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class="breadcrumbHomeIcon_YNFT"><path d="M10 19v-5h4v5c0 .55.45 1 1 1h3c.55 0 1-.45 1-1v-7h1.7c.46 0 .68-.57.33-.87L12.67 3.6c-.38-.34-.96-.34-1.34 0l-8.36 7.53c-.34.3-.13.87.33.87H5v7c0 .55.45 1 1 1h3c.55 0 1-.45 1-1z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg></a></li><li class="breadcrumbs__item"><span class="breadcrumbs__link">Start Here</span></li><li class="breadcrumbs__item breadcrumbs__item--active"><span class="breadcrumbs__link">Carrier P2P</span></li></ul></nav><div class="tocCollapsible_ETCw theme-doc-toc-mobile tocMobile_ITEo"><button type="button" class="clean-btn tocCollapsibleButton_TO0P">On this page</button></div><div class="theme-doc-markdown markdown"><header><h1>Peer-to-Peer Communication: Carrier</h1></header> 19<!-- --> 20<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_Vzrq" id="what-it-is">
20What It Is<a href="#what-it-is" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to What It Is" title="Direct link to What It Is" translate="no">â</a></h2> 21<p><strong>Carrier</strong> is Elastos's <strong>peer-to-peer (P2P) communication</strong> layer. It lets devices <strong>find each other</strong> and <strong>exchange messages</strong> without routing user data through a single company's servers. That does not mean "no infrastructure anywhere"; it means <strong>no central broker</strong> that must see plaintext or own the relationship graph for every conversation.</p> 22<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_Vzrq" id="architecture-high-level">Architecture (High Level)<a href="#architecture-high-level" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Architecture (High Level)" title="Direct link to Architecture (High Level)" translate="no">â</a></h2> 23<p>Carrier stacks application-facing APIs on optional addons (for example <strong>Active Proxy</strong> and <strong>DHT Proxy</strong> for relays and bridges), a <strong>Kademlia</strong> DHT for locating peers and advertised services without a central directory, and encrypted transport keyed to node identities so relays are not expected to see plaintext. For detailed architecture, see <a class="" href="/carrier/start/architecture">Carrier Architecture</a>.</p> 24<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_Vzrq" id="implementations-c-and-java">Implementations: C++ and Java<a href="#implementations-c-and-java" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Implementations: C++ and Java" title="Direct link to Implementations: C++ and Java" translate="no">â</a></h2> 25<ul> 26<li class=""><strong>C++</strong>: The primary native implementation, suitable for mobile, desktop, and embedded targets where performance and binary size matter.</li> 27<li class=""><strong>Java</strong>: A <strong>server-oriented</strong> variant with practical differences: <strong>CBOR</strong> encoding instead of the C++ stack's <strong>JSON</strong> framing in places, a <strong>Jetty</strong> HTTP server component where applicable, and NaCl-style crypto brought in via <strong>TweetNaCl</strong> for the Java crypto story.</li> 28</ul> 29<div class="theme-admonition theme-admonition-tip admonition_xJq3 alert alert--success"><div class="admonitionHeading_Gvgb"><span class="admonitionIcon_Rf37"><svg viewBox="0 0 12 16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M6.5 0C3.48 0 1 2.19 1 5c0 .92.55 2.25 1 3 1.34 2.25 1.78 2.78 2 4v1h5v-1c.22-1.22.66-1.75 2-4 .45-.75 1-2.08 1-3 0-2.81-2.48-5-5.5-5zm3.64 7.48c-.25.44-.47.8-.67 1.11-.86 1.41-1.25 2.06-1.45 3.23-.02.05-.02.11-.02.17H5c0-.06 0-.13-.02-.17-.2-1.17-.59-1.83-1.45-3.23-.2-.31-.42-.67-.67-1.11C2.44 6.78 2 5.65 2 5c0-2.2 2.02-4 4.5-4 1.22 0 2.36.42 3.22 1.19C10.55 2.94 11 3.94 11 5c0 .66-.44 1.78-.86 2.48zM4 14h5c-.23 1.14-1.3 2-2.5 2s-2.27-.86-2.5-2z"></path></svg></span>Porting and debugging</div><div class="admonitionContent_BuS1"><p>If you compare traces across languages, mismatches often show up as <strong>encoding</strong> (CBOR vs JSON) or <strong>session state</strong> differences: not "wrong math," but <strong>different wire formats</strong>.</p></div></div> 30<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_Vzrq" id="version-1-classic-c-toxcore-heritage">Version 1 (Classic): c-toxcore Heritage<a href="#version-1-classic-c-toxcore-heritage" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Version 1 (Classic): c-toxcore Heritage" title="Direct link to Version 1 (Classic): c-toxcore Heritage" translate="no">â</a></h2> 31<p><strong>Carrier v1 "Classic"</strong> was built on a fork of <strong>c-toxcore</strong> (the same lineage as the Tox encrypted messenger). It emphasized a <strong>friend-based</strong> social graph, with <strong>ICE / STUN / TURN</strong> for NAT traversal. That model works well for <strong>mutual-contact messaging</strong>, but it is narrower than the <strong>service-centric, DHT-first</strong> design Carrier v2 targets.</p> 32<p>The Classic ecosystem <strong>spun across multiple repositories</strong>; those <strong>v1</strong> lines are now <strong>deprecated</strong> in favor of the current architecture. If you read older posts or forks, expect <strong>friend requests</strong> and <strong>Tox-era assumptions</strong>, not the modern DHT + proxy story.</p> 33<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_Vzrq" id="how-carrier-fits-the-elastos-stack">How Carrier Fits the Elastos Stack<a href="#how-carrier-fits-the-elastos-stack" class="hash-l
33ink" aria-label="Direct link to How Carrier Fits the Elastos Stack" title="Direct link to How Carrier Fits the Elastos Stack" translate="no">â</a></h2> 34<p>Today and near-term:</p> 35<ul> 36<li class=""><strong>Hive</strong> nodes use Carrier for <strong>discovery and coordination</strong> in decentralized storage scenarios.</li> 37<li class=""><strong>Essentials</strong> (now maintained under the <a href="https://github.com/CyberRepublic" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="">CyberRepublic GitHub</a>) uses Carrier for <strong>P2P communication</strong> features.</li> 38<li class=""><strong>Future dApps</strong> can treat Carrier as a <strong>neutral communication fabric</strong> under user-controlled keys, complementary to blockchain consensus and DID-based identity.</li> 39</ul> 40<p>Together with <strong>DIDs</strong> (who you are) and <strong>chain consensus</strong> (what was agreed globally), Carrier addresses <strong>how devices talk</strong>, without collapsing that into "every app phones home to one API."</p> 41<h2 class="anchor anchorTargetStickyNavbar_Vzrq" id="carrier-in-the-elastos-runtime">Carrier in the ElastOS Runtime<a href="#carrier-in-the-elastos-runtime" class="hash-link" aria-label="Direct link to Carrier in the ElastOS Runtime" title="Direct link to Carrier in the ElastOS Runtime" translate="no">â</a></h2> 42<p>In the <a class="" href="/runtime/start/intro">ElastOS Runtime</a>, "Carrier" takes on an additional meaning as the <strong>trust enforcement layer</strong> -- the middle layer of the runtime's three-layer microkernel design. The Runtime's Carrier layer uses <strong>Iroh/QUIC</strong> for transport (rather than the classic Kademlia DHT described above), providing capability token enforcement at every cross-capsule boundary, P2P communication via Iroh gossip with mDNS discovery, and signed message exchange using Ed25519 (<code>did:key</code>).</p> 43<p><strong>Classic Carrier</strong> (Boson, Kademlia DHT, Active Proxy) and <strong>Runtime Carrier</strong> (Iroh-based trust enforcement) serve different but complementary roles. Classic Carrier provides the decentralized networking substrate; Runtime Carrier provides the trust enforcement layer that uses it for off-box communication.</p> 44<p>See the <a class="" href="/runtime/start/architecture">Runtime Architecture</a> for the full three-layer design.</p></div></article><nav class="docusaurus-mt-lg pagination-nav" aria-label="Docs pages"><a class="pagination-nav__link pagination-nav__link--next" href="/carrier/start/architecture"><div class="pagination-nav__sublabel">Next</div><div class="pagination-nav__label">Carrier Architecture</div></a></nav></div></div><div class="col col--3"><div class="tableOfContents_bqdL thin-scrollbar theme-doc-toc-desktop"><ul class="table-of-contents table-of-contents__left-border"><li><a href="#what-it-is" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">What It Is</a></li><li><a href="#architecture-high-level" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Architecture (High Level)</a></li><li><a href="#implementations-c-and-java" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Implementations: C++ and Java</a></li><li><a href="#version-1-classic-c-toxcore-heritage" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Version 1 (Classic): c-toxcore Heritage</a></li><li><a href="#how-carrier-fits-the-elastos-stack" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">How Carrier Fits the Elastos Stack</a></li><li><a href="#carrier-in-the-elastos-runtime" class="table-of-contents__link toc-highlight">Carrier in the ElastOS Runtime</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div></main></div></div></div><footer class="theme-layout-footer footer footer--dark"><div class="container container-fluid"><div class="footer__bottom text--center"><div class="footer__copyright">Elastos DAO 2026. All rights reserved.</div></div></div></footer></div> 45</body> 46</html>
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