阅读说明：本技术 一种隔膜离子电导率的测试装置和测试方法 (Testing device and testing method for diaphragm ionic conductivity ) 是由 王文超 孙洋洋 吴江雪 于 2021-07-30 设计创作，主要内容包括：本文公开一种隔膜离子电导率的测试装置和测试方法,本发明实施例通过封装电池为对称电池,为向电池施加进行隔膜离子电导率测试的测试条件提供基础；根据映射关系施加测试条件,使电池的物理状态与需要测试的隔膜离子电导率的电芯全生命周期的物理状态相同,实现了电芯全生命周期的工作状态的模拟；通过对与需要测试的隔膜离子电导率的电芯全生命周期的物理状态相同的电池进行测试,实现了电池电芯全生命周期下隔膜离子电导率的测试,通过测试获得的电芯全生命周期下隔膜离子电导率,为提升电池性能、安全性和寿命提供了数据支持。(The embodiment of the invention provides a basis for applying test conditions for testing the ionic conductivity of a diaphragm to a battery by packaging the battery as a symmetrical battery; applying a test condition according to the mapping relation to ensure that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested, thereby realizing the simulation of the working state of the battery cell full life cycle; the battery with the same physical state as the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested is tested, so that the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle is tested, and the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle obtained through the test provides data support for improving the performance, safety and service life of the battery.)

1. A membrane ionic conductivity testing apparatus comprising:

the setting condition unit is set to apply a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relation according to the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested, so that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested;

a test unit configured to perform an isolated ionic conductivity test on the battery to which the test condition is applied;

wherein the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relationship comprises: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature.

2. The testing device of claim 1, wherein the symmetric battery comprises:

a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer as two electrodes;

a preset numerical layer diaphragm positioned between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer;

electrolyte injected into the diaphragm gap;

and the aluminum plastic film is used for packaging the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer and the diaphragm.

3. A test device according to claim 2, wherein the test unit is arranged to:

determining a cell impedance of the cell under the test conditions;

and performing linear fitting on the determined impedance value of the battery impedance and the number of layers of the diaphragm to obtain the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm.

4. A test device as claimed in claim 2 or 3, further comprising a pressure device arranged to:

applying a preset pressure to the battery;

wherein the preset pressure is 0.1MPa MPA to 9.99 MPA.

5. The testing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the setting condition unit is configured to:

applying the test pressure to the battery box by: cylinders, servo motors or clamps; and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

applying the test temperature to the battery box by: an incubator or a heating plate.

6. A method of testing ionic conductivity of a separator, comprising:

applying a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relation according to the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested, so that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested;

performing an isolated ionic conductivity test on the battery under the test conditions;

wherein the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relationship comprises: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the performing an isolated ionic conductivity test on the cell under test conditions comprises:

determining a cell impedance of the cell under the test conditions;

and performing linear fitting on the determined impedance value of the battery impedance and the number of layers of the diaphragm to obtain the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein prior to applying the test condition to the battery according to the predetermined mapping, the method further comprises:

applying a preset pressure to the battery;

wherein the preset pressure is 0.1MPa MPA to 9.99 MPA.

9. A computer storage medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements a method of testing ion conductivity of a separator as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8.

10. A terminal, comprising: a memory and a processor, the memory having a computer program stored therein; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the processor is configured to execute the computer program in the memory;

the computer program when executed by the processor implements a method of testing ion conductivity of a separator as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to, but not limited to, lithium ion battery technology, and more particularly, to a device and a method for testing ionic conductivity of a separator.

Background

The lithium ion battery (hereinafter referred to as battery) has the advantages of high specific energy, high working voltage, no memory effect, long cycle life, little environmental pollution and the like. With the wide application of batteries, the safety problem of the batteries is receiving more and more attention; the safety problem is one of the key problems which prevent the large-scale application of the anti-static electricity energy storage battery in the fields of electric automobiles, energy storage and the like; once accidents such as fire, explosion and the like happen to the battery, great personal injury and property loss are caused; in addition, how to improve battery life is also an important aspect of user attention.

In order to improve the safety and the service life of the battery, the composition and the parameters of the battery are the basis for designing and researching the battery; the battery mainly comprises a positive electrode material, a negative electrode material, electrolyte and a diaphragm, wherein the diaphragm is an important component of the battery, the diaphragm is generally composed of a microporous film or a non-woven fiber sheet, the positive electrode and the negative electrode of the battery are separated in the battery, the function of preventing the short circuit of the two electrodes is realized, and the battery has electronic insulation and ion permeability. The ionic conductivity of the diaphragm is an important parameter for researching the charge and discharge performance of the battery, the cycle life of the battery and the safety of the battery, the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm influences the migration and passing characteristics of lithium ions, and the higher the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm is, the better the lithium ion passing performance is.

At present, in the related technology, the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm is mainly tested at normal temperature and 0 pressure, the data is single, the battery cannot be effectively analyzed, and the research work of improving the performance, the service life and the safety of the battery is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The following is a summary of the subject matter described in detail herein. This summary is not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

The embodiment of the invention provides a testing device and a testing method for diaphragm ionic conductivity, which can effectively analyze working parameters of a battery.

The embodiment of the invention provides a device for testing ionic conductivity of a diaphragm, which comprises:

the setting condition unit is set to apply a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relation according to the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested, so that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested;

a test unit configured to perform an isolated ionic conductivity test on the battery under test conditions;

wherein, the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relation comprises the following steps: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the invention also provides a method for testing the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm, which comprises the following steps:

applying a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relation according to the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested, so that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested;

performing an isolated ionic conductivity test on the battery under the test conditions;

wherein the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relationship comprises: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature.

In still another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a computer storage medium, where a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method for testing ion conductivity of a diaphragm is implemented.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, including: a memory and a processor, the memory having a computer program stored therein; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the processor is configured to execute the computer program in the memory;

the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the method for testing ion conductivity of a membrane as described above.

The technical scheme of the application includes: a condition setting unit configured to apply a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relationship so that the first physical state and the second physical state of the battery are the same; a test unit configured to perform an isolated ionic conductivity test on the battery to which the test condition is applied; wherein, the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relation comprises the following steps: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the second physical state includes: the battery is in a physical state when the battery cell needs to test the ion conductivity of the diaphragm in the whole life cycle; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature. According to the embodiment of the invention, the packaged battery is a symmetrical battery, so that a foundation is provided for applying a test condition for testing the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm to the battery; applying a test condition according to the mapping relation to ensure that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested, thereby realizing the simulation of the working state of the battery cell full life cycle; the battery with the same physical state as the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested is tested, so that the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle is tested, and the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle obtained through the test provides data support for improving the performance, safety and service life of the battery.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the example serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a device for testing ionic conductivity of a separator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for testing ionic conductivity of a separator in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the composition of an exemplary battery of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system for testing ionic conductivity of a separator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

figure 5 is a graph of membrane ionic conductivity at different test pressures for an example of the application of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other without conflict.

The steps illustrated in the flow charts of the figures may be performed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions. Also, while a logical order is shown in the flow diagrams, in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different than here.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a structure of a device for testing ionic conductivity of a diaphragm according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1, including:

the setting condition unit is set to apply a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relation according to the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested, so that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the full life cycle of the battery cell of which the isolated ionic conductivity needs to be tested;

a test unit configured to perform an isolated ionic conductivity test on the battery to which the test condition is applied;

wherein, the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relation comprises the following steps: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the packaged battery is a symmetrical battery, so that a foundation is provided for applying a test condition for testing the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm to the battery; applying a test condition according to the mapping relation to ensure that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested, thereby realizing the simulation of the working state of the battery cell full life cycle; the battery with the same physical state as the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested is tested, so that the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle is tested, and the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle obtained through the test provides data support for improving the performance, safety and service life of the battery.

In an exemplary example, the mapping relationship according to the embodiment of the present invention may be determined according to experience or measurement of a person skilled in the art, for example, by measuring and determining the temperature and the pressure when the battery is charged, and setting the temperature value and the pressure value of the state of charge as the test conditions corresponding to the state of charge; determining the temperature and the pressure of the battery during discharging through measurement, and setting the temperature value and the pressure value of the discharging state as the corresponding test conditions of the charging state; and determining the pressure value of the battery working for the preset time as the test condition of the battery corresponding to the preset time.

In an exemplary embodiment, a full cell life cycle of an embodiment of the present invention includes any one of: battery core circulation, storage, gas production and pole piece expansion;

the full life cycle of the battery cell in the embodiment of the invention refers to the whole process from manufacturing and using to service life termination of the battery cell; for example: the initial capacity of the vehicle lithium battery is 100 ampere hours (Ah), the battery performance is attenuated to 80Ah after N times of charge-discharge cycles (one time of charge and discharge is called as one time of cycle) or N years of battery storage, and the battery is assumed to be applied to a fifth generation mobile communication (5G) base station until the battery cannot be used, and the battery is determined to be abandoned as the full life cycle of a battery core; the battery cell generates contents including charging, discharging, storing, extruding, deforming and the like of the battery cell in different temperature environments in the whole life cycle of the battery cell; according to the embodiment of the invention, the physical states of the battery cell in the whole life cycle under different use working conditions are simulated by applying the test temperature and/or the test pressure; in one illustrative example, a symmetric battery in an embodiment of the invention comprises:

a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer as two electrodes;

a preset numerical layer diaphragm positioned between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer;

electrolyte injected into the diaphragm gap;

and the aluminum plastic film is used for packaging the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer and the diaphragm.

In an exemplary embodiment, the conductive layer according to an embodiment of the present invention may be made of a conductive material having a symmetrical area and material, including, but not limited to, a material layer made of aluminum foil, copper sheet, aluminum sheet, or the like. In the embodiment of the invention, the first conducting layer and the second conducting layer are used as two electrodes of a symmetrical battery, and the two electrodes do not distinguish positive and negative electrodes; when testing the ionic conductivity of the separator, one electrode is connected with the positive port of the circuit for determining the battery impedance in the test unit, and the other electrode is connected with the negative port of the circuit for determining the battery impedance in the test unit of the test unit. In an exemplary embodiment, a test unit of an embodiment of the present invention is configured to:

determining a cell impedance of the cell under the applied test conditions;

and performing linear fitting on the impedance value of the battery impedance and the number of layers of the diaphragm to obtain the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm.

In an exemplary embodiment, the test unit of the embodiment of the invention may include an Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) test apparatus and a functional device configured to perform a linear fitting operation;

in an exemplary embodiment, the testing unit of the embodiment of the present invention may also be other devices that can determine the battery impedance and calculate the ionic conductivity of the separator according to the battery impedance, including but not limited to: controllers, integrated circuit devices, and the like;

in an illustrative example, an apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention further comprises a pressure unit configured to:

applying a preset pressure to the battery;

wherein the preset pressure is 0.1 Megapascal (MPA) to 9.99 MPA.

The inventor of the present application has analyzed and found that: before the membrane ionic conductivity test is carried out, preset pressure is applied to the symmetrical battery, so that the membrane ionic conductivity test quality can be improved; the pressure unit and the condition setting unit in the embodiment of the invention can be two independent constituent units, and the treatment for applying the preset pressure is the treatment before the diaphragm ion conductivity test.

In an exemplary example, when the test conditions in the embodiment of the present invention include a test temperature, the application of the test temperature may be performed by an oven, a heating plate, or the like; in an illustrative example, the heating plate in the embodiment of the present invention may be a metal plate;

in an exemplary example, when the test condition in the embodiment of the present invention includes a test pressure, the application of the test pressure may be performed by an air cylinder, a servo motor, a clamping plate, or the like;

in one illustrative example, the means for applying the test temperature and the test pressure may be an integrated device; for example, a metal plate to which temperature and pressure can be applied simultaneously.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of a method for testing ion conductivity of a separator according to an embodiment of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, including:

step 201, according to the full life cycle of the battery cell of the battery needing to test the isolated ionic conductivity, applying a test condition to the battery according to a predetermined mapping relation, so that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the full life cycle of the battery cell of the battery needing to test the isolated ionic conductivity;

202, carrying out an isolated ion conductivity test on the battery under the test condition;

wherein, the battery is a symmetrical battery which is packaged in advance; the mapping relation comprises the following steps: testing the corresponding relation between the conditions and the whole life cycle of the battery cell; the test conditions included constant: test pressure and/or test temperature.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the packaged battery is a symmetrical battery, so that a foundation is provided for applying a test condition for testing the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm to the battery; applying a test condition according to the mapping relation to ensure that the physical state of the battery is the same as the physical state of the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested, thereby realizing the simulation of the working state of the battery cell full life cycle; the battery with the same physical state as the battery cell full life cycle of the diaphragm ionic conductivity to be tested is tested, so that the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle is tested, and the diaphragm ionic conductivity under the battery cell full life cycle obtained through the test provides data support for improving the performance, safety and service life of the battery.

In one illustrative example, a symmetric cell in an embodiment of the invention comprises:

a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer as two electrodes;

a preset numerical layer diaphragm positioned between the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer;

electrolyte injected into the diaphragm gap;

and the aluminum plastic film is used for packaging the first conductive layer, the second conductive layer and the diaphragm.

In one illustrative example, an embodiment of the present invention performs an isolated ionic conductivity test on a battery under test conditions, comprising:

determining the battery impedance of the battery under the test condition;

and performing linear fitting on the impedance value of the battery impedance and the number of layers of the diaphragm to obtain the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm.

In an exemplary embodiment, before configuring the test condition according to the predetermined mapping relationship, the method in the embodiment of the present invention further includes:

applying a preset pressure to the battery;

wherein the preset pressure is 0.1 MPA-9.99 MPA.

The inventor of the application analyzes and finds that better membrane ionic conductivity test results can be obtained by applying preset pressure to the symmetrical battery before the membrane ionic conductivity test is carried out.

In one illustrative example, embodiments of the invention apply a test temperature to the cell through an oven or heating plate.

In an exemplary embodiment, the present embodiment applies test pressure to the battery by means of a pneumatic cylinder, servo motor or clamp plate.

In an exemplary embodiment, the heating plate in the embodiment of the present invention may be a metal plate.

In one illustrative example, the means for applying the test temperature and the test pressure may be an integrated device.

The embodiment of the invention also provides a computer storage medium, wherein a computer program is stored in the computer storage medium, and when being executed by a processor, the computer program realizes the method for testing the ion conductivity of the diaphragm.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a terminal, including: a memory and a processor, the memory having stored therein a computer program; wherein the content of the first and second substances,

the processor is configured to execute the computer program in the memory;

the computer program when executed by the processor implements the method of testing ion conductivity of a membrane as described above.

The following is a brief description of the embodiments of the present invention by way of application examples, which are only used to illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention.

Application example

Fig. 3 is a schematic composition diagram of a battery according to an exemplary application of the present invention, as shown in fig. 3, a first conductive layer of an aluminum foil material is shown, and a second conductive layer of an aluminum foil material is shown, which is a second aluminum foil layer; in the application example, a first aluminum foil layer and a second aluminum foil layer are used as two electrodes, different layers of diaphragms are clamped between the first aluminum foil layer and the second aluminum foil layer, electrolyte is injected, and a battery cell is packaged through an aluminum-plastic film to obtain a symmetrical battery; application example of the present invention 5 layers of separators may be disposed between two electrodes; the area of the diaphragm is a fixed area; the proportion of the electrolyte is fixed; the symmetrical battery provided by the embodiment of the invention is simple to prepare, has strong flexibility, and can ensure that the diaphragm is completely soaked.

Preparing a symmetrical battery, wherein the application example needs to test Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to obtain battery impedance; calculating the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm according to the obtained battery impedance by using the application with the fitting processing function; the cell resistances of the obtained separators were measured to be R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5, respectively; according to a correlation principle, taking the number of layers of the diaphragm as an abscissa and the battery resistance of the diaphragm as an ordinate to make a curve, calculating the slope and the linear fitting degree of the curve, and calculating the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm when the linear fitting degree is greater than 0.99; when the linear fitting degree is less than 0.99, the ion conductivity of the diaphragm is tested again from the preparation of the symmetrical battery;

the present invention applies examples R ═ k × 1;

wherein R represents the resistance value of a layer of diaphragm and the unit is ohm; k is the slope of the curve when the degree of fitting is greater than 0.99;

wherein σ represents the membrane ionic conductivity in siemens per centimeter; d is the thickness of a layer of diaphragm, with the unit being micron; r represents the resistance value of a layer of diaphragm, and the unit is ohm; s represents the area of the diaphragm in square centimeters;

in the application example, during testing, according to the battery cell full life cycle of the battery needing to test the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm, the test temperature and/or the test pressure are/is applied to the symmetrical battery; the EIS testing device is used for determining the battery impedance of the battery under the testing condition; after the EIS testing device of the application example determines the battery impedance, the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm can be calculated by the application with fitting processing capacity according to the determined battery impedance;

in an exemplary embodiment, the test condition means for applying the test pressure and test temperature in embodiments of the present invention may be two flat heated metal plates; FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of an apparatus for testing ionic conductivity of a separator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, a test temperature may be applied to a symmetrical cell by heating a metal plate, and a test pressure may be applied to a symmetrical cell located in the middle of the heating metal plates by heating the two heating metal plates; in an exemplary embodiment, the test pressure of the present embodiments may be 0 to 20 MPa, applied in the direction of the illustrated arrow; FIG. 5 is a graph of the ionic conductivity of the separator at various test pressures for an exemplary application of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the ionic conductivity of the separator in a symmetrical cell tends to decrease with increasing pressure; the test pressure and the test temperature can be respectively applied to the symmetrical batteries to realize the test of the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm of the symmetrical batteries, and the test pressure and the test temperature can also be simultaneously applied to the symmetrical batteries to realize the test of the ionic conductivity of the diaphragm of the symmetrical batteries.

The battery is taken as the lithium battery used in the electric vehicle as an example, the electric vehicle has complex use working conditions and long use period, and the application example of the invention has important significance in obtaining the change of the battery material along with the circulation and storage of the battery core through testing; by obtaining the ion conductivity change of the diaphragm material, the cell assembly ratio at the earlier stage can be optimized. More research and development information is provided for improving the performance, safety and service life of the battery.

"one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or some of the steps of the methods, systems, functional modules/units in the devices disclosed above may be implemented as software, firmware, hardware, and suitable combinations thereof. In a hardware implementation, the division between functional modules/units mentioned in the above description does not necessarily correspond to the division of physical components; for example, one physical component may have multiple functions, or one function or step may be performed by several physical components in cooperation. Some or all of the components may be implemented as software executed by a processor, such as a digital signal processor or microprocessor, or as hardware, or as an integrated circuit, such as an application specific integrated circuit. Such software may be distributed on computer readable media, which may include computer storage media (or non-transitory media) and communication media (or transitory media). The term computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data, as is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by a computer. In addition, communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media as known to those skilled in the art. "