V
VernisOS
Architecture

IPC System

Inter-Process Communication in VernisOS uses a message queue architecture. Processes communicate by sending and receiving structured messages through kernel-mediated channels.

Message Structure

c
typedef struct {
    uint32_t source;       // Sender process ID
    uint32_t destination;  // Receiver process ID
    uint32_t type;         // Message type (request, response, event)
    uint32_t length;       // Payload length in bytes
    uint8_t  payload[256]; // Message data
    uint32_t checksum;     // SHA-256 integrity check
} ipc_message_t;

Communication Patterns

🔒

Synchronous

Blocking send/receive — sender waits until receiver processes the message. Used for critical operations.

📨

Asynchronous

Non-blocking send — message is queued and sender continues. Used for logging and monitoring.

📢

Broadcast

One-to-all message delivery — used for system-wide events and policy updates.

Channels

Messages flow through named channels. Each channel has a specific purpose and message type constraints:

SYS_EVENTS

Kernel-to-all: hardware events, timer ticks, process lifecycle

AI_PIPE

AI engine ↔ Kernel: anomaly data, tuning parameters, trust scores

FS_OPS

Shell ↔ VernisFS: file read/write, directory listing

AUDIT_LOG

All processes → Audit logger: SHA-256 signed event records

Message Flow Example

text
User types: ls
  Shell process → FS_OPS channel → VernisFS module
  VernisFS reads directory sectors from disk
  VernisFS → FS_OPS channel → Shell process
  Shell displays file list to user

Every IPC message is checksummed with SHA-256
to ensure integrity during transit.
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