8.6 Applications

Communications between the starship and a destination typically 38,000km to 61,000km away from the antennae are handled by the above-mentioned radio systems. Situations encountered cover a broad range, but most notably include discussions with planetside governments, communications and control of Away Team operations, local and regional crisis management, data collection from remote and active occupied research stations, shuttlecraft departure and approach terminal guidance, and SF search and rescue. The subspace transceiver network is the active system linked to the transporter for personnel locator and coordinate lock-on functions. A minimum of three transceivers covering a given portion of the spacecraft sky coverage must be available for reliable transporter lock. The maximum reliable distance for routine transport is 422,000km, owing to the median matter stream blooming tolerance of .0005 arc-seconds, though subspace communications by the medium power network can extend to some 450,000km.

Normal contact with the starship, if externally initiated, is divided into two basic types: SF personnel, especially those persons directly assigned to the ship, and non-SF agents. Away Team members will call directly to the Bridge or other active departments during the course of their work. Normal contact from outside agents will be held by Security for presentation to the captain or other senior officers. Emergency transmissions will usually be passed without computer delay for appropriate action.

FTL processors within the main computers handle standard encryption\decryption, plus enhanced security encryption protocols. Starfleet encryption algorithms are rotated and updated on a random schedule. Multiple private key portions are retained with the starship computers, and the public portions are transmitted to SF-issue equipment. Calling for a secure channel on either the spacecraft or remote side will be detected by the main computer, which will place higher encryption schemes in standby mode to await confirmation by command personnel.