5T — Field communications

One network layer, whatever the radio.

A proposed resilient, multi-technology communications platform for the field. A single logical layer, built on the Reticulum Network Stack, to connect industrial sensors, instruments, operators, gateways and platforms independently of the physical link that carries the traffic.

5T conceptual network (illustrative) A central logical layer connected by five spokes to five link technologies: LoRa, Wi-Fi HaLow, LTE, Iridium satellite, and Wi-Fi with Bluetooth LE. The satellite spoke is dashed to show it is a fallback. A dashed ring around the hub represents the proposed Reticulum overlay. Concept only. RNS LoRa HaLow LTE Iridium Wi-Fi · BLE
Conceptual illustration — not a deployed network.

Current stage

5T is a proposal at the concept and design stage. MG-Comms, the conceptual architecture behind it, and the Reticulum integration and dynamic failover it describes are R&D goals, not field-tested capabilities. The terminals shown are design concepts, not products in stock. No pilots, trials, certifications, customers or performance figures are claimed.

The problem and the approach

Remote operations rarely have one reliable link.

Mines, farms, pumping stations and forests sit where no single technology covers everything. Sensors, instruments and people end up tied to whichever radio happened to be available on a given day.

  1. 01

    Fragmented links

    Long-range telemetry, local IP links, cellular and satellite are usually separate systems with separate tooling.

  2. 02

    Applications tied to a bearer

    When software is written against one physical link, changing or adding a link means reworking the application.

  3. 03

    Fragile coverage

    Cellular service varies and terrain blocks signals. Critical messages and alarms need another route to try.

Proposed approach

Keep each radio doing what it is good at, and put one logical network layer above them. The goal is that sensors, operators and platforms address each other by identity, while the layer chooses among the available links. Using Reticulum for this is a design proposal still to be verified for each link.

Five communication technologies

Each link has a job.

No device is meant to carry all five. Each technology is used where it fits, and its limits are part of the design.

01 · LoRa

Low power, long range

Small, infrequent payloads such as telemetry readings and alarms from battery or solar-powered sensors.

Low data rate by nature. Not suited to continuous or bulky data.

02 · Wi-Fi HaLow 802.11ah

Sub-GHz IP field links

IP-oriented links with higher throughput than LoRa, for field gateways, industrial instrumentation and, where feasible, some cameras.

Throughput and range depend on terrain, hardware and regulation. Neither is guaranteed here.

03 · LTE-M / NB-IoT / LTE

Cellular backhaul

Primary uplink from a field gateway to the platform wherever cellular service is available.

Capability varies by module and carrier. Needs coverage and a service plan.

04 · Satellite / Iridium

Remote backup and SOS

A backup path for critical messages and SOS outside terrestrial coverage.

Constrained bandwidth, and a service subscription is required. Not every radio type supports voice.

05 · Wi-Fi + Bluetooth LE

Local access

Local configuration, connection to phones, tablets and wearables, and reading nearby sensors.

Short range, intended for people and devices close to the equipment.

Ethernet

Ethernet is a sixth, complementary fixed interface for wired equipment and gateways. It is not one of the five wireless technologies.

Architecture

A typical topology, kept simple at the edge.

Many simple LoRa or BLE sensors report to a field terminal. HaLow carries traffic to a gateway, which uplinks over LTE as the primary path, or over Iridium as a fallback for critical messages, towards the applications.

5T conceptual architecture (illustrative) Left to right: field sensors and instruments using LoRa, BLE or wired interfaces; an MG-RN02 FIELD terminal; a field gateway made of MG-RN03 CELL and MG-RN04 SAT, linked from the field terminal by HaLow; an MG-RN01 CORE server gateway, reached by LTE as the primary path or Iridium as the fallback; then applications. A portable MG-RN05 POCKET operator device connects to the field terminal over BLE, Wi-Fi or LoRa. A dashed band across the top represents the conceptual Reticulum overlay. Reticulum (RNS) overlay — conceptual; adapters to be verified Field sensors & instruments LoRa · BLE · wired MG-RN02 FIELD field terminal Field gateway MG-RN03 CELL MG-RN04 SAT MG-RN01 CORE server gateway Applications & platforms LoRa / BLE HaLow LTE · primary Iridium · fallback IP MG-RN05 POCKET field operator BLE · Wi-Fi · LoRa primary path (concept) fallback path (concept)
Illustrative conceptual diagram. It shows intended roles, not validated routing: automatic switchover between links is a proposed R&D goal and is not claimed to work today.

Terminal family

Five specialised terminals, by role.

Instead of one device with every radio, the concept splits roles across a family of terminals. All five are design concepts, not products in stock.

Concept — not a product

MG-RN01

CORE

Central gateway between the field network and the server and applications.

Concept — not a product

MG-RN02

FIELD

The field terminal: HaLow, LoRa, Wi-Fi, BLE, GNSS and industrial interfaces, connecting sensors and instruments to the network.

Concept — not a product

MG-RN03

CELL

Cellular gateway over LTE-M, NB-IoT or LTE, where service is available.

Concept — not a product

MG-RN04

SAT

Iridium satellite gateway for isolated areas, intended for low-rate, critical communications.

Concept — not a product

MG-RN05

POCKET

Portable device for field operators: messages, location and SOS. Voice is an exploratory capability only, where the link and hardware allow it.

Design ambition

The family is meant to share firmware, identity, protocols, administration and electronics. That is an aim for the design, not an established platform.

Field interfaces

Built to meet existing instruments.

Industrial equipment already speaks a handful of well-known interfaces. The field terminal concept targets these.

  • RS-485 / Modbus
  • CAN
  • SDI-12
  • 4–20 mA
  • 0–10 V
  • GPIO
  • UART
  • I²C
  • SPI
  • Ethernet / Modbus TCP

Which interfaces are present depends on the device and model. Nothing here confirms a specific hardware configuration.

Where it could apply

Use cases under consideration.

These are scenarios the concept is designed around. None is an existing deployment.

Concept — no deployments

Mining

  • Leach pads
  • Tailings
  • Boreholes
  • Exploration
  • Water
Concept — no deployments

Agriculture

  • Irrigation
  • Weather
  • Soil
  • Pumps
  • Livestock

Other sectors with the same connectivity problem include energy, water, environment, logistics, forestry and critical infrastructure.

Within Kailas

A connectivity layer for the other projects.

5T is the communications piece. The other Kailas projects work on what the data means and who uses it. Every link below is a possible future relationship, not an integration that exists.

  1. 01

    LixIA

    Could carry leach-process data from pads and sensors to where LixIA interprets it.

    LixIA →
  2. 02

    Laxaro

    Laxaro explores instrumentation and sensing integration. 5T would be one way to bring those readings back.

    Laxaro →
  3. 03

    MindGym

    MindGym is the AI computation side: where field data could be processed with local-first infrastructure.

    MindGym →
  4. 04

    IAX

    IAX is the human interface: how operators might talk with systems and receive information.

    IAX →

Partnership and R&D

Who we'd like to work with.

  • 01OEM / ODM hardware and radio-module partners
  • 02Mining, agriculture and utility operators open to field validation
  • 03Cellular and satellite service providers
  • 04Research groups in resilient networking and industrial IoT
  • 05Radio testing and regulatory approval specialists

Feasibility notes

Before any of this becomes a product it would need radio regulatory approvals in each country, service subscriptions for cellular and satellite links, Reticulum interface and adapter verification, and validation in real field conditions. None of these has been completed.

Get in touch

Contact for 5T goes through Kailas. Business contact details are being finalized and are shown in the contact section of the Kailas site.

Go to Kailas contact →