Once again I'm probably not going to write anything but I had an idea for the setting that just wouldn't stop eating away at me.
The Interwave.
What is the interwave? Well, the porblem with hardtech communications is that it is all strictly SOL limited. Even then, it tends to not actually be that fast due to several problems with the concept of signal degradation and so on. This means that communications between fen, or dane/fen communications start acquiring appreciable lag once you get past a certain point (round about Jupiter the lag gets really noticeable for any Earth bound calls).
So some enterprising fan created the Interwave. The Interwave is a wavetech communication device that operates on some as yet unknown principle. It transmits at FTL speeds, however they are not infinite speeds. And they have a range limit.
Every Interwave device can send information virtually instantly to any other Interwave device within on AU of each other. It is also possible to piggy-back through the network. A transmission can be sent from one Interwave device to another at the extreme edge of its range and that device can then transmit to the next one and so on.
Another advantage of Interwave is that it proves information Wants To Be Free. No known shields or interference can block an interwave signal (hardtech can't even detect that a transmission is occuring). However since the recievers are about the size of a refrigerator they are inconvenient to move around into places they aren't wanted.
The problem is that only a Interwave device can talk to another Interwave device. So in order to set up a communication link a Interwave tranciever must be in place at both locations. The other problem? Only one fan knows how to make these things (or, at least, only he has been able to replicate the recievers successfully). Slowly but surely he is creating a series of satellites which he is seeding throughout fenspace to create the Interwave. He is firmly a member of the Gibsonian faction, believing in free information (and computer access) for all.
Of course, reavers/boskonians love pillaging the things. This means that just leaving them drifting in unoccupied space is difficult.
Wavenet is a fledgling internet that is being created via linked Interwave devices. The only limitation on this is the access to a reciever and the dreaded bandwidth. Even wavetech can only handle so many transmission at once through the same machine. This means connection rates out in the frontier (ie beyond Saturn) tend to be spotty due to lack of Interwave recievers to create enough bandwidth and reaver raids on Interwave facilities.
Anyway, I just had to put that out there. Use, abuse, reject or alter to your hearts content.
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Epsilon
The Interwave.
What is the interwave? Well, the porblem with hardtech communications is that it is all strictly SOL limited. Even then, it tends to not actually be that fast due to several problems with the concept of signal degradation and so on. This means that communications between fen, or dane/fen communications start acquiring appreciable lag once you get past a certain point (round about Jupiter the lag gets really noticeable for any Earth bound calls).
So some enterprising fan created the Interwave. The Interwave is a wavetech communication device that operates on some as yet unknown principle. It transmits at FTL speeds, however they are not infinite speeds. And they have a range limit.
Every Interwave device can send information virtually instantly to any other Interwave device within on AU of each other. It is also possible to piggy-back through the network. A transmission can be sent from one Interwave device to another at the extreme edge of its range and that device can then transmit to the next one and so on.
Another advantage of Interwave is that it proves information Wants To Be Free. No known shields or interference can block an interwave signal (hardtech can't even detect that a transmission is occuring). However since the recievers are about the size of a refrigerator they are inconvenient to move around into places they aren't wanted.
The problem is that only a Interwave device can talk to another Interwave device. So in order to set up a communication link a Interwave tranciever must be in place at both locations. The other problem? Only one fan knows how to make these things (or, at least, only he has been able to replicate the recievers successfully). Slowly but surely he is creating a series of satellites which he is seeding throughout fenspace to create the Interwave. He is firmly a member of the Gibsonian faction, believing in free information (and computer access) for all.
Of course, reavers/boskonians love pillaging the things. This means that just leaving them drifting in unoccupied space is difficult.
Wavenet is a fledgling internet that is being created via linked Interwave devices. The only limitation on this is the access to a reciever and the dreaded bandwidth. Even wavetech can only handle so many transmission at once through the same machine. This means connection rates out in the frontier (ie beyond Saturn) tend to be spotty due to lack of Interwave recievers to create enough bandwidth and reaver raids on Interwave facilities.
Anyway, I just had to put that out there. Use, abuse, reject or alter to your hearts content.
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Epsilon
