Skip to content

Cities: the city measured block by block: the systems behind it. The loop, step by step: 1. Gates open and the stadium starts to fill. 2. Sensor, link, edge and console stand ready. 3. A crowd surge builds toward the north gate. 4. Cameras count the flow at every gate. 5. Each reading is stamped with time and place. 6. Counts reach the edge over the stadium radio. 7. Relays carry the packets without reading them. 8. Signatures are checked before any model runs. 9. The edge model estimates density per gate. 10. The edge releases confirmed results only. 11. The control room sees the density map. 12. The console shows the evidence with the alert. 13. Stewards open the south gate and capacity rises. 14. Sensors check that the response worked. 15. Record, proof and action are archived together. 16. The crowd spreads out and the radio relaxes.

01 / 16

Gates open and the stadium starts to fill

Nexus Observatory

/

Cities

/

Systems and technologies
The systems behind cities.

The technologies that carry this industry’s observations, ranked against what it needs to observe and drawn from across the spectrum.

Plan a deploymentUse casesOpen the explainer
  1. Cities · Systems and technologies

    The city, measured block by block

    Street-level flood depth, air quality and heat, mobility and noise, carried on a municipal sensing and connectivity layer, with twins of the streets they sit in and open data residents can read. Needs: street flooding, air quality and urban heat, structural condition of public assets, connectivity for municipal sensors and open data for residents.

  2. Platform · Connectivity

    Private 5G, AI-RAN and orbit, on site

    Standalone private 5G and O-RAN, AI-RAN on shared accelerated compute, LEO and GEO backhaul and 3GPP direct-to-device, LPWAN and mesh for sensors over kilometres, PTP timing inside the budget, and the spectrum route for each country. Every reading and every change leaves a record that can be checked later.

    Connectivity
  3. Platform · Sensors & instruments

    Measurements that carry their own proof

    Weather and environment stations to WMO practice, RF spectrum sensing in the band, and calibration that is traceable, recorded and repeated. Every value leaves with its metadata, quality flag and provenance. Or buy the observations and leave the hardware to us: Sensing as a Service.

    Sensors & instruments
  4. Platform · Data & licensing

    Grid data, licensed for your use

    Research, commercial API, enterprise and government tiers, the licence of every source carried through to every product, routes from licensed to open release, and residency fixed by contract. It is delivered and supported by Nexus Observatory Inc. The evidence travels with the data wherever it goes.

    Data & licensing
  5. Platform · Earth observation & GeoAI

    The ground, measured and modelled

    Ground-segment downlink and processing at the edge, drone and imagery campaigns planned to the ground sample distance, site twins measured in 3D, and GeoAI trained and checked against field truth, with the source and licence of every layer in view.

    Earth observation & GeoAI
  6. Platform · Field services

    Survey to decommission, one accountable crew

    Ground, RF and power surveyed before anything is chosen, installation and commissioning to the plan, a Managed Site run for you, support by plan, training on your own site, and decommissioning with every part recorded. Changes are versioned, tested and reversible.

    Field services
  7. Platform · Digital twins and simulation

    Model the site before you build it

    The same design repeats from the first site to the last. It runs on the open Observatory Protocol, so other providers can join. Crews, software and records stay the same as the network grows. Changes are versioned, tested and reversible.

    Digital twins and simulation
  8. How it scales

    One base unit, repeated

    A programme starts with one base node and the instruments it reads. A station adds power and radio, a site adds a relay, a fleet repeats the proven site across many places, and a network federates fleets through edge and core. Capacity grows by adding units, never by replacing what works.

  9. Updates

    Updates in rings, with rollback

    Software and configuration reach the fleet in rings: a canary site first, then a few, then all, each ring gated on health and data completeness. A failed gate stops the wave and returns each node to its last good release, without a site visit.

  10. Field service

    One crew, from survey to repair

    The same crew surveys, installs, commissions, calibrates and repairs, working from the site’s own record. Each visit updates it, so the next crew knows exactly what is there, when it was last checked and why it was changed. Spares and references are planned from that history.

  11. Failure and recovery

    When a node fails, the fleet knows first

    When a node goes silent or a sensor drifts, the node buffers its data, fails over to a second link where one exists, and the alert carries the evidence a responder needs. Nothing is lost and nothing is counted twice.

  12. What you get

    Municipal sensing and connectivity layers

    City-wide LPWAN or private 5G as a shared layer for public sensors and services. Delivered as managed service, for cities, regional governments. Scale: City-wide. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard. Changes are versioned, tested and reversible.

    Talk to sales
  13. Next step

    Plan a cities deployment

    Tell us the sites, the measurements and the people who will use them. We reply with a design and a scope for cities. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the StudioRead the stories

01Remote sensing and Earth observation

Radar, lidar and microwave sensors.

Frontier · Remote sensing and Earth observation · Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

GNSS reflectometry

Reflected navigation signals for ocean wind, soil moisture and flood extent from low-cost receivers.

WMO OSCAR/Space

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

Synthetic aperture radar by band (P, L, S, C, X, Ku, Ka)

All-weather, day-night imaging; longer bands penetrate vegetation and dry soil, shorter bands resolve detail.

IEEE Std 521 (radar band letter designations) · CEOS ARD SAR (Normalised Radar Backscatter)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

Interferometric SAR (InSAR)

Phase differences between passes that measure ground and structure motion to millimetres, plus elevation.

CEOS ARD SAR (Interferometric Radar, Geocoded Single-Look Complex) · ISO/TS 19159-3 (SAR and InSAR calibration)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR)

Full or dual polarisation scattering for crop type, flooded vegetation, sea ice and biomass.

CEOS ARD SAR (Polarimetric Radar)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

Ocean radar backscatter and scatterometry

Wind, waves, oil slicks, ships and sea ice from radar over water.

CEOS ARD SAR (Ocean Radar Backscatter)

Remote sensing and Earth observation · Radar, lidar and microwave sensors

Radar altimetry

Height of sea, lake, river and ice surfaces along the ground track for water level and ice monitoring.

CEOS Ocean Surface Topography Virtual Constellation

All 10 in this layer

025G and 6G radio access networks

Private networks and RAN sharing.

5G and 6G radio access networks · Private networks and RAN sharing

Standalone non-public networks (SNPN)

Fully separate private 5G networks with their own identifiers, core and subscriptions.

3GPP TS 23.501 clause 5.30.2

5G and 6G radio access networks · Private networks and RAN sharing

Public network integrated NPN (PNI-NPN)

Private networks delivered as slices or DNNs of a public network, with closed access groups.

3GPP TS 23.501 clause 5.30.3

5G and 6G radio access networks · Private networks and RAN sharing

Neutral host networks

One shared network that serves several operators’ subscribers in buildings, campuses or rural corridors.

3GPP TS 23.251 (network sharing) · 3GPP TS 23.501 (SNPN with credentials from a separate entity)

5G and 6G radio access networks · Private networks and RAN sharing

RAN sharing (MORAN and MOCN)

Operators sharing radios and sometimes spectrum to cut cost in low-density areas.

3GPP TS 23.251 · 3GPP TS 32.130 (network sharing management)

5G and 6G radio access networks · Private networks and RAN sharing

Industrial 5G LAN and TSN integration

Layer-2 group services and time-sensitive networking bridging for operational technology.

3GPP TS 23.501 clauses 5.27 and 5.29 · 3GPP TS 22.104

5G and 6G radio access networks · Private networks and RAN sharing

Shared and local spectrum for private networks

CBRS-type tiered access and local licences that let enterprises and communities run their own networks.

FCC 47 CFR Part 96 (CBRS) · ISED non-competitive local licensing framework (3900–3980 MHz)

All 7 in this layer

03IoT, LPWAN and mesh

Low-power wide-area networks.

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

LoRaWAN

Long-range, low-power star-of-stars networks in licence-exempt bands for sensors over kilometres.

LoRaWAN L2 1.0.4 (TS001-1.0.4) · LoRaWAN Backend Interfaces (TS002)

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

LoRaWAN Regional Parameters

Per-region channel plans, data rates, power limits and duty cycles that a deployment must follow.

LoRaWAN Regional Parameters RP002-1.0.4

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

LR-FHSS and LoRaWAN relay

Frequency-hopping modulation for dense and satellite links, and relays that extend coverage into shadowed sites.

LoRaWAN Regional Parameters RP002-1.0.2 and later (LR-FHSS data rates) · LoRaWAN Relay specification (TS011)

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

NB-IoT and LTE-M

Licensed cellular IoT with deep coverage, mobility (LTE-M) and operator-managed security.

3GPP TS 36.300 (E-UTRA, Rel-13 onward) · GSMA LTE-M and NB-IoT deployment guides

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

Power saving mode and eDRX

Cellular sleep and extended paging cycles that set battery life for cellular sensors.

3GPP TS 23.682 (MTC architecture) · 3GPP TS 24.301 (NAS)

IoT, LPWAN and mesh · Low-power wide-area networks

5G RedCap and eRedCap

Reduced-capability NR devices for cameras, wearables and industrial sensors on 5G networks.

3GPP TS 38.300 (Rel-17 RedCap, Rel-18 eRedCap)

All 9 in this layer

04GIS, maps and GeoAI

3D, BIM and digital twins.

Frontier · GIS, maps and GeoAI · 3D, BIM and digital twins

Sensor-fused live twins

Twins updated continuously from sensors, cameras and EO, with provenance on every change.

OGC SensorThings API 1.1 · OGC API – Connected Systems

Frontier · GIS, maps and GeoAI · 3D, BIM and digital twins

Geospatial augmented reality

Overlaying the twin on the real site for crews through located and oriented devices.

OGC GeoPose 1.0

GIS, maps and GeoAI · 3D, BIM and digital twins

City and site models

Semantic 3D models of buildings, terrain and infrastructure at defined levels of detail.

OGC CityGML 3.0 Conceptual Model

GIS, maps and GeoAI · 3D, BIM and digital twins

3D Tiles and scene layers

Streaming of massive meshes, point clouds and models into web and desktop viewers.

OGC 3D Tiles 1.1 (Community Standard) · OGC Indexed 3D Scene Layer (I3S) Community Standard

GIS, maps and GeoAI · 3D, BIM and digital twins

BIM and asset information

Building and infrastructure models and information management through design, build and operation.

ISO 16739-1 (IFC) · ISO 19650-1 (information management using BIM)

GIS, maps and GeoAI · 3D, BIM and digital twins

Photogrammetry and reality capture

Meshes, orthomosaics and point clouds reconstructed from drone and ground imagery.

ASPRS Positional Accuracy Standards for Digital Geospatial Data (Edition 2)

All 8 in this layer

05Ground segment

Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks.

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Shared antenna networks

Pay-per-pass access to antennas across many sites so missions do not have to build their own.

CCSDS 910.4-B (cross support reference model) · CCSDS 911.1-B (SLE return all frames)

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Space link extension services

Standard services that deliver frames and accept commands between a ground station and a remote mission centre.

CCSDS 911.1-B (RAF) · CCSDS 911.2-B (RCF) · CCSDS 912.1-B (forward CLTU)

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Pass scheduling and resource management

Booking, deconfliction and configuration of antennas and modems for each contact.

CCSDS cross support service management

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

High-latitude and polar ground sites

Northern sites that see polar-orbiting satellites on most orbits and cut data latency.

ITU RR Appendix 7 · Rec. ITU-R P.618

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Ground segment cybersecurity

Access control, segmentation, monitoring and recovery for command and control systems.

NIST IR 8401 (satellite ground segment and the Cybersecurity Framework) · ISO/IEC 27001

Ground segment · Ground-station-as-a-service and antenna networks

Federated and hybrid ground networks

Combining owned, partner and agency antennas behind one scheduling and data interface.

CCSDS 910.4-B (cross support reference model)

All 7 in this layer

06In situ sensors and instruments

Air quality and atmospheric composition.

In situ sensors and instruments · Air quality and atmospheric composition

Reference gas analysers

Continuous analysers for nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide by reference methods.

EN 14211 (NOx) · EN 14625 (O3) · EN 14626 (CO)

In situ sensors and instruments · Air quality and atmospheric composition

Particulate matter monitors

Gravimetric and automated PM10 and PM2.5 measurement.

EN 12341 (gravimetric PM) · EN 16450 (automated PM monitors) · US EPA 40 CFR Part 53 (reference and equivalent methods)

In situ sensors and instruments · Air quality and atmospheric composition

Low-cost sensor systems

Dense, cheaper sensor networks evaluated and corrected against reference sites.

CEN/TS 17660-1:2021 (sensor systems, gaseous pollutants) · US EPA performance targets for air sensors

In situ sensors and instruments · Air quality and atmospheric composition

Ambient air quality frameworks

Regulatory objectives and data quality objectives that set what monitoring must achieve.

Directive (EU) 2024/2881 (ambient air quality) · Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards (CCME)

In situ sensors and instruments · Air quality and atmospheric composition

Greenhouse gas and reactive gas monitoring

High-precision carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide analysers on tall towers and baseline sites.

WMO GAW measurement guidelines · WMO Global Greenhouse Gas Watch

In situ sensors and instruments · Air quality and atmospheric composition

Aerosol optics and sun photometry

Aerosol optical depth, absorption and scattering for smoke, dust and satellite validation.

WMO GAW aerosol guidelines

All 7 in this layer

07Every domain

The rest of the spectrum.

The domains whose layers serve this industry, each with its full directory.

Layers · 8 · items · 62

5G and 6G radio access networks

The radio access network from site to spectrum: macro, small cells, DAS and repeaters, massive MIMO, NR bands and TDD synchronisation, NR features such as RedCap, positioning and sidelink, private and shared networks, Wi-Fi coexistence, 6G and ISAC, and the planning and assurance that keep it working.
Layers · 8 · items · 60

AI-RAN and Open RAN

Disaggregated, software-defined and AI-assisted radio access: the O-RAN architecture and its open interfaces, 7.2x fronthaul, RAN intelligent controllers with xApps and rApps, SMO and O-Cloud, accelerated L1, shared GPU infrastructure for RAN and AI, AI/ML in the 3GPP air interface, energy saving, and the test and integration work that makes multi-supplier RAN deployable.
Layers · 8 · items · 60

Core and transport networks

The networks behind the radio: the 5G core and its functions, slicing and edge breakout, IMS voice and emergency calling, fronthaul, midhaul and backhaul over microwave, E-band, fibre, free-space optics and satellite, IP/MPLS and segment routing, IPv6, automation and intent, and the security that holds it together.
Layers · 8 · items · 66

Satellite and space systems

The space segment end to end: orbits and constellations, spacecraft buses, communications and Earth observation payloads, inter-satellite links, tracking and command, space safety, launch, and the licensing and filings that let a system operate over a site.
Layers · 8 · items · 63

Ground segment

Everything on the ground that talks to spacecraft: gateways and teleports, user terminals, modems and software-defined radio, shared antenna networks, CCSDS protocol stacks, mission control, data processing and the spectrum coordination behind each earth station.
Layers · 7 · items · 59

Spectrum, timing and PNT

The shared foundations every network and sensor depends on: how spectrum is licensed, shared and monitored, GNSS positioning and its corrections, packet timing with PTP and SyncE, grandmasters and holdover, resilient PNT alternatives, and the detection of interference, jamming and spoofing.
Layers · 8 · items · 54

IoT, LPWAN and mesh

The radios, networks, gateways, device management and field protocols that connect low-power sensors and controllers to the grid, sized to a measured power budget.
Layers · 8 · items · 61

In situ sensors and instruments

Instruments placed in the air, water, ground and spectrum, from weather stations to seismometers, radars and cameras, with the calibration, metadata and quality control that make their readings evidence.
Layers · 8 · items · 59

Data, software and interoperability

How observations move from the edge into stores, catalogues and APIs with their provenance, licence and residency attached, and how they interoperate through open standards and the open Observatory Protocol.
Layers · 8 · items · 67

Remote sensing and Earth observation

Every platform, sensor, processing level and ground-segment step that turns remote measurements of the Earth into calibrated, analysis-ready evidence for a site, a region or a network.
Layers · 8 · items · 65

GIS, maps and GeoAI

The reference frames, formats, services, analysis methods, machine learning and 3D models that turn observations into located, queryable and decision-ready geographic information.
Layers · 8 · items · 66

Field operations and lifecycle

Everything that happens on the ground across a site’s life: survey, permits, design packs, logistics, installation, acceptance, training, operations, maintenance, upgrades, decommission and recycling, done safely and recorded as evidence.
Layers · 8 · items · 65

AI systems

AI from model to accountable operation: edge inference and model optimisation, foundation models for Earth observation and geospatial work, time-series and sensor AI, multimodal fusion and supervised agentic operations, federated and privacy-preserving learning, physical AI and robotics within stated red lines, MLOps, evaluation and model risk, and the governance frameworks that apply to each.

Bring us the site.

Survey, design, deployment and operation for cities. The form names who receives your details.

Talk to usPlan a deployment

The systems behind cities.

Reference design, drawn to scale · drag to turn