Backstage - OOC Forums

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

That Slavers hunt by jumping high in the air and coming down on their prey from above?

Author Topic: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology  (Read 2843 times)

Aelisha

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
  • Maker of ISK, Supplier of SRPs
Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« on: 24 Jan 2015, 05:44 »

Please bear in mind the authoritative voice in this article is 'in-character' and that I in no way endorse this as a real (or indeed only) answer to the technical elements of drone control in game.  This is a piece I have compiled for fun, hoping some may agree, others may propose revisions and that a more rounded, community view of the technology may one day be submitted to CCP/the Fiction forum.  There to be ignored and collapse into the dust of ages :psyccp:

TL;DR: Don't get mad if you think I am telling you this is definitively how the technology in EVE works, it is me musing and presenting it is an authoritative voice, not a mandate.


Drones are a common feature in capsuleer life, providing a great many services including combat, logistics and electronic warfare capabilities.  Ignoring the service automatons that provide vital maintenance or augment armour and structure repair systems, external communication is vital for the command and control of all drones under a given capsuleer’s authority.  The primary issue with communication is resource limitation, bandwidth in this case.  But the root of why this is a limiting factor lies in the history of the technology, the forces that have shaped the current state of affairs.

Centralisation is a key facet of modern drone control.  A ship provides a central node in a drone network, with the drones themselves forming end points.  Though some methods allow for co-operation between drones in flight, all communication is routed back through the central point.  Considering that the drones are frequently closer to one another than they are their controller, it would seem logical that they’d save resources talking to one another?  Only if one does not account for the limitations of available communication technologies. 

Modern drones use a limited form of fluid router technology, with a paired entangled quantum wafer forming the physical layer of a drone network.  Entangled communications only allows communication between the two entangled pairs; traditional routing between the discreet hardware elements of a fluid router is required to allow one link to translate into information communicated over another.  Therefore, centralisation is required – the full router configuration is too bulky and power intensive to be placed on a drone.  But why use such an unwieldy and power hunger communication method to start with?

Electromagnetic spectrum communication was and is a stock-favourite for short range communication.  Assuming proximity to the source of a transmission, EM spectrum communication remains one of the most efficient and mature technologies available.  This is an issue in and of itself, proliferation.  Almost anyone can construct a transceiver using this technology, and it is just a matter of power and frequency before the right band is found and the communication channel between drones is isolated and attacked. 

Cyber-warfare has preceded the clash of arms on the ground and in space for several centuries.  This clash of digital firepower has resulted in a technical stalemate: modern systems use such advanced cryptographic methods and curt communication that breaking a given network requires the expenditure of significant computational resources and time.  In modern warfare, this initial cyber-attack is launched for one reason alone – to force the enemy out of the electro-magnetic spectrum and deprive them of an efficient communication mechanism.  As online attacks against the cryptographic keys used by a given network are likely to fail, denial of service is the order of the day, both sides flooding the EM spectrum with noise to prevent the use of that medium with any degree of efficacy. 

Thus, we return to the centralised method: fluid routers have effectively zero medium between the source and destination.  This means that communications cannot be observed or jammed, and that they are secure by their very nature, removing the need for computationally complex cryptography or packet-size inflating security frameworks.  The downside of this is that the technological requirements to operate drones effectively are significant, to the point that only ships with specialised hardware, crew training and interface systems can maximise the effectiveness of their drone payload.  The rest must rely on the autonomous systems on each drone to work as well they can with a minimum of guidance beyond target locks and orders to act. 

Concerning vessels optimised for drone communication, we encounter three main schools of thought: the Federal School, Imperial School and Guristas Method. 

The Federal School focuses on collaboration and the distribution of information across drone networks.  Vessels such as the Vexor are fitted with enhanced communication and task allocation racks.  These racks are dedicated to one purpose – share information as required, between the ship itself and all drones, allowing the optimal decision for a given drone to be made based on a sum of all available knowledge instead of the limited capabilities of individual drones.  This is augmented with artificially intelligent ghost rider remote pilot systems, which draw on a wealth of manned and remote piloting expert systems to provide cutting edge flight and targeting solutions.  The Navy Issue Vexor and Ishtar take this system and add additional hardware to provide far more bandwidth whilst retaining the efficacy and level of cooperation seen in the stock system. 

The Imperial School is symptomatic of Imperial culture: centralisation is key.  The sharing of information is focused on the central element of the network, the ship.  Instead of routing communication out to the drones allowing a remote piloting element to drone control, Imperial warships fitted for enhanced drone control make use of a local supercomputer to draw in all situational data and make decisions.  This allows the system to treat all drones as dumb terminals and removes the need for artificially intelligent sub-systems: the core intelligence of the ship in question treats drone control as its own sub-process. 

The benefits of this system appear to match Federal systems in terms of drone damage potential and evasive/co-operative action latency, with one main drawback.  Sub-battleship class Imperial vessels suffer reduced effective bandwidth due to the greater reliance on centralised communication.  As drones cannot share information with one another directly through the routing layer, instead needing contact with the application layer of the network stack at the central node, the additional computation time translates into a slightly reduced effective bandwidth, reducing the number of concurrent drones available to the system.  The Armageddon avoids this issue by dedicating significantly more tonnage to the hardware elements of the control system, overcoming the issue with resource expenditure and raw power – symbolic of Imperial doctrine. 

Finally, the Guristas Method strains the definition of a drone control system.  Notable for their extremely limited effective bandwidth and extremely intelligent, potent and durable drone-behaviours, the Guristas draw on a natural resource to solve the issue of computational and co-operation requirements.  Human pilots, using remote-control systems involving legacy neural-interface hardware, isolation suits to provide near full sensory isolation from extraneous influences, and years of manned systems experience provide the core of the system. 

A bastardised but effective version of the Federation ghost rider system provides an interface between the pilots.  This system enhances their situational awareness, sharing data and presenting it as combat intelligence with a minimum of cross-pilot communication.  This allows them complete focus.  Augmetic AI systems back up the pilots by ‘filling in the blanks’, providing predicted optimal flight paths on partial data if required while still allowing human ingenuity to adapt or ignore given advice. 

The critical issue, as previously mentioned, is a vastly reduced effective bandwidth: Guristas vessels rely on intense communication and computation to support their pilots, meaning that they field the smallest drone fleets of all of the drone carriers. 

I hope that this article has proven interesting, and that it spurs further investigation into the everyday workings of our vessels and technological environment. 
« Last Edit: 24 Jan 2015, 09:10 by Aelisha »
Logged

Aedre Lafisques

  • Terrible Caillian
  • Wetgraver
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 78
    • Aedre Logs. Writing
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #1 on: 24 Jan 2015, 12:13 »

 :eek: How neat!  Great thoughts put here~ :0
Logged
Hangout Channel: Gallente Lounge

Saede Riordan

  • Immoral Compass
  • Demigod
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2656
  • Through the distorted lens I found a cure
    • All the cool hippies have tumblr
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #2 on: 24 Jan 2015, 14:05 »

Very nice +1 Like
Logged
Personal Blog//Character Blog
A ship in harbour is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.

Aelisha

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
  • Maker of ISK, Supplier of SRPs
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #3 on: 25 Jan 2015, 04:32 »

Thanks guys :)

The main driving force behind this was the drone bonus on some ships.  The idea of just strapping on extra armour, bigger guns or some hand waved 'nanite magic' had irked me for quite some time, so I've been looking for way to resolve this in fiction.  The result of this was 'behavioural differences' drones flying smarter under the control of certain ships seemed to be the best way to explain higher effective durability and damage.  Drones that can coordinate fire onto weak spots hit harder, those that can fly smart to cooperate in avoiding or mitigating incoming fire will appear more evasive or durable. 

I'll wait a day or two to see if anyone else wants to critique or add to the article and boost it up to the eve-o forums if no one objects.  I hope to do some more tech reports in the future and see if we can inject some life into a part of the wiki/chronicles that has been neglected for some time. 
Logged

Jennifer Starfall

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 138
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #4 on: 25 Jan 2015, 10:56 »

I like it. I don't know the tech lore too indepthly, but this feels right.

Logged

Alain Colcer

  • Pod Captain
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 857
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #5 on: 25 Jan 2015, 19:18 »

excellent work
Logged

Saede Riordan

  • Immoral Compass
  • Demigod
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2656
  • Through the distorted lens I found a cure
    • All the cool hippies have tumblr
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #6 on: 25 Jan 2015, 20:07 »

Thanks guys :)

The main driving force behind this was the drone bonus on some ships.  The idea of just strapping on extra armour, bigger guns or some hand waved 'nanite magic' had irked me for quite some time, so I've been looking for way to resolve this in fiction.  The result of this was 'behavioural differences' drones flying smarter under the control of certain ships seemed to be the best way to explain higher effective durability and damage.  Drones that can coordinate fire onto weak spots hit harder, those that can fly smart to cooperate in avoiding or mitigating incoming fire will appear more evasive or durable. 

I'll wait a day or two to see if anyone else wants to critique or add to the article and boost it up to the eve-o forums if no one objects.  I hope to do some more tech reports in the future and see if we can inject some life into a part of the wiki/chronicles that has been neglected for some time.

I really like how you explained it honestly, I think its rather well done, and I can definitely see using this backdrop somewhat in my RP. Very well imagined and nicely thought out.
Logged
Personal Blog//Character Blog
A ship in harbour is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.

Aelisha

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
  • Maker of ISK, Supplier of SRPs
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #7 on: 27 Jan 2015, 18:12 »

Thanks again for your feedback all.  I've taken some advice I have received privately on board and will repost the iterated article to EVE Fiction tomorrow after work.  Changes are mostly quality of life - spelling, grammar etc.  Content remains largely the same. 
Logged

Elmund Egivand

  • Pod Captain
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 773
  • Will jib for ISK
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #8 on: 27 Jan 2015, 20:38 »

I am going to use this for my RP whenever the subject of drones is brought up. You rock, dude!

Maybe be a sci-fi writer?
Logged
Deep sea fish loves you forever

Aelisha

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
  • Maker of ISK, Supplier of SRPs
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #9 on: 28 Jan 2015, 05:26 »

I am going to use this for my RP whenever the subject of drones is brought up. You rock, dude!

Maybe be a sci-fi writer?

Haha ty.  Maybe when the PhD is done (also I am awful at character driven fiction - so probably a limited future in the creative writing dept for me :p ) - this fiction is very loosely inspired by my current research focus (infrastructureless mobile network security for drones).  I did do another thing about why rogue drones might prefer to nest in Dominix hulls (with reference to some notable exceptions - see the lvl4 malware mission that has Geddons and Ravens pitted against you as rogue drone controlled ships). 

It means a lot to get such positive feedback, and if you have any ideas of your own, feel free to add them and I'll link you the eve-o thread when I get it up so you can add your thoughts there too.
« Last Edit: 28 Jan 2015, 05:37 by Aelisha »
Logged

Veiki

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 210
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #10 on: 28 Jan 2015, 16:07 »

This is a very well written article, Ael. It does make me wonder though what role a capsuleer can play in drone control vs. a standard vessel.

Also, if you haven't read it already the Evelopedia article on Drone damage amplifiers has a lot of PF and history on things drone related which might be of interest.
Logged

Aelisha

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
  • Maker of ISK, Supplier of SRPs
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #11 on: 28 Jan 2015, 19:08 »

Good find, I have skimmed it and will read more thoroughly in the morning. 

As for what benefit capsuleers would have when using drones - the same as any other ship system IMO.  Capsuleers in and of themselves don;t bring anything special to the individual systems of a starship.  Instead, they bind all of the high level functions that would normally require a series of human crew to monitor and relay, into a single stream of conscious thought.  The latency inherent in multi-human communication is enormous, multiple factors more than even the most basic telecommunication-based network.  Simply piping the data direct to a single central element, the capsuleer, immediately reduces latency, giving the appearance of near instantaneous adaptation and activation of ship systems. 

In the case of drones, telemetry is likely on a 'need to know' basis (evidenced by the fact we can just close the drone menu into headings).  The benefit lies in capsuleer high-level multi-tasking.  Complex commands can be sent, redacted, and replanned in the space of seconds.  Even the best manual control would have latency between the visual processing of telemetry and the physical motions to push buttons and input new command routines - even with AI assistance.  The drone control systems of the ship handle the drones once the mission is input - hence why the quality of a given drone control system (locked up in ship bonuses) still applies on top of the benefits of capsuleer familiarity with drone task allocation and management problems (skill bonuses). 

In short - capsuleers operate at speed of thought, are natural multi-taskers and work with existing computational systems to cherry pick task allocation problems that need that X-factor a living brain can provide in terms of pattern analysis, gut-instinct and partial-information problem solving.  They ride high on the tides of data and need not delve too deep into specific sub-systems; such activity would waste their talents in boorish micromanagement for little gain relative to the boon the speedy resolution of multiple higher-level decisions would bring. 
« Last Edit: 28 Jan 2015, 19:10 by Aelisha »
Logged

Aelisha

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 116
  • Maker of ISK, Supplier of SRPs
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #12 on: 29 Jan 2015, 16:44 »

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=5446214#post5446214

Post is up.  I am busy IRL atm, but will iterate in the edits I have made asap.  The tech report only has quality of life changes at present, with some minor modifications based on the article cited by Gesakaarin and some third party suggestions coming in the next few days (fleshing out the Guri and Gallente drone sections a bit more).

Thanks again all of you for your support, feedback and contributions. 
Logged

Veiki

  • Egger
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 210
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #13 on: 29 Jan 2015, 18:57 »

As for what benefit capsuleers would have when using drones - the same as any other ship system IMO.  Capsuleers in and of themselves don;t bring anything special to the individual systems of a starship.  Instead, they bind all of the high level functions that would normally require a series of human crew to monitor and relay, into a single stream of conscious thought.  The latency inherent in multi-human communication is enormous, multiple factors more than even the most basic telecommunication-based network.  Simply piping the data direct to a single central element, the capsuleer, immediately reduces latency, giving the appearance of near instantaneous adaptation and activation of ship systems. 

In the case of drones, telemetry is likely on a 'need to know' basis (evidenced by the fact we can just close the drone menu into headings).  The benefit lies in capsuleer high-level multi-tasking.  Complex commands can be sent, redacted, and replanned in the space of seconds.  Even the best manual control would have latency between the visual processing of telemetry and the physical motions to push buttons and input new command routines - even with AI assistance.  The drone control systems of the ship handle the drones once the mission is input - hence why the quality of a given drone control system (locked up in ship bonuses) still applies on top of the benefits of capsuleer familiarity with drone task allocation and management problems (skill bonuses). 

In short - capsuleers operate at speed of thought, are natural multi-taskers and work with existing computational systems to cherry pick task allocation problems that need that X-factor a living brain can provide in terms of pattern analysis, gut-instinct and partial-information problem solving.  They ride high on the tides of data and need not delve too deep into specific sub-systems; such activity would waste their talents in boorish micromanagement for little gain relative to the boon the speedy resolution of multiple higher-level decisions would bring.

I won't disagree with those thoughts. I suppose what's always intrigued me about the capsuleer-drone interfacing is its potential applications outside of the pod. Such as with say something like Close Personal Protection drones for a capsuleer paranoid about their own safety. It might be prohibitively expensive due to all the neural interfacing and implants that might be required but having fancy, expensive drones protecting your fragile clone meatbag seems to me something that fulfills both a practical function and conscious style choice for a capsuleer.

I'd certainly shell out a bunch of Aurum or ISK for the swag factor of being protected by CreoDron, Lai Dai, or Viziam bodyguard drones made specifically for the capsuleer markets. Might be interesting: Oh, so you want to kill me guy? Well say hello to my little friend (And its weapon suite of personal point-defense lasers and anti-personnel cluster munitions).
Logged

Elmund Egivand

  • Pod Captain
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 773
  • Will jib for ISK
Re: Capsuleer Drone Communication Technology
« Reply #14 on: 29 Jan 2015, 21:04 »

As for what benefit capsuleers would have when using drones - the same as any other ship system IMO.  Capsuleers in and of themselves don;t bring anything special to the individual systems of a starship.  Instead, they bind all of the high level functions that would normally require a series of human crew to monitor and relay, into a single stream of conscious thought.  The latency inherent in multi-human communication is enormous, multiple factors more than even the most basic telecommunication-based network.  Simply piping the data direct to a single central element, the capsuleer, immediately reduces latency, giving the appearance of near instantaneous adaptation and activation of ship systems. 

In the case of drones, telemetry is likely on a 'need to know' basis (evidenced by the fact we can just close the drone menu into headings).  The benefit lies in capsuleer high-level multi-tasking.  Complex commands can be sent, redacted, and replanned in the space of seconds.  Even the best manual control would have latency between the visual processing of telemetry and the physical motions to push buttons and input new command routines - even with AI assistance.  The drone control systems of the ship handle the drones once the mission is input - hence why the quality of a given drone control system (locked up in ship bonuses) still applies on top of the benefits of capsuleer familiarity with drone task allocation and management problems (skill bonuses). 

In short - capsuleers operate at speed of thought, are natural multi-taskers and work with existing computational systems to cherry pick task allocation problems that need that X-factor a living brain can provide in terms of pattern analysis, gut-instinct and partial-information problem solving.  They ride high on the tides of data and need not delve too deep into specific sub-systems; such activity would waste their talents in boorish micromanagement for little gain relative to the boon the speedy resolution of multiple higher-level decisions would bring.

I won't disagree with those thoughts. I suppose what's always intrigued me about the capsuleer-drone interfacing is its potential applications outside of the pod. Such as with say something like Close Personal Protection drones for a capsuleer paranoid about their own safety. It might be prohibitively expensive due to all the neural interfacing and implants that might be required but having fancy, expensive drones protecting your fragile clone meatbag seems to me something that fulfills both a practical function and conscious style choice for a capsuleer.

I'd certainly shell out a bunch of Aurum or ISK for the swag factor of being protected by CreoDron, Lai Dai, or Viziam bodyguard drones made specifically for the capsuleer markets. Might be interesting: Oh, so you want to kill me guy? Well say hello to my little friend (And its weapon suite of personal point-defense lasers and anti-personnel cluster munitions).

Elmund has got four Fedo-sized repair drones, refitted and reprogrammed for close combat and sabotage, following him around just out of sight of the public for protection.

The drones are connected to Elmund via very basic drone interfacing implant, with which he uses to give out orders. Most of the decision-making is done on the drone end. These drones are in constant communication with each other, which is a requirement if they are to pool their CPU resources, utilize their gestalt intelligence and come up with a consensus on best course-of-action within the space of a second. I haven't yet figured out the specifics on how that works, but I want it to be very mundane, economic solution (since he did produce about hundreds to thousands of those drones to do maintenance and emergency repair work in his ships). For now I'm leaning towards some kind of future bluetooth or radio.

I designed those drones that way because well, Elmund really hates attracting too much attention in public. He also has a rather strange taste in drones and that he has a rather boyish sense of humour. He just likes seeing Fedo-sized arachnid-like drones leap out of the vents from four different directions at an offender to claw off his face.
« Last Edit: 29 Jan 2015, 21:07 by Elmund Egivand »
Logged
Deep sea fish loves you forever