Personal communicators

[Zparkz]

In an age of mobiles, I have been thinking about how to implement personal communicators IMTU. Most of the time we don't have to think about such matters, but there is times when such things matters.

As the Imperium is divided up in independent worlds protected by a common umbrella communication may not be as simple as it seems. IMTU I have treated personal communicators as walkie talkies. However, this may lead to several problems if you think about it. Would personal radio tranceivers be allowed on a high law level world? What about frequency limitations, radio operator licenses and so on.

If we are talking about mobile phone networks how are they operated? will one phone be uasable in another network in a different system/planet? How do you track expenses?

There is a few options available.

Walkie Talkie like communications would probably be allowed in areas or on planets with low population densities as a mobile network will be too expensive to operate here.

Radio communication in general won't be too private, scrambling are probably possible, but most law enforcement agebncies will have access to descrambler systems anyway.

On startports and other imperial territory mobile phones are the rule of the day. First it ensures that radio transmittions doesn't interfere with starport operations. Mobile networks on a starport will likely be free as this will help generating other revenues.

Outside the starport things will be different most likely. Any planet with high enough tech level and or population will likely adopt the same mobile network system the starport operates, however with restrictions. Pre-paid phone cards may need to be bought to access the network or call to phones outside the starport area. The latter will ensure that a person can use his mobile phone in several systems.

 

[Icosahedron]

I think communications standards will be part of the Imperial umbrella.

I, too, have two different styles of communicator; a short range walkie talkie radio network that can be uplinked to an orbiting ship for low-tech worlds, and a mobile phone type network for worlds having a satellite communications net.

If the satellite system is installed as part of the starport and belongs to the Imperium, there would be a common standard and you could pay your bill via your bank from anywhere.

Whether a world allows its citizens to access the Imperial satellite system (or to personal radios) is a different matter, and will vary from state to state.
Some worlds may even negotiate that the Imperium does not set up a satellite system, and intra-starport communications will be handled by a local hub - perhaps mounted in the control tower.

Alternatively, the Imperial satellites could be set up that will only freely process communications within the port perimeter, wider use requiring access codes with restricted availability.

 

[Captain Midnight]

I've considered general information access as essentially a public utility by the time that you get to stellar tech levels. Communicators are just one part of it; the difference between the "cellphone" (point-to-point) and "walkie-talkie" (broadcast) models can blur as systems develop in complexity and capability. For example, I assume that over the centuries of Sylean/Imperial existence, they've gotten frequency allocations figured out, and the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Technology have issued standards to keep overlap from being a problem. There are also ways to allow for a semblance of "broadcast" from com-units (AKA "phones") that have some way to determine their physical location, you can tell the phone to either contact all phones in a subset of your address list for an immediate conference call (each person will get a flashing icon that says "Captain Fred has initiated a con-call, press '*' to join"), or you can tell the phone to call all phones within a certain geographic limit for a con-call (say, "within 100 meters of my position" or "everyone located in MegaTech Conference Room Alpha").

This obviously implies a strong GPS capability, as well as what would be enormous bandwidth use by today's standards. I also assume some fairly robust search-engine capability, as well as extensive use of predefined shortcuts and groupings; if you want to call "Starport Customs, Medical Clearance Officer", the system will automatically route that call for you. You can also call "Watchstander on the ship in Berth 43-C of Hamburg Downport", and the system will automatically route that call, too.

I envision datanet access as a fundamental service on the vast majority of worlds. As an analogy, it would be like running water and paved roads are today; you just assume they'll be available, and if they aren't, you know you're really back in the boonies. I also envision some blending of GPS, phone service, net access, and email as encompassed within that umbrella. It might be funded through some basic tax or fee, perhaps included with berthing fee for visiting ships and their crews, or in a "visa fee" for arriving travelers.

For new arrivals, I'd anticipate that there would be some sort of moment where your "phone" contacts the local system and tells it who you are, and what groups you should be added to. This might require some questions to be answered by the new arrival, or they might be answered for you by Customs or the Starport Authority; this might be part of the standard arrival procedure, or it might be a manually-initiated process.

 

[Gray Lensman]

Pay Phones

Don't forget about the "personal communicator" becoming so commonplace that you can no longer find a "pay" booth anymore, LOL.

 

[Ishmael]

gov's must love them....easy to tap and listen in.
encryption?..hah!...the gov would make NOT having a backdoor for breaking it against the law. Not for listening in on law abiding citizens..but for catching mobsters and terrorists and anarchist no-goodnicks...its for your own good, citizen..we said so and we know whats best..taking care of the common man is why you elected us, right?..no?..you anarchist no-goodnik!..we have you on tape!

and don't try to run...we can find you either by standards-included gps locators..or by triangulation.

so please, go to the secret cell meetings...turning the comm off won't matter...WE can override that and listen in as if we are there......oooo pictures too, maybe!

its all for the public safety
don't you feel safe now?
-------------------------------------------------------

'personnal communicators' might be very bad on some worlds....
not that you'd have a choice, eh?

 

[Captain Midnight]

and don't try to run...we can find you either by standards-included gps locators..or by triangulation.

so please, go to the secret cell meetings...turning the comm off won't matter...WE can override that and listen in as if we are there......oooo pictures too, maybe!

Unless you leave it on your kitchen table at home when you leave for the meeting. It's not like it's implanted in your mastoid process, after all.

There are always downsides to being "plugged in" -- ask anyone who has ever had a cell phone ring at an inopportune moment. However, there are also ways to ensure your privacy. You wind up sacrificing the conveniences of being on the network, but sometimes that's worth it.

 

[Ishmael]

Unless you leave it on your kitchen table at home when you leave for the meeting. It's not like it's implanted in your mastoid process, after all.

true
but there will always be one who will forget to leave it behind.
especially if it has become such an integral part of society that poeple don't conciously think about it.

and then there ARE those societies where they will be implanted "for the sake of convienience" after all....bluetooth implants instead of earbuds, perhaps
bluetooth..another way to listen in, eh?
---------------------------------------

What I think is funny, is that with today's cell phones, there are people who think they HAVE to be yakking all the time into it. driving, in the library, walking down't the street. Noone HAD to be so connected until cell phones became common. Now its almost a status thing about who 'neccessary' it is for one to stay in touch...a sign of importance. I suspect truly big shots will have others stay connected for 'em and be forced to trust those to filter messages properly.

 

[Captain Midnight]

but there will always be one who will forget to leave it behind.
especially if it has become such an integral part of society that poeple don't conciously think about it.

Even in the far future, there will still be those who qualify for the Darwin Awards.

and then there ARE those societies where they will be implanted "for the sake of convienience" after all....bluetooth implants instead of earbuds, perhaps bluetooth..another way to listen in, eh?

Only for those who place such a high value on "convenience" that they're willing to give up any possibility of privacy. I can't imagine anyone who has ever encountered a communications device imagining that they ought to implant one in their body without some way to easily remove it, even if it's just for upgrades. IYTU, maybe; IMTU, such proposals fail because nobody ever buys them.

Anyone with any level of political (or security) savvy will realize that electronic communication via public methods is never going to be secure, and they won't risk saying anything that could possibly be incriminating. While there are certainly some societies that will go so far as to monitor all public communications, I don't see a need to have that as a regular feature. If the players want skulduggery, I can accommodate that, but it strikes me as an unnecessarily dark feature. Those who need that sort of unmonitored communication will figure out a way to get it in place on their own... which has some adventure possibilities itself, come to think of it.

 

[aramis]

CM:

You FAR underestimate the stupidity of people.

I know people right now who would gladly have an implanted comm system, especially if it was "just a mic & speaker" kit with a bluetooth link. (for me, I'd take implant speakers and mic, but only with induction loop connectors.

 

[whartung]

Well, also note that all communication will be digital. It's simply more efficient to transmit digitally.

Also, I THINK (I do not know) that all modern digital cell signals are encrypted over the air, and then decrypted at the tower before being placed on the network. I don't know what the keys are, they could well simply be serial numbers on the SIM chip.

Back in the day, over the air phone cloning was rampant, but that's pretty much dead now.

A "low power communicator talking to a ship in orbit" is not low power. Depending on world size, geosynchronous orbit is actually quite far. Almost 40K Kilometers for earth.

So, the ship is either "hovering" or it will be out of range much of the time as it flies over the horizon.

It's reasonable to have satellite and cell networks on reasonable TL worlds.

Even today, most new infrastructure is wireless. It's simply cheaper to build and maintain.

I think it would be an interesting "Ships Locker" device to have a radio drone UAV to handle beyond LOS comms. One of the race tracks I go to has the track going behind a hill. So in the past, they've had to have a helicopter to capture transponder information from the racers.

This UAV would be the same kind of thing. Just need to figure out costs, on station time, etc. Then it just acts as a repeater. You could use such a device in wilderness areas with distant teams. Beats the crap out of keeping a starship up in the air.

 

[casquilho]

I think it would be an interesting "Ships Locker" device to have a radio drone UAV to handle beyond LOS comms. One of the race tracks I go to has the track going behind a hill. So in the past, they've had to have a helicopter to capture transponder information from the racers.

This UAV would be the same kind of thing. Just need to figure out costs, on station time, etc. Then it just acts as a repeater. You could use such a device in wilderness areas with distant teams. Beats the crap out of keeping a starship up in the air.

I very much like this idea. Simple and clean. Does a job that needs doing.

Good Work!

Daniel

 

[Icosahedron]

A "low power communicator talking to a ship in orbit" is not low power. Depending on world size, geosynchronous orbit is actually quite far. Almost 40K Kilometers for earth.

A far orbit uplink could be LOS; probably a laser using an atmospheric 'window', we can paint the Moon with those things.

So, the ship is either "hovering" or it will be out of range much of the time as it flies over the horizon.

In Traveller, it's not that much of a problem to have a ship hover - unless you actually intend to power-down, it'll use just the same fuel sitting on the ground.

I think it would be an interesting "Ships Locker" device to have a radio drone UAV to handle beyond LOS comms. One of the race tracks I go to has the track going behind a hill. So in the past, they've had to have a helicopter to capture transponder information from the racers.

This UAV would be the same kind of thing. Just need to figure out costs, on station time, etc. Then it just acts as a repeater. You could use such a device in wilderness areas with distant teams. Beats the crap out of keeping a starship up in the air.

I like the UAV relay (grav powered, of course, a bit like a drone missile) but there are a good many occasions when keeping your means of escape out of reach isn't a bad idea.

 

[Renaissance Man]

How about releasing a mini-sat in orbit? Major B has a milspec version, but a small commercial utility or scout version would be no great heck, and it would have massive LOS coverage.

 

[navywarlord]

The mini-sats and UAVs are both great ideas providing communications coverage. Others included portable cell repeaters and surface to orbit laser comms to your ship in geosync orbit... Even today I work with small briefcase size units that can cover 20 km - a higher tech unit can be smaller and/or more powerful. Even now I type this onto the internet from northern Afghanistan (my current work assignment) using a satillite dish providing phone and data links to the real world. Not a lot of cell towers out here!!

 

[DaveChase]

Piers Anthony

Alien Years(book) by Robert Silverberg not Piers Anthony (Alien Plot was a series of short stories)

Biochip, data link and communication device implanted in the forearm. Very small about the size of a quarter.

Works on bio heat and blood movement.

Just a thought
Dave Chase

 

[Captain Midnight]

I know people right now who would gladly have an implanted comm system, especially if it was "just a mic & speaker" kit with a bluetooth link. (for me, I'd take implant speakers and mic, but only with induction loop connectors.

I've been on call 24/7, and got the most amazing feeling of relief when I handed the phone off to the next person on the duty roster. I cannot imagine the feeling of dread I'd get if it suddenly became clear that I'd gotten that phone implanted in my body, and that I didn't have complete control over when it might ring.

If implanted devices ever became common, there would have to be some reliable way to shut them down, much akin to how you can just turn off a cellphone today. If you had any suspicion that someone was using it for surveillance purposes (and with large numbers of people getting implants, SOMEONE will start asking the question sooner or later), someone's going to come up with a way to beat the surveillance, especially if you're using something that isn't bleeding-edge tech. Carrying it as a separate item lets you beat it by leaving the thing somewhere else... or by feeding other data into it, in order to mislead anyone who is using it.

It also allows for upgrades and repairs without requiring surgery, although if you allow automeds, that may not be such a big deal.

 

[Plankowner]

I stole the idea from Babylon 5 of the Comm Link. Attaches to the back of your hand and has a range of 1 km. Ground and satelite links are trivial at TL 7+. I figure the ship, the vehicle and the person are all connected.

The commlink is a TL9 device, but should probably be TL8 since we are almost there now.

Every scout Air Raft (those kind that come free with your Type S) all have local "towers" to connect to the ship and you. Same for ATVs or whatever on other ships. I consider it a trivial installation, almost like it is now in cars.

 

[Ishmael]

implanted comms....

imagine trying to explain why your body keeps setting off the metal detectors at a low tech starport/backwards world.

imagine waking up to find implanted comm that is linked to an implanted bomb to blackmail/extort players...or to use them as unwitting suicide bomber.

imagine impanted comm being used somehow to 'hack' any cyborg enhancements
...or as a 'modem' to 'hack' someone's ghost or wetware ( cyber manchuraian candidate)

or being given assignment to abduct and 'tag' primitives with implants and do medical tests involving icky probes

wouldn't an EMP pulse that can fry an implant hurt as it gets hot?
would it let toxics into the body if it fails catastrophicly?...or short circuit stuff causing a spastic episode?

just rambling a bit

 

[DaveChase]

Sounds like you are working writing a great Sci Fi Novel

implanted comms....

imagine trying to explain why your body keeps setting off the metal detectors at a low tech starport/backwards world.

imagine waking up to find implanted comm that is linked to an implanted bomb to blackmail/extort players...or to use them as unwitting suicide bomber.

imagine impanted comm being used somehow to 'hack' any cyborg enhancements
...or as a 'modem' to 'hack' someone's ghost or wetware ( cyber manchuraian candidate)

or being given assignment to abduct and 'tag' primitives with implants and do medical tests involving icky probes

wouldn't an EMP pulse that can fry an implant hurt as it gets hot?
would it let toxics into the body if it fails catastrophicly?...or short circuit stuff causing a spastic episode?

just rambling a bit

Actually even today you can walk through metal detectors with heart and long implants and don't set them off. A bio chip small as say 2 quarters or less wouldn't set off anything. Try walking through a detector with change in your pocket

As for linked to a bomb, I seem to remember a short story or two about something like this.

And on the EMP issue, depends on what your implant is made of and how it is wired. If is just a link and your body furnished the power then if the EMP could fry your body it could fry you. If something could fry your dental implants then it could fry your implant.

Also it depends on how 'smart' your implant is. If it is just a link it probably would not be effected.
If it is a computer (nonorganic) then yes I believe it could get fried.

As for your other comments on medical test subjects, Tell us now who leaked that information to you under pain of having several more implants placed in your body.

(HAHAHHAA)
Dave Chase

 

[Captain Midnight]

Actually even today you can walk through metal detectors with heart and long implants and don't set them off. A bio chip small as say 2 quarters or less wouldn't set off anything. Try walking through a detector with change in your pocket

I nearly got strip-searched for trying to go into the Russell Senate Building with a little four-tablet foil-backed Sudafed package in my pocket. The total mass of metal couldn't have even been a half-gram. I've also got a friend who is a USMC Master Sergeant, and he's had metal detectors go off when placed near the oak-leaf cluster pins on some of his ribbons. Finally, my wife has an artificial hip, and has never gotten through a metal detector without it going off after 9/11, so she has a little laminated card that describes the hip and its assorted hardware. She still gets "secondary screening" every single time she goes through a detector, and tries not to grit her teeth too much about how much longer it takes.

If the detectors are set for a very low sensitivity, then you might get away with comparatively small implants. However, if anyone's seriously concerned, they'll probably pick up any implant with a significant amount of metal. In this case, "significant" will probably have more to do with whatever the GM needs to have happen.