Abstract: A thermal ground plane comprises top and bottom layers that are substantially impervious to fluid and together defining an inner space, a vapour transport mesh layer having a relatively coarse mesh structure and located within said space, and at least one liquid transport mesh layer having a relatively fine mesh structure and located between said vapour transport mesh layer and one of said top and bottom layers, the two said mesh layers being in contact with one another across substantially their entire planar extents. The top and bottom layers are sealed with a substantially fluid tight seal, and said inner space contains a liquid and is partially evacuated.

Abstract: Determining an upgrade path from a starting topology to a target topology of a network is computationally intense and does not guarantee a steadily increasing usable capacity of the network at each stage within the upgrade path. The disclosed technology allows for a sequence of stages related to network upgrades to be generated. The technology ensures that networks can be upgraded in a sequential manner, where each step in the sequence does not violate service level objectives related to the network, ensures operational continuity of the network by users of the network, and ensures that the available network resources increase as the sequential upgrades are rolled out. The pathway determined is determined in a computationally efficient manner.