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System Architecture

Nerve Framework Architecture Overview

The Nerve Framework is designed as a high-performance in-process reactive system with QoS guarantees. This document describes the core architectural components and their interactions.

High-Level Architecture

graph TB
    subgraph "Application Layer"
        A[User Application]
        B[Custom Components]
        C[Third-Party Integrations]
    end

    subgraph "Framework Core"
        D[Communication System]
        E[Node Registry]
        F[Memory Management]
        G[Thread Lifecycle]
    end

    subgraph "Infrastructure"
        H[QoS Buffer System]
        I[Router Implementations]
        J[Monitoring & Metrics]
    end

    A --> D
    B --> D
    C --> D
    D --> E
    D --> F
    D --> G
    F --> H
    D --> I
    E --> J
    F --> J
    G --> J

Core Components

1. Communication System

  • Purpose: Message routing and delivery
  • Features: Pub/Sub, Request/Response, QoS guarantees
  • Implementation: Multiple router implementations for different performance characteristics

2. Node Registry

  • Purpose: Service discovery and management
  • Features: Dynamic node registration, health monitoring
  • Implementation: In-memory registry with heartbeat tracking

3. Memory Management

  • Purpose: Efficient buffer management with QoS
  • Features: Four QoS levels, configurable buffer policies
  • Implementation: Lock-free data structures, atomic operations

4. Thread Lifecycle

  • Purpose: Concurrency management and thread coordination
  • Features: Thread pooling, lifecycle management, watchdog monitoring
  • Implementation: Async/await with Tokio runtime

Quality of Service (QoS) Levels

The framework provides four distinct QoS levels:

  1. BestEffort - Messages may be dropped under load
  2. Reliable - Drop oldest messages when buffer is full
  3. Guaranteed - Error when buffer is full
  4. RealTime - Overwrite oldest messages for latest data

Performance Characteristics

  • Latency: Sub-millisecond message routing
  • Throughput: Thousands of messages per second
  • Memory: Efficient allocation with minimal overhead
  • Scalability: Designed for high-concurrency scenarios

Integration Points

External Systems

  • Legacy Systems: Bridge patterns for integration
  • Monitoring: Real-time metrics and health checks
  • Plugins: Extensible architecture for custom components

Development Tools

  • CLI Tools: Monitoring and debugging utilities
  • API Documentation: Comprehensive Rust documentation
  • Testing Framework: Integration and performance tests

Design Principles

  1. Performance First: Optimized for low-latency and high-throughput
  2. Memory Safety: Leveraging Rust's ownership model
  3. Extensibility: Modular design for custom implementations
  4. Observability: Comprehensive monitoring and metrics
  5. Reliability: Graceful degradation and error handling

Next Steps

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