Skip to content

relay.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
90 lines (61 loc) · 2.88 KB

relay.md

File metadata and controls

90 lines (61 loc) · 2.88 KB
Raw

relay

Summary

The relay component is the programmable surface of the relay block. It bridges subnetworks while keeping ordinary components local, and it can be extended with wireless cards or linked cards for long-distance packet forwarding.

Availability

  • Repository: opencomputers
  • Lua component name: relay
  • Typical host: relay block

What It Does

  • Bridges packets between wired subnetwork segments without exposing all components across the whole network.
  • Optionally forwards packets wirelessly when a wireless network card is installed.
  • Optionally forwards packets through a linked-card tunnel when a linked card is installed.
  • Supports repeater mode for re-broadcasting received wireless packets.

Hardware-Dependent Behavior

  • Without a wireless card, wireless range is effectively disabled.
  • With a tier 1 or tier 2 wireless card, the relay gains a configurable wireless forwarding range.
  • With a linked card, the relay can forward through the linked-card tunnel identified by that card's stored tunnel id.

The relay can also be upgraded with CPU, memory, and storage parts to improve forwarding delay, throughput, and queue size.

API

getStrength

  • Syntax: relay.getStrength()
  • Returns: number
  • Purpose: Returns the wireless relay range currently configured for packet forwarding.

setStrength

  • Syntax: relay.setStrength(strength)
  • Parameters:
    • strength:number: desired wireless forwarding range.
  • Returns: number
  • Purpose: Sets the wireless forwarding range and returns the applied value.

Behavior:

  • The value is clamped to 0..maxWirelessRange for the installed wireless card tier.
  • If no wireless card is installed, the effective maximum is 0.

isRepeater

  • Syntax: relay.isRepeater()
  • Returns: boolean
  • Purpose: Returns whether incoming wireless packets may be broadcast back out wirelessly.

setRepeater

  • Syntax: relay.setRepeater(enabled)
  • Parameters:
    • enabled:boolean: desired repeater state.
  • Returns: boolean
  • Purpose: Enables or disables repeater mode and returns the new state.

Practical Notes

  • Relay loops can still duplicate packets; the block does not keep a recent-forward history.
  • Wireless forwarding only happens when range is greater than 0 and enough energy is available.
  • Linked-card forwarding only happens for packets that entered from a specific side, not for every internal relay path.
  • ComputerCraft integration is also present in the implementation and mirrors modem-style events for attached ComputerCraft computers.

Example

local component = require("component")
local relay = component.relay

print("Current strength:", relay.getStrength())
print("Repeater mode:", relay.isRepeater())

relay.setStrength(16)
relay.setRepeater(true)

print("Applied strength:", relay.getStrength())
print("Repeater mode now:", relay.isRepeater())

Related

  • access_point
  • modem
  • tunnel