Intraship Communications

Communications aboard the USS Solstice take two basic forms, voice and data transmissions. Both are handled by the onboard computer system and dedicated peripheral hardware nodes. Though those sections of the computer normally allocated to communications tasks are named the communications system, the metaphor of the human central nervous system is more applicable in this situation.

The sheer mass of adaptable links radiating outward from the main computers virtually assures that all information within the spacecraft will be rapidly transmitted to the correct destination, and will be received with little or no detectable loss of that information. While the multitude of communications functions are directly traceable to the same hardware, the operating modes and protocols around which they are based are distinctly different and are worth noting.

#### SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

The hardware configuration for dedicated intraship communications involves a minimum of 12,000 allocated data line sets and terminal node devices distributed throughout the starship, in parallel with the pure hardware telemetry links of the optical data network
 (ODN). This is the primary route for voice and data signals. An equal number of radio frequency (RF)-based terminal node devices are distributed throughout the ship as a first backup layer. A second backup layer runs parallel to the electro plasma system and consists of 7,550 kilometers of copper-yttrium-barium superconducting strands. This layer
utilizes the same terminal node devices.

Each terminal node device is a disk measuring 11.5 cm in diameter and 2 cm thick. The casing is constructed of molded polykeiyurium, the internal arrangement consisting of a voice section and a data relay section. The voice section contains an analog-to-digital voice pickup/speaker wafer, preprocessor amplifier, optical fiber modulation input/output subcircuit, and digital-to-analog return processor.

The data relay section contains two nested circuits consisting of a standard subspace transceiver assembly (STA), found most prominently in Starfleet-issue communicator badges, and short-range RF pickup and emitter. Handheld devices and transportable devices not hardwired to the ODN send and receive data via this part of the terminal node. While duplicate RF pickups exist in the backup system, their function in the primary system is to manipulate data signals for transmission over the optical fibers.

#### OPERATION

During voice operations, the normal procedure involves a crew member stating his or her name, plus the party or ship area being called, in a form that can be understood by the computer for proper routing. Examples: "Dr. Selar, this is the captain," or "Ensign Nelson to Engineering." The artificial intelligence (Al) routines in the main computer listen for intraship calls, perform analyses on the message opening content, attempt to locate the message recipient, and then activate the audio speakers at the recipient's location.

During the initial message routing, there may be a slight processing delay until the computer has heard the entire name of the recipient and located same. From that point on, all transmissions are real time. When both parties have concluded their conversation, the channel may be actively closed with the word "out," which will be detected in context by the computer.

If both parties discontinue without formally breaking the channel, and no other contextual cues have been offered to keep the line open, the computer will continue listening for ten seconds, and then close the line. When using the communicator badge to initiate a call aboard ship, the computer will consider the badge-tap to be force of habit, or simply a confirmatory signal.

In the event that the recipient is unavailable for a routine voice call, a system flag will be set in the computer and will alert the recipient that a waiting message has been stored. Emergency voice transmissions are prioritized and controlled by command authority instructions within the computer, and can be redefined by command personnel according to the situation.

During most Alert conditions, the communications system is automatically switched over to high-speed operations optimized to afford the Bridge uninterruptable links to the rest of the ship for contact with other departments and assessment of possible damage. At this time, routine channel operations are disabled.

Data transmissions may be established between any standard Starfleet hardware units equipped with RF or STA devices, either by manual keypresses or by vocally commanding the computer to handle the data transfers. In most cases, the computer will automatically execute the desired functions; on occasion, the computer may request identification keypresses for specific pieces of hardware, usually for verification of device type, data transmission protocols, or sequencing of multiple devices. During both voice and data transmissions, channels may be secured by either manual inputs or vocal request, depending on the respective locations of the parties or devices involved.