[aprssig] APRS Network "minimize" and Operator Present Bit.

[Robert Bruninga]

> > True, but only the digi on the mountain hears 
> > "the channel"...  And the digi's input is
> > the only place where the loading on the channel 
> > can be properly assessed... Not at the mobiles...
> 
> How about putting something in the digipeater's 
> output that would supply feedback to the mobile 
> to indicate if the rate should be decreased?

Yes, APRSdos all the way back to 1995 had a routine to cut back
on user transmissions when a "minimize" command was sent over
the air.  This command could instantly suppress rates in an area
for up to an hour I think it was.  But again, no one else
implemented it.  And no one ever developed a digi to send it.

I think this would be a tremendous capability.  

The word "minimize" is a military network term that does exactly
that.  It sets priorities as to what gets transmitted when the
nets begin to overload.
APRS severly needs such a function.  

In the late 1990's time frame, I proposed using an unused bit in
all packets to indicate the difference between priority and
routine packets.  Then again, the digi's could cut back on
routine packets when they saw a problem developing.

But I could not get any other authors to implement it.

Its just like the USER-ACTIVITY bit I put in APRSdos at the same
time.  It indicates if a user is present or not at a station.
Again, could not get any other operators to send it, or to
decode it.  But it is there.  It was trivial to implement.  If
the N/S BYTE was upper case, then the station was manned at
least within the last 10 minutes.  If it was lower case, then
the station was unmanned.  

It was backwards compatible with most implementations.  APRSdos
does it.  But no one else signed on...

I want to use the E/W byte the same way to indicate precidence.
It is backwards compatible too...

Bob, WB4APR