A method of controlling the operation of a particulate filter in an exhaust gas after-treatment system may comprise calculating a ratio of particulate loading rate to filter regeneration rate using a mass-based soot load estimation scheme and comparing the ratio of particulate loading rate to filter regeneration rate to a predetermined threshold value. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a trace packet at a network device, generating an Internet Control Message Protocol packet in response to the trace packet, and transmitting the ICMP packet. Preferably the non-standardized set of control data relates to different values for the number of information layers present on the record carrier or the type of record carrier being of the read-only type, recordable or rewritable type. A read signal detector capable of detecting light is provided in communication with the storage medium.