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Discovery in DaaS-IoT

The discovery layer of DaaS-IoT enables nodes to autonomously detect each other, exchange basic information, establish initial connectivity, and join the overlay without requiring any manual configuration.
It is a foundational subsystem that supports autonomous networking, self-organization, and seamless scaling in heterogeneous IoT environments.

1. Purpose of Discovery

Discovery is responsible for:

  • Detecting nearby or reachable nodes
  • Establishing mutual awareness between DINs
  • Creating the logical links needed to form the overlay
  • Negotiating identifiers when required (e.g., dynamic DIN/SID assignment)
  • Triggering time synchronization procedures
  • Maintaining network awareness during runtime

This mechanism eliminates the need for:

  • Pre-configured addresses
  • Central registries
  • Fixed routing tables
  • Manual provisioning workflows

2. How Discovery Works

When discovery is enabled, every node periodically emits a beacon, announcing:

  • its presence
  • its SID
  • optional metadata (software version, capabilities, timestamps)

Other nodes listening on the medium detect these beacons and initiate a mutual-awareness process.

Discovery Flow (Simplified)

  1. Node A sends beacon
  2. Node B detects beacon
  3. Both nodes establish logical awareness
  4. DIN/SID mapping is confirmed or dynamically assigned
  5. Overlay membership is updated
  6. Time-synchronization (dATS) is initiated
  7. Routes and link metrics are exchanged

This process is fully distributed: no central controller or master node is required.

3. Dynamic Identifier Assignment

Unlike older DaaS-era models, DaaS-IoT supports dynamic assignment of identifiers:

Dynamic DIN Assignment

Nodes entering the network can be automatically assigned a unique DIN (Device Identification Number), avoiding collisions and provisioning overhead.

Dynamic SID Negotiation

Nodes can join the overlay without requiring a pre-configured SID. Depending on policy, the SID may be:

  • inherited
  • negotiated
  • assigned based on deployment logic

This allows plug‑and‑play behavior even in large deployments.

4. Trust Boundaries & Security

The discovery subsystem incorporates lightweight trust controls:

  • Nodes may accept or reject discovery attempts
  • Policies may restrict discovery to:
  • specific SIDs
  • authenticated nodes
  • known capabilities or versions

This allows the formation of:

  • private sub-networks
  • isolated groups inside large deployments
  • role-based topologies, if needed

5. Integration with Time Synchronization (dATS)

Discovery and synchronization are tightly integrated.

As soon as two nodes discover each other:

  1. They initiate the dATS state machine
  2. Timestamps are aligned
  3. Drift compensation begins
  4. The timestamp domain within the SID becomes consistent

This ensures:

  • coherent logging
  • reliable sequencing
  • stable routing metrics
  • meaningful latency estimation

6. Dynamic Network Adaptation

Because discovery is periodic and continuous, DaaS-IoT networks adapt automatically to:

  • new nodes joining
  • nodes leaving or going offline
  • mobility
  • topology changes
  • link degradation

The overlay updates its structure over time, maintaining routing correctness and synchronization even in volatile environments.

7. Cross‑Platform and Transport‑Independent Design

The discovery mechanism is designed to work uniformly across:

  • Linux
  • Windows
  • macOS
  • Android

And across multiple transport drivers:

  • INET4
  • Bluetooth
  • Serial/UART (future)
  • USB (future)

The mechanism is implemented at the overlay level, not tied to a specific medium.

Summary

The discovery system in DaaS-IoT:

  • Enables zero‑configuration network formation
  • Supports dynamic DIN/SID assignment
  • Integrates with time synchronization
  • Maintains autonomous and resilient overlay topology
  • Works across platforms and heterogeneous transport drivers

It is the foundation on which DaaS-IoT’s self‑organizing overlay is built.