TORUS-SN Node Variants Datasheet

TORUS-SN · NODE VARIANTSSN-V1 … V4

Four sensor-node classes on one event contract: fixed wireless, programmable SDR, wired optical, and transducer.

PRELIMINARY

doc TORUS-SNV-DS-001
2026-07-05

1Overview

All TORUS-SN nodes share the same seismic/acoustic sensing core, the same event contract (per-source sequence numbers for zero-miss processing), and the same command integration. They differ in the communications and effect layer, which is selected per node to match cost, threat level, assurance requirements, and site constraints. A single deployment routinely mixes classes: cheap fixed-wireless nodes for the bulk of a ring, programmable or wired nodes on the highest-value segments, and transducer nodes where a response is authorised.

Hardware design status. Only variant 1 has a complete hardware design (generated schematic, 4-layer PCB, and 3D model, pre-production). Variants 2, 3, and 4 are at design-brief stage: host architecture, block diagram, candidate BOM, and open engineering flags are documented per variant in the repository under hw/variants/, with no schematic or PCB yet. Notably, the SDR variant requires an FPGA/SoC class host (the AD9371's JESD204B interface cannot be serviced by the V1 node's MCU), so it is architected as a carrier board stacked on an unmodified V1 node.

2Variant comparison

#	Variant	Link / RF	Rel. cost	Maturity	Best fit
1	Fixed Wireless	LoRa 433 MHz	Low	FIELDED	Wide, dense perimeter rings
2	Programmable Wireless	SDR AD9371 / AD9363 (+LoRa failsafe)	High	R&D	Experimental, R&D, mission-critical
3	Wired Optical	Optical fibre	Site-dependent	R&D	Highest-assurance, emanation-quiet segments
4	Transducer	per host node	Add-on	CONCEPT	Authorised, validated response points

3Variant 1 · Fixed Wireless (LoRa)

SN-V1 Fixed Wireless

LoRa 433 MHzFIELDED

Lowest cost per node. The default element for the bulk of a perimeter ring.
LoRa 433 MHz (EU ISM) long-range uplink to the TORUS-MEG gateway via SMA antenna.
Fixed-function radio: no field reconfiguration of the RF, which keeps power and cost down.
This is the production TORUS-SN board described in the SN node datasheet.

4Variant 2 · Programmable Wireless (SDR)

SN-V2 Programmable Wireless

SDR AD9371 / AD9363R&D

Software-defined radio front end (Analog Devices AD9371 preferred, AD9363 as a lower-cost option) for reconfigurable waveform, band, and protocol.
Ships with a LoRa failsafe. The LoRa link is a guaranteed fallback and can also serve as the main link; where LoRa alone meets the requirement, variant 1 is the more economical choice and the SDR is not warranted.
Significant per-node cost premium. Justified for experimental and R&D deployments, spectrum work, and customers with mission-critical or contested-RF requirements.
Higher power draw and compute demand than the fixed variant; power budget and enclosure sized accordingly.

Engineering flag: AD9371/AD9363 carrier board, clocking, and power tree are a distinct design from the fixed node; not yet on the fielded TORUS-SN PCB.

5Variant 3 · Wired Optical

SN-V3 Wired Optical

Optical fibreR&D

Wired optical transport instead of RF: no radio emanation to detect or jam.
Tamper-resistant and emanation-quiet, suited to the highest-assurance segments of a perimeter where wiring is feasible.
Trades the free-placement advantage of wireless for assurance; used selectively, not across a whole ring.
Under research. Optical transceiver, powering, and mechanical integration are in development.

6Variant 4 · Transducer (Activate / Trigger)

SN-V4 Transducer

effect nodeCONCEPT

Effect node, not a sensor: on a validated cue it actuates a response (the response type is deployment-defined and authorised separately).
Mandatory safety interlock. A transducer never fires straight from a raw cue. It walks a state machine with a compulsory safety-validation stage between activation and trigger.
Every arm, validate, trigger, and abort is logged for after-action review.

DISARMED → ARMED → VALIDATING →(validation passed)→ TRIGGERED
↴ any state → SAFE → DISARMED (abort). Trigger is refused unless validation has passed.

The interlock is implemented in the command layer and enforced in code; see the TORUS-CCISRT datasheet and the reference implementation in the torus-ccisrt repository.

7Selection guidance

If the segment needs…	Choose
Lowest cost, wide coverage, standard threat	1 · Fixed Wireless
Reconfigurable RF, contested spectrum, R&D	2 · Programmable SDR
No RF emanation, maximum tamper resistance	3 · Wired Optical
An authorised, validated physical response	4 · Transducer

8Trademarks & third-party notice

TORUS is an independent platform. Company names and product model numbers referenced in this document (including but not limited to Analog Devices AD9371 and AD9363, and Semtech LoRa) are used solely for engineering and bill-of-materials identification and imply no affiliation with 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. "FOR EVALUATION" is a document-handling marking only and denotes no government classification. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.