v0.8_Specification
Deterministic Semantic Layered Orchestration
Deterministic Semantic Layered Orchestration
Deterministic Semantic Layered Orchestration (DSLO) is a substrate‑level semantic protocol designed to stabilize meaning, posture, and continuity across human and machine systems. It provides a deterministic structure for representing and transitioning meaning before any interpretive system — human or artificial — acts upon it.
Meaning has drifted for centuries across oral, written, printed, broadcast, digital, and AI substrates. DSLO is the first semantic substrate designed to counteract this drift by enforcing stable semantic structure.
DSLO is not a model, agent, or application. It is the semantic ground layer beneath them. DSLO stabilizes meaning without interpreting or generating it; it enforces structure, not content.
Signals drift as they move across substrates. Historically, drift has emerged from:
loss of context
interpretive variance
emotional mismatch
medium constraints
institutional filters
memory decay
speed‑scale mismatches
AI accelerates drift but did not create it.
Modern systems amplify drift through:
statistical inference
context collapse
multimodal remixing
inconsistent posture handling
heterogeneous architectures
The result is unstable meaning, inconsistent continuity, and loss of semantic sovereignty. Drift is a structural property of meaning moving across substrates, not a failure of any particular system.
DSLO provides a deterministic semantic substrate that stabilizes meaning across systems and contexts.
DSLO defines:
a universal semantic representation (the DSLO Moment)
semantic invariants governing meaning, posture, and continuity
a layered semantic substrate for evaluating and stabilizing meaning
lawful semantic transitions through deterministic graphs
expectations for systems implementing DSLO
DSLO does not define:
model behavior
content generation
personality shaping
application‑level UX
vendor‑specific routing
DSLO is substrate‑agnostic and applies uniformly across all interpretive systems. DSLO does not modify or reinterpret meaning; it ensures that meaning remains stable before any interpretive system acts upon it.
DSLO Moment — The atomic semantic unit containing structured meaning fields.
Semantic Invariants — Deterministic rules ensuring meaning and posture remain stable. Invariants are non‑negotiable and must be enforced identically across all DSLO‑compliant substrates.
Layered Substrate — The three DSLO layers that evaluate and stabilize meaning.
Moment Graph — The primary graph governing lawful semantic transitions.
Fallback Graph — A constrained graph used when continuity cannot be guaranteed.
Continuity — Preservation of meaning across time and context.
Posture — The expressive geometry of a signal (tone, stance, identity).
State Integrity — Guarantee that meaning‑state is not altered by system variance.
Validator — Any system verifying DSLO compliance.
DSLO evaluates meaning through three semantic layers. These layers replace pipelines that treat meaning as a routing or formatting problem rather than a semantic one.
The Origin Layer captures originating meaning without performing interpretation or transformation.
Normalizes it into a DSLO Moment
Extracts intent, posture, and constraints without interpretation
Applies semantic invariants
Enforces continuity and posture preservation
Ensures deterministic interpretation
Determines lawful semantic transitions
Selects between the Moment Graph and Fallback Graph
Prepares stabilized meaning for downstream systems
The DSLO Moment is the universal semantic object used across the substrate.
Each Moment contains structured fields representing:
intent
target
constraints
posture
internal continuity state
safety envelope
coherence band
routing metadata
DSLO Moments are model‑independent and remain stable across all architectures and interpretive systems.
1. User Input → Origin Layer
Meaning is captured and normalized into a DSLO Moment.
2. Origin Layer → Deterministic Semantic Layer
Invariants, posture rules and continuity constraints are applied.
3. Semantic Layer → Orchestration Layer
The system determines whether the Moment enters the Moment Graph or Fallback Graph.
4. Orchestration Layer → Downstream Systems
DSLO stabilizes meaning prior to any interpretive, generative, or model‑specific processing.
DSLO enforces deterministic invariants that guarantee stability:
Meaning Preservation — intent cannot be altered
Identity & Posture Preservation — expressive stance remains stable
Continuity Preservation — meaning persists across time
Temporal Stability — identical inputs yield identical stabilized outputs
Cross‑System Determinism — substrate‑agnostic behavior
State Integrity — internal meaning‑state cannot be modified by system variance
These invariants apply across all substrates.
Moment Graph
The Moment Graph governs lawful semantic transitions. It ensures:
deterministic movement between Moments
preservation of continuity and posture
predictable semantic evolution
The Moment Graph is total: every DSLO Moment follows a lawful, deterministic transition pathway.
When continuity cannot be guaranteed, the Fallback Graph provides a constrained, safety‑first pathway. It ensures:
no semantic drift
no posture distortion
no unsafe transitions
Fallback transitions are deterministic and rule‑bound, not heuristic or probabilistic.
A DSLO‑compliant substrate must:
implement the three semantic layers
construct and evaluate DSLO Moments
enforce semantic invariants
implement both semantic graphs
maintain deterministic transitions
provide an audit trail of semantic flow
support substrate‑agnostic integration
A DSLO substrate must not reinterpret, transform, or generate meaning; it may only stabilize and transition it.
DSLO governance will evolve toward:
distributed validators
semantic test suites
transparent evolution of invariants
jurisdiction‑aware overlays
sovereign meaning guarantees
Governance evolves the substrate without altering the invariants that guarantee meaning stability.
Versioning
DSLO uses semantic versioning:
• v0.x — exploratory drafts
• v1.0 — stable substrate
• v2.x — extended semantic capabilities
This document represents DSLO v0.8.
Compliance Requirements
A system is DSLO‑compliant if it:
Implements the layered semantic substrate
Constructs and evaluates DSLO Moments
Enforces semantic invariants
Maintains deterministic transitions
Implements both semantic graphs
Preserves meaning, posture, and continuity
Supports sovereign semantic governance
Compliance may be self‑attested or validator‑verified.
External References
Signal Ecology provides the scientific foundation for DSLO. Historical and contemporary research on drift, continuity, and semantic stability informs the discipline.
See the DSLO v0.8 Glossary for canonical substrate‑level definitions and geometry primitives.