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Network Flow / Telemetry Stream

vr.wm-flw-014 · wm-flw-014-network-flow-telemetry-stream

Describe a governed, time-varying telemetry stream about flow through a physical or logical network, preserving measurement meaning, provenance and use limits.

World Models Physical world and living systems PHY.FLW.NET
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

3 bundles · 3 layers · 6 findings · 11 questions

Stream definition What is measured, where and how often.

Measurement point and quantity

The location in the network and the quantity measured.

Measurement point

The node, link or interface where the flow is measured.

  1. At which node, link or interface of the network is the flow measured?
  2. Which meter or probe produces the values, and when was it calibrated?

Quantity and sampling

The measured quantity, unit and sampling interval.

  1. Which quantity is measured, in which unit?
  2. What is the sampling or aggregation interval, and is it fixed?
Data quality How complete and trustworthy the series is.

Completeness and validity

Gaps, outliers and quality flags in the series.

Gaps and substitutions

Missing intervals and values filled by estimation.

  1. Which intervals are missing, and were any values estimated or substituted?
  2. Are estimated values flagged separately from measured ones?

Time alignment

Time stamps and clock source of the series.

  1. Which clock and time zone stamp the values?
  2. Are values from different points aligned to the same intervals?
Access and use Who receives the stream and for what.

Consumers and retention

Subscribers, purposes and retention of the stream.

Subscribers and purpose

Parties receiving the stream and their declared purposes.

  1. Which parties receive the stream, and for which purpose?
  2. Does the stream allow inference about individual households or users?

Retention

How long raw and aggregated values are kept.

  1. How long are raw values kept before aggregation or deletion?

Classifiers Filled

Family
World Models
Category
Physical world and living systems
Entry kind
entity
Navigation path
NAV.PHY.FLW.NET
Domain
PHY.FLW.NET
Industry
Cross-industry
Tags
networkflowtelemetrystreamphy.flw.net

What it is Filled

A network flow telemetry stream is the time-varying record of what flows through a physical or logical network, such as water, gas, power, traffic or data, measured at points or links and delivered as a continuous series. The network topology, the individual meter and the single operational log entry are separate subjects.

In scope

  • Stream identity, accountable custodian, profile and continuity across collection sessions
  • Network observation scope, quantity and units, measurement method, selection, event time and delivery evidence
  • Observation record identity, counter semantics, quality, derived-view lineage, controlled retention and projection

Out of scope

  • Network topology and asset lifecycle masters, sensor design and calibration execution
  • Physical conservation or hydraulic/electrical simulation, resource accounting, billing adjudication and logistics custody
  • Packet payload inspection, collection deployment, routing changes, valve or setpoint control, and automated incident enforcement
  • General application traces, arbitrary business event streams and protocol implementation certification

Why it exists Filled

Describe a governed, time-varying telemetry stream about flow through a physical or logical network, preserving measurement meaning, provenance and use limits.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • A time series of flow values, not the network topology or the meter that produces it.
  • Continuous and interval-based, unlike a discrete event or log entry.
  • Covers both physical flows such as water and power and logical flows such as data traffic.
  • Quality flags and estimations are part of the stream, so measured and estimated values must stay distinguishable.

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Change setpoints, valves, routing or load based on the stream without operator authority.
  • Present estimated or substituted values as measured.
  • Infer and disclose behaviour of individual households or users from fine-grained streams.
  • Inspect payload content of data traffic when only flow metadata is in scope.

Only with a human decision

  • Acting on an anomaly by isolating, curtailing or rerouting part of the network.
  • Sharing fine-grained streams with third parties.
  • Using stream data for billing disputes or enforcement.

May

  • Read streams within the access granted and compute aggregates and trends.
  • Detect and flag gaps, outliers and anomalies such as leaks or congestion.
  • Correlate flows across points to locate likely faults.
  • Report data quality alongside derived figures.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Fine-grained consumption and traffic data can reveal private behaviour of households and users.
  • Wrong or delayed telemetry can hide leaks, overloads or attacks with safety consequences.
  • Data traffic monitoring can slide into surveillance of communications.

Who is affected

  • Customers and users of the network
  • Network operators and control room staff
  • Communities exposed to network failures

Owners Filled

Steward

The network operator that runs the measurement points and answers for the stream's accuracy and use.

Roles

Stream custodian
Approve identity and membership continuity within delegated authority
Measurement steward
Assess procedure, conditions, calibration evidence and uncertainty
Collection operator
Supply authenticated export and delivery evidence without changing source meaning
Data quality reviewer
Review gaps, estimates, derivations and unresolved defects
Access and records officer
Approve disclosure, retention, holds and disposal
Authorized consumer
Use only permitted views with their stated limitations

Master systems

  • Supervisory control and data acquisition system
  • Meter data management system
  • Network monitoring and flow collector
  • Time series historian

Links to other meta-models Filled

references

  • WM-BLT-003 - Candidate registry parent reconciled as network-context reference, not inheritance. Pin topology version and observation scope; network lifecycle stays external.
  • WM-FLW-008 - Optional downstream balance context. Referenced model owns conservation and material-balance reasoning, not this telemetry stream.
  • WM-FLW-015 - Optional downstream consumption context. Telemetry does not itself establish consumed or billable quantity.

aligned

  • IPFIX RFC 7011 and RFC 7012 - Packet-flow profile only; exact templates and field registry versions require tested bindings.
  • OGC SensorThings API Sensing 1.1 - Observation profile only. Sensor changes may require separate target Datastreams even when local logical continuity is retained.
  • SOSA/SSN 2017 - Reference sensor, procedure, observed property and feature concepts without taking ownership of actuation.
  • PROV-O 2013 - Lineage and attribution alignment, not certification of measurement truth.
  • SenML RFC 8428 - Measurement serialization alignment; preserve base fields and distinguish integrated sums from event counters.

neighbor

  • WM-BLT-003 Infrastructure Network - The registry parent is contextual organization, not inheritance of network structure. Reference a versioned node, link, interface or observation region; topology stays in the network master.
  • Sensor, observation and collector masters - The stream has persistent identity and membership rules. Sensors, individual measurements and collection sessions retain their own identities and lifecycle; this model stores references and stream-specific qualifications.
  • WM-FLW-008 Mass-balance / Material Flow and WM-FLW-015 Resource Consumption - Telemetry can supply observations to balances or consumption assessment; it does not assert conservation, loss, billable consumption or causal diagnosis. Quantity, sign, interval and uncertainty must be compatible before comparison.
  • Actuation, incident and general event records - Telemetry observations and local quality assessments do not authorize intervention. Irregular and event-triggered observations are allowed; a generic operational event log is a different subject.

parent

  • WM-BLT-003

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • Identified by the measurement point identifier in the operator's network register plus the measured quantity.
  • Individual values are addressed by stream identifier and interval time stamp.

Direct properties required Filled

  • Flow rate in the unit of the medium, such as cubic metres per hour, kilowatts or bits per second.
  • Pressure in bar, voltage in volts or packet rate in packets per second where measured.
  • Sampling interval in seconds or minutes and time stamp precision.
  • Measurement uncertainty from meter class and calibration date.

Recognition required Filled

  • Recognized as a series of time-stamped values tied to one measurement point and quantity.
  • Often confused with the meter, with event logs or with the network topology.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • Supports near-real-time monitoring, alarms and control decisions.
  • Supports balancing and loss detection by comparing inflows and outflows.
  • Can be aggregated into billing, planning and capacity figures.

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Undetected leaks, overloads or intrusions when streams fail or are tampered with.
  • Privacy exposure from fine-grained consumption or traffic records.
  • Wrong operational decisions from unflagged estimated values.

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • IETF IPFIX and NetFlow for data network flow records.
  • IEC 61968 and IEC 61970 Common Information Model for power network data.
  • OPC UA for industrial telemetry.
  • OGC SensorThings API for sensor observations.

Context of use required Filled

  • Produced by utilities, transport operators and data network operators.
  • Smart meter and communications data fall under data protection and, for traffic data, electronic communications privacy law.

Sources Filled

  1. Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of Flow Information - Internet Engineering Task Force
  2. Information Model for IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) - Internet Engineering Task Force
  3. Sampling and Filtering Techniques for IP Packet Selection - Internet Engineering Task Force
  4. OGC SensorThings API Part 1: Sensing Version 1.1 - Open Geospatial Consortium
  5. Semantic Sensor Network Ontology - World Wide Web Consortium
  6. PROV-O: The PROV Ontology - World Wide Web Consortium
  7. Sensor Measurement Lists (SenML) - Internet Engineering Task Force
  8. Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps - Internet Engineering Task Force
  9. RFC 7011 IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) protocol, IETF
  10. IEC 61970 Energy management system application program interface, Common Information Model, IEC
  11. OGC SensorThings API, Open Geospatial Consortium

Open questions

  • Run the prepared source checker outside the sandbox and review document errata, exact versions, field registries and source applicability; restore independent external review before canonical promotion.
  • Develop physical-domain and packet-flow adoption profiles with competent metrology, access, records, security and operational authorities.
  • Implement and test nested schemas and mappings using repeated timestamps, sensor replacement, clock uncertainty, missing templates, reset versus wrap, replay, overlapping scopes and late corrections.
  • Independent external review is absent; the separate local no-tools audit is a self-audit.
  • Direct HTTP checks are unattempted under the owner-reported sandbox restriction; source status, errata and latest applicable versions remain to be verified outside the sandbox.
  • Physical domain profiles for water, gas, power and transport require specialist metrology, sign, reference-condition and regulatory review; no conservation or billing engine is supplied.
  • Nested instance schemas, IPFIX template/field registry pins, SensorThings and SenML mappings, throughput behavior and adversarial fixtures remain unimplemented.
  • Current cryptographic transport recommendations, jurisdictional privacy rules and retention periods require adoption review; no legal or security certification is claimed.

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification AGENTS.md Source Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

world-models research · reviewable-draft

Built from: models/wm-flw-014-network-flow-telemetry-stream/spec.yaml, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-flw-014-network-flow-telemetry-stream.json