Mostly New Diasporia is an RPG background that is game system agnostic. Since I use GURPS, particularly GURPS 3rd Edition, with some GURPS 4th edition rules, I from time to time talk about game system specific rules, particularly design rules.
Today I'm going to talk about communication rules in GURPS. I'm going to start out by saying the rules are broken. Why do I say that? Because today at TL8 we have communication devices which exceed the capabilities of the higher TL devices listed in UltraTech (both G3 and G4).
As a general set of rules they're workable enough for someone who doesn't have a background in electronics or communication systems. Unfortunately I do. They also break down when compared to existing devices.
Let's lay out an example. The typical cell phone weighs in at about .28 lbs. That includes it's battery and no less than five different radios, operating on different radio bands. They include a GPS receiver, a cell duplex channel radio, a wifi radio, a Bluetooth radio, an FM receiver (which in the U.S., at least, is usually turned off by the carrier.)
These radios have varying ranges which depend on a lot of factors.
The cell duplex radio has a theoretical range of about 45 miles. Its typical range (outside urbane areas) is closer to 10 miles, which is the usual spacing between towers in a cell phone system.
The GPS receiver is tiny and has a range of over 15,000 miles in receive mode. True a GPS satellite weighs about a 1000 lbs. and no doubt qualifies as what GURPS 4e calls a Very Large Communicator. However a Very Large Communicator is only suppose to have a range of 10,000 miles. GPS orbits at 12,656 miles and signals from lateral distances will be even greater.
FM ranges are on the order of 40 to 60 miles. Even using the half cost function of receive only radios a Small communicator would still be half a pound vs. the ounce or so of a cell phone FM chip.
A cell phone designed under the communicator rules would weigh about 20 lbs and cost $5000.
So why are the rules broken? Mostly because radio communication is hard. That is, there are many details that determine what the range is for a particular set of radios under particular conditions, which are difficult to capture in RPG rules.
One detail is the size of the antenna. Cell phone usually have really crappy antennas. Your typical cell phone would get much better range if it had a better (in this case better means bigger) antenna. Of course you'd probably feel pretty dorky with a big old dipole antenna sticking out of your iPhone.
Another is power. GPS satellites transmit at about 500 watts. FM transmitters broadcast in the kiloWatt range. Most Cell phones have two signal strengths: .6 watts and 3 watts. Bluetooth devices typically transmit in the 100mW range.
Note that GPS satellites have much weaker transmitters than FM, yet have much greater range. This is partially due to the frequencies they operate at, because frequency band also has an effect upon range. It effects things like whether the radio is line-of-sight or can utilize skip. Skip or skywave is what allows Ham radio operators to talk to Moscow from a set in Tampa.
So we've established GURPS radio communicator rules are broken. What do we do now? We can replace them with house rules based on real world radio communication factors or we can go Hollywood, and just decide what rules work best for our game world based upon the effects we want to see in the game.
In my game I pretty much stick to GURPS 3rd Edition rules for my spacecraft communication systems outside the Grand Route Hypercable system. So ships and vehicles in the Wilds, Midlands or in the Highlands off the Major Routes use ranges from the Vehicle Design System.
I treat anywhere that has Hypercable as connected all the time, just as I hope most of you are connected to the cell network all the time. (Isn't that a nice fantasy?)
The Highland version of the cell phone, the CMC, is likewise connected through the wireless broadband network in most villages, cities and homesteads. Settled places will have repeaters installed to allow the devices to relay into the wider system.
Spacers will use their ruggedized CMCs to communicate with orbiting spacecraft through the communication systems in their HUVs or brakes, and directly with each other with reasonable distances (see the upcoming CMC entry for details.) And they will work on board their ships using the ship's internal wireless network.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Monday, November 20, 2017
Commodities
One of the results of the availability of nanotechfactories is the commoditization of many tools and devices. In Highland culture a commodity may best be defined as an economic good which has no quantitative differentiation across markets, i.e. it is fungible. In the case of created goods, that is technological objects as opposed to commodity resources such as minerals, agricultural products and other raw materials, it is the combination of nanotechnology and Intellectual Property Law which has resulted in commoditization.
Basically under Highland law the issuance of patents and copyright is severely limited as compared to the I.P. practices of the Progressive Era. Many types and classes of devices are excluded from patents entirely. Software is entirely unpatentable, although patterns and blueprints used by nanotechfactories may be copyrighted. Reports, liturgical works and performance media cannot be copyrighted, though properties like songs and plays, as well as written works may be, by the author, composer or song writer.
Copyright law in the Highlands allows for a single 15 year period of copyright during which the author of a work may have sole right over their work. This includes the licensing, but not sale of the copyright. Copyrights terminate upon the death of the owner.
Patents are even more limited, as items to be patented must be new, useful and non-obvious. Biological process, breeder designs and drugs cannot be patented. Patents are held for 10 years and cover products from the time the patent is registered.
Anything not under patent or copyright is considered in the public domain. The vast library of nanotechfactory patterns in the public domain may be used by anyone to manufacture commodity devices. Of course the typical Highland citizen is unlikely to own a nanotechfactory, with the possible exception of a food factory in their kitchen and possibly a small handyman's minifac. So throughout the Highlands it is much more likely that a Highlander will buy commodity products produced locally by a general fabrications establishment than that they will produce it themselves.
Cost of such devices is typically the price of the raw stock needed for the device and overhead for the fabricator. This makes commodity prices very low compared to the pre-nanotech era. For example a smartphone in the Progressive Era could cost up to a Parliament (about US$1000.) A CMC, the modern TLA equivalent which has many more features, can typically be had for P0.25 (US$250). Clothing, created by a fabric extruder nanotechfactory, is even cheaper than the twenty-first century equivalent, even though made of smart material and containing many enhancements not possessed by the heavily trademarked and patented Progressive Era clothing.
Typically art, excluding writing and the written scripts, music and lyrics, are not protected by copyright or other intellectual property laws. That means that performance artists are limited in their ability to record a performance and suck continuing value out of said performance. Artist may charge to view their work, be it the physical work of a painter or sculpture, or a particular performance, be it dramatic, comedic or musical, but recorded performances are not protected. This has resulted in the collapse of the media empires of the Progressive Era and the flourishing of both amateur and professional theater.
This has also resulted in the increase of patronage in all of the arts, not just in the support of artists by the very wealthy, but also through the voluntary support of designers, artists and performers through private donations. I can't but a copy of a recording artists performance, well I can, but I can also download or make a copy for free, however I can also donate to them because I like and appreciate their performance and want them to be able to afford to continue to perform.
A whole culture of such benefactors and patronage exists in the Highlands and there is a notable portion of workers, not just in the arts, but also in other fields who subsist on patronage rather than conventional employment.
Basically under Highland law the issuance of patents and copyright is severely limited as compared to the I.P. practices of the Progressive Era. Many types and classes of devices are excluded from patents entirely. Software is entirely unpatentable, although patterns and blueprints used by nanotechfactories may be copyrighted. Reports, liturgical works and performance media cannot be copyrighted, though properties like songs and plays, as well as written works may be, by the author, composer or song writer.
Copyright law in the Highlands allows for a single 15 year period of copyright during which the author of a work may have sole right over their work. This includes the licensing, but not sale of the copyright. Copyrights terminate upon the death of the owner.
Patents are even more limited, as items to be patented must be new, useful and non-obvious. Biological process, breeder designs and drugs cannot be patented. Patents are held for 10 years and cover products from the time the patent is registered.
Anything not under patent or copyright is considered in the public domain. The vast library of nanotechfactory patterns in the public domain may be used by anyone to manufacture commodity devices. Of course the typical Highland citizen is unlikely to own a nanotechfactory, with the possible exception of a food factory in their kitchen and possibly a small handyman's minifac. So throughout the Highlands it is much more likely that a Highlander will buy commodity products produced locally by a general fabrications establishment than that they will produce it themselves.
Cost of such devices is typically the price of the raw stock needed for the device and overhead for the fabricator. This makes commodity prices very low compared to the pre-nanotech era. For example a smartphone in the Progressive Era could cost up to a Parliament (about US$1000.) A CMC, the modern TLA equivalent which has many more features, can typically be had for P0.25 (US$250). Clothing, created by a fabric extruder nanotechfactory, is even cheaper than the twenty-first century equivalent, even though made of smart material and containing many enhancements not possessed by the heavily trademarked and patented Progressive Era clothing.
Typically art, excluding writing and the written scripts, music and lyrics, are not protected by copyright or other intellectual property laws. That means that performance artists are limited in their ability to record a performance and suck continuing value out of said performance. Artist may charge to view their work, be it the physical work of a painter or sculpture, or a particular performance, be it dramatic, comedic or musical, but recorded performances are not protected. This has resulted in the collapse of the media empires of the Progressive Era and the flourishing of both amateur and professional theater.
This has also resulted in the increase of patronage in all of the arts, not just in the support of artists by the very wealthy, but also through the voluntary support of designers, artists and performers through private donations. I can't but a copy of a recording artists performance, well I can, but I can also download or make a copy for free, however I can also donate to them because I like and appreciate their performance and want them to be able to afford to continue to perform.
A whole culture of such benefactors and patronage exists in the Highlands and there is a notable portion of workers, not just in the arts, but also in other fields who subsist on patronage rather than conventional employment.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Interstellar Communication
Communication within the Highlands, and among some of the more advance Midland communities is very much based upon the existence of the hypercable communication system which is strung along the Major Routes. Worlds located in systems within transmission distance of the subspace gates or anchored hypercable relay stations have effectively instant communication with every other world on a major route.
Subspace gates provide the conduit between the hypercable system in subspace and standard transmission in real space. Most gates are either in stellar or planetary orbit. For those in stellar orbit there would often be a noticeable lag, as gates not placed in stabilized subspace must be at least 100 solar and planetary diameters away from these bodies.
So for example in the Solar System a gate would have to be located in an orbit at least 70 million miles beyond the sun. Since the minimum distance a gate would have to be from Earth would be at least 791,000 miles it could not be placed in a standard orbit, it would most likely be placed in one of the Lagrange points which are far enough to be outside the 100 diameter limits, yet close enough to ensure both minimum transit time to Earth and minimum time lag for communication carried on electromagnetic waves (radio).
Of course the gate orbiting Earth is in stabilized subspace. A hyperdrill has been used to provide a subspace conduit that allows the gate to be place within the normally exclusive 100 diameter zone. This allows the Earth gate to be located in a geostationary orbit at approximately 22,236 miles above the equatorial Pacific Phoenix Islands.
Of course this creates another problem, which is the delay caused by the distance between Earth and the colonies in the Trans-Jupiter and farside asteroid belt.
Under normal circumstances a message transmitted from the communication array at EarthGate could require almost a hour to reach one of the moon stations at Jupiter
This problem is addressed through the use of hypercable boundary relays. A hypercable boundary relay is an unmanned station about the size of an old style bus which is place by a hyperdrill. It is place at the boundary of subspace with its body anchored to the subspace plane by a gravity anchor. Within the relay a microgate allows a transmission antenna to extend into real space. This antenna would be located within a suitable distance of Jupiter, orbiting with the planet.
So to send a message from Earth to Ganymede Base the message would be routed not to EarthGate's real space EM array, but rather through the hypercable relays already placed along the Major Route in subspace. From there it would be sent to the boundary relay, where it would then be transmitted to real space in the general vicinity of Jupiter. This results in not just effectively instant communication from Earth, but instant communication from anywhere in the Highlands.
Since for all intents and purposes everything is data the hypercable system provides the backbone for a Highland wide network of connected devices. Citizens of the Union use this network for everything from communication to entertainment. It also provides a vast repository of knowledge which is available to any world connected to the system.
But of course even in the Highlands there are many worlds not connected to the system. Worlds along Blue Highways are not hooked into the hypercable system, though it is quite possible local system wide relays might exists.
Typically worlds along Blue Highways have local networks which receive recorded data from the closest hypercable node, delivered by the Grand Postal Service. Most such systems do not have boundary relays so interplanetary communication is often plagued by time lags that make email a better communication medium than video calls. Interstellar communication is primarily via text or recorded message.
Because the network of the Major Routes do not consist of a regular pattern, but are distributed based upon world location, population, and other economic factors how a message is routed can have a significant effect on the time involved in delivering it. The Grand Postal Service spends a lot of resources determining the routes which will result in the fastest delivery of message sent to disconnected worlds.
This disjointed system often results in news being delivered almost or more rapidly by private or commercial vessels before official news organizations. Both Church and government maintain couriers in an attempt to stay ahead of rumor or even official news.
Subspace gates provide the conduit between the hypercable system in subspace and standard transmission in real space. Most gates are either in stellar or planetary orbit. For those in stellar orbit there would often be a noticeable lag, as gates not placed in stabilized subspace must be at least 100 solar and planetary diameters away from these bodies.
So for example in the Solar System a gate would have to be located in an orbit at least 70 million miles beyond the sun. Since the minimum distance a gate would have to be from Earth would be at least 791,000 miles it could not be placed in a standard orbit, it would most likely be placed in one of the Lagrange points which are far enough to be outside the 100 diameter limits, yet close enough to ensure both minimum transit time to Earth and minimum time lag for communication carried on electromagnetic waves (radio).
Of course the gate orbiting Earth is in stabilized subspace. A hyperdrill has been used to provide a subspace conduit that allows the gate to be place within the normally exclusive 100 diameter zone. This allows the Earth gate to be located in a geostationary orbit at approximately 22,236 miles above the equatorial Pacific Phoenix Islands.
Of course this creates another problem, which is the delay caused by the distance between Earth and the colonies in the Trans-Jupiter and farside asteroid belt.
Under normal circumstances a message transmitted from the communication array at EarthGate could require almost a hour to reach one of the moon stations at Jupiter
This problem is addressed through the use of hypercable boundary relays. A hypercable boundary relay is an unmanned station about the size of an old style bus which is place by a hyperdrill. It is place at the boundary of subspace with its body anchored to the subspace plane by a gravity anchor. Within the relay a microgate allows a transmission antenna to extend into real space. This antenna would be located within a suitable distance of Jupiter, orbiting with the planet.
So to send a message from Earth to Ganymede Base the message would be routed not to EarthGate's real space EM array, but rather through the hypercable relays already placed along the Major Route in subspace. From there it would be sent to the boundary relay, where it would then be transmitted to real space in the general vicinity of Jupiter. This results in not just effectively instant communication from Earth, but instant communication from anywhere in the Highlands.
Since for all intents and purposes everything is data the hypercable system provides the backbone for a Highland wide network of connected devices. Citizens of the Union use this network for everything from communication to entertainment. It also provides a vast repository of knowledge which is available to any world connected to the system.
But of course even in the Highlands there are many worlds not connected to the system. Worlds along Blue Highways are not hooked into the hypercable system, though it is quite possible local system wide relays might exists.
Typically worlds along Blue Highways have local networks which receive recorded data from the closest hypercable node, delivered by the Grand Postal Service. Most such systems do not have boundary relays so interplanetary communication is often plagued by time lags that make email a better communication medium than video calls. Interstellar communication is primarily via text or recorded message.
Because the network of the Major Routes do not consist of a regular pattern, but are distributed based upon world location, population, and other economic factors how a message is routed can have a significant effect on the time involved in delivering it. The Grand Postal Service spends a lot of resources determining the routes which will result in the fastest delivery of message sent to disconnected worlds.
This disjointed system often results in news being delivered almost or more rapidly by private or commercial vessels before official news organizations. Both Church and government maintain couriers in an attempt to stay ahead of rumor or even official news.
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Food Fabricators
A food fabricator is a device that uses nanotechnology to produce edible objects from an organic feed stock. On world food fabricators are used to supplement naturally grown and process foods. On spacecraft and stations food fabricators produce almost all of the food consumed. Most food fabricators can also be used to prepare natural food, at least to a limited extent.
The typical industrial food fabricator, such as might be used in a restaurant or mess deck consists of a feed line of liquid organic feed stock, a potable water line, power coupling, a recycle intake, a print stage/extruder, heat pump assembly, LCP, network connection, solid stock input (for natural or processed food), and a control panel. The device is typically connected to a central database of food recipes.
The device operation is as follows:
The user selects a drink or meal using the control panel for an item listed in the database. The LCP initially orders the device to provide the designated container for the meal. this may be a plate, bowl or cup for liquids. The exact design of the receptacle is selectable by the user, or a default item may be used. The container is extruded. It will be constructed of an organic plastic by the fabricator. Alternatively an existing cup or plate may be refilled by placing it on the stage.
Meanwhile complicated ingredient creation will begin. The fabricator is capable of creating both raw and "cooked" versions of foods. Some food, like faux flesh is better produced in its raw version and then cooked through heating. Other foods like starches (near potatoes, pseudo rice, and pastas) are better produced in their cooked forms and then heated.
The heat pump assembly places the food at the proper temperature for serving. It can also cool drinks or serve them hot. Once completed the food or drink is placed or poured into the extruded container.
The food fabricator is better at producing certain kinds of foods rather than others. For example hamburgers or chili is much easier to produce than steak. Chicken is much better in Ratatouille than in sauteed chicken breast, as the breast almost never comes out with the same texture as real chicken. The device won't make chicken drumsticks or wings at all, since fabricating bones to be later recycled is not a good use of resources.
For drinks, water is combined with the organic feed stock to produce coffee, tea or soft drinks. Alcoholic beverages are also possible, though simple mixed drinks are generally considered better tasting than beers, wines, or whiskeys which generally get their character from complex trace elements normally created in their natural brewing or distillation process.
Spices are usually prefabricated in the device and then used to season to the taste of the user.
Once the meal is finished food waste and tableware are then thrown in the recycling intake where it travels to the reclamation plant and joins the human waste provided by the fresher systems to be converted into organic feed stock to be reused by the fabricator systems.
Smaller convenience food fabricators, which are located in staterooms, conference rooms and convenience drink dispensers, often located in hallways and control areas, typically have a smaller selection of offerings, typically to reduce the time between delivery, as it takes only seconds to create a coffee or pack of pseudo carrot snacks, but ten minutes or so to make a complete meal consisting of meat, starch and vegetables. A typical industrial food fabricator can make a dozen meals at the same time, a convenience unit usually only one at a time.
Some industrial units are self serve, but often for sit down meals a range of similar dishes are fabricated to be served by household drones once everyone is seated. In that case food is stored in heater boxes or refers between when it is fabricated and when it is served.
In a pinch a food fabricator can be used to synthesize other kinds of organics, but it will typically take hacking its LCP to do that, since there are food quality and safety protections built in.
The typical industrial food fabricator, such as might be used in a restaurant or mess deck consists of a feed line of liquid organic feed stock, a potable water line, power coupling, a recycle intake, a print stage/extruder, heat pump assembly, LCP, network connection, solid stock input (for natural or processed food), and a control panel. The device is typically connected to a central database of food recipes.
The device operation is as follows:
The user selects a drink or meal using the control panel for an item listed in the database. The LCP initially orders the device to provide the designated container for the meal. this may be a plate, bowl or cup for liquids. The exact design of the receptacle is selectable by the user, or a default item may be used. The container is extruded. It will be constructed of an organic plastic by the fabricator. Alternatively an existing cup or plate may be refilled by placing it on the stage.
Meanwhile complicated ingredient creation will begin. The fabricator is capable of creating both raw and "cooked" versions of foods. Some food, like faux flesh is better produced in its raw version and then cooked through heating. Other foods like starches (near potatoes, pseudo rice, and pastas) are better produced in their cooked forms and then heated.
The heat pump assembly places the food at the proper temperature for serving. It can also cool drinks or serve them hot. Once completed the food or drink is placed or poured into the extruded container.
The food fabricator is better at producing certain kinds of foods rather than others. For example hamburgers or chili is much easier to produce than steak. Chicken is much better in Ratatouille than in sauteed chicken breast, as the breast almost never comes out with the same texture as real chicken. The device won't make chicken drumsticks or wings at all, since fabricating bones to be later recycled is not a good use of resources.
For drinks, water is combined with the organic feed stock to produce coffee, tea or soft drinks. Alcoholic beverages are also possible, though simple mixed drinks are generally considered better tasting than beers, wines, or whiskeys which generally get their character from complex trace elements normally created in their natural brewing or distillation process.
Spices are usually prefabricated in the device and then used to season to the taste of the user.
Once the meal is finished food waste and tableware are then thrown in the recycling intake where it travels to the reclamation plant and joins the human waste provided by the fresher systems to be converted into organic feed stock to be reused by the fabricator systems.
Smaller convenience food fabricators, which are located in staterooms, conference rooms and convenience drink dispensers, often located in hallways and control areas, typically have a smaller selection of offerings, typically to reduce the time between delivery, as it takes only seconds to create a coffee or pack of pseudo carrot snacks, but ten minutes or so to make a complete meal consisting of meat, starch and vegetables. A typical industrial food fabricator can make a dozen meals at the same time, a convenience unit usually only one at a time.
Some industrial units are self serve, but often for sit down meals a range of similar dishes are fabricated to be served by household drones once everyone is seated. In that case food is stored in heater boxes or refers between when it is fabricated and when it is served.
In a pinch a food fabricator can be used to synthesize other kinds of organics, but it will typically take hacking its LCP to do that, since there are food quality and safety protections built in.
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Advanced Smart Materials
Compound smart materials are advanced smart materials which can exhibit the properties of more than one kind of smart material in a single material sample. This allows for the creation of more complex devices which can take advantage of the smart characteristics of more than one kind of smart material property. So for example one can have a set of shape-memory sunglasses which exhibit chromogenic properties. Or a photomechanical material that has magnetostrictive properties.
Complex Compound Smart (CCS) materials can be used to make very complex devices, such as extruding space helmets which contain Heads Up Displays (HUDs) or space activity suits which use smart material to provide mechanical counterpressure when external pressure drops, but also provides comfortable temperature regulation in both normal pressure and vacuum environments.
CCS materials are a product of nanotech factories and are made using material fabricators.
Complex Compound Smart (CCS) materials can be used to make very complex devices, such as extruding space helmets which contain Heads Up Displays (HUDs) or space activity suits which use smart material to provide mechanical counterpressure when external pressure drops, but also provides comfortable temperature regulation in both normal pressure and vacuum environments.
CCS materials are a product of nanotech factories and are made using material fabricators.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)