



GREEN Working Group                                             J. Moore
Internet-Draft                                                J. Kinsler
Intended status: Informational                                Vettic LLC
Expires: 12 October 2026                                   10 April 2026


Resource-Aware Routing and Mechanical Displacement for Energy-Efficient
                           Networking (GREEN)
              draft-moore-green-mechanical-displacement-00

Abstract

   The evolving draft-ietf-green-framework provides necessary YANG data
   models for monitoring Device Level Energy Efficiency (DLEE) and
   Component Level Energy Efficiency (CLEE).  However, mitigating high-
   volume East-West traffic (e.g., massive inference synchronization)
   during peak grid carbon-intensity remains a structural challenge.

   This document proposes an architectural extension utilizing Delay-
   Tolerant Networking (DTN).  It introduces "Mechanical
   Displacement"—the physical routing of encrypted cold data via
   autonomous or commercial logistics—as a zero-marginal-emission
   routing path, managed by hardware-rooted out-of-band blind packet
   switching.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 12 October 2026.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2026 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.





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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
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   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  The Architectural Bottleneck  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  The Vettic Currier Network (VCN) Integration  . . . . . . . .   3
     4.1.  Blind Packet Switching  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     4.2.  Telemetry Ingestion and Threshold Triggers  . . . . . . .   3
     4.3.  Physical Offload and Mechanical Displacement  . . . . . .   3
   5.  Hardware-Rooted Executive Interlock . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     6.1.  Temporal Data Sovereignty (The Digital Fuse)  . . . . . .   4
     6.2.  Post-Severance Data Custody and Entropy Flush . . . . . .   4
   7.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   As hyperscale compute environments push unprecedented power
   densities, systems operating with unmitigated execution authority
   generate massive data payloads (e.g., AI model weight updates, cold-
   storage mirroring).  While the GREEN framework effectively monitors
   network energy consumption, rerouting petabyte-scale traffic across
   alternate digital fiber paths still incurs a massive continuous
   energy cost.

   This draft extends the GREEN framework by defining how physical
   transport logistics can be structurally integrated as high-latency,
   zero-marginal-emission network nodes, physically offloading digital
   traffic from carbon-heavy grids.

2.  Terminology

   *  *Mechanical Displacement:* The physical transportation of
      encrypted digital payloads via non-traditional network couriers
      (e.g., autonomous delivery vehicles, commercial aviation) to
      bypass digital transmission energy costs.





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   *  *Sentry Node:* An out-of-band hardware apparatus that acts as an
      Executive Anchor, evaluating payload characteristics and enforcing
      routing thresholds physically isolated from the host operating
      system.

   *  *Blind Packet Switching:* The routing methodology used by the
      Sentry Node to make physical displacement decisions based strictly
      on hardware-level trace signatures, payload weight, and urgency,
      without decrypting the payload.

3.  The Architectural Bottleneck

   Currently, when GREEN YANG models detect high carbon intensity on a
   route, the network attempts to throttle or redirect traffic.  For
   delay-tolerant, high-volume data, this still results in significant
   energy expenditure over extended transmission windows.  The framework
   lacks a mechanism to drop digital transmission energy to absolute
   zero while maintaining cryptographically secure data transport.

4.  The Vettic Currier Network (VCN) Integration

   The proposed solution integrates the Vettic Currier Network (VCN) as
   a delay-tolerant routing layer directly responsive to GREEN metrics.

4.1.  Blind Packet Switching

   Sentry Nodes operate at the silicon level, utilizing blind packet
   switching to identify the volume and urgency of a payload.  Critical
   telemetry (e.g., execution tokens, failsafe commands) is prioritized
   for immediate digital backhaul, while massive "cold" data is flagged
   for potential physical displacement.

4.2.  Telemetry Ingestion and Threshold Triggers

   The routing logic ingests real-time YANG energy metrics (e.g., ietf-
   power-management) from the GREEN framework.  The Sentry Node
   evaluates the data weight against the local grid's current carbon
   intensity and power stress.

4.3.  Physical Offload and Mechanical Displacement

   If a high-volume payload encounters a high-stress grid threshold, the
   VCN triggers the physical routing path.  The payload is spool-written
   to encrypted, localized storage mediums and handed to the courier
   layer (Mechanical Displacement).  By treating autonomous vehicles or
   commercial logistics as network nodes, the digital grid's power
   constraints are structurally mitigated.




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5.  Hardware-Rooted Executive Interlock

   Because this routing architecture shifts data outside traditional
   digital perimeters, it requires a hardware-rooted Failsafe.  The
   Sentry Node serves as this Executive Anchor.  If an unauthorized
   state divergence or tamper attempt is detected during the offload
   process, the Sentry Node deterministically drops voltage to zero
   (V=0) exclusively to the compromised interface, physically severing
   the connection before data exfiltration can occur.

6.  Security Considerations

   Mechanical Displacement introduces physical custody vectors.  To
   mitigate this, the VCN architecture ensures the physical courier acts
   purely as a "blind relay."  The courier transports the encrypted
   spool but lacks the cryptographic keys required for decryption or
   inspection.  Data sovereignty is maintained via hardware-enforced
   encryption, and physical tampering triggers a verifiable failure
   state sealed in an air-gapped ledger.

6.1.  Temporal Data Sovereignty (The Digital Fuse)

   To secure data in transit via Mechanical Displacement, the VCN
   enforces Temporal Data Sovereignty.  Encrypted data bundles contain
   an unencrypted header defining strict expiration criteria (e.g.,
   time-to-live thresholds, transit duration limits).  If the physical
   courier fails to reach the destination network within the defined
   window, a digital fuse logic permanently purges the payload,
   structurally mitigating data capture if an asset is intercepted.

6.2.  Post-Severance Data Custody and Entropy Flush

   When the Executive Anchor initiates a V=0 severance, it manages
   residual data at rest.  Prior to total power loss, the Sentry Node
   utilizes blind packet switching to extract critical operational
   payloads laterally via the VCN, preserving mission continuity.
   Concurrently, the architecture executes an Active Physical Entropy
   Flush.  It injects a localized voltage spike into the compromised
   asset's volatile memory (VRAM), obliterating localized data to defend
   against post-mortem physical extraction attacks.

7.  Informative References

   [GREEN-FRAMEWORK]
              Internet Engineering Task Force, "draft-ietf-green-
              framework-00".





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Authors' Addresses

   Jonathon Moore
   Vettic LLC
   Email: jon.moore@vettic.ai


   Jacob Kinsler
   Vettic LLC
   Email: jacob.kinsler@vettic.ai









































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