---
title: "Connectivity, explained | Nexus Observatory"
description: "Interactive explainer: connectivity in 3D, chapter by chapter: three sectors, one azimuth plan, tilt decides where the beam lands…"
url: https://observatory.global/connectivity/explainer/
publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc.
updated: 2026-10-28
---

**A** 030°

**B** 150°

**C** 270°

Boresight · **358 m** 

Upper −3 dB · above the horizon

Lower −3 dB · 158 m

Antenna · **25 m** · tilt 4°

0 m

500 m

1,000 m

1,500 m

2,000 m

Site · **1,525 m** 

NR slot · **0.500 ms** · L1 55%

Free for inference · 45%

Mask · 25°

**GNSS** 

**T-GM** · PRTC-A

T-BC 1

T-BC 2

T-BC 3

T-BC 4

**Radio** · T-TSC

T-BC 6

T-BC 7

T-BC 8

T-BC 9

T-BC 10

T-BC 11

500 MHz

700 MHz

1 GHz

2 GHz

3 GHz

5 GHz

7 GHz

10 GHz

20 GHz

30 GHz

**n77** · 3900–3980 MHz

27.5–28.35 GHz

**n77 / n78** · 3800 MHz band 3650–3900 MHz

3650–3700 MHz

902–928 MHz

2.4 GHz

5925–7125 MHz

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

Site · 1,525 m

Connectivity · Explainer

Interactive

# One site, eight decisions.

A private 5G and AI-RAN site in the Bow Valley, Alberta, from sector azimuth to the spectrum licence. Move the controls and the radio, the terrain and the orbit answer in real numbers.

**Tile**: 29.4 × 46.9 km
**Relief**: 1,296–3,451 m
**Analysis grid**: 256 × 256
**Chapters**: 8

**01** Sectors

**02** Tilt

**03** Coverage

**04** AI-RAN

**05** Backhaul from orbit

**06** Timing

**07** Spectrum route

**08** Sensors over LPWAN

**01** · Sectors

3 × 120°

## Three sectors, one azimuth plan.

A macro site splits the circle into three sectors of massive-MIMO panels, 120° apart, each with a 70° half-power beam that falls off as 12(φ/70°)² dB to a 25 dB floor. The plan turns as one: set sector A and the others follow.

**Boresights A · B · C**: 030° · 150° · 270°
**Half-power beamwidth**: 70°
**Crossover between sectors**: 60° off boresight · 8.8 dB down

**02** · Tilt

Section

## Tilt decides where the beam lands.

The section cuts through sector A, heights stretched tenfold. Downtilt aims the main lobe at the ground at h / tan(tilt); the half-power edges of the 10° vertical beam, five degrees either side, set the inner and outer rings of strong signal.

**Boresight meets the ground**: 358 m
**Upper half-power edge**: above the horizon
**Lower half-power edge**: 158 m

**03** · Coverage

Bow Valley

## A link budget on real terrain.

Every cell the antenna can see gets EIRP plus the sector pattern minus free-space loss, 20 log d + 20 log f − 147.55 dB. Rays run over the valley's own relief and the Earth's curve; cells in the mountains' shadow stay dark.

Place on

Or click the terrain.

Band

**Area above −100 dBm**: 106.8 km²
**Tile in line of sight**: 7.8 %
**Farthest cell above −100 dBm**: 27.1 km
**Free-space loss at 1 km**: 103.3 dB
**Site**: 51.414° N, 116.173° W · 1,525 m

above −85 dBm

−85 to −100

−100 to −110

**04** · AI-RAN

NR slot

## The radio's slot, and what is left for AI.

In AI-RAN one pool of accelerators runs the radio's Layer 1 and the models. Numerology μ sets 15·2^μ kHz subcarriers and 2^μ slots per millisecond, 14 symbols each. Every slot must finish its L1 work on time; what it leaves idle serves inference.

Numerology μ

**Slot**: 0.500 ms
**Slots per second**: 2,000
**Symbol with cyclic prefix, mean**: 35.7 µs
**Accelerator time for inference**: 450 ms per second · 225 µs per slot

**05** · Backhaul from orbit

LEO

## A LEO pass, timed from the orbit.

Where fibre stops, the site backhauls through a low-Earth-orbit terminal. Altitude fixes the period, T = 2π√(a³/μ), how long one satellite stays above the terminal's elevation mask, and the delay of every hop at the speed of light.

Orbit altitude

**Orbital period**: 95.5 min
**Overhead pass above the mask**: 4 min 29 s
**Slant range at the mask**: 1,123 km
**One-way delay, zenith to mask**: 1.83 → 3.75 ms

**06** · Timing

PTP

## One clock, held to the budget.

TDD radios share phase. A GNSS-locked grandmaster, a PRTC-A within 100 ns, hands time down a chain of boundary clocks; each hop adds its class's constant time error and each link half its asymmetry. The end of the chain must hold max|TE| under 1,100 ns.

T-BC class

Time error, worst case

PRTC-A

100 ns

4 × T-BC cTE

80 ns

5 links × asym/2

100 ns

Total

280 ns

Network limit

1,100 ns

**07** · Spectrum route

Bands

## Every band has a route.

Before a radio transmits, its band needs a route: a licence, a light licence or an exemption. The ruler lays the bands on a log scale from 400 MHz to 40 GHz, and height marks the route.

Jurisdiction

- **Non-competitive local licence (NCL)** · 3900–3980 MHz Licensed n77
- **NCL extension at 28 GHz** · 27.5–28.35 GHz Licensed
- **3500 and 3800 MHz flexible-use (through a licensee)** · 3800 MHz band 3650–3900 MHz; 3500 MHz band per L10 Licensed n77 / n78
- **Wireless broadband service (WBS)** · 3650–3700 MHz Closing
- **902–928 MHz licence-exempt (LoRaWAN)** · 902–928 MHz Licence-exempt
- **2.4 GHz licence-exempt (Wi-Fi)** · 2.4 GHz Licence-exempt
- **6 GHz licence-exempt (RSS-248)** · 5925–7125 MHz Licence-exempt

**08** · Sensors over LPWAN

915 MHz

## Kilometres on milliwatts.

The mast also carries a LoRa gateway for sensors across the valley. Higher spreading factors hear weaker signals and stay longer on air. The map shows every cell in sight of the gateway that closes the link with 3 and 2 dBi antennas and a 10 dB fade margin. In the US, frequency hopping at 902–928 MHz caps each dwell at 400 ms under 47 CFR 15.247, which rules out the slowest spreading factors.

Spreading factor, 125 kHz

**Receiver sensitivity**: –
**Maximum path loss**: –
**Area reached**: –
**Time on air, 20 bytes**: –
**US hopping dwell, 400 ms**: –

[Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/)**Connectivity** . Private 5G, AI-RAN and orbit, on site.[Talk to us](https://observatory.global/contact/)

Connectivity

- [Private 5G](https://observatory.global/connectivity/private-5g/)
- [AI-RAN](https://observatory.global/connectivity/ai-ran/)
- [O-RAN](https://observatory.global/connectivity/o-ran/)
- [Satellite and NTN](https://observatory.global/connectivity/satellite-and-ntn/)
- [LPWAN and mesh](https://observatory.global/connectivity/lpwan-and-mesh/)
- [Timing](https://observatory.global/connectivity/timing/)
- [Spectrum](https://observatory.global/connectivity/spectrum/)

Technologies

- [Macro, small cells, DAS and repeaters](https://observatory.global/technologies/ran/macro-small-cells-das-and-repeaters/)
- [Massive MIMO and beamforming](https://observatory.global/technologies/ran/massive-mimo-and-beamforming/)
- [O-RAN architecture and open interfaces](https://observatory.global/technologies/airan/o-ran-architecture-and-open-interfaces/)
- [Fronthaul (7.2x split) and transport](https://observatory.global/technologies/airan/fronthaul-7-2x-split-and-transport/)
- [5G core functions](https://observatory.global/technologies/core/5g-core-functions/)
- [Network slicing, edge UPF and local breakout](https://observatory.global/technologies/core/network-slicing-edge-upf-and-local-breakout/)
- [Orbits and constellations](https://observatory.global/technologies/satellite/orbits-and-constellations/)

Industries

- [Public safety](https://observatory.global/industries/public-safety/)
- [Government](https://observatory.global/industries/government/)
- [Cities](https://observatory.global/industries/cities/)
- [Civil resilience](https://observatory.global/industries/resilience/)
- [Communities](https://observatory.global/industries/communities/)
- [Humanitarian](https://observatory.global/industries/humanitarian/)
- [Climate](https://observatory.global/industries/climate/)

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- [Observatory Protocol](https://observatory.global/protocol/)
- [Protocol & Grid](https://observatory.global/grid-services/)
- [Software](https://observatory.global/software/)
- [Hardware & power](https://observatory.global/hardware/)
- [Sensors & instruments](https://observatory.global/sensors/)
- [Edge compute & AI](https://observatory.global/edge-ai/)
- [Earth observation & GeoAI](https://observatory.global/earth-observation/)

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