ADR-0001: Where the drone connectsLink to the section ADR-0001: Where the drone connects
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Status: Accepted 2026-10-14 — sponsor confirmed the default ("keep all") Date: 2026-10-14 Profiles affected: all
ContextLink to the section Context
ONVIF grew up with cameras on the same LAN as the VMS, discovered by WS-Discovery and polled over HTTP/RTSP. Drones are mobile, frequently on cellular links, behind NAT, and often reach their operator's systems through a vendor cloud. ONVIF Profile V shows that even the camera world is moving to device-initiated cloud connectivity. The choice of connection topology shapes discovery, identity, firewall posture and the entire session model.
Options consideredLink to the section Options considered
- Local network / on-premises VMS only. Simple, mirrors classic ONVIF, works for docks on a site LAN. Fails for drones on cellular links and for multi-site operations.
- Cloud or centralized VMS over the internet only. Matches vendor cloud APIs and Profile V. Excludes air-gapped or sovereignty-constrained sites and adds latency for local operators.
- Both, including hybrid deployments. One connection model that works identically on a LAN and across the internet, with optional local discovery as a convenience.
DecisionLink to the section Decision
Option 3. UNIVIP specifies a single device-initiated session model: the UNIVIP device (drone, dock, controller or gateway) opens an outbound TLS connection to a configured UNIVIP client endpoint. This works unchanged on a LAN, across NAT and over the internet. On local networks, devices additionally advertise via DNS-SD (_univip._tcp) so a VMS can discover them and hand them the endpoint to connect to. A client-initiated mode (VMS connects to a device that exposes a listener) is permitted for gateways and docks on managed networks but is not required for conformance.
ConsequencesLink to the section Consequences
- Discovery (
spec/05-identity-and-connection.md) defines onboarding by configured endpoint, by DNS-SD, and by QR/claim-code enrollment. - All real-time channels (telemetry, events, WebRTC signaling, command responses) multiplex over the device-initiated session channel, so one outbound connection is sufficient.
- Security (
spec/13-security.md) must cover device identity for internet-facing deployments (mTLS or OAuth 2.0 device credentials), not only local credentials. - Hybrid deployments (local VMS plus a central command platform) are handled by allowing a device to maintain sessions with more than one client, with control-lease arbitration in Profile N.
Open questionsLink to the section Open questions
- Whether to mandate DNS-SD on Profile S devices or leave it as SHOULD. Current draft: SHOULD.