This proposal is for a new specification project covering **Eclipse Data Plane Signaling**. Signaling defines an interoperable protocol for dataspace connector control planes to communicate with data planes.
The Eclipse Dataspace Protocol Specification (DSP) defines an interoperable protocol for connector control planes to retrieve data catalogs, negotiate data sharing agreements, and initiate a data transfer. However, DSP does not specify a protocol for a control plane to interact with a data plane to perform the data transfer using a wire protocol. The specification states:
>The specification of data plane interfaces and interaction patterns are not in scope of this document.[1]
The Data Plane Signaling specification was based on an initial implementation created in the Eclipse Dataspace Components (EDC) project, but has subsequently been generalized to accommodate other connector types. The EDC project will implement compatibility with the specification, and a third Eclipse project will be proposed for compatible data plane SDKs.
In alignment with the charter of the Eclipse Dataspace Working Group, Data Plane Signaling should now be contributed as a specification project for further work and improvement, and to make it more independent from individual dataspace implementation projects.
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[1] https://eclipse-dataspace-protocol-base.github.io/DataspaceProtocol/2025-1-RC4/#control-and-data-planes
The Eclipse Data Plane Signaling specification defines an interoperable protocol for DSP control planes to communicate with data planes. The scope of the specification includes:
- A protocol for control planes to manage data transfers using a variety of wire protocols, ranging from HTTP-based to streaming event systems.
- A registry of data transfer types so that other projects can define non-clashing identifiers for those types.
- An associated TCK in the [Eclipse Dataspace TCK](https://github.com/eclipse-dataspacetck) project.
The following are out of scope for Eclipse Data Plane Signaling:
- The definition of specific wire protocol formats and data transfer types
- Any data plane implementation
Data Plane Signaling will consist of the following:
- A protocol state machine definition
- JSON message types and schemas
- HTTP RESTful APIs
The initial specification proposal is here: https://github.com/Metaform/dataplane-signaling.
Eclipse Data Plane Signaling is naturally allied to other Eclipse projects, including the Dataspace Protocol Specification, Eclipse Dataspace Components, and Tractus-X.
We plan to refine the specification, develop a compatibility test kit, and foster implementations in forthcoming Eclipse project proposals.
We want to start work immediately.
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