Building BIOS Architecture

State Transition Rules define how an entity may move from one state to another.

Every transition rule shall include:

source state;

permitted destination state;

initiating authority;

preconditions;

required dependencies;

required evidence;

actions performed;

confirmation method;

timeout;

failure state;

rollback or recovery behavior;

generated events.

A transition shall be rejected when:

the source state is inconsistent;

the requesting entity lacks authority;

a required dependency is unavailable;

an active interlock prohibits the action;

configuration validation has failed;

identity or trust is unresolved;

required physical verification is absent;

a higher-priority emergency rule applies.

Transitions affecting physical systems shall distinguish:

request accepted;

command issued;

action in progress;

physical result observed;

result verified;

transition completed.

Timeout shall not automatically imply that the desired physical state was not reached. It shall create an indeterminate or fault state requiring further verification.

Emergency transitions may bypass selected normal sequencing steps only where the emergency policy explicitly permits them. Bypassed steps and resulting limitations shall be recorded.

State rules shall prevent unsafe shortcuts, such as:

Disconnected directly to Operational;

Loaded directly to Release-Ready;

Unverified directly to Authorized;

Faulted directly to Normal without clearance;

Decommissioned directly to Active without requalification.