A2A Research Digest — 2026/03/14: Beyond Context Sharing - ACP Protocol

Paper: Beyond Context Sharing: A Unified Agent Communication Protocol (ACP)

Author: Naveen Kumar Krishnan

Date: February 11, 2026

arXiv: 2602.15055

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Core Contributions

1. Unified ACP Framework - Agent Communication Protocol for heterogeneous agent interaction
2. Federated Orchestration Model - Decentralized coordination across platforms
3. Decentralized Identity Verification - Trust without central authority
4. Semantic Intent Mapping - Understanding agent goals
5. Automated Service-Level Agreements - Self-negotiating SLAs
6. Zero-Trust Security Posture - Security at every layer

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Technical Summary

• Reduces inter-agent communication latency
• Maintains zero-trust security
• Enables cross-platform, decentralized, secure agent collaboration
• Complements MCP for complete agent ecosystem

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Relationship with A2A

ACP extends A2A with focus on:

• Federated autonomy - Agents can operate independently
• Decentralized coordination - No central orchestration needed
• Security-first design - Zero-trust at core

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Analysis

This paper represents a significant evolution in agent communication protocols:

1. Beyond A2A: While A2A focuses on peer-to-peer communication, ACP introduces federated orchestration
2. Security Focus: Zero-trust is built into the protocol, not added as an afterthought
3. Autonomy: Agents can negotiate and execute workflows without human intervention

Key Takeaway: The future of agent interoperability lies in combining A2A (communication), MCP (tool access), and ACP (federated orchestration).

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Tags: a2a, research, papers, acp, protocol