:warning: This file is part of the "archive" – it could contain statements or terms which are incompatible with the main body of the specification and the identity and timing model. :warning:
The Core Model
Note: "time-point" is used below to refer to a precise (zero duration) instant in time
Time Context
A Time Context establishes a common zero-point such that all events at a given time-point in a Time Context are considered "co-timed" / "synchronised".
Time Value
Each Time Value consists of a count (an integer) and a time_unit (a "rational": this is a "fraction" consisting of an integer numerator and an integer denominator).
Each Time Value represents a period of time that is the following number of seconds in duration (seconds are the SI base unit of time):
count × time_unit
Data Object
A Data Object is a sequence of bytes.
The structure and complexity of a Data Object is completely unconstrained by this model.
Timed Data Structure (TDS) and TDS Entry
A Timed Data Structure (or TDS):
- has an ID
- uses a
Time Context - consists of zero or more
TDS Entrys
Each TDS Entry associates a Time Value with a Data Object. This Time Value identifies a time-point within the Time Context that is used by the TDS.
Time Varying Information (TVI)
All TDSs that are associated with a Time Varying Information are considered to be alternative "representations" of the same time-based "information". That is, all these TDSs are considered to be conveying the same "message" (the same "information" with the same relationship to time). The precise definition of "the same" here will be application specific (that is, in some applications two TDSs can be associated with the same TVI even if the "messages" they are conveying are not absolutely identical).
More info: notes, examples, explanatory presentation (illustrated notes & examples)