HEAIN Core Protocol: A Normative Specification for Collective Intelligence in Fractal Edge AI Governance

Abstract

Hybrid Edge AI Node establishes a fractal governance architecture for distributed AI infrastructure, but as a theoretical contribution it leaves the exact wire-level and operational behavior of a conformant implementation underspecified. This paper introduces HEAIN Core Protocol (HEAIN-CORE-1.0), a normative, RFC-2119-style specification that operationalizes that architecture for implementers. Three contributions distinguish this specification from the parent architecture paper. First, a three-layer positioning clarifies where "intelligence" resides in the system: Hybrid Edge AI Node is the architecture, HEAIN Core Protocol is an infrastructure-level collective and adaptive intelligence that animates it through swarm learning and self-healing, and any organization's production models (e.g., CineNexus Pro's image, video, and audio models) are application-level AI executed within one procedure of the protocol. Second, the protocol extends the previously binary Master/Worker role model into a symmetric four-tier hierarchy (Worker, Zone, Secondary, Global Primary) governed by a One-Tier-At-A-Time promotion rule, which provably prevents a node from assuming authority over a scope larger than its immediate context even under cascading, multi-tier failure. Third, a Configuration API specification closes a governance gap left open in the architecture paper: administrative access is split into operational parameters that an authenticated administrator may change directly, and policy parameters that must be routed through the protocol's own Policy Boundary Check procedure before taking effect, with every change — regardless of category — recorded in an append-only audit log. We present the protocol's envelope format, node bootstrap and dual-loop execution model, and the governance rules for its seven core procedures, and situate it as a companion, implementation-facing specification to the peer architecture paper.