  Motivated by recent experiments and models of biological segmentation, we
analyze the exicitation of pattern-forming instabilities of convectively
unstable reaction-diffusion-advection (RDA) systems, occuring by means of
constant or periodic forcing at the upstream boundary. Such boundary-controlled
pattern selection is a generalization of the flow-distributed oscillation (FDO)
mechanism that can include Turing or differential flow instability (DIFI)
modes. Our goal is to clarify the relationships among these mechanisms in the
general case where there is differential flow as well as differential
diffusion. We do so by analyzing the dispersion relation for linear
perturbations and showing how its solutions are affected by differential
transport. We find a close relationship between DIFI and FDO, while the Turing
mechanism gives rise to a distinct set of unstable modes. Finally, we
illustrate the relevance of the dispersion relations using nonlinear
simulations and we discuss the experimental implications of our results.
