togophonebook Chapter 23 The Sky
Chapter 23 The Sky
The delivery of stage three went more smoothly than that of stages one and two.
Zuo Cheng spent five days compiling all the documents—a technical review report, full-scenario performance test data, an algorithm architecture specification, and a detailed deployment guide. Each document underwent review from Fang Ze's engineering perspective and readability optimization by Shen Yue, resulting in a significant improvement in quality compared to the previous version.
On December 5th, the materials were packaged and sent to Han Zhe.
This time, it didn't take long. On the afternoon of the third day, Han Zhe called.
"The review results are in. The overall score is 94."
It's three points higher than the score of 91 in the first round.
"Four out of the five judges gave it a score of 90 or higher, and CEO Zhou gave it 98." Han Zhe's tone was unusually relaxed. "He said your scene adaptation mechanism was at least six months more mature than he expected."
Zuo Cheng didn't exchange many pleasantries, only asking, "What about stage four?"
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.
"Step four is not something I can discuss with you," Han Zhe lowered his voice. "President Zhou wants you to come to the R&D center next Monday; he'll speak with you personally."
Zuo Cheng hung up the phone and opened the system panel.
[Main Quest Chain - Breaking the Communication Impasse - Stage Three: Completed!]
[Full-Scenario Deployment Evaluation: Excellent (All four scenarios exceed 30%, with the highest reaching 41%)]
[Rewards are being distributed]
[Unlocking the Blades: Communication System Architecture ✓]
[Points +12 (Current Points: 41)]
[Hidden segment four is being unlocked...]
Forty-one points. Seven leaves.
The branches at the base of the technology tree were mostly covered by lush green leaves, and the pale golden vein extending from the roots was growing brighter and brighter. The outline of the "Communication Engineering" branch at the end was clearly visible, and it was just one step away from being lit up.
However, the content of hidden segment four has not yet been revealed; only one line of text is slowly flashing on the screen:
[The content of Step Four will be automatically updated after the host obtains the key information.]
Key information. Things Zhou Henian wanted to tell him personally.
Monday, December 12th.
Zuo Cheng entered the Blue Bay Communications R&D Center for the third time. This time, Han Zhe did not wait for him on the seventeenth floor, but instead took him to the twenty-third floor—a floor Zuo Cheng had never been to before.
The moment the elevator doors opened, Zuo Cheng sensed something was different.
The corridor on the 23rd floor is narrower than those on other floors, with no transparent glass partitions on either side, only solid walls. At the end of the corridor is a security door that requires a special access card to pass through, with an inconspicuous red indicator light above it.
Han Zhe swiped his card to open the door and led him into a conference room.
The meeting room was small, but extremely simply furnished—an oval conference table, eight chairs, and a touch screen embedded in the center of the table. There were no windows, and fluorescent lights illuminated the entire room in a bright white light.
Zhou Henian was already seated inside. In front of him lay a blue-covered document with two words printed on it: "Sky Dome".
"sit."
Zuo Cheng sat down. Han Zhe stood at the door for a second, then stepped back and closed the door.
There were only two people left in the meeting room.
"What I'm about to say cannot be revealed to anyone before the project is officially announced," Zhou Henian said, looking at him with a more serious tone than ever before, "including your mentor and your team."
"clear."
Zhou Henian pushed the blue document in front of Zuo Cheng.
"Open it."
Zuo Cheng opened the cover; the first page was a diagram—above the outline of Blue Star, a grid composed of hundreds of small dots surrounded it. Next to each dot were labeled the orbital altitude, speed, and communication frequency band.
Low Earth orbit satellite constellation.
"The full name of Project Sky Dome is 'Sky Dome Low-Earth Orbit Satellite Communication Constellation System'," Zhou Henian's voice was steady and clear. "Blue Bay Communications plans to launch 1,200 low-Earth orbit communication satellites within the next five years to build a space-based communication network covering more than 98% of the Earth's surface. The goal is to achieve global, blind-spot-free, low-latency, and high-bandwidth satellite internet service."
Zuo Cheng's breath hitched for a second.
1,200 satellites. A space-based communication network. Global coverage with no blind spots.
This is not an ordinary business project. It is a strategic gamble by Blue Bay Communications, betting the company's future.
"There are three core technological challenges with Tianqiong." Zhou Henian turned to the third page, where a triangle was drawn with three lines of text labeled at each vertex: "First, channel estimation for the satellite-to-ground link—the communication channel between the satellite and the ground terminal is more than ten times more complex than terrestrial 5G. The atmosphere, the ionosphere, the Doppler effect, and the high-speed motion of the satellite—all these factors combined make it impossible for existing channel estimation algorithms to handle."
He glanced at Zuo Cheng.
"This is the direction you've been working on. Your full-scene adaptive algorithm is the closest to Tianqiong's requirements among all the solutions we've evaluated."
Zuo Cheng remained silent and continued to observe the second peak.
"Secondly, high-speed data relay via inter-satellite links—real-time communication and coordinated scheduling are required between 1,200 satellites, resulting in extremely high data throughput and extremely low latency requirements. There are currently no mature solutions for this."
The third vertex.
"Third, low-cost and intelligent ground terminals—traditional satellite communication terminals are large and expensive, and Tianqiong's goal is to enable ordinary mobile phones to connect directly to satellites. This requires an order-of-magnitude increase in the signal processing capabilities of the terminal side, while keeping costs down to consumer-grade levels."
Zhou Henian closed the document and placed his hands crossed on the table.
"Of the three core challenges, you've already largely solved the first one. The second and third require new people, new technologies, and new ideas."
He looked directly into Zuo Cheng's eyes.
"I want you to participate in the first phase of the Sky Dome project's technical challenges during your winter break internship—upgrading your full-scene adaptive algorithm to a satellite-to-ground link version. This is part four."
Zuo Cheng's mind was racing.
The channel differences between satellite-to-ground links and terrestrial 5G are orders of magnitude. No matter how complex the ground environment, the basic medium for signal propagation is air and buildings. However, satellite-to-ground links must traverse the entire atmosphere—meteorological interference in the troposphere, temperature gradients in the stratosphere, and the Faraday rotation effect in the ionosphere—each layer causing different forms of signal distortion. Add to that the dramatic Doppler shift caused by satellites moving at speeds exceeding seven kilometers per second…
This is more than twice as difficult as the third stage.
But Zuo Cheng's eyes lit up.
On the technology tree in his mind, seven emerald green leaves trembled slightly, as if responding to some kind of excitement deep within his consciousness. The four leaves directly related to communication—fundamentals of communication systems, advanced channel estimation, communication systems engineering, and communication systems architecture—along with the two fundamental leaves of signal processing, all pointed in the same direction at this moment.
Satellite communications.
This was the realm he had been gradually approaching since the first day he returned from his time travel, though he himself was unaware of it at the time.
"President Zhou," Zuo Cheng began, his voice steady, "what are the specific assessment criteria for Stage Four?"
Zhou Henian smiled. It wasn't a polite smile, but a smile that said, "You asked the right question."
"During the first phase of the Sky Dome project's technical review, a feasible satellite-to-ground link channel estimation scheme was submitted and passed a joint review by the Blue Bay Communications Technology Committee and external experts. The review criteria included the scheme's theoretical completeness, simulation verification results, and feasibility assessment for engineering implementation."
"What about time?"
"Completed during the winter break internship, approximately six weeks."
Six weeks. To develop a channel estimation scheme for satellite-to-ground links from scratch.
crazy.
But Zuo Cheng wasn't talking nonsense. He said, "I need Blue Bay Communications to provide the measured channel data for the satellite-to-ground link, as well as technical information on satellite orbit parameters and atmospheric models."
"Everything is ready." Zhou Henian brought up a file list on the desktop touchscreen. "You'll receive all the materials on your first day of internship."
Zuo Cheng nodded.
The light screen lit up in my consciousness, and a new text appeared:
[Main Quest Chain - Breaking the Communication Barrier - Hidden Stage Four Unlocked]
[Step 4: Submit and approve the satellite-to-ground link channel estimation scheme during the first phase of the Sky Dome project's technical review.]
[Duration: 42 days (during winter break internship)]
[Reward for Stage Four: Unlock the "Communications Project" branch, +20 points]
[Chain completion reward: +20 bonus points, Tech Tree Evolution - Stage 1 unlocked]
Zuo Cheng's gaze lingered on the last line.
Tech tree evolution. Phase 1 unlocked.
This was a completely new concept he had never seen before.
Above the branches, there are things even higher.
"Mr. Zhou." He stood up, extended his hand, and said, "See you during winter break."
Zhou Henian shook hands with him, his grip as steady as last time.
See you during winter break.