← Older revision
Revision as of 01:13, 4 December 2013
(5 intermediate revisions by one user not shown)
Line 35:
Line 35:
Breath/Depth is not a euphemism for blind expansion and Breath/Depth type policies not only promote expansion, but also the right kind of expansion that makes the increased Breath and Depth mean something more than just distances on a map. Because the Federation is ultimately on the hook to provide for the common defense of all its nations and citizens it has final say on how new worlds are colonized and now new realities or civilizations are contacted. This doesn't mean that out beyond the frontier there isn't a bit of a Wild West mentality, but these policies allow one to rely on not only the location of the nearest cavalry outpost, but also under what circumstances it will come to your rescue.
Breath/Depth is not a euphemism for blind expansion and Breath/Depth type policies not only promote expansion, but also the right kind of expansion that makes the increased Breath and Depth mean something more than just distances on a map. Because the Federation is ultimately on the hook to provide for the common defense of all its nations and citizens it has final say on how new worlds are colonized and now new realities or civilizations are contacted. This doesn't mean that out beyond the frontier there isn't a bit of a Wild West mentality, but these policies allow one to rely on not only the location of the nearest cavalry outpost, but also under what circumstances it will come to your rescue.
+
+
== Interdimensional Transport and Communications ==
+
+
The centerpiece of Federation technology is that which allows instantaneous travel and communications between alternate realities. While there are a number of ways to carry out travel between realities using both technology and magic, the UFAW has standardized on a specific flavor of Interdimensional technology (commonly referred to as Inter-D or I-D) that can be used on a wide variety of scales from personal to starship and in both mobile and fixed applications. The technology has the added benefit of being capable of Intra-reality travel as well and thus it has been possible for the Federation to establish a unified system for all forms of long distance travel.
+
+
Here is a rundown of the features of standard UFAW Inter-D portal technology:
+
+
* '''"Doorway" operation:''' Allows instantaneous transmission of both matter and information.
+
* '''Bi-directional:''' Both matter and information can travel in <u>both</u> directions without need to reestablish the portal.
+
* '''Soul-safe:''' No matter-energy conversion takes place preventing death from consciousness discontinuity.
+
* '''Privacy-preservation:''' Interactions between the realities at the portal horizon result in a strong blue-white glow.
+
* '''Long Lasting:''' Depending on operating conditions and available power mobile portals can remain active from between 5 and 60 minutes. Fixed portals can remain active indefinitely.
+
* '''Direct dial:''' Portal connections can be established with a portal address (fixed) or co-ordinates (mobile) without any preexisting setup.
+
* '''Automatic energy balancing:''' Potential energy differences between portal ends are automatically accounted for by the addition or removal of mass.
+
+
Portals come in two main types, mobile and fixed.
+
+
'''Fixed portals''' are stand alone devices establish long lasting stable wormhole connections to similar portal units through a large predefined portal aperture. These require significant power requirements, but can be left connected for long periods of time making them well suited to roles in ground transportation networks. Fixed portals can also be constructed as orbital jump gates, but at large sizes this becomes less desirable than mobile type portal generators.
+
+
'''Mobile portals''' make use of fixed portal generating equipment to create a weak spot in the substance of the multiverse that allows low power field equipment to establish a point-to-point gateway from anywhere to anywhere. Mobile portals are more limited in duration and are not self-contained/self-sufficient, but have drastically reduced size and power requirements. Established mobile portals have the same blue glow as the fixed portals, but the edges are less defined with a hazy lensing effect in the transition between normal space and the wormhole.
+
+
=== Limitations ===
+
+
One would naturally assume that technology that allows for instant transport from anywhere to anywhere would have some limitations and you would be right. Chief among these is the '''discovery problem'''. A set of universal coordinates is not a destination. It is a fixed point in some universe in relation to the epicenter of the local big bang. There is no magic directory that allows one to look up or divine the address of some desired reality and moreover no way to determine where anything is within that reality even if you have the location of the object in the origin reality. Assuming some alternate reality even has an Earth, if that Earth's orbit or the orbit of the solar system around the galactic core or the movement of the Milky Way away from the center of the universe were to differ be just the smallest amount then you would sucked through the portal and into space, or worse, be merged into some solid object that the portal opened inside of.
+
+
This makes it almost impossible to open a portal to another location without some sort of fixed reference on the other side. These are known as '''portal anchors''' and in the case of mobile portals allow the calling unit to create a portal in a safe location and even provide a velocity vector so that the portal on the other side won't shoot off into space or rock as the Earth moves away from it. So how does one get a portal anchor into the position to lock onto? Well that's where good old fashioned air, space and ground transportation comes into play wherein the travel makes a '''blind jump''' to a safe location, then travels the old fashioned way to where they need to set an anchor. When opening a portal to a "blind" location one typically sends in some sort of probe ahead of time, ideally one that contains a portal anchor to lock onto, or makes an educated guess of where a "safe" location may be. Space after all is quite large so the possibility of opening a portal and running into something is small, but this does mean that the act of exploring new realities cannot be typically done without an FTL capable spaceship.
+
+
Here are some other significant limitations to the UFAW Inter-D tech:
+
+
* '''Portal Collision:''' If two active portals are created on the same frequency then a feedback explosion will result, especially if matter attempts to transit either of the collided portals.
+
* '''Portal Instability:''' Strong energy fields can destabilize Inter-D portals resulting in feedback explosions, transport errors or premature portal cutoff.
+
* '''Portal Jamming:''' Portal instability can be induced via a number of active jamming techniques.
+
* '''Detectability:''' Opening an Inter-D portal is akin to setting off a fire alarm during a play. The interference and energy signature will show up on a wide range of scanning devices and is unmistakable for anyone looking out for it. Inter-D portals are not recommended for any operation requiring stealth.
+
+
Because the real work of creating the portals for the mobile units are done at large central facilities, the portals can be remotely monitored for signs of catastrophic failure and action can be taken to dissipate the wormhole before something like a feedback explosion occurs.
+
+
=== Inter-D Communications ===
+
+
When just transmitting information and not matter the portal size and strength can be drastically reduced. Additionally Inter-D communication channels are more resistance to both jamming and interference and are also much less detectible. Information/Data links can also operate with higher degrees of signal degradation and noise so the equipment used to generate the portals can work with more granular frequency ranges to be able to fit more links into a given chunk of bandwidth.
+
+
Mobile Inter-D communications work on a hybrid model with each mobile device acting as a fixed terminal for the micro-wormhole between realities that the data is then transmitted through. The system still works with a large fixed portal generator somewhere weakening the barriers between realities and the mobile devices doing the final bit to open them. Data can be sent directly to another Inter-D com unit located anywhere in the multiverse by signaling over its own portal frequency, but this is typically only used to "ring" a device so that a proper micro-portal can be established for higher data rates and better quality. Inter-D com units can be patched into the UFAW wide communications network at the portal generation facilities where the data is switched to either an Inter-D backhaul link or to the local fiber optic or quantum entanglement data networks for the "last mile" service.
+
+
Device to Device calls can be made by just knowing the frequency the other device is set to, but making calls into the UFAW communications grid typically just involves dialing some combination of 1's and 9's before dialing the address or number of whatever you are looking to connect to.
== Physics and Magic ==
== Physics and Magic ==
Line 72:
Line 115:
Types of magic that may run into problems when exported include those where the abilities are provided by some diety or other god-like being, since those types of power feeds don't tend to cross between realities, as well as any system that relies on "true names" as objects/people in other realities would never be provided with such names without the ambient magic system that supports them.
Types of magic that may run into problems when exported include those where the abilities are provided by some diety or other god-like being, since those types of power feeds don't tend to cross between realities, as well as any system that relies on "true names" as objects/people in other realities would never be provided with such names without the ambient magic system that supports them.
−
== Interdimensional Transport and Communications ==
== Organization and Government ==
== Organization and Government ==