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P266 — AIEP — Federation Topology Consensus and Authority Protocol

Publication Date: 2026-04-12 Status: Open Source Prior Art Disclosure Licence: Apache License 2.0 Author/Organisation: Phatfella Ltd Schema: AIEP_OS_SPEC_TEMPLATE v1.0.1 — https://aiep.dev/schemas/aiep-os-spec-template/v1.0.1

Field of the Invention

[0001] The disclosure relates to topology management and authority consensus mechanisms for federated AI node networks.

[0002] More particularly, the disclosure concerns a federation topology consensus and authority protocol, defining how participating AIEP nodes collectively maintain an agreed view of the federation’s membership, authority structure, and capability distribution — without a central coordinator.

Framework Context

[0003] This invention operates within an Architected Instruction and Evidence Protocol (AIEP) environment as defined in United Kingdom patent application number GB2519711.2, filed 20 November 2025, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Summary of the Disclosure

[0004] A computer-implemented federation topology consensus and authority protocol comprises: maintaining a FederationTopologyManifest as a versioned document listing all ACTIVE FederationLinks, NodeIdentityRecords, partition ownership assignments, and authority capability allocations across the federation; versioning the FederationTopologyManifest with a monotonically increasing topology_version_id and a topology_hash computed over all current FederationLink records; distributing topology change proposals (node join, node departure, link addition, link revocation, partition reassignment) via a TopologyConsensusRound following the same quorum mechanism defined in P264 applied to topology state rather than evidence state; committing topology changes only after quorum is achieved and a TopologyCommitRecord is appended to all participating nodes’ governance logs; detecting TopologyDivergence when a node reports a topology_hash inconsistent with the majority view, triggering a TopologyReconciliationWorkflow; and assigning FederationAuthorityRoles from {TOPOLOGY_STEWARD, EVIDENCE_CUSTODIAN, CONSENSUS_COORDINATOR} to nodes based on governance agreement, with role re-assignment subject to TopologyConsensusRound.

[0005] No single node may unilaterally alter the FederationTopologyManifest. All changes require quorum consensus.

[0006] The technical effect is modification of computing system behaviour by providing a decentralised, consensus-based federation topology management mechanism that prevents unilateral topology manipulation in multi-sovereign AI networks.

Claims

[0007] A computer-implemented method for federation topology consensus and authority management comprising: maintaining a versioned FederationTopologyManifest; processing topology changes via quorum-based TopologyConsensusRounds; committing changes via TopologyCommitRecords; detecting and resolving TopologyDivergence; and governing FederationAuthorityRole assignments through consensus.

[0008] A system for federation topology consensus and authority management comprising one or more processors and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions to execute the method of claim 1.