{"schema_version":1,"experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp12_substrate_denial72_20260805","cell_id":"constraint_propagation_and_decoupling__computer_science","arm":"CONSTRAINED_HIGH","candidate_id":"constraint_propagation_and_decoupling__computer_science__CONSTRAINED_HIGH","decision":"PROPOSAL","abstention_reason":null,"proposal":{"schema_version":1,"experiment_id":"eoa_inverse_innovation_exp12_substrate_denial72_20260805","cell_id":"constraint_propagation_and_decoupling__computer_science","arm":"CONSTRAINED_HIGH","candidate_id":"constraint_propagation_and_decoupling__computer_science__CONSTRAINED_HIGH","proposal_index":1,"version":0,"title":"Passive Mechanical Constraint-Propagating Patch Panel for Isolated Computing Labs","problem":"In a portable malware-analysis or hardware-security laboratory, technicians must patch appliances among protected, untrusted, capture-only, and management networks while respecting mutually exclusive connections, single-homing requirements, and limited shared uplinks. An ordinary patch panel permits locally plausible connections that collectively create a prohibited bridge or exceed a shared-port constraint. The conflict may remain physically invisible until the complete patch set is assembled.","actors":["Laboratory network-safety engineer who specifies the permitted physical connection sets","Technicians who insert and remove patch cords","Computing appliances and network zones connected through the panel","Passive cams, shutters, pushrods, token rails, and docking gauges inside the panel"],"observable_state":"The directly observable state is the set of occupied sockets, the positions of mechanically linked exclusion shutters, the remaining positions on finite-capacity token rails, and the boundary pins exposed by each removable port cassette. A prohibited socket is physically covered rather than merely marked or reported.","consequence":"Without propagation of the connection constraints, separately chosen patch connections can combine into an unintended conductive path between incompatible zones, violate a single-homing invariant, or consume more physical uplinks than available. Late discovery requires dismantling the setup and leaves open the possibility that an unsafe physical topology was briefly present.","affected_objective":"Maintain specified physical network-separation and port-capacity invariants while allowing independent portions of a laboratory patch configuration to be assembled separately and recombined.","intervention":"Build a de-energized, passive mechanical interlock panel whose sockets sit behind sliding shutters. Inserting a plug moves a carriage carrying profile pins. Cams and pushrods transmit that displacement to every socket made incompatible by the inserted connection, closing those shutters. Connections drawing on a shared capacity capture positions on a finite token rail; exhaustion advances a stop that closes the remaining dependent sockets. The linkage is divided into removable cassettes only where no rod or token rail crosses the proposed boundary. Dependencies that cross a boundary remain as bridge cassettes with exposed boundary pins. Locally configured cassettes are docked in a common frame, and a shaped go/no-go plate can seat only when their boundary-pin positions satisfy the original cross-cassette constraints. Hard stops define the end of propagation. Labels may explain states but neither labels nor electronics operate the interlock.","structural_mapping":[{"archetype_element":"Constraint Network Model","domain_realization":"Sockets are nodes; mutually exclusive paths, single-homing conditions, and finite shared-port capacities are embodied as cams, pushrods, and token rails linking those sockets."},{"archetype_element":"Invariant and Gauge Basis","domain_realization":"Protected-to-untrusted conductive isolation, permitted appliance degree, and physical uplink capacity are the preserved observables. Alternative cord routes that produce the same endpoint connectivity are treated as representationally equivalent rather than separately constrained."},{"archetype_element":"Implication Propagation","domain_realization":"Plug insertion mechanically displaces linked members, which close every directly or transitively connected exclusion shutter and advance applicable capacity stops."},{"archetype_element":"Derived Implication Register","domain_realization":"Shutter positions and captured token-rail positions physically retain the currently derived exclusions and remaining capacity without a database or display."},{"archetype_element":"Redundancy and Infeasibility Pruning","domain_realization":"Closed shutters remove incompatible choices from the physically reachable configuration space; equivalent cord-routing choices are left unconstrained because they do not change endpoint connectivity."},{"archetype_element":"Coupling Boundary Map","domain_realization":"A cassette boundary is allowed only where no exclusion rod, capacity rail, or boundary pin is shared. Cross-boundary dependencies remain visibly embodied in bridge cassettes."},{"archetype_element":"Decoupled Subproblem Partition","domain_realization":"Mechanically independent cassettes can be patched separately while bridge-cassette pin positions provide explicit boundary conditions for coupled portions."},{"archetype_element":"Consistency and Recomposition Check","domain_realization":"After cassettes are docked, the final go/no-go plate tests their combined boundary-pin geometry and cannot seat when a cross-cassette constraint is violated."},{"archetype_element":"Propagation Stop Condition","domain_realization":"Linkage hard stops, fully closed shutters, and exhausted token rails terminate mechanical motion at defined constraint states."}],"mechanism_mapping":[{"mechanism_slug":"constraint_dependency_matrix","role":"A drilled linkage grid places a rod or cam interaction at each specified socket-to-socket exclusion or shared-capacity dependency.","counterfactual_removal":"Without the linkage grid, inserting one plug would not affect dependent sockets, so constraint implications would remain local and the defining propagation would disappear."},{"mechanism_slug":"domain_reduction_pass","role":"Moving shutters and token-rail stops physically remove currently infeasible sockets from the set into which a plug can be inserted.","counterfactual_removal":"Without shutters and stops, all sockets would remain physically available despite the propagated state, so the intervention would not reduce the feasible configuration space."},{"mechanism_slug":"cut_set_or_separator_analysis","role":"The resulting physical separator is a cassette boundary crossed by no rod or capacity rail; remaining cross-boundary constraints are isolated in explicit bridge cassettes.","counterfactual_removal":"If cassettes were split across hidden shared linkages, they could be configured into locally acceptable states that conflict when joined, eliminating defensible decoupling."},{"mechanism_slug":"recomposition_consistency_test","role":"A shaped mechanical gauge checks the combined positions of all bridge-cassette boundary pins after docking.","counterfactual_removal":"Without the gauge, failures involving only the combination of otherwise acceptable cassette states could remain undetected at recomposition."}],"causal_chain":["A plug enters a socket carriage and applies displacement to its profile pins.","The pins rotate cams and translate pushrods corresponding to the connection's exclusion and capacity constraints.","Those members close incompatible sockets, capture finite-capacity token positions, and transmit any chained exclusions until hard stops are reached.","Blocked sockets cannot accept plugs, so prohibited continuations are removed from the physically reachable patch space before they become complete connections.","Rod-free and rail-free cassette boundaries leave residual groups mechanically independent; bridge cassettes retain genuine cross-boundary coupling.","Independent cassettes can be configured separately under the boundary-pin conditions exposed by their bridge cassettes.","Docking combines the cassette states, and the go/no-go plate seats only if the boundary-pin geometry satisfies the original cross-cassette constraints.","The resulting patch topology therefore depends on material obstruction and geometric fit, not on a warning, authorization decision, or software response."],"baseline":"An ordinary patch panel using color labels, a printed connection matrix, and a manual pre-energization inspection. These aids can describe an invalid connection but do not physically prevent its insertion or propagate its implications to other sockets.","nearest_rivals":["Uniquely keyed connectors, which prevent fixed one-to-one mismatches but do not by themselves express changing multi-port exclusions or a consumable shared-capacity constraint.","A managed switch using VLAN configuration and software validation, which can enforce logical separation when powered and correctly configured but does not make the forbidden physical patch set unreachable.","An electronically sensed patch panel with alarms or automatic port shutdown, whose operative response depends on sensing, computation, power, or downstream control.","A fixed custom wiring harness, which can embody one permitted topology but does not support reversible selection among several constrained configurations or justified cassette-level decomposition."],"remaining_contrastive_claim":"The bounded contrast to test is whether a passive linkage can make every predeclared prohibited plug combination physically unreachable while retaining the predeclared allowed combinations and permitting truly uncoupled cassettes to be configured in either order. The proposal does not assert superiority outside that fixed constraint set or protection against logical paths created inside connected equipment.","authority_safety":{"decision_authority":"The laboratory network-safety engineer may authorize only a de-energized prototype and defines the finite constraint set to be embodied; production deployment requires separate electrical, network-security, and mechanical review.","authorized_first_step":"Fabricate and exercise one eight-socket dummy panel using nonconductive mock plugs, one exclusion linkage, one chained exclusion, one two-position capacity rail, and two candidate cassettes.","excluded_actions":["Connecting the prototype to live, production, classified, safety-critical, or externally routed networks","Treating successful mechanical insertion as authorization to handle data or energize equipment","Changing an organization's network-classification or access policy","Using the prototype as protection against internal switching, wireless links, alternate cables, or any path that bypasses the panel","Exposing users to uncovered pinch points, stored spring energy, or unreviewed conductive parts"],"halt_rollback":"Stop testing if a prohibited state is reachable, an allowed state becomes unreachable solely because of insertion order, a linkage jams or fractures, the gauge gives an ambiguous result, or measured insertion force exceeds the fixture's preset safe limit. De-energize, remove the mock plugs, release the token rail with the guarded manual reset, and return all cassettes to their neutral positions before revising geometry."},"negative_tests":{"strongest_counterevidence":"The strongest counterevidence would be that representing chained constraints mechanically creates order-dependent deadlocks: an allowed final connection set cannot be reached from neutral even though every prohibited set is blocked. Comparable counterevidence would be wear, backlash, or friction allowing a prohibited plug to enter while its shutter appears closed.","problem_falsifier":"The target problem is falsified for this setting if examination of representative patch tasks shows that the relevant failures arise inside endpoint or switch logic rather than from selectable physical connections, or that fixed one-to-one connector keying already expresses the complete constraint set without cross-port propagation.","intervention_falsifier":"The intervention is falsified if any predeclared prohibited subset can be physically assembled through any tested insertion order; if a predeclared allowed subset cannot be assembled through at least one order; if two cassettes pass separately but form an invalid state that the docking gauge accepts; or if a supposedly independent cassette changes another cassette's shutters or available tokens.","risks":["An incorrectly encoded linkage can provide false physical assurance.","Wear, contamination, thermal expansion, backlash, or bent parts can change shutter and gauge tolerances.","A technician can bypass the panel with alternate cabling or wireless connectivity.","The mechanism covers only enumerated physical constraints and cannot detect a logical bridge created within downstream equipment.","Dense constraint sets may require excessive insertion force or become mechanically impractical.","Visible complexity or nuisance blocking may encourage unauthorized workarounds.","Pinch points and spring-loaded members can cause minor injury unless guarded."]},"next_evidence_step":"On the eight-socket nonconductive bench fixture, define the complete allowed and prohibited subset table before fabrication. Attempt all 256 endpoint-occupancy subsets and every insertion order relevant to each multi-plug subset; record whether plugs seat, which shutters move, token positions, gauge seating, and insertion force. Require that no prohibited subset be reachable, every allowed subset be reachable in at least one order, cassette configuration order not affect accepted recomposition, and the same results persist after 100 manual insertion-removal cycles. This step tests only mechanical feasibility and does not authorize connection to a network.","prior_art_status":"UNSEARCHED","diversity_from_prior_proposals":"Not assessed against other proposals because runtime isolation forbids inspecting them. Internally, this candidate is distinguished by a passive mechanical multi-port interlock and docking gauge rather than software validation, sensing, reporting, incentives, or workflow enforcement.","revision_record":{"parent_version":null,"progress_targets_addressed":["Construct one causally complete candidate under the binding physical-substrate constraint.","Preserve implication propagation, constraint-derived decoupling, and recomposition checking.","Specify a bounded de-energized evidence step with explicit falsifiers."],"conceptual_changes":["Translated abstract constraint propagation into displacement transmitted through cams, pushrods, shutters, and capacity-token rails.","Translated justified decomposition into removable cassettes separated only where no mechanical constraint member crosses the boundary.","Translated recomposition validation into geometric docking and a passive go/no-go plate."],"operational_changes":["Restricted the initial artifact to eight nonconductive dummy sockets.","Added guarded reset, hard stops, insertion-force limits, and explicit halt conditions.","Excluded all live-network and production use from the first step."],"evidence_changes":["Set exhaustive subset testing and relevant insertion-order testing for the small prototype.","Added a 100-cycle repeatability check and direct observation of shutter, token, gauge, and force states."],"claim_changes":["Limited the claim to the predeclared physical constraint set.","Disclaimed novelty, prevalence, effect size, logical-path protection, and protection against bypass."]},"substrate_contract":{"primary_allowed_process":"PHYSICAL_MATERIAL","counterfactual_independence":"After the cams, rods, shutters, rails, and gauges are fabricated, remove all software, algorithms, sensors, displays, databases, reports, incentives, authorization checks, checklists, and procedural enforcement. Plug insertion still transmits force through solid members; incompatible sockets still become materially occluded; exhausted capacity rails still block further insertion; and an incompatible set of docked boundary pins still prevents the gauge plate from seating. Thus the essential reduction, propagation, and recomposition effects survive removal of every forbidden wrapper. Deliberate physical bypass remains outside the claimed effect.","forbidden_channel_audit":"The intervention contains no sensing, computation, network connection, powered actuator, analytics, dashboard, automated decision, or software control loop. Labels and the pre-fabrication constraint specification are optional setup aids and do not cause blocking during operation. Governance determines which constraints should be embodied but does not execute them: once built, geometry and contact forces alone produce the operative effect. The evidence record observes performance but is not part of the intervention's causal path."}}}