Peripheral Systems

Peripherals are the equipment not within the main computer which it exchanges Data. Peripherals are divided into work stations, action stations, and Remotes.

### WORK STATIONS

Work station refers to equipment an operator uses to interface with the main computer. These can be consoles (such as the helm console) or remotes( such as PADD's or Communicators). Each work station possesses its own collection of isolinear chips and local memory known as the Dedicated Applications Unit (DAU).

The task of the DAU is to take data from the operator and pre-process it, if the task is within the DAU's capabilities, the DAU will then display the solution to the operator via screen or speaker. if the task is beyond its capabilities, the DAU routes the task as raw data to the main computer where the CPU will assign the necessary level of required processors and memory to complete the task. Once solved, the solution will be re-routed back to the originating DAU, which will act as a repository for said processed data or display it for the operator.

### ACTION STATIONS

This refers to unmanned equipment operated remotely from a work station (such as an airlock for, an air recycling unit, or a sensor). action stations usually have a DAU which carries out most of the Routine functions autonomously, reducing the demand on both the operator and the Main computer.

### REMOTES

This series of peripherals include a wide array of options including PADD's, Tricorders, Portable desktop terminals, Communicators, Medical Devices, and similar items. most of these items are connected to the ships systems through the subspace transciever assembly (STA). The STA is used to maintain data channels between the Romate and the Solstice computers. If taken on an away mission, the Remote device can also perform uplink/downlink operations and function as a transporter lock-on node. Data transmissions and computing functions can be shared with any other Starfleet device supporting the STA com protocols. All transmissions are encrypted for security purposes.

### CONTROL/DISPLAY PANELS

Control/display surfaces are composed of three basic layers. The outermost layer is fabricated from a 2.5 mm tripolymer-coated transparent aluminum wafer into which is embedded a sensor matrix. This matrix detects tactile input by the operator's fingertips. Also incorporated into this layer is a transducer matrix that provides tactile and auditory feedback to the operator, indicating that a particular control surface address has been activated.

The aluminum surface wafer is chemically bonded onto a triaxial optical display crystal membrane, which serves as a high resolution graphic display medium. Monocrystal microwaveguides at 1.8 mm intervals provide electro plasma system power transmission to the upper sensor matrix and transducer layers. The substrate of the control surface is composed of microfoamed polyduranide sheeting, which provides structural integrity to the assembly.

Incorporated into this layer is a matrix of optical nanoprocessors that permit the display surface sheeting to be self-configuring, once addressed and initialized by the local processor node. For redundancy's sake, the panel nanoprocessors include sufficient nonvolatile memory to permit system operation,