Substrate Communications — Core Concepts
Version 1.0.0
1. Purpose#
Substrate Communications defines a minimal, structural messaging layer for systems that cannot rely on continuous, high‑bandwidth telemetry. Instead of streaming raw data, assets emit summaries that describe:
- drift against invariants
- paradox between signals
- coherence across a mesh
This enables long‑range, low‑bandwidth, substrate‑aware communication.
2. Assets and Invariants#
An asset is any monitored entity:
- industrial device
- ecological node
- spacecraft subsystem
- planetary region
An invariant is a structural expectation (e.g., temperature band, nutrient flux, radiation range).
Drift is evaluated relative to invariants.
3. Drift#
Drift is deviation from an invariant over a time window.
It is not failure — it is movement through state space.
Drift is summarized using STATE_SUMMARY messages.
4. Paradox#
A paradox occurs when:
- sensors disagree
- models conflict
- proxies diverge
Paradox is preserved using PARADOX_SUMMARY messages.
5. Mesh‑Level Coherence#
Substrate Communications scales from single assets to meshes:
- industrial networks
- forest‑scale ecological meshes
- multi‑probe deep‑space constellations
- planetary‑scale sampling regimes
Across a mesh, drift and paradox summaries reveal:
- stress fronts
- anomalies
- coherence patterns
- life‑regime signatures
The same grammar applies at all scales.