Difference between revisions of "Interwave"

Revision as of 03:25, 13 February 2011

The Interwave is the fennish Internet, made up of a vast collection of servers, routers and communications gear located throughout Fenspace. The Interwave started out following the original Internet RFCs, and is still cross-compatible with the 'Dane 'net. However, handwavium quirks, speed of light transmission across vast distances during the first few years, and the rising number of AIs have forced a number of pragmatic adaptations and Interwave-only RFCs.

Technical Specifications

In open space, radio signals travel at (obviously) the speed of light. Since space is big, this causes problems involving communications lag. A number of fen inventors have developed their own FTL radio systems. Each one is a bit different, but they all operate on the same principles as FTL travel.

The "standard" FTL radio used in Fenspace has an estimated signal speed of 10000.0c, bridging the gap from Earth to Pluto in just over a second.^[1] As befits the patchwork that is the realspace radio network, the FTL system's total available bandwidth and general reliability depend on what device was handwaved to create the FTL transponder in the first place.

Installations

Interwave transmitters are large and power hungry (which means not every spacecraft can have one installed), but they provide enough bandwidth to act as the backbone for FanNet.

Notable Interwave nodes exist at:

• Crystal Tokyo
• Earth
  • Sydney, Australia
  • Port Luna, Luna
  • Grover's Corners
  • Stellvia
• The Island
• Mars
  • Port Lowell
  • Phobos
  • Starbase 1
• The Main Belt
  • 4 Vesta
  • 476 Hedwig (the largest Interwave hub in the solar system)
  • Hephaestus
• Greenwood
• Starbase 2

Other locations not listed here also have Interwave nodes.

Notes

1. ↑ However, calling the nearest star is a six hour round trip for one signal. Remember, space is big