  A sandpile model with stochastic toppling rule is studied. The control
parameters and the phase diagram are determined through a MF approach, the
subcritical and critical regions are analyzed. The model is found to have some
similarities with directed percolation, but the existence of different boundary
conditions and conservation law leads to a different universality class, where
the critical state is extended to a line segment due to self-organization.
These results are supported with numerical simulations in one dimension. The
present model constitute a simple model which capture the essential difference
between ordinary nonequilibrium critical phenomena, like DP, and self-organized
criticality.
