diff --git a/CommonLibs/BitVector.cpp b/CommonLibs/BitVector.cpp
index 54a3edc..7487834 100644
--- a/CommonLibs/BitVector.cpp
+++ b/CommonLibs/BitVector.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "BitVector.h"
 #include <iostream>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <sstream>
 
 using namespace std;
 
@@ -274,9 +275,6 @@
 
 
 
-
-
-
 ostream& operator<<(ostream& os, const BitVector& hv)
 {
 	for (size_t i=0; i<hv.size(); i++) {
@@ -527,6 +525,22 @@
 
 
 
+// (pat) Added 6-22-2012
+float SoftVector::getEnergy(float *plow) const
+{
+	const SoftVector &vec = *this;
+	int len = vec.size();
+	float avg = 0; float low = 1;
+	for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+		float bit = vec[i];
+		float energy = 2*((bit < 0.5) ? (0.5-bit) : (bit-0.5));
+		if (energy < low) low = energy;
+		avg += energy/len;
+	}
+	if (plow) { *plow = low; }
+	return avg;
+}
+
 
 ostream& operator<<(ostream& os, const SoftVector& sv)
 {
@@ -578,6 +592,14 @@
 	os << std::dec;
 }
 
+std::string BitVector::hexstr() const
+{
+	std::ostringstream ss;
+	hex(ss);
+	return ss.str();
+}
+
+
 bool BitVector::unhex(const char* src)
 {
 	// Assumes MSB-first packing.