See! It's true! Flat batteries coming up, or if not flat batteries, then power turned off to low value subscribers so that charge doesn't drop below 65%. Don't be bamboozled by all that algorithm and orbit geometry stuff folks. They are quite right that some satellites stay in sun all the time [nearly] and some are about 50% depending on the time of year.
Of course none of this is new. Of course power management has been going on for decades. But this is a new ball game [since some people around here seem to like baseball]. Globalstar subscribers are day to day customers who are not into power control people in bunkers telling them when they can have a bit of power.
Okay, let's check out this comment:
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"Power management will be conducted from the ground control centers with a view toward optimizing revenue as a function of user concentrations, along with other considerations; If this means turning the power down or off when the bird is passing over barron ocean regions, to conserve power, then that will be done; This can be a
software driven control where algorithm parameters are adjusted virtually on a continuous basis, as appropriate;
Whether the "power auction" approach could be another level of optimization which could be overlayed upon the basic power allocation/control scheme is an entirely separate question which would require network computer simulation to fully evaluate."
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First of all, I happen to live in a barren ocean area, but people there still want service. You cannot turn the bird off and claim worldwide coverage. The "software driven control with algorithm parameters" sounds technical, but it cannot solve the problem.
Your comment that a power auction could be another level of optimization overlaid on the basic power management system shows that it is NEW! Nobody has ever done it. The only mechanism to allocate the power is for SUBSCRIBERS to choose how much power they want to buy in competition with other subscribers. You can use infinitely complex algorithms and infinitely fast computers and anything you like, but you cannot allocate power to subscribers without turning some off when they want to be on or leaving photovoltaic panels rotting in the sun with electrons parked in batteries.
Thanks Stealthy, I appreciate the comments but you have only confirmed that the system is going to be turned off at the wrong times, power won't be used optimally and therefore subscribers will have to pay higher prices than otherwise and profits will be reduced.
This is not good. I say somebody there, these EXPERTS, better get their computers out and start developing a subscriber control system. Where the subscribers control the system, not the other way around.
You will need several pricing plans. One fixed price per minute any time. Hybrids of others. AND about half the subscribers on the "CURRENT PRICE IS ...." plan.
Mqurice |
