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(changed the ammount of info from the distortion from two hundred million to twenty as it apperars in the show)
m (Robot: Automated text replacement (-the Doctor +The Doctor))
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A '''quad''' is a measurement of information in [[Federation]] [[computer]]s. While Federation computers still use [[binary code]] in some capacity, they also are known to use [[trinary code]].
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A '''quad''' was a measurement of information storage in [[Federation]] [[computer]]s. While Federation computers used [[binary code]] in some capacity, they also are known to have used [[trinary code]].
   
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==Measurement table==
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==Measurement listing==
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The values of various amounts of quads can be expressed as kiloquads, megaquads, gigaquads, teraquads, petaquads or exaquads, depending on the order of magnitude of the data being expressed.
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The values of various amounts of quads could be expressed as kiloquads, megaquads, gigaquads, teraquads, petaquads, or exaquads, depending on the order of magnitude of the data being expressed.
   
 
===Kiloquad===
  
===Kiloquad===
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*[[William Riker]] used some computer jargon to confuse a [[Ferengi]] attempting to hijack the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}}'s control functions. Among the other made-up references, he mentioned '''14 kiloquad processors'''. ({{TNG|Rascals}})
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*[[William T. Riker]] used some increasingly nonsensical computer jargon to confuse a [[Ferengi]] attempting to hijack the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|-D}}'s control functions. Among the other made-up references, he mentioned '''14 kiloquad processors'''. ({{TNG|Rascals}})
   
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*In [[2374]], when {{USS|Voyager}} made contact with [[Starfleet Command]] after years alone in the [[Delta Quadrant]], they transmitted '''hundreds of kiloquads''' of data home about the region they had traversed. ({{VOY|Message in a Bottle}}) Of that, [[Arturis]] was able to reconstruct over '''68 kiloquads''' of information, however, much of it was still garbled. ({{VOY|Hope and Fear}})
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*In [[2374]], when {{USS|Voyager}} made contact with [[Starfleet Command]] after years alone in the [[Delta Quadrant]], they transmitted '''hundreds of kiloquads''' of data home about the region they had traversed. ({{VOY|Message in a Bottle}}) In return, utilizing the same alien sensor relay network, Starfleet Command transmitted a large amount of encrypted data intended to reach USS ''Voyager'' but due to issues using such ancient alien technology, was badly degraded in transit. [[Arturis]] was able to reconstruct over '''68 kiloquads''' of information, however, much of it was still garbled. ({{VOY|Hope and Fear}})
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{{bginfo|Whether the "garbled" portion of the data was a different subset of the entire message sent by Starfleet or a subset of the 68 kiloquads Arturis helped reconstruct is unclear.}}
   
 
*[[Reginald Barclay]] described being [[transporter|transported]] as being converted into '''billions of kiloquads''' of data. ({{TNG|Realm of Fear}})
  
*[[Reginald Barclay]] described being [[transporter|transported]] as being converted into '''billions of kiloquads''' of data. ({{TNG|Realm of Fear}})
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===Megaquad===
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*Before being transported through a compressed data stream to the [[MIDAS array]] in the [[Alpha Quadrant]] from the {{USS|Voyager}} in the Delta Quadrant, the Emergency Medical Hologram had to leave '''12 megaquads''' behind to fit the bandwidth of the transmission. ({{VOY|Life Line}})
   
 
===Gigaquad===
  
===Gigaquad===
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* After [[Chakotay]]'s bioneural energy was restored to his corporeal body, the Doctor mentioned that the procedure responsible involved "''three neural transceivers, two cortical stimulators, and '''fifty gigaquads''' of computer memory.''" ({{VOY|Cathexis}})
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*After [[Chakotay]]'s bioneural energy was restored to his corporeal body, The Doctor mentioned that the procedure responsible involved "''three neural transceivers, two cortical stimulators, and '''fifty gigaquads''' of computer memory.''" ({{VOY|Cathexis}})
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* The [[Emergency Medical Holographic Program]] Mark I took up '''50 million gigaquads''' of computer memory, noting that that was "considerably more than most highly developed humanoid brains." ({{VOY|Lifesigns}})
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*The [[Emergency Medical Holographic program]] Mark I took up '''50 million gigaquads''' of computer memory, noting that that was "considerably more than most highly developed humanoid brains." ({{VOY|Lifesigns}})
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* The Doctor had accumulated '''15 thousand gigaquads''' of unnecessary information in his holomatrix, including opera and romantic relationships ({{VOY|The Swarm}})
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*The Doctor had accumulated '''15 thousand gigaquads''' of unnecessary information in his holomatrix, including opera and romantic relationships ({{VOY|The Swarm}})
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* After the [[warp 10|warp ten]] test flight by [[Tom Paris]] on the [[Cochrane (shuttlecraft)|''Cochrane'']], the sensor logs of the shuttle collected nearly '''five billion gigaquads''' of information. ({{VOY|Threshold}})
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*After the [[warp 10|warp ten]] test flight by [[Tom Paris]] on the [[Cochrane (shuttlecraft)|''Cochrane'']], the sensor logs of the shuttle collected nearly '''five billion gigaquads''' of information. ({{VOY|Threshold}})
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* [[Seven of Nine]] collected over '''30 thousand gigaquads''' of research about romantic relationships. ({{VOY|Someone to Watch Over Me}})
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*[[Seven of Nine]] collected over '''30 thousand gigaquads''' of research about romantic relationships. ({{VOY|Someone to Watch Over Me}})
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* After a long ordeal while in contact with a being known only as "the [[distortion ring]]" B'Elanna noted that they had over '''twenty million gigaquads''' of new information input into the ship's computer. ({{VOY|Twisted}})
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*After a long ordeal while in contact with a being known only as "the [[distortion ring]]" B'Elanna noted that they had over '''twenty million gigaquads''' of new information input into the ship's computer. ({{VOY|Twisted}})
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*The fictional EMH in The Doctor's [[holonovel]] ''[[Photons Be Free]]'' had '''50 gigaquads''' of memory devoted to [[Arts and music|music]], '''42 gigaquads''' for [[daydream]]s and another '''10 gigaquads''' for expanding his [[sexuality]]. ({{VOY|Author, Author}})
   
 
===Teraquad===
  
===Teraquad===
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*[[Seven of Nine]] analyzed '''30 million teraquads''' of data to support a conspiracy theory after being driven to paranoia by an influx of information. ({{VOY|The Voyager Conspiracy}})
  
*[[Seven of Nine]] analyzed '''30 million teraquads''' of data to support a conspiracy theory after being driven to paranoia by an influx of information. ({{VOY|The Voyager Conspiracy}})
   
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*The futuristic [[Borg drone]] named [[One]] was hungry for information – he assimilated '''[[47]] billion teraquads''' of information upon [[maturation chamber|maturation]]. ({{VOY|Drone}})
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*The futuristic [[Borg drone]] named [[One]] assimilated '''[[47]] billion teraquads''' of information upon [[maturation chamber|maturation]]. ({{VOY|Drone}})
   
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*The [[fan mail]] sent by the [[Qomar]] to [[The Doctor]] consisted of '''millions of teraquads of data''', leading Seven of Nine to suspect an attempt to [[sabotage]] ''Voyager''{{'}}s [[Communications|communications system]]. ({{VOY|Virtuoso}})
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;Additional references
  
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*{{VOY|Fury}}
  
   
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*[[Kathryn Janeway]] claimed to have sifted through '''teraquads of data''', separating fact from rumor, before discovering the truth about [[Tuvok]]'s [[birthday]]. ({{VOY|Fury}})
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==Background==
  
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  ⚫
== Background information ==
 
This terminology was originally developed by technical advisers to [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|''The Next Generation'']]. The unit of measurement originated in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual]]'', and was also used in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual]]''.
  
This terminology was originally developed by technical advisers to [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|''The Next Generation'']]. The unit of measurement originated in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual]]'', and was also used in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual]]''.
   
 
The terms quads and kiloquads in TNG were used in a manner consistent with the system defined in the Technical Manual. However, by the time [[Star Trek: Voyager|''Voyager'']] was airing, they started using extremely large numbers that lacked internal consistency, such as "billions of gigaquads" and "billions of teraquads." If these are accurate, {{USS|Voyager}}'s computers are more advanced and have a capacity that is orders of magnitude greater than the ones just seven years earlier in TNG.
  
The terms quads and kiloquads in TNG were used in a manner consistent with the system defined in the Technical Manual. However, by the time [[Star Trek: Voyager|''Voyager'']] was airing, they started using extremely large numbers that lacked internal consistency, such as "billions of gigaquads" and "billions of teraquads." If these are accurate, {{USS|Voyager}}'s computers are more advanced and have a capacity that is orders of magnitude greater than the ones just seven years earlier in TNG.
   
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Writers and advisers deliberately used prefixes used with ''byte''s in modern day notation (mirroring ''kilobyte'', ''megabyte'', ''gigabyte'', and ''terabyte''). The terminology "quad" was used to detract from comparisons possible with modern-day computing power, since reality frequently outstrips fiction when it comes to computer science. Current capabilities are orders of magnitude greater than what scientists expected them to be only 20-30 years ago.
 +
Writers and advisers deliberately used prefixes used with ''byte''s in modern day notation (mirroring ''kilobyte'', ''megabyte'', ''gigabyte'', and ''terabyte''). The terminology "quad" was used to detract from comparisons possible with modern-day computing power, since reality frequently outstrips fiction when it comes to computer science. Current capabilities are orders of magnitude greater than what scientists expected them to be only 20-30 years ago, with capacities and speeds roughly doubling every two years as per {{w|Moore's Law}}.
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From the terminology, a kiloquad is perhaps one thousand (10<sup>3</sup>), a gigaquad one billion (10<sup>9</sup>), and a teraquad one trillion (10<sup>12</sup>) quads. Colloquially, the modern term kilobyte is usually used to refer to 1,024 (2<sup>10</sup>) bytes, megabyte to 1,048,576 (2<sup>20</sup>) bytes, and gigabyte to either 1,000 megabytes (10<sup>3</sup> * 2<sup>20</sup> bytes) or 1,024 megabytes (2<sup>30</sup> bytes). Because of this confusion, the International Electrotechnical Commission introduced the prefixes kibi-, mebi-, gibi- (et cetera) to refer to powers of two; under this system, the technical name for 2<sup>10</sup> bytes is a kibibyte, and 2<sup>40</sup> bytes is a tebibyte.
  
   
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[[de:Quad]]
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[[fr:Quad]]
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[[ja:クワッド]]
 
[[Category:Measurements]]
  
[[Category:Measurements]]
 
[[Category:Computer technology]]
  
[[Category:Computer technology]]
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[[de:Quad]]
  

Revision as of 05:48, 28 February 2016

A quad was a measurement of information storage in Federation computers. While Federation computers used binary code in some capacity, they also are known to have used trinary code.

Measurement listing

The values of various amounts of quads could be expressed as kiloquads, megaquads, gigaquads, teraquads, petaquads, or exaquads, depending on the order of magnitude of the data being expressed.

Kiloquad

  • In 2374, when USS Voyager made contact with Starfleet Command after years alone in the Delta Quadrant, they transmitted hundreds of kiloquads of data home about the region they had traversed. (VOY: "Message in a Bottle") In return, utilizing the same alien sensor relay network, Starfleet Command transmitted a large amount of encrypted data intended to reach USS Voyager but due to issues using such ancient alien technology, was badly degraded in transit. Arturis was able to reconstruct over 68 kiloquads of information, however, much of it was still garbled. (VOY: "Hope and Fear")
Whether the "garbled" portion of the data was a different subset of the entire message sent by Starfleet or a subset of the 68 kiloquads Arturis helped reconstruct is unclear.

Megaquad

  • Before being transported through a compressed data stream to the MIDAS array in the Alpha Quadrant from the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, the Emergency Medical Hologram had to leave 12 megaquads behind to fit the bandwidth of the transmission. (VOY: "Life Line")

Gigaquad

  • After Chakotay's bioneural energy was restored to his corporeal body, The Doctor mentioned that the procedure responsible involved "three neural transceivers, two cortical stimulators, and fifty gigaquads of computer memory." (VOY: "Cathexis")
  • The Emergency Medical Holographic program Mark I took up 50 million gigaquads of computer memory, noting that that was "considerably more than most highly developed humanoid brains." (VOY: "Lifesigns")
  • The Doctor had accumulated 15 thousand gigaquads of unnecessary information in his holomatrix, including opera and romantic relationships (VOY: "The Swarm")
  • After the warp ten test flight by Tom Paris on the Cochrane, the sensor logs of the shuttle collected nearly five billion gigaquads of information. (VOY: "Threshold")
  • Seven of Nine collected over 30 thousand gigaquads of research about romantic relationships. (VOY: "Someone to Watch Over Me")
  • After a long ordeal while in contact with a being known only as "the distortion ring" B'Elanna noted that they had over twenty million gigaquads of new information input into the ship's computer. (VOY: "Twisted")
  • The fictional EMH in The Doctor's holonovel Photons Be Free had 50 gigaquads of memory devoted to music, 42 gigaquads for daydreams and another 10 gigaquads for expanding his sexuality. (VOY: "Author, Author")

Teraquad

Background information

This terminology was originally developed by technical advisers to The Next Generation. The unit of measurement originated in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, and was also used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual.

The terms quads and kiloquads in TNG were used in a manner consistent with the system defined in the Technical Manual. However, by the time Voyager was airing, they started using extremely large numbers that lacked internal consistency, such as "billions of gigaquads" and "billions of teraquads." If these are accurate, USS Voyager's computers are more advanced and have a capacity that is orders of magnitude greater than the ones just seven years earlier in TNG.

Writers and advisers deliberately used prefixes used with bytes in modern day notation (mirroring kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, and terabyte). The terminology "quad" was used to detract from comparisons possible with modern-day computing power, since reality frequently outstrips fiction when it comes to computer science. Current capabilities are orders of magnitude greater than what scientists expected them to be only 20-30 years ago, with capacities and speeds roughly doubling every two years as per Moore's Law.

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