The '''transporter''' was a [[subspace]] device capable of almost instantaneously moving an object from one location to another. Transporters are able to dematerialize, transmit and reassemble an object. The act of transporting is often referred to as "beaming."
A typical transport sequence began with a coordinate lock, during which the destination was verified and programmed, via the targeting scanners. Obtaining or maintaining a transporter lock enables the transporter operator to know the subject's location, even in motion, allowing the beaming process to start more quickly. This is an essential safety precaution when a starship away team enters a potentially dangerous situation that would require an emergency beam-out.
When there was a risk that such devices would be lost in the field or are otherwise unavailable, personnel could be implanted with a subcutaneous transponder before an away mission to still provide a means to maintain a transporter lock. Alternatively, sensors could be used to scan for the biosign or energy signature of a subject, which could then be fed into the transporter's targeting scanner for a lock.
Next, the lifeform or object to be beamed was scanned on the quantum level using a molecular imaging scanner. At this point, Heisenberg compensators took into account the position and direction of all subatomic particles composing the object or individual and created a map of the physical structure being disassembled amounting to billions of kiloquads of data.
Emory Erickson, the inventor of the transporter, with daughterSimultaneously, the object was broken down into a stream of subatomic particles, also called the matter stream. The matter stream was briefly stored in a pattern buffer while the system compensates for Doppler shift to the destination.
The matter stream was then transmitted to its destination via a subspace frequency. As with any type of transmission of energy or radiation, scattering and degradation of the signal must be monitored closely. The annular confinement beam (ACB) acted to maintain the integrity of the information contained in the beam. Finally, the initial process was reversed and the object or individual was reassembled at the destination.
From its earliest incarnations, and continuing until some time between the early 2270s and mid 2280s, transporters generally immobilized the subject being beamed during dematerialization and rematerialization. Advances in transporter technology after that point allowed a person being transported to move during the process in a limited fashion.
Transporter Operations (alternate reality)
Transporter effect of the alternate reality's USS Enterprise
In the alternate reality caused by Nero, the transporter operation process included the use of the annular confinement beam, followed by electromagnetic focusing, the use of a gravitational compensator. Then the operator applied a temporal differential, after which he engaged a particle lock. (Star Trek)
