architecture

ZeroDDS — architecture documentation

This document suite forms the architectural foundation for the development of ZeroDDS — a sovereign, complete DDS implementation in Rust with bindings for C, C++, C#, Java, Python and Rust.

The name ZeroDDS reflects the core promise: zero dependencies (safe core), zero panic (contract), zero unsafe (where structurally possible), zero copy (SHM path), zero vendor lock-in.

Execution model

ZeroDDS is developed as an internal core project (Apache 2.0-licensed, optionality for later opening preserved). We are our own first customer: the stack is validated against a concrete internal application before external partnerships, OMG membership, patent clearance or safety certification are activated.

Bootstrap era (Phases 0–2, ~10–14 months): internal MVP. Proof era (Phases 3–4, ~6–10 months): benchmark parity with eProsima, external readiness. Expansion era (Phase 5+, conditional): OMG, Ferrous Systems, safety audit, community.

Reading order by role

For leadership and stakeholders

1. 00_overview.md — executive summary, mission, success criteria

For tech leads and architects

1. 00_overview.md
2. 01_scope_and_specs.md — OMG spec coverage
3. 02_architecture.md — system and crate architecture
4. 03_profiles_and_platforms.md — deployment profiles
5. 07_risks_and_strategy.md — strategic risks

For safety engineers

1. 00_overview.md
2. 02_architecture.md
3. 04_safety_by_architecture.md — safe-subset contract (primary document)
4. 03_profiles_and_platforms.md — safe-profile details
5. 06_roadmap.md §8 — Phase-5 audit path

For product engineers (per sub-system)

1. 02_architecture.md — identify your own crate responsibility
2. 01_scope_and_specs.md — which OMG specs concern you
3. 04_safety_by_architecture.md — coding rules (if a safe crate)
4. 05_observability_and_tooling.md — instrumentation expectations

For platform/DevOps

1. 03_profiles_and_platforms.md — build matrix
2. 05_observability_and_tooling.md — monitoring design
3. 06_roadmap.md — release plan

Document overview

File	Scope	Review interval
00_overview.md	Mission and vision	Quarterly
01_scope_and_specs.md	OMG spec coverage and conformance	Per release
02_architecture.md	System and crate architecture	Quarterly
03_profiles_and_platforms.md	Profiles and platform matrix	Per release
04_safety_by_architecture.md	Safety contract	Per phase or on rule changes
05_observability_and_tooling.md	Observability and tooling	Quarterly
06_roadmap.md	Phases and milestones	Monthly
07_risks_and_strategy.md	Risks and strategic options	Monthly
08_heterogeneous_security.md	Per-peer/per-interface security for systems-of-systems (WP 4.9)	Per release
09_delegation.md	Gateway/bridge delegation for vehicle mesh + edge peers without their own cert (WP 4H-j)	Per release

Change process

All architecture documents live in the main repository under docs/architecture/. Changes are made via pull request and require:

• At least one review by a tech lead or safety engineer (for 04_safety_by_architecture.md)
• A rationale in the PR description
• An update of the relevant Status: field and, if applicable, a version increment

Related resources (outside this suite)

• Standards registry under internal/standards/ for all external specs (OMG, W3C, IETF, CNCF, OASIS, ISO/IEC) on which ZeroDDS builds
• Requirements tracker (Polarion, DOORS, or GitHub Issues with REQ-... labels)
• ADR directory under docs/adr/ for Architecture Decision Records
• Safety-waiver register under internal/safety-waivers/
• Design RFCs under internal/rfcs/ for larger technical proposals
• Security advisories under internal/security/advisories/

Conventions

• Language: English for the architecture suite and all public-facing material (GitHub README, spec files, public API docs).
• Format: Markdown, CommonMark + GitHub-Flavored Markdown features.
• Cross-references: relative (02_architecture.md §3.1) not absolute.
• Terminology: established English technical terms are kept as-is (crate, workspace, feature flag, discovery).
• Code examples: Rust as the main language, with syntax highlighting.

Status

This document set is in the Draft v0.2 state (updated for the ZeroDDS name and the bootstrap-before-expansion strategy). It is formally reviewed, adjusted and released in Phase 0 of the project.