Communications in the Deep Space 12 environment involve many of the same types of systems and links as those required for mobile platforms such as starships. For the most part, the station can be considered in the same category as a planetside outpost, in which the effects of high warp velocities and numbers of embedded hull antennae are not important considerations. Intrastation voice and data traffic, station-to-ship, ship-to-ship, and distant subspace packet transmissions com are all vital to the daily operation of the station, if not its very survival in the current threat climate. It must be noted that while all discrete com hardware paths have been mapped and hardened against security penetrations, cautions must still be taken with all operations critical information.

INTRASTATION COMMUNICATIONS

Communications routed within Deep Space 12 are divided into two primary systems, one for commercial traffic and one for Starfleet operations. The commercial system is handled by a stand-alone isolinear processor/switcher and cannot be cross linked to the Starfleet system unless the latter initiates secured channels. The Starfleet system can, however, monitor and regulate the commercial net and shut it down should RF and subspace silence be necessary. All Starfleet communications are handled by the central computer cores through the CPG. Both systems have received periodic upgrades to ensure that signals are rapidly and reliably handled.

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

The hardware configuration for dedicated intrastation communications consists of 4, 750 dedicated ODN data lines and terminal nodes distributed throughout the station. These are 43 percent Cardassian from Empok Nor, and 57 percent are Starfleet enhancements, with minor data translations from one type of extruded ODN fiber to the other. The commercial net uses the Cardassian nodes almost exclusively. A set of RF lines do provide a backup, but these are limited to 395 slower data signal paths and audio pickups in Ops, weapon sail towers, Habitat Ring, fusion power plant, and ore processing areas. No second layer of backup superconducting ribbons have yet been adapted for use on the station.
The Cardassian terminal node device left in place is a hexagonal wafer measuring 6.23 centimeters across the vertices and 1.31 centimeters thick. The casing is multilayered copper boroferrenite with a combined voice and data circuit of copper uridinide astatinate. The combined section contains familiar architecture for atmospheric transmissions, with some differences. The analog-to-digital voice pickup/speaker wafer, optical fiber modulation input/output sub circuit, and digital to analog return processor are little different from Starfleet technology. A single subspace transceiver and continuous-stage amplifier are significant in that the first Cardassians rely on one robust STA-type device for subspace data streams and second, boost the signal where necessary along the entire circuit, requiring lower levels of applied power for the com network than comparable Starfleet gear. Handheld and transportable devices not hardwired to the original fiber network would send and receive data via the terminal nodes. Power for the node circuitry is transmitted as an optical flash pulse at 78.5 minute intervals and stored in a ring-field capacitance film.
The Starfleet terminal node modification is an upgraded disk device reduced to 7.53 centimeters in diameter and 1.2 centimeters thick. The case remains molded polykeiyurium, and the internal arrangement continues with separate voice and data section architecture. The data relay section now contains three nested circuits within a standard STA for increased capacity and transmission speed.

OPERATION

Voice operations employ Starfleet's standard verbal com protocols, consisting of variations on the sequence of the calling crew member's name and the recipient's name or a departmental location. The AI algorithms in the CPG route the call either to the exact location desired, normally based on combadge coordinates, or perform a general station-wide sounding. Station wide audio alert coverage for individuals is limited to Starfleet and Bajoran officers and crews unless ordered for other visitors or residents. Special audio alerts for the commercial trade, diplomatic personnel, and science mission personnel are activated as necessary prior to all preparations for military action, followed by burst-mode data transmissions to all docked vessels with information such as evacuation routes within the station and along emergency space lanes, and subspace frequencies for maintaining contact with Starfleet or quadrant governments during the crisis periods.
Data transmissions sent along the commercial net are normally encrypted to protect the proprietary information of trading entities, and normally no data is stored during terminal to terminal movements. However, as discussed previously, computer core storage space is available to trading entities. Starfleet data transmitted between combadges, terminal nodes, handheld devices, or desktop units are encrypted through each user device and routed through the CPG. All onboard operational transmissions are stored for a minimum of six months, compressed and downloaded to isolinear blocks, and transferred to Starfleet Command, either physically or by subspace radio.
System outages are dealt with by either the commercial net processors or Starfleet CPG to maintain prioritized channels for continued station operation. Verbal or automatic options can reconfigure both systems. The commercial net is normally monitored by a Deep Space 12 Trade Association cargo or dock master, in cooperation with the Starfleet and Bajoran authorities. The Starfleet net can be commanded by the ranking Ops officers down to either Starfleet lieutenant or Bajoran lieutenant (j.g).

PERSONAL COMMUNICATORS

Miniaturized subspace and RF communications devices are used by almost every culture operating on or near Deep Space 12. The principal Alpha Quadrant races or authorities who apply personal communicator badges to their on board clothing and EVA garments are Starfleet crew, Bajorans, Klingons, and Romulans. Other species have adopted core devices similar to the STA for use in other hardware for voice and data transmissions.
The current Starfleet issued communicator retains its primary role in maintaining voice contact between crew members aboard ship and during away missions and to provide a lock on contact for transporter operations. Voice contact with the Deep Space 12 computers and that of other spacecraft is also designed into the system. The casing is micromilled duranium with new proportions of plasma bonded gold and silver alloys and reflects the latest Starfleet emblem.
The STA used in the combadge, padd, and tricorder has been upgraded in range, voice encoding circuitry, and power usage efficiency. Voice inputs detected by the monofilm pickup are improved in audio quality due to added vibrational conduits molded into the casing. The voice processor has additional hardwired AI algorithms in place for improved phoneme separation and passes the phoneme impulses through a set of user definable filters to control word and phrase validation. These AI circuits also work directly with the integral universal translator section, a limited version of the normal large handheld device. The combadge universal translator (UT) circuit is equipped with the basic conversational libraries of 253 galactic civilizations plus the linguistic analysis routines for basic translations.
Combadge subspace radio range has been increased to 1200 kilometers in line-of-sight mode, and to 780 kilometers through geologic materials with a mean density of 7.54 grams per cubic centimeter. Command coupling with more powerful communication devices, such as emergency subspace beacons, allow combadges to make contact with each other over distances approaching 60,000 kilometers. In relay mode, beacons can allow the STA to transmit and receive voice and data over distances of up to 3.72 light-years.
Transporter lock using the combadge is always affected by interfering fields and particles, though the STA circuitry continuously attempts to bounce a clean transponder pulse back to the polling unit. Adaptive waveform algorithms in the STA automatically filter the subs pace signal, even in fluctuating field conditions. If the threshold for a safe transport has been tripped, the combadge chirps a negative tone.
Power is supplied by a densified sarium krellide cell with a continuous operating time of three weeks. Recharging is accomplished through a standard induction loop. Audible crystal oscillation indicates when the unit is close to depletion.

BAJORAN COMMUNICATOR

The Bajoran combadge mirrors the insignia of the Bajoran planetary defense forces and is worn on both military uniforms and civilian clothing. The forced matrix circuit technology is hybridized between Bajoran and Starfleet, the latter mainly providing connection to and control of a more compact version of the sarium krellide power cell than is used in the Starfleet communicator. The Bajoran unit is normally configured to Starfleet com frequencies and operates on the same voice and data transmission protocols.
The casing is fabricated from a 2.43 millimeter shell of pressure molded hafnium beritite, a variant of the alloy used in Bajoran jewelry. The alloy itself is colorless, but exhibits a reddish hue from the molding process; a stabilized microfracture layer changes the wavelength of the reflected light. The Bajoran type of STA incorporates the necessary audio pickup/speaker, voice and data processor circuitry, and universal translator component. The UT is slightly more limited than the Starfleet version, with only 198 available linguistic libraries, but the real-time translator AI is 155 percent faster. The densified sarium krellide power cell can run the unit continuously for 2.3 weeks and is induction-loop rechargeable.

KLINGON COMMUNICATOR

The current standard-issue communicator badge of the Klingon Defense Forces is provided to all KDF crews, including the troops assigned to Deep Space 12 beginning in 2374. The casing is polyduranium and layered in tempered baakonite and is emblazoned with the insignia of the particular Klingon military division to which it is issued. The subspace transceiver is similar to those discussed, with significant control of distant transporter systems. The unit to unit range is rated at 960 kilometers. The UT library is even more limited than the Bajoran unit, but the real time translator is comparable in speed. Power is provided by a miniature sintered therminium cell, which produces current from controlled radioisotope decay. A new cell can run continuously for 4.65 weeks.

ROMULAN COMMUNICATOR

The Romulan communicator is most typically incorporated into the military uniform in the form of the bird of prey symbol. This communicator does not normally possess a dermal sensor. As such, once activated, the communicator remains on power until cell exhaustion. It is assumed, though not confirmed by either the Romulans or Starfleet Intelligence, that the units are rotated during a mission conducted from a warbird, scout, or other vessel. The casing is carved from a single metallic crystal of s'ephelnium calmecite, an alloy known for its hardness and resistance to brittle fracture. The subspace transceiver specifications are not included in any declassified database, and it is not generally known if any units have been acquired for analysis.

FERENGI TRANSLATOR IMPLANT

The Ferengi have produced a small implantable universal translator which can aid in negotiations, although it does not have any subspace or RF functions. The unit measures 2.3 centimeters in diameter by 2.54 centimeters high and runs continuously on an integral sarium krellide cell for two weeks. Muscle impulses in the lobe area control the activation of the implant. Some well known problems exist, including EM interference, data dropouts, and intermittent operation caused by uncontrolled nerve firings due to illness or over stimulation. The unit maintains an updatable file of 756 linguistic libraries and as many currency conversion tables.

OTHER COMMUNICATION DEVICES

Most com devices not worn as part of a garment are sized as handheld equipment for 50 percentile humanoids. They vary in range, bandwidth, power consumption, and translator options. Aside from the Ferengi translator, most subdermal implants and smaller STA components are not common for everyday applications and fit more into covert activity gear than routine communicators. Pack mounted and larger transportable units are also seen, but here, too, are categorized as specialized systems for voice and data.

STATION TO GROUND COMMUNICATIONS

Communications traffic flowing between Deep Space 12 and Bajor is considered station-to-ground. All other traffic between the station and mobile entities is considered under ship-to-ship, and transmissions to distant planetside or orbital bases is part of the deep subspace network. All forms are handled by subspace and more limited RF systems of both Cardassian and Starfleet design. The principal differences between the two systems are range and speed.
Subspace remains the primary high-speed carrier environment and RF continues as the short-range backup transmission mode, followed by modulated versions of standard phaser, X-ray laser, and infrared (IR) emitters. Most subspace radio propagates at warp 9.9997, and all RF energy is limited to light speed velocity (c). New methodologies are being explored for increasing the warp equivalent velocities of modulated subspace energy waves. These include the adaptation of helical verteron membranes akin to that found at the wormhole interface, essentially creating a microwormhole jacketed around the com stream, as well as a variant on the soliton wave phenomenon. Soliton based communications may take advantage of the self-sustaining nature of the wave energy fields, possibly extending the range of intelligible messages beyond the 22.65 light year limit for standard subspace.

INSTALLED HARDWARE

The total space station external communications hardware consists of twenty one RF and twenty four subspace transceiver assemblies as original Cardassian installs, plus Starfleet upgrades incorporating twelve RF and six subspace transceivers. Power for all transceivers is supplied through stage 3 EPS conduits, with multiple backups provided by stage 3 conduits normally allocated for turbolift use.
Each Cardassian RF unit is a flat, elongated double trapezoid measuring 0.45 by 1.27 meters by 0.31 meters thick. Each contains a soft partitioned voice and data sub processor section, three amplification-type frequency spread analyzers, two variable signal compression isolinear banks, and three cross linked hardware Ievel encryption subprocessors. Prior to the reinitialization of the RF nodes in 2369, all of the encryption devices were severed from the main signal paths, deep purged, and returned to service with new cross links to the Starfleet computer CPG. Though all unmodified RF equipment is limited to light-speed transmissions, Starfleet and Bajoran com specialists have recommended that the units be kept operational. The key point involves subspace instabilities that can occur in the station environment due to wormhole energy fluctuations, active jamming by threat forces, or other battle related com problems. The useful transmission distance has been extended from 778 million kilometers to 1.6 billion kilometers at moderate power, and up to 3.4 billion kilometers at high power. This greater distance represents some three hours one-way light time, but is deemed acceptable for distress calls, transfer of sensitive data, or other crisis traffic.
The typical Cardassian subspace transceiver is a vertical trumpet-shaped solid related in x-v symmetry to the computer core housings, and directly connected to conductive areas of the exterior hull plating by integral wave guides. The device measures 0.98 meters in diameter and 2.41 meters in height. It contains voice and data processors, EPS power conditioners, and two separate subspace field generator/modulators for omnidirectional and focused antenna arrays. All noise elimination in audio and visual data streams is done by the com system ODN input subprocessors prior to passage of the signal through the transceiver. The effective radiated power at the antenna plate is 15.3 megawatts, with a total load across all twenty four nodes of 367.2 megawatts, though the load was not normally driven at this level except in extreme crisis situations. Most high power transmissions usually involved only three transceivers aimed back toward Cardassia Prime. A suite of subspace EM sensors is incorporated into each antenna to aid in commanding optimum coverage.
Attached to the same CPG signal switching blocks as the Cardassian transceivers are the Starfleet RF and subspace upgrades. Both types of units are salvaged components from normal starship hardware rotations, still within their MTBF periods. All hardware refurbishments have been certified as spaceworthy for nonwarp installations, since they will not fatigue as rapidly in the Bajor orbital environment. The RF units are small standard hexagonal solids, 1.1 meters across the faces and 0.23 meter in thickness. In the Deep Space 12 installation, most of the RF units are mounted within station access tunnels, close to the hull surfaces, with doubly redundant waveguides leading to the exterior antennae. Three are installed in the Ops antenna farm.
The Starfleet subspace transceivers are all taken from Soyuz class starships nearing the end of the vessels' primary operational lifetimes. Each triply redundant device is housed within an octagonal solid measuring 1.33 meters across the faces and 0.56 meters in thickness. Since the most recent swapout of subspace equipment from the Soyuz class was performed only eight years earlier, the predicted nonwarp MTBF will carry them another twenty five years with periodic maintenance. The internal components available to the engineering staff include familiar voice and data processors, EPS power conditioners, subspace field coils, and optronically steerable focusing arrays. One unit is mounted with the Lower Core, two are mounted in the Ops antennae farm, and the other three are installed at 120 degree intervals along the Docking Ring, equidistant between the pylons. As with the RF units, the subspace devices are protected within the Docking Ring hull and connected to the surface plates via jacketed waveguides.
The subspace and RF antennae farm present on the roof of the Ops module dates back to the Terok Nor construction and remains in serviceable condition. The two RF antennae are elongated tetrahedrons of niobium copper disellenide over a duranium substrate. The subspace antennae involve two related types. The first is a cylindrical omnidirectional emitter fabricated from niobium yttrium toranite and mounted atop a duranium kelindide composite mast. The second is a large, bladed high gain steerable emitter/receiver, a build up of seven layers of copper borokine field elements encased in a toranium graphite housing. The 32,673 individual energized elements are steerable by computer command, allowing for multiple transmissions in different directions. A fifth mast contains an emergency subspace beacon and distress transmission receiver set.

APPLICATIONS

The original station-to-ground communications linked station with the Cardassian operations on the surface of Bajor. Once the station had been relocated, all low power com devices on the planet could no longer reach Deep Space 12 and, at the very least, dedicated high power RF transceivers were required by the Bajoran provisional government to maintain contact with the station. Subspace relays were eventually set up on Bajor, allowing networked voice and data traffic from combadges, padds, tricorders, and visiting spacecraft to pass to the station.
As with most communications and other optronic systems on Deep Space 12, frequency and hardware usage is split between the Starfleet and Bajoran administration and the commercial sector. Power allocations and transceiver amortization related to transmissions to Bajor are calculated and charged to residential and commercial hailing accounts. Commercial customers may use their own encryption schemes, restricted only by a maximum of 1.25 x 109 digits in either public or private encryption keys. Emergency com from either Bajor or the station will be routed by the computer without delay to the appropriate recipients, given the proper corn access codes. All Starfleet military communications with Bajor are conducted according to strict security protocols and filtered through the CPG . All routine traffic between Starfleet personnel and Bajor is also channeled through the CPG and logged for compression and transfer to Starfleet Headquarters.
Any nonstandard corn signals or modulated EM detected between Bajor and Deep Space 12 is recorded and analyzed for possible distress hails or other significance. At the time of custodial handover, all signal and linguistic translation routines between Starfleet and Bajoran equipment had been established, with algorithm patches made to the com protocols as needed. Most unknown signals encountered in recent years have originated with newcomer cultures, refugees, and threat forces, including those from the mirror universe incursions. Those EM signatures have been catalogued and analyzed, and added to the overall com database.

SHIP TO SHIP COMMUNICATIONS

Distant communications among most starships, star bases, and planetary systems continue to be made through ultrahigh power subspace transceivers of various origins and capabilities. Voice and data transmissions between Deep Space 12 and starships are entered in the overall category of ship-to-ship com, since the station is considered in some instances to be a mobile platform.
The subspace radio hardware installed on the station is more than adequate to maintain contact with distant ships, since the Cardassian units communicated with their home world, and the Starfleet units came from operational starships. Ships attached to Deep Space 12, including the U.S.S. Cutlass, Runabouts, and Klingon Defense Forces ships, maintain contact with one another and the station over their primary subspace systems, with lower power RF transceivers as backups. All communications data is currently transferred at a maximum rate of 53.45 kiloquads per second, owing to compression algorithms and higher frequency subspace energy. The higher frequency equates to a deeper "layer" of subspace along which the transmission waves travel before surfacing to become slower, degraded EM radiation.
As with station-to-ground com, ship-to-ship traffic involves the Starfleet / Bajoran administration as well as commercial voice and data. During benign situations, both types typically begin with the standard hailing packet for computer routing and universal translator initiation. Starfleet communications between ships and stations are handled by secure channels and flight logging protocols. Commercial traffic may or may not require similar measures.

SUBSPACE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

Despite Starfleets best efforts to expand the subspace communications envelope, no single technology experiment program currently under way has demonstrated the capability to drive an energetic signal beyond the "97/22" limit, the equivalent Warp Factor 9.9997 carrier speed and 22.65 light-year distance traveled by the signal prior to unsalvageable data loss. The need for uncrewed subspace relay stations remains.
Ongoing dangers exist to the current relay system, however. Starfleet had seen an increase of 250 percent in the deployment rate, from 500 new beacons per year to 1,250 beginning in 2370. The rise in the deployment rate was initially due to normal expanded subspace coverage, but within two years the primary cause became the replacement of units destroyed by hostile actions in the Alpha Quadrant. The subspace communications network was particularly vulnerable, since the Cardassians and later the Jem'Hadar knew from basic subspace physics that there had to be another relay within 22.65 light years of any unit they encountered. All vital com links between Starfleet assets could be severed. To prevent Cardassian forces from using the relays that they had established during the occupation, Starfleet embarked on its own campaign to make certain that Cardassian devices within thirty light-years of Bajor, primarily in the direction of Sol Sector, were found and either destroyed or captured.
Starfleet realized that a vast multiplication of relay numbers or decoys could confuse and bog down a threat effort to cut Deep Space 12's ties to Sol Sector. However, a pull back of most surviving booster beacons and crew tended relay stations was deemed strategically more practical. In 23711 80 percent of the units were retrieved for ready storage within Sector 001 , and another 10 percent were deliberately destroyed to prevent them from falling into threat force hands. The remaining 10 percent were pulled into random string formations, away from supply convoy lanes, and maintained by well armed Starfleet defensive forces. Access to the network in contested areas is tightly controlled. Other strings of subspace relays, established by resident cultures aboard the station or by their agents, exist throughout the Bajor Sector and can be accessed by their controlling organizations. In some sectors, coverage is spotty, and hails must often be circuitously routed to achieve loop closure to distant star systems, particularly those near Klingon and Romulan territories.

SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS

All communication devices and organizational systems related to Deep Space 12, especially those dedicated to Starfleet operations, must be maintained under strict security protocols. The smallest combadge can become a danger to Federation policy and the continued survival of the Bajor Sector. The Deep Space 12 internal communications systems are configured for secure operations by the use of rotating access codes for combadges, padds, tricorders, consoles, or other datastream devices. As previously discussed, the Starfleet and commercial systems codes are separate and can be independently set. All hardware tied into the Starfleet side can be sent code updates remotely or through their respective induction charging bases. Other commercial com gear may be restricted using similar methods, depending on the specific trade agreements and hardware leases involved.
Starfleet and Bajoran communications off station are secured by way of a series of deeper Ievel encryption codes and nonradiative hardware protection devices. These codes are routinely, though randomly, changed to confound and confuse threat forces hoping to glean something from the subspace traffic. Distant threat antenna arrays have monitored com energy and starship movements, but for the most part, highly encrypted data has proven extremely difficult to decode. Starfleet private encryption keys typically present 2.38 x 1012 digit numerical operators for all FTL and sublight speed decryptions, with interlaced changes in the exact numerical arguments to be performed folded into the sequence. Starfleet Command issues all new encryption sequences in the form of subspace transmissions or isolinear stacks carried by courier. In the case of the transmitted codes, the new sequences are automatically encrypted by the previous set of codes. The isolinear stacks are protected from usefulness by theft by splitting the shipments into six or more parts. More often than not, a complete set of codes will be shipped partly as subspace transmissions and partly as physical stacks. Bioneural gel packs are currently under going experimental trials in memory reliability for non fuzzy logic retention of code data.
It has long been understood that even the best security can be defeated by a determined force. Computer analysis of corn system usage, code type usage, and access frequency can be used to track suspicious voice and data activity in and around Deep Space 12. Following any penetration of the communications and computer system, all user files are scanned, and the system firewalls are tested and reinforced if necessary with additional layers of encryption. All current codes are replaced with either the next set of codes or a temporary backup code series generated by the Starfleet CPG.
Personnel may be randomly selected for com device purges and reconfiguration. This applies to both Starfleet and Bajoran officers and technical staff and resident and commercial vendors. Internal scans for intelligence gathering devices and optronic fiber taps occur on a random basis. Scans for numerous other threat devices and sabotage vectors are handled in similar fashion. External scans of station structures and docked vessels are also conducted on a random schedules. For both environments, all found devices are neutralized and traced, if possible, back to their sources by security personnel.