What do the antennae values mean?

[spikeyhat09]

apologies if this is a duplicate thread, or if im being stupid, but what do the antennae values mean?

the two i have unlocked are the long red stripy one (comunotron 16) and the new white rectangular dish one (comms DTS-M1).

the two have different values, but im not sure what the values are changing:

packet size

transmission interval

total throughput

id like to know which one is better, but i have no idea what these values are

if someone could tell me what the difference is, that would be helpful, thanks

[FITorion]

These are just my assumptions... so...

packet size ... amount of data it can send in each transmission interval. Higher is better.

transmission interval ... Some time value... could be time between sendings... length of time to send a packet... I don't know... I think less is better.

total throughput ... Normally I'd think total throughput would be some maximum amount of data it could send... but I'd hate for there to be a limit like that... and I haven't encountered such a limit... so I don't know what this does.

[spikeyhat09]

These are just my assumptions... so...

packet size ... amount of data it can send in each transmission interval. Higher is better.

transmission interval ... Some time value... could be time between sendings... length of time to send a packet... I don't know... I think less is better.

total throughput ... Normally I'd think total throughput would be some maximum amount of data it could send... but I'd hate for there to be a limit like that... and I haven't encountered such a limit... so I don't know what this does.

honestly i was hoping the throughput one would be the amount of data loss... but ended up with the same loss rate when using both so

[FITorion]

honestly i was hoping the throughput one would be the amount of data loss... but ended up with the same loss rate when using both so

yeah... could be that... But I too haven't noticed a difference in percent data loss between the two.

[milbournosphere]

Packet size: How many bytes (or bits) fit into a transport packet. Depending on what you're doing, higher is better.

Transmission interval: I *think* they're referring to latency, but I'm not positive. If I'm thinking correctly, lower is better.

Throughput: Number of packets handled in a given second. It's related to capacity, but different. (think of it as cars on a freeway...nobody's moving very quickly if the roads are full). Higher is better.

[Jarin]

I must be misunderstanding how this works, because it seems like the "higher-tech" antennas seem to require more power for no actual benefit...

[SkyRender]

Packet size is, as many have surmised, the amount of data sent per transmission interval.

Transmission interval is how long you have to wait between packets being sent.

Total throughput is just packet size times transmission interval. It just tells you how long in seconds it takes to send one packet of data.

[allmhuran]

Yes, these definitions are all perfectly accurate, but not very useful.

The question is, how does any of this relate to the game? How does it relate to science value loss in the game, if at all? How does it relate to power requirements in the game, if at all? How does it relate to range in the game, if at all?

[SkyRender]

Yes, these definitions are all perfectly accurate, but not very useful.

The question is, how does any of this relate to the game? How does it relate to science value loss in the game, if at all? How does it relate to power requirements in the game, if at all? How does it relate to range in the game, if at all?

Experiment value loss when transmitted is locked down to the experiment type. Antennae can never improve that.

Power requirements are uniform across the antennae in terms of throughput per unit of power for stock antennae. The only advantage to faster antennae is the increased data transmission rate.

Range is not implemented at this point. Once it is, we probably will need bigger antennae to transmit data from further-away locations. For now, any given antenna is effectively equivalent to any other.

[allmhuran]

That's the good stuff! Thanks SkyRender.

[khearn]

It seems to me that throughput ought to be packet size divided by transmit interval. It's Mits per second, not Mit-seconds. With them multiplied, the Communotron 16 has a higher throughput than the Comms DTS-M1, while using less power. I think the Communotron 16 should have a throughput of 2.0/0.4 = 5.0, and the DTS-M1 should have 2.0/0.3 = 6.7, which makes more sense to me. the DTS-M1 seems to have a shorter interval for the same packet size, so it ought to transmit faster. Plus, it uses more power, so you ought to get something for that.

[Eric S]

the DTS-M1 seems to have a shorter interval for the same packet size, so it ought to transmit faster. Plus, it uses more power, so you ought to get something for that.

It is faster, the throughput stat is either wrong or severely misunderstood. The DTS-M1 transmits the same data in 80% of the time the 16 does, and the 88-88 in 60% of the time. Those numbers are results from testing I've done trying to make sure I understood the stats.

[Dun Kirk]

I suppose when you go to duna and transmit, it doesn't immediately return home? Profit?

[artao]

Currently there seems to be no advantage to the "higher tech" antennae. Many people have noted this. Sure hope Squad addresses that, since it's clearly not right.