OC-Copper/protocol.0

Copper Protocol
 20kdc, 2017

Copper is a simple to implement networking protocol based on names.
This is it's sole purpose.
It can be used in various contexts, though it is not suitable as a 
 secure peer-to-peer networking protocol where all actors are untrusted.

Rather, Copper is better for the situation of the current internet -
 hierarchial structures (operated by semi-trusted parties, with 
 encryption used to hide information from them as appropriate),
 with arbitary network structure at the fully-trusted-network level.

Copper addresses are names.
In the context of a system not implementing a hierarchial gateway,
 this is as much about Copper addressing as matters.

Copper base packets contain 3 fields.
A name (as a length-minus-1-byte-prefixed-string),
 another name (in the same format),
 and the rest is data.

Copper packets may be up to 4000 bytes long, including base.
(It's assumed the additional 96 bytes will be useful for any additional 
 framing, assuming a 4K packet limit.)

Loop detection should performed by checking if a packet exactly the same has 
 been seen recently - other rejection, alteration and routing measures 
 are up to the implementer.

Signalling is inadvisable - Copper is primarily meant to allow creating 
 internally "partyline" OpenComputers in-game networks with named nodes
 and some semblance of routing or structure.

Should a situation be dire enough,
 hierarchial networks (described in file 2, 'protocol.1'),
 and custom routing software in general,
 can be used to split networks however the system requires.
Copper isn't very picky.