Jump Traffic Control

[Lycanorukke]

Idly thinking on the logistics of traffic control and jump drives. I searched but couldn't find any obvious answers. Would a busy port assign 'jump sectors' with specific purposes (incoming and outgoing) at its 100D limit.

The reasoning being that while the possible number of jump points are infinite for a world (the 100d limit), there are a limited number of 'optimum' jump points for ships arriving in system - parallel with the worlds orbit, not in front or behind the worlds orbit, sublight interplanetary corridors, etc. Add in large moons, precomputed jump tapes and even with the +/-3000km variance per jump factor you have a lot of ships popping in/out in a small area (relatively speaking). So eventually something bad is going to happen - 3000km for a typical jump one is spitting distance in astronomical terms.

The last thing you want is for your super battle fleet getting ready to jump to war, and suddenly MV Garbage Scow pops out of jump right in front of you. Even if you dont crash, it could screw up your jump calculations. Or a Space 'Queen Mary' suddenly bearing down on the PC's ship as they prep for jump.

Jumping 'out' zones are fairly simple to handle - just assign them to 'undesirable' jump areas, while 'jump in' zones would have to be broken up into 'Priority only', 'Military only', 'Merchant only', 'Xboat only', etc. Of course if MV Garbage scow does emerge in a 'Military only' zone because they stole their jump data from a military ship or were sloppy in their calculations - 'Questions will be asked'. And once you have jumped in, clear the area ASAP before the SPA gets cranky.

A derivative I remember reading here (and liked) was using trojan points as 'cheats' around the 100D limit. If these were commonly used they would have to be restriced access as the T-points are tiny and the potential for trouble seems even greater.

Reasonable? Or am I totally up the wrong tree with jump emergence?

 

[CosmicGamer]

Don't know where the thread is, but one person mentioned they used the polar areas, one for incoming traffic, one for outgoing.

I've posted, in threads debating pirate activity and why it might not be too common, that certain areas starting around the 100d limit could be patrolled so that there is a safe corridor for traffic.

Currently my thought is that ships are not usually *1 restricted from any point outside the 100d limit. It is up to each world how they control their local space, and ships familiar with the area would know to use 'optimum' jump points to limit travel time and fuel.

NOTE *1: There could be Military areas, old minefields, and numerous other reasons why an area is restricted.

 

[aramis]

COACC specifies "local law" extends to 100 Diameters. COACC up to 10. Imperil Navy down to 10.

 

[Lycanorukke]

I've posted, in threads debating pirate activity and why it might not be too common, that certain areas starting around the 100d limit could be patrolled so that there is a safe corridor for traffic.

I thought of the piracy angle but wished to steer clear of it due to the "Holy War" status that piracy pro-con threads seems to attract.

Currently my thought is that ships are not usually *1 restricted from any point outside the 100d limit.

Agreed there - outside 100D's no one is really going to give a damn what a ship does apart from system specific reasons (war graves, mass driver asteriod zones, etc), though there will again be optimum flight paths (GG fuel point, etc) which will be 'relatively' crowded. Most of the traffic would be buzzing between its origin and destination and not cruising around aimlessly and taking in the sights as PC's do.

It is up to each world how they control their local space, and ships familiar with the area would know to use 'optimum' jump points to limit travel time and fuel.

On thinking further the bigger the primary (wether it be a planet orbiting a star, or a moon orbiting a GG) the smaller the desirable 'jump zone' to the destination is as the primary 100d overrides the destinations mass shadow ('distance is time and time is money') and hence potentially more crowded. And merechants worth their salt would quickly discover ways of shaving a few hours off transit time - so the optimum routes would rapidly become common knowledge.

The Imperiums catch line is pretty much 'The planet is your problem, we own the spaceways' so I thought they would want a bit of say on it - such as reserving a "Emperors business only', "Scout lane" lane or the like. Granted on smaller & less travelled worlds it cant be enforced - if the locals even care in the first place - but on places like sec-capitals and the like it would assume significant importance.

Especially if the local planet gets cranky when the Impies (and by extension the megacorps) claim the best jump zones for themselves.

 

[mmbutter]

IIRC, there is a good bit of discussion on traffic control in the GURPS Traveller: Starports book.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I use above the plane of the ecliptic for incoming traffic, and below for outgoing.

 

[flykiller]

I use above the plane of the ecliptic for incoming traffic, and below for outgoing.

my approach as well. even with a single zone of entry the odds of collision are miniscule. if traffic is very heavy then, as suggested earlier, multiple incoming zones could be designated - unscheduled merchant, scheduled merchant, military, etc.

 

[far-trader]

That'd be galactic ecliptic? System ecliptic may vary from one to the next. Some systems may even have seriously non-ecliptic organization. I seem to recall someone advocating ecliptical approaches and departures from the solar poles, involving long real space trips to the world.

 

[robject]

I use above the plane of the ecliptic for incoming traffic, and below for outgoing.

Reasonable solution. Consider it borrowed.

 

[CosmicGamer]

I use above the plane of the ecliptic for incoming traffic, and below for outgoing.

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you determine above and below?

 

[far-trader]

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you determine above and below?

Hardly ignorance, sounds more like a good question

Arbitrarily I guess

I thought just sprung into my mind though. Given even that with the above/below idea you might in a busy system have a lot of traffic there might be a need for more than a simple inbound/outbound rule of space as it were. It might need something more like clearly separated space/time coordinates assigned to any ships leaving and arriving. The assignments would be handed out by the SPA and coordinated via X-Boat dispatches and Scout/Couriers off route.

Naturally this requires a less "random" jump time* and will only apply to busy systems (say A, B, and C, maybe D with a Scout Base). Anyone jumping into such a system from a system without a proper scheduled assignment would be required to arrive at some much further point, a secondary or even tertiary arrival point, requiring a long real space trip in (or an in system jump after contacting the SPA for an assigned jump).

If you follow. Too rushed at the moment to type up all the details that rushed into my head.

* I personally don't believe the random time roll represents reality, imo and imtu (the rest be damned ) the exact time and place of jump precipitation is known to a very precise degree, long before jumping out, as it applies to a specific jump for a specific displacement from a specific point and time, with a specific vector. Change any of the variables and you're looking at a different jump, quite possibly even a misjump. So the above will work imtu, not the OTU as I understand the "official" rule is the time and point is totally random in reality (within a certain window)

 

[rancke]

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you determine above and below?

Check your library data.


Hans

 

[FreeTrav]

My call would be that you're talking not planetary ecliptic, but stellar, and when you're above the ecliptic looking down, the star rotates and the planets revolve counterclockwise. When you're below the ecliptic looking up, they're moving clockwise.

 

[stealth]

Science offers 1 answer.

Streamlined ships taking off need the equator as a launch point to add delta-V, so all the merchants use the equatorial plane (not the ecliptic).

Landing uses atmospherics, loosing delta-V isn't an issue: landing at the equator is as easy as anywhere else.

And yeah, I never thought of that, but with an error of only +-3000 km, I would assign zones.

In the past, I always just had a port officer flash an orbital approach vector whenever a ship appears, just to say hello. "Here is your approach path."

 

[Andrew Boulton]

My call would be that you're talking not planetary ecliptic, but stellar, and when you're above the ecliptic looking down, the star rotates and the planets revolve counterclockwise. When you're below the ecliptic looking up, they're moving clockwise.

Sounds good to me.

 

[rancke]

My call would be that each system decided how they wanted to organize its spacespace (cognate of 'airspace' ;-)) and published instructions in the relevant databases.


Hans

 

[Lycanorukke]

I suppose the nav-data could be inspected as part of annual maintenance to ensure they are "up to date", or be part of the 'docking service' at a A or B port.

But if worlds decides to change something (Up is jump in only! No, we just changed it to Down!) it could take quite some time to filter through the system, esp if the ship dodges reputable or non-imperial ports due to the INI wanting to have a chat with them or lack of cash.

 

[Daneel Olivaw]

To handle changing traffic zones for the main world of the system, you could mandate, at least for busy systems, that ships exiting from jumpspace must do so a certain minimum distance from the world (subject, of course, to the 100-diameter limit for other bodies including stars), THEN receive updated approach information and proceed therefrom.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

My call would be that each system decided how they wanted to organize its spacespace (cognate of 'airspace' ;-)) and published instructions in the relevant databases.

The Imperium controls everything outside 100D.

 

[rancke]

The Imperium controls everything outside 100D.

The Imperium claims jurisdiction over everything outside 100 diameters. Not quite the same thing. Especially not when it comes to the high-tech, high-population worlds. After all, those worlds ARE the Imperium. I'm sure if Mora tells the Imperial representative that it prefers that arriving ships arrive over there, the Imperium will want to play nice. After all, Mora delivers 10-15% of the Imperial budget in the Marches.


Hans