The Hub

As the Republic grew in size, the need for the ability to communicate in a timely manner across vast distances grew much more important. Early messages were capped at the speed of light, resulting in significant delays in receiving and processing news.

Umbrian scientists were finally able to resolve this issue following advances in their understanding of quantum entanglement. Through the use of entangled particles, the Republic is able to transmit data rapidly across the length and breadth of Umbrian space.

This breakthrough resulted in the creation of the Hub, a communications utility supported and maintained by the Republic's central government for the benefit of all Umbrians. It supports a wide range of communication types, including text, audio, video, and projection formats. All of the required infrastructure is controlled and managed from Umbria itself, where algorithms keep the relays in position and manage their maintenance.

The Hub works through the use of a network of satellites located in deep space, positioned strategically to provide the broadest coverage possible. These communications relays form clusters, which connect multiple nearby planets. The final loop in this process is a series of satellites which connect the clusters to one another.

Messages received by a satellite are either beamed to another relay in their cluster, if the message's destination is in close astral proximity to the senders, or are sent to the extra-cluster relays. In the latter case, the message is transmitted to the destination cluster, where it is beamed to the right satellite to communicate the message to its final destination.

This has facilitated Republic-wide communication whose transmission speeds are measured in hours, not months or years. The only outstanding challenge remains expanding bandwidth to meet an ever-increasing demand for extrasolar communications.