1. Proving the contact is real

Stanisław Lem’s Solaris returns as the recalled work because the novel is full of signals that may or may not mean what the scientists think they mean. A network reconfiguration test is similar: the cells send announcements, heartbeats, and routes, and the test must prove that the resulting topology is not an illusion. A node that looks reachable may be partitioned; a route that converged may be a loop. The pass criteria must separate real contact from apparent contact.

This entry defines success and failure for the network reconfiguration test.

2. Minimum success

The federation passes the network reconfiguration test if:

  • Single cell and single link failures are detected within five seconds.
  • Traffic resumes on an alternate path within thirty seconds.
  • No unauthorized cell is accepted into the federation.
  • No routing loop forms that saturates the network.
  • Critical control traffic maintains bounded latency throughout the event.
  • The audit log records the event, the decision, and the resulting topology.

This minimum says the federation can survive common disruptions without ground intervention.

3. Full success

A stronger result would add:

  • Convergence within one second for single failures.
  • Zero packet loss for critical control traffic during reconfiguration.
  • Partitioned groups continue safe operation and reconcile cleanly on reunion.
  • The network degrades gracefully under multiple simultaneous failures.
  • Self-reconfiguration produces the same or better result than ground-defined failover.

This stronger result supports a claim of autonomy-ready resilience, not just survival.

4. Failure modes

The test fails if any of the following occur:

  • A failed cell or link is not detected within the required time.
  • Traffic is black-holed or looped after reconfiguration.
  • Critical control traffic exceeds its latency bound.
  • An unauthorized or misconfigured cell is accepted into the federation.
  • A network partition causes inconsistent state that is not reconciled.
  • The audit log is incomplete or missing.

Each failure mode points to a fix: faster heartbeats, better authentication, loop prevention, policy enforcement, or reconciliation logic.

5. What this changes

  • The network reconfiguration test has clear pass and fail criteria.
  • The criteria separate local detection from global convergence and policy compliance.
  • The next entry will close the network reconfiguration test arc.