to cause the cable modem to implement the respective new configuration file.