0
$\begingroup$

I was living in a country where Internet wasn't that fast so the younger me had the following idea for compressing data

Let say 2 parties want to send data to each other, we know that data can be represented by a number literally any data no matter the size can be just a giant number.

So let say the 2 parties have this perfect synchronized clock and a very fast one, I mean a clock that can count billions of billions ( equivalent of gbits of data ) in a short amount of time.

So for party 1 to send data to party 2 it only need to send 2 messages : start counting and stop counting.

So any data can be sent using only 2 bits lol.

How hard is it to design that clock ?

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
8
  • $\begingroup$ Well, billions of billions ticks per second is $10^{18}$ ticks/sec. This is approximately the max long number. It means, that your protocol allows one to send one long number per second. You can split it into chunks of $10^9$: and it means that you can send $10^9$ integers per second. And you can continue splitting it, limiting it to chunks of length $1$ or $2$ ticks: this way you'll be able to send $10^{18}$ binary signals per second. Therefore, you better of just send binary numbers. $\endgroup$
    – user114966
    Jul 19, 2020 at 21:47
  • $\begingroup$ Yeah I knew that, but by billions I really mean something that can count to gbits. $\endgroup$
    – user123664
    Jul 19, 2020 at 21:51
  • $\begingroup$ I've edited my comment. something that can count to gbits I don't really understand what it means. Even if you have $10^{1000}$ ticks/sec, it doesn't help you (you'll be able to send something like $50$ longs per sec). $\endgroup$
    – user114966
    Jul 19, 2020 at 21:52
  • $\begingroup$ 1 gb of a known data is equal to a unique number a very big one so a counter for that. $\endgroup$
    – user123664
    Jul 19, 2020 at 22:05
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Anyway, as you might've guessed looking at the numbers (which in your scenario is would be $2^{10^9}$ ticks/sec), the answer is "physically impossible". For a tick to occur, something must change inside the clock. And even if that changes happen within atom-level distances, particles must move far-far-far faster then a speed of light. There are other scenarios (like matter-energy conversion), but I can say without looking that they'll be equally impossible. Other things (such as radioactive decay) also don't happen anywhere near that frequently. $\endgroup$
    – user114966
    Jul 19, 2020 at 22:15

0

Reset to default

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.