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1. General 2.  App 3. Device 4. Service 5. User

1     General

Process  is an instance of a Program running on the computing platform underpinning an M-Instance or on a device connected to it. A Process may perform an MPAI-specified Process Action or request other Processes to perform Process Actions using the Inter-Process Protocol. If the Items received have incompatible Qualifiers, a Process may request a Conversion Service to convert the Item to have compatible Qualifiers.

Four types of Processes are specified in the following: App, Device, Service, and User. This characterisation has the sole scope of facilitating the reading of this Technical Specification as all types of Processes are simply Processes.

2       App

Functions An instance of an application-specific Program executed on a Device.
Functional Requirements An App may need to be Certified to operate in a givem M-Instance.

3       Device

Functions A Device may:
1.     UM-Capture Data from a U-Location.
2.     Additionally, UM-Send Data and Metadata to a User.
and/or
1.     MU-Render an Entity at a U-Location.
2.     The Device may perform the Action in 1. after it has “MM-Sent an Item from an M-Location to the Device”.
Functional Requirements To connect and interoperate with an M-Instance, a Device may need to expose its Process Capabilities to the M-Instance.

4       Service

Purpose A Process that provides specific Functionalities.
Functional Requirements A Service may be:
1.     One of the natively-supported Services of an M-Instance.
2.     Hosted by the M-Instance but provided by a third party.

An M-Instance may need the following Services to operate:

Service Description
Activity Keeps track of Processing starting a session.
Authentication Support User requests for Item Authentication
Author Enables Users to develop Items.
Communication Enables communication between Processes.
Conversion Converts Data of Items to a different format based on provided Qualifier.
Discovery Supports Users looking for Items of Processes with given characteristics.
Execution Executes a Program.
Identification Identifies Data and Metadata as Items.
Information Supports Users looking for information about Items.
Interpretation Supports users requesting Interpretation of an Item.
Location Manages positioning and motion of Items.
Parcel Offers Parcels of M-Instance land to Users.
Post Posts Items on which a User holds Rights.
Registration Enables humans to Register with an M-Instance.
Rights Manages the Rights of Processes.
Transact Enables Users to perform Transactions.

5       User

Functions A Process representing a Registered human.
Functional Requirements 1.       A User may perform the following functions:
1.1.      Act as the interface of the human with the M-Instance.
1.2.      Render the User as a Persona UM-Animated by a Stream or MM-Animated by an autonomous agent.
2.       Animation results from an MM-/UM-Animate Action and enabled by a Program run by the User.
3.       The Animation Program may be part of the Processes registered by a human or provided by the M-Instance.
4.       An M-Instance may not require Registration.

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