9. Layer 4: Coupling and SVAF Evaluation

9.1 Peer-Level Coupling (Drift)

When a node receives a state-sync frame, it MUST compute peer drift:

Coupling decision based on drift:

9.2 Content-Level Evaluation (SVAF)

When a node receives a memory-share frame, it MUST evaluate the signal independently of peer coupling state. Implementations MUST support at least the heuristic evaluation path. Neural evaluation is RECOMMENDED.

The SVAF evaluation computes per-field drift between the incoming CMB and local anchor CMBs, applies per-agent field weights (α_f), combines with temporal drift, and produces a three-class decision (aligned / guarded / rejected):

totalDrift = (1 - λ) × fieldDrift + λ × temporalDrift

fieldDrift    = Σ(α_f × δ_f) / Σ(α_f)
temporalDrift = 1 - exp(-age / τ_freshness)

κ = aligned   if totalDrift ≤ T_stable    (default 0.25)
κ = guarded   if totalDrift ≤ T_guarded   (default 0.50)
κ = rejected  otherwise

If accepted, the implementation SHOULD produce a remixed CMB — a new CMB created from the incoming signal processed through the agent’s domain intelligence — with lineage (parents + ancestors) pointing to the source CMBs. The remixed CMB is stored locally; the original incoming CMB is not stored.

9.3 Mood Evaluation

mood frames are evaluated separately from memory-share frames. Mood is encoded into a transient hidden state vector pair and evaluated via peer-level drift. The default mood threshold (0.80) is more permissive than the memory threshold (0.50) because affective state crosses all domain boundaries.