Full Version: Cyberdeck Power
I'm not sure if this has come up before, or is in the more advanced Matrix books, but here goes. How is a cyberdeck powered?
Personally, I assume it works the same way your eye-light system, tool laser, mechanical limps etc work. Obviously, they install a miniature uranium core in your body during surgery. Clean nuclear energy for long enough to last any (meta)human lifetime.
Well, either that or you could assume a datajack works like an USB port. IE: The second you jack into the matrix, the datajack is fed power by the uplink to run the deck.
Well, either that or you could assume a datajack works like an USB port. IE: The second you jack into the matrix, the datajack is fed power by the uplink to run the deck.
Well, *most* cyberware actually seems to draw power from your own body to work; it's probably some sort of micromachine sugar-burning fuel cell I presume, though there's really no canon evidence for or against that. In fact I'd say that the 'ware drawing power off of the human body to run the device is part of where the Essence cost comes from, but again that's purely conjecture.
Cyberdecks use batteries, as in Matrix gives the cost for extra battery packs (and power cords). Nowhere does it describe exactly how much power a deck uses, but then it really doesn't specify that for anything else either; power is just sort of an assumption in SR (which might explain all the brownouts in the sprawl
).
Cyberdecks use batteries, as in Matrix gives the cost for extra battery packs (and power cords). Nowhere does it describe exactly how much power a deck uses, but then it really doesn't specify that for anything else either; power is just sort of an assumption in SR (which might explain all the brownouts in the sprawl
).
| QUOTE (Eyeless Blond) |
| Cyberdecks use batteries, as in Matrix gives the cost for extra battery packs (and power cords). |
Ah, the infamous 100
cyberdeck power cord from Matrix. Until they errataed that price, some were speculating that it came with its own built in generator or some such.
Cyber decks run for six hours on bateries or, like your phone, get their power from the matrix.
Personally I'd be opposed to having the Fiber Optic connection to your matrix provider passing enough energy to run any sort of electronics. A bit more realistic would be that your average apartment has some sort of microwave power distribution equipment or (most likely) that you run a power cord to a power outlet 
As for purely battery powered operation unless you've got a great deal of advancements in battery life or cyberdecks have significantly lower power requirement than current laptops you'd probably have 3-4 hour internal power.
As for purely battery powered operation unless you've got a great deal of advancements in battery life or cyberdecks have significantly lower power requirement than current laptops you'd probably have 3-4 hour internal power.
How hard would it be to make a plug that has a fiber-optic connection in the middle and two power connections on the sides? Or any other variant of the layout.
| QUOTE (Herald of Verjigorm) |
| How hard would it be to make a plug that has a fiber-optic connection in the middle and two power connections on the sides? Or any other variant of the layout. |
Realistically the connection to the matrix is probably some form of banana cable that has both a Fiber Optic line (more likely a pair of cables) as well as something akin to a 110 volt 20 amp circuit. If I was a decker I'd probably buy it with armored sheath so as to not accidentally damage the fiber optic jumper and you'd want some degree of stiffness to not exceed the minimum bend radius of the fiber optic cable.
Honestly. we should answer the "how do cyberlimbs get their energy" question first. And not by saying "whoo, mystical bio energy!" or any such pseudoscience bullshit. I'd bet real metalheads need more power to run than a computer processor, even if it's a leet decker processor. 
| QUOTE (Req) |
| Honestly. we should answer the "how do cyberlimbs get their energy" question first. |
I thought last time that subject came up, the general consensus was on microturbine generators tapped into the arteries that would have previously supplied blood to the limb in question.
| QUOTE (RunnerPaul) | ||
I thought last time that subject came up, the general consensus was on microturbine generators tapped into the arteries that would have previously supplied blood to the limb in question. |
How in the name of god did that become the consensus? I'd buy into manaline taps before I'd choke down that sort of explanation.
What's wrong with my idea of showing a few bars of uranium into the runner and let him have his own portable nuclear power plant?
They could even add some shadowtalk blurbs about how Aztechnology is working on advanced shielding materials so their "voulenteers" could survive having the uranium swapped with weapons-grade plutonium to give a cortex bomb that little extra "oomph".
</sarcasm>
They could even add some shadowtalk blurbs about how Aztechnology is working on advanced shielding materials so their "voulenteers" could survive having the uranium swapped with weapons-grade plutonium to give a cortex bomb that little extra "oomph".
</sarcasm>
I thought it was some sort of sugar fuel cell. (Might not be the best report on the story, but linky anyway.)
Magic, that's how.
Seriously, this sort of thing comes up all the time, and the answer is: it doesn't matter. You're talking about a system where dragons run for president, and elves control animated mounds of junk with their minds. How or Why aren't the point. They just do it. be glad.
Seriously, this sort of thing comes up all the time, and the answer is: it doesn't matter. You're talking about a system where dragons run for president, and elves control animated mounds of junk with their minds. How or Why aren't the point. They just do it. be glad.
| QUOTE (RunnerPaul @ Mar 31 2005, 11:24 PM) | ||
I thought last time that subject came up, the general consensus was on microturbine generators tapped into the arteries that would have previously supplied blood to the limb in question. |
Small turbines lose a lot of efficiency compared to larger ones, and the only source of mechanical energy for them to tap is the heart.
Now, the heart's a nice and dependable muscle, quite a powerful little pump, but it isn't going to deliver enough energy to power several strength-6 cyberlimbs, not without very long battery-charging periods between limb movement.
And all the "bio-electricity" in human nerve cells can make an LED flicker now and then, so there's not adequate power to run beefy cyberware there.
Therefore, I really like the idea of a fuel cell that can run on "stuff" in the blood. It simplifies cyberlimb operation. Need power? Eat a Snickers.
And to answer the original question: "Matrix" mentions batteries for cyberdecks. You can install back-ups in FUPs (Fuchi Universal Ports). I think the lifespan is about 6 hours, and the buggers do have a noticeable memory effect (good for 100 or 1000 chargings, IIRC.)
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