TORUS-MEG is the field gateway of the TORUS UAGVIS system. It receives LoRa uplinks from a ring of TORUS-SN ground nodes, timestamps and correlates their events against a disciplined clock, runs edge fusion and (where visual masts are attached) on-device inference, then forwards a prioritised event stream to the TORUS-CCISRT command plane over whatever backhaul the site allows.
It is designed for the same places the nodes are: off-grid and unattended. A solar-and-battery power path, a wide-input DC front end, and a rugged sealed enclosure let a single MEG anchor a perimeter for months, storing and forwarding when the backhaul link is intermittent.
| Parameter | Target | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LoRa ingest | 8 channels, 433 MHz EU ISM | Concentrator-class receiver; serves tens of nodes per gateway |
| Node capacity | Up to ~100 nodes / gateway | Duty-cycle and report-interval dependent |
| Edge compute | NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX / Nano | Fusion + optional visual inference; module choice by power budget |
| Backhaul | Ethernet / Wi-Fi / LTE-5G / SATCOM | Prioritised store-and-forward on link loss |
| Time source | GNSS-disciplined, UTC | Also serves node time-sync and GNSS almanac |
| Local storage | NVMe SSD (event + clip buffer) | Sized for days of events and short thermal/video clips |
| Power input | Solar MPPT + LiFePO4; 9-36 V DC; PoE+ | Off-grid autonomy target: months |
| Enclosure | IP67, pole/wall mount | Wide operating temperature; passive cooling |
| Security | Secure element / TPM, signed FW | Encrypted store-and-forward; optional on-prem-only mode |
TORUS-MEG is at concept / design-study stage. Values are design targets, not measurements; component selections below are candidates pending detailed design.
A single gateway anchors one ring. Real deployments span distances larger than one gateway's radio reach, so TORUS-MEG is cluster aware: multiple gateways federate to extend and join sensor networks without a single point of failure.
| Capability | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Chain / extend | Gateways relay along a corridor to reach node fields beyond one gateway's range, forming a linear chain |
| Aggregate / join | Independent sensor networks federate into one common operating picture; events keep their originating gatewayId |
| High availability | Peer gateways form a cluster with leader election and health checks; on a node or link loss, a standby peer assumes the coverage |
| Partition tolerance | A gateway that loses backhaul keeps sensing and stores events locally, then reconciles on rejoin (store-and-forward) |
| Load sharing | Overlapping coverage is balanced across cluster members to spread ingest and inference load |
Clustering and HA algorithms (membership, leader election, replication) are a design target for the detailed-design phase; the event contract already carries the gateway identity needed to federate cleanly.
| Function | Candidate | Role |
|---|---|---|
| LoRa concentrator | Semtech SX1302 / SX1303 (8-ch) | Multi-channel 433 MHz receive from the node ring |
| Edge compute | NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX | Fusion, correlation, thermal/visual inference |
| Cellular backhaul | Quectel RM5xx (5G) / EG25 (LTE) | WAN uplink where no fixed network exists |
| GNSS timing | u-blox timing receiver | UTC discipline + node almanac |
| Power | MPPT charger + LiFePO4 pack | Off-grid solar autonomy |
| Root of trust | TPM 2.0 / secure element | Signed firmware, key storage |
TORUS is an independent platform. Company names and product model numbers referenced in this document (including but not limited to Semtech (SX1302/SX1303), NVIDIA (Jetson, Orin), Quectel, u-blox, and their respective product identifiers , are used solely for engineering and bill-of-materials identification. Their use does not imply any affiliation with, sponsorship by, or endorsement by those companies. Supply of any such third-party product or component to the designers, manufacturers, integrators, or evaluators of the TORUS platform remains at the sole discretion of the respective owning company, organisation, or legal entity. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.