Yerameyahu wrote:

Is any part of the cyberbrain used for the sort of virtual motor cortex stuff (and/or autonomous functions, etc.) that goes along with distinct morphs, or is that all software 'patches' of the sleeving process?

Probably. Actually, the motor cortex components that the original AI used for interacting with the body could probably interface with a cyberbrain structure (it's likely standardized, like USB). For cyberbrains in organic bodies (such as pods), they are likely attached to an interface device that hooks up to the rest of the central nervous system, and translates the cyberbrain's commands into biological processes.

nezumi.hebereke wrote:

But how much of what is 'on' an ecto is actually on the cloud?

Probably not much, if any. Processing power has increased dramatically since our day, and this can be seen with mesh inserts, which are a full-capability computation system capable of being housed in the skull next to the brain without pushing too much of it out of the way. To be honest, we can't use today's cloud computing completely to model the future's. Current cloud computing is focused around security, accessibility, and high-end computation. Within EP's future, however, accessibility is no longer an issue as most people have their computers implanted within their brain. High-end computation (such as for simspaces, reputation networks, databases) and security needs (vital document storage, DRM) are likely to be the only remaining elements that need the cloud that would exist from the present. Of course, there is the possibility of some new computing paradigm that also comes about to take up cloud computing.

Arenamontanus wrote:

I have somewhat handwavingly decided that the minimal cyberbrain has a volume of about a cubic centimetre. I based this on my estimates of nanoprocessing for uploads and the fact that a cortical stack (that at least stores an ego) has this size. Presumably this is where the density starts to bite (hard to cool etc), and most cyberbrains tend to be 10-100 times larger but with lower design demands.

I always assumed that the majority of a cortical stack is the protective diamond shell, and not the actual storage itself. The casing of a cortical stack is designed to take a vast amount of punishment, and I imagine that means it's shell is the largest majority of its space (at least 70% of its volume, if not more). However, I do agree on processing density. A more densely-populated processor has higher heat output, so a less dense system nearly the size of a human brain, that is capable of doing the same processing as a system the size of a credit card or smaller, is likely to be relatively very heat efficient. This is probably one of the steps necessary to produce a synthetically-masked synthmorph... it's hard to pose as a human when your head temperature is significantly higher than what a human can survive.

I know people keep mentioning cortical stacks, but is that really relevant? They're storage, not the place where the ego is 'run', right?

Again, that's storage, not processing. It's not a critical point, because we're also talking about ectos and things (which *are* about processing). I just found it odd that cortical stacks entered into the conversation at all. Do we have any idea how big a Ghostrider module is (beyond 'small enough to fit in a morph')? That's sort of the question of the thread, restated.

If this is the case, an ecto is probably the best thing to go on. A credit-card-sized mass beneath the skin would be relatively unobtrusive.