Editing Sovereign Class (section)

==COMPUTER CORE==

Number of computer cores: Two; The primary core one occupies space on decks 6, 7, 8 and 9 directly below the main bridge. The secondary, engineering section core is smaller in size to the first and is located adjacent to Environmental Control on decks 15 - 17.

Type: The AC-16 Bio-Neural Super-series computer core is built under contract for the Sovereign-class vessel by Krayne Systems, an independent contractor based on Bynar. The structure of the computer is similar to that of most other supercomputing systems in use by Federation vessels with stack segments extending through the ship forming trillions of trillions of connections through the processing and storage abilities of modern Isolinear chips. The core essentially consists of two independent processing systems that work in concert for maximum performance. Bio-neural-based processors throughout the core are utilized for complex calculations while an Isolinear-based system is used for the storage and cataloging of core information. 

For most missions, requirements on the computer core rarely exceed 45-50% of a single core's processing and storage capacity. The rest of the core is utilized for various scientific, tactical, or intelligence gathering missions - or to backup data in the event of a damaged core.

Bio-Neural Gel Packs: Referred to typically as BNGs, Bio-Neural Gel Packs are a new innovation in shipboard data processing and routing. Mounted at strategic locations along the ODN pathways, each BNG consists of an artificial bio-fluid that allows transmission of neural signals. The heart of the BNG is a packet of neural clusters, grown copies of strands similar to those found in the brains of sentient beings. These clusters give the ship’s computer ‘instinctive’ data processing and routing ability as well as allowing the ship’s computer to utilize ‘fuzzy logic’ to speed up probability calculations much as a living, breathing entity would. The system is not a replacement for existing Isolinear computer systems currently in use Federation-wide, but is rather an upgrade to its existing processing powers. By distributing gel packs throughout a starship's computer system information can be organized more efficiently, therefore processed more quickly and speeding up response time. Developed for the Intrepid class, this type of computer system did not see full deployment until the launch of that class. Aboard these starships, the new system proved successful, although the biological nature of the packs has led to problems such as infection and subsequent slowdown of the computer processing powers. Despite this short-coming, Starfleet Command is determining the viability of using the packs fleet wide. So impressed is the ASDB with the BNGPs that they are now being used as the standard computer system aboard all new starship designs, pending approval of Starfleet Command.